[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, September 15, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
September 15, 2006

Summary:
U.S.
Following yesterday's Washington Post article on the IAEA letter
denouncing the Fleitz (House Intelligence Committee staff) report's
erroneous charges concerning Iran's nuclear program, Representative
Dennis Kucinich has requested Congressional hearings on the apparent
approval of this report by the office of the Director of National
Intelligence, John Negroponte.

The Senate Armed Services Committee defied President Bush Thursday,
approving a plan for the trial and interrogation of terrorism suspects
the White House has rejected as unacceptable. The White House provides
far fewer protections for detainees. Colin Powell sided with the
senators, saying the president's plan to redefine the Geneva
Conventions would encourage the world to "doubt the moral basis of our
fight against terrorism," and "put our own troops at risk."

The CIA learned in September 2002 that Iraq had no contact with Osama
bin Laden and that the Iraqi leader considered bin Laden an enemy of
the Baghdad regime, according to a recent Senate Intelligence
Committee report.

Iran
Iran will not be deterred from its nuclear program and will ultimately
reach a nuclear capability, the former head of Israel's National
Security Council, told the Jerusalem Post. Traces of Eiland's comments
about the inevitability of a nuclear Iran were evident in a statement
Vice Premier Shimon Peres made earlier in the week. This was the first
time a senior Israeli official had publicly acknowledged that Israel
might have to adapt to a reality where Iran has nuclear capabilities.

In an interview, President Bush made clear that the administration
wants a diplomatic solution to the confrontation over Iran's nuclear
program - one premised on an American recognition of Iran's role as an
important nation in the Middle East, Davd Ignatius reports in the
Washington Post.

Iraq
Iraqi security forces will dig trenches around Baghdad and set up
checkpoints along all roads leading into the city to reduce some of
the violence plaguing the capital, the Interior Ministry said Friday.

Israel
The airstrike that killed four UN observers in July was the result of
the Israeli military's reliance on inaccurate maps, Israel said
Thursday. The UN has said that before the airstrike, its observers in
Lebanon had telephoned the Israeli military 10 times in six hours to
ask it to stop shelling near their position.

Palestine
Prime Minister Haniya accused the US of undermining efforts to form
the new government and called on Europe to take the lead in lifting
international sanctions against the Palestinians. Haniya and Abbas
have been pushing on European anxieties about the severe economic
depression the funding and aid cutoff has produced. The Europeans want
to end the stalemate and use the conclusion of the war in Lebanon as a
springboard toward renewed Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Turkey
Elif Shafak is due in court on Sept. 21 to defend herself against
charges that she insulted "Turkishness" because a character in her
novel, "The Bastard of Istanbul," refers to the deaths of Armenians in
1915 as genocide. Shafak is being sued under Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code. A conviction carries a possible penalty of up to
three years in jail.

Pope's Comments on Islam
Muslims around the world expressed outrage Friday over Pope Benedict
XVI's comments on Islam, with Turkey's ruling party accusing him of
trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades and scores taking to the
streets in protest.

What is most troubling of all is that the Pope gets several things
about Islam wrong, writes Juan Cole in his blog. He should apologize
to the Muslims and get better advisers on Christian-Muslim relations.

Mexico
President Fox backed away from a confrontation with López Obrador on
Thursday, announcing that he wouldn't hold his annual Independence Day
celebration at the capital's main Zocalo plaza to avoid protesters.

Nicaragua
The US ambassador to Nicaragua has issued a vigorous warning to the
Central American country's electors against supporting Daniel Ortega,
the veteran leftwing Sandinista leader and the frontrunner in
November's presidential election.

In this issue:
U.S.
1) Kucinich asks for oversight on DNI review of Fleitz Report
2) Rebuff for Bush on Terror Trials in a Senate Test
3) CIA Learned in '02 That Bin Laden Had No Iraq Ties, Report Says
Iran
4) Giora Eiland: Iran will get nuclear bomb
5) Nuclear Agency for U.N. Faults Report on Iran by U.S. House
6) Bush's Message to Iran
Iraq
7) Iraq to Dig Trenches Around Baghdad
Israel
8) Inaccurate Map Led to Fatal Strike on U.N. Post, Israel Says
Palestine
9) Palestinians Squabble Over Government
Turkey
10) Turkey, a Touchy Critic, Plans to Put a Novel on Trial
Pope's Comments on Islam
11) Muslims Express Fury Over Pope's Remarks
12)  Pope Gets it Wrong on Islam
Mexico
13) Mexico's Fox Moves Event to Avoid Protesters
Nicaragua
14) US warns Nicaraguans not to back Sandinista

Contents:
U.S.
1) Kucinich asks for oversight on DNI review of Fleitz Report
September 15, 2006
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/issues/kucinich_to_shays.html
Following yesterday's Washington Post article on the IAEA letter
denouncing the Fleitz (House Intelligence Committee staff) report's
erroneous charges concerning Iran's nuclear program, Representative
Dennis Kucinich has requested Congressional hearings on the apparent
approval of this report by the office of the Director of National
Intelligence, John Negroponte.

2) Rebuff for Bush on Terror Trials in a Senate Test
Kate Zernike, New York Times, September 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/washington/15detain.html
The Senate Armed Services Committee defied President Bush Thursday,
with four Republicans joining Democrats in approving a plan for the
trial and interrogation of terrorism suspects the White House has
rejected as unacceptable. The Republican rebellion was led by Senator
Warner, the committee chairman, with backing from Senators McCain,
Graham and Collins. The White House had said their legislation would
leave the US no option but to shut down a C.I.A. program to
interrogate high-level terrorism suspects. The vote came despite an
all-out effort by the White House to win support for its own approach,
which provides far fewer protections for detainees. Former secretary
of state Colin Powell sided with the senators, saying in a letter that
the president's plan to redefine the Geneva Conventions would
encourage the world to "doubt the moral basis of our fight against
terrorism," and "put our own troops at risk."

3) CIA Learned in '02 That Bin Laden Had No Iraq Ties, Report Says
Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Friday, September 15, 2006; A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401545.html
The CIA learned in late September 2002 from a high-level member of
Saddam Hussein's inner circle that Iraq had no contact with Osama bin
Laden and that the Iraqi leader considered bin Laden an enemy of the
Baghdad regime, according to a recent Senate Intelligence Committee
report. Sen. Pat Roberts and two GOP colleagues on the committee
disclosed this information for the first time in the panel's report on
Iraq released last week. They wrote in the "additional views" section
of the report that the Cabinet-level Iraqi official "said that Iraq
has no past, current, or anticipated future contact with Osama bin
Laden and al Qaeda" and that the official "added that bin Laden was in
fact a longtime enemy of Iraq."

On Sept. 25, 2002, just days after the CIA received the source's
information, President Bush told reporters: "Al-Qaeda hides. Saddam
doesn't, but the danger is, is that they work in concert. The danger
is, is that al-Qaeda becomes an extension of Saddam's madness and his
hatred and his capacity to extend weapons of mass destruction around
the world. . . . [Y]ou can't distinguish between al-Qaeda and Saddam
when you talk about the war on terror."

Iran
4) Giora Eiland: Iran will get nuclear bomb
David Horovitz, Jerusalem Post, Sep. 14, 2006
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1157913632142&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Iran will not be deterred from its nuclear program and will ultimately
reach a nuclear capability, Giora Eiland, the recently retired head of
Israel's National Security Council, told the Jerusalem Post, in an
assessment immediately refuted by the Prime Minister's Office. In
recent months there have been different assessments at the highest
levels of Israel's policy making pyramid regarding whether US
President Bush would take military action against Iran to stop its
nuclear march, with some saying he is too weak politically and
over-extended in Iraq and Afghanistan to take such a dramatic step,
and others arguing that he would not want to leave office with a
nuclear Iran as one of his legacies to the world.

Traces of Eiland's comments about the inevitability of a nuclear Iran
were evident in a statement Vice Premier Shimon Peres made earlier in
the week. "Even if Iran gets the nuclear bomb, and I hope that it
doesn't, we shall develop and can develop better technology to face
them," Peres said. This was the first time a senior Israeli official
had publicly acknowledged that Israel might have to adapt to a reality
where Iran has nuclear capabilities.

5) Nuclear Agency for U.N. Faults Report on Iran by U.S. House
David E. Sanger, New York Times, September 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/world/middleeast/15iran.html
The International Atomic Energy Agency has complained about a staff
report from the House Intelligence Committee, saying that it "contains
erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated information" about Iran's
nuclear program. Agency officials said Thursday that their concerns
had echoes of their arguments with the Bush administration over Iraq
three years ago. The staff report was widely seen as an effort to prod
American intelligence agencies to be more aggressive in their
examination of Iran's nuclear program, amid charges from some
conservatives that the mistakes made in assessing Iraq's programs four
years ago had bred an overly cautious atmosphere.

But the staff report immediately came under criticism, especially from
Democrats on the committee, who said it overstated aspects of the
threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. The committee's vice chairman,
Representative Harman, accused the staff of taking shortcuts that
inflated the Iranian threat. The report was overseen by Fredrick
Fleitz, who worked for John Bolton when he was the State Department's
leading hawk on Iran. A senior European diplomat said, "The view at
the I.A.E.A. was that this House report exaggerated the evidence, and
people had to put a marker down fast."

6) Bush's Message to Iran
David Ignatius, Washington Post, Friday, September 15, 2006; A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401415.html
What would President Bush say to the Iranian people? I was able to put
that question to Bush in an interview. His answer made clear that the
administration wants a diplomatic solution to the confrontation over
Iran's nuclear program -- one that is premised on an American
recognition of Iran's role as an important nation in the Middle East.

" I would say to the Iranian people that I recognize the importance of
your sovereignty -- that you're a proud nation, and you want to have a
positive future for your citizens," Bush said. "In terms of the
nuclear issue," he continued, "I understand that you believe it is in
your interest -- your sovereign interest, and your sovereign right --
to have nuclear power. I understand that. But I would also say to the
Iranian people, there are deep concerns about the intentions of some
in your government who would use knowledge gained from a civilian
nuclear power industry to develop a weapon that can then fulfill the
stated objectives of some of the leadership. And I would say to the
Iranian people that I would want to work for a solution to meeting
your rightful desires to have civilian nuclear power." "I would tell
the Iranian people that we have no desire for conflict," Bush added.

Iraq
7) Iraq to Dig Trenches Around Baghdad
Associated Press, September 15, 2006, Filed at 12:35 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iraq.html
Iraqi security forces will dig trenches around Baghdad and set up
checkpoints along all roads leading into the city to reduce some of
the violence plaguing the capital, the Interior Ministry said Friday.
To help halt that bloodshed, more U.S. troops have been shifted to
Baghdad from the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, a senior U.S.
commander said.

Israel
8) Inaccurate Map Led to Fatal Strike on U.N. Post, Israel Says
Associated Press, September 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/world/middleeast/15israel.html
The airstrike that killed four UN observers in July was the result of
the Israeli military's reliance on inaccurate maps, Israel said in a
report released Thursday. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the report
was given to diplomats from Canada, China, Finland and Austria, which
each had an unarmed observer killed in the July 25 airstrike. The UN
has said that before the airstrike, its observers in Lebanon had
telephoned the Israeli military 10 times in six hours to ask it to
stop shelling near their position. UN officials said the observation
position was well marked. A picture it released a day after the attack
showed the three-story building was painted white and had the letters
"U.N." emblazoned in large black letters on all sides. The UN is
expected to issue its own report.

Palestine
9) Palestinians Squabble Over Government
New York Times, September 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/world/middleeast/16mideastcnd.html
Palestinian President Abbas announced Monday that Fatah and Hamas had
agreed on a political platform for a unified national government. He
said he expected that it would meet international requirements
sufficiently to restore funding and aid, which were cut off after
Hamas took power in March. But the program has not been published and
Abbas has delayed dissolving the current government, apparently
because the US and some EU  members expressed doubts about whether the
new program satisfies the West's three requirements: to recognize the
right of Israel to exist, to forswear violence and to accept all
previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

On Thursday,  Prime Minister Haniya accused the US of undermining
efforts to form the new government and called on Europe to take the
lead in lifting international sanctions against the Palestinians. "The
U.S. administration does not want the Palestinians to be unified,"
Haniya said. "It puts obstacles in the way of this political coming
together. It wants to extort the Palestinian people and the
Palestinian government."

Haniya and Abbas have been pushing on European anxieties about the
severe economic depression the funding and aid cutoff has produced in
the Palestinian territories, and in particular in Gaza, which the UN
has called "a ticking time bomb." UN agencies have sharply increased
their aid, including basic foodstuffs, to prevent malnutrition in
Gaza, where 40 percent of the work force is employed by the
Palestinian Authority and has had less than two months' salary in the
last seven months. The Europeans want to end the stalemate and use the
conclusion of the war in Lebanon as a springboard toward renewed
Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Turkey
10) Turkey, a Touchy Critic, Plans to Put a Novel on Trial
Susanne Fowler, International Herald Tribune, September 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/world/europe/15turkey.html
[Turkey is a NATO member and close US ally, so its actions on human
rights bear scutiny as a measure of the Bush Administration's stated
policy of promoting democracy in the Middle East. - JFP.]
"If there is a thief in a novel," said Elif Shafak recently, "it
doesn't make the novelist a thief." Shafak is due in court on Sept. 21
to defend herself against charges that she insulted "Turkishness"
because a character in her novel, "The Bastard of Istanbul," refers to
the deaths of Armenians in 1915 as genocide. Shafak, is being sued
under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, the same law that
ensnared Turkey's best-known contemporary author, Orhan Pamuk, in
2005. She is scheduled to give birth to her first child the week of
the trial. A conviction carries a possible penalty of up to three
years in jail.

Pope's Comments on Islam
11) Muslims Express Fury Over Pope's Remarks
Associated Press, September 15, 2006, Filed at 12:48 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pope-Muslims.html
Muslims around the world expressed outrage Friday over Pope Benedict
XVI's comments on Islam, with Turkey's ruling party accusing him of
trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades and scores taking to the
streets in protest. Pakistan's parliament unanimously condemned the
pope and the Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's ambassador to
express regret over the remarks.

12)  Pope Gets it Wrong on Islam
Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Friday, September 15, 2006
http://www.juancole.com/2006/09/pope-gets-it-wrong-on-islam-pope.html
Pope Benedict's speech at Regensburg University, which mentioned Islam
and jihad, has provoked a firestorm of controversy. The address is
more complex and subtle than the press on it represents. But let me
just signal that what is most troubling of all is that the Pope gets
several things about Islam wrong, just as a matter of fact. He should
apologize to the Muslims and get better advisers on Christian-Muslim
relations.

Mexico
13) Mexico's Fox Moves Event to Avoid Protesters
Lisa J. Adams, Associated Press, Friday, September 15, 2006; A13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401582.html
President Fox backed away from a confrontation with López Obrador on
Thursday, announcing that he wouldn't hold his annual Independence Day
celebration at the capital's main Zocalo plaza to avoid protesters.
López Obrador and his supporters had vowed to upstage Fox by refusing
to take part in Friday's salute of "Viva Mexico!," delivered each year
by the president. They plan to take over the Zocalo for their own
celebration, and some feared clashes if pro-government revelers showed
up. Fox will move his ceremony to the town of Dolores Hidalgo, 170
miles northwest of Mexico City. Interior Minister Carlos Abascal made
the announcement shortly after the Senate voted unanimously to
recommend that Fox not travel to the Zocalo.

Nicaragua
14) US warns Nicaraguans not to back Sandinista
Adam Thomson, Financial Times, September 15 2006
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b6eafab4-4456-11db-8965-0000779e2340.html
The US ambassador to Nicaragua has issued a vigorous warning to this
Central American country's electors against supporting Daniel Ortega,
the veteran leftwing Sandinista leader and the frontrunner in
November's presidential election. Paul Trivelli said Ortega was
"undemocratic" and would roll back much of the advances made in recent
years. Underlining the concern felt in Washington about the regional
influence of President Chávez of Venezuela, the ambassador said he had
no doubt that Venezuela was playing an important role in the election.

--------
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.