[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, September 18, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
September 18, 2006

Summary:
U.S.
President Bush's push for legislation that narrowly defines U.S.
obligations under the Geneva Conventions would allow the CIA to
continue using highly controversial interrogation techniques, the
Washington Post reports. One source said the techniques include
prolonged sleep deprivation and forced standing or other stress
positions. Another source said they match the techniques used by the
agency in the past, except that the CIA no longer seeks to use
"waterboarding," which is meant to simulate drowning.

The White House and Senate Republicans who revolted against the
president's proposal on CIA interrogations said Sunday a compromise
was possible, Reuters reports. Newsweek magazine, in its September 25
issue, said the CIA has sought to use techniques that include induced
hypothermia, long periods of forced standing, sleep deprivation,
"belly slap," and sound and light manipulation.

Iran
Time magazine reports on U.S. plans for a military attack on Iran. A
"Prepare to Deploy" order to several ships and a review of
long-standing U.S. plans to blockade two Iranian oil ports sent a buzz
through the Navy. No one is talking about a ground invasion, Time
says. Too many troops are tied down elsewhere, and besides, it isn't
necessary. If the U.S. goal is simply to stunt Iran's nuclear program,
it can be done better and more safely by air. An attack limited to
Iran's nuclear facilities would nonetheless require a massive
campaign, Time concludes.

Some officials said they're concerned that the offices of Defense
Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney may be receiving a stream
of questionable information that originates with Iranian exiles,
McClatchy Newspapers reports. Officials said the Pentagon's Iranian
directorate has been headed by Abram Shulsky.  Shulsky was head of the
Office of Special Plans, whose role in allegedly manipulating Iraq
intelligence is under investigation by the Pentagon's inspector
general.

European efforts to get Iran and the US to negotiate are at an
advanced yet sensitive stage, reports Dafna Linzer for the Washington
Post.

Iraq
Doctors say traumatic brain injuries are the signature wound of the
Iraq war. About 1,000 patients have been treated for the symptoms, AP
reports. Some fear there may be thousands more who are suffering
undiagnosed.

Before they could participate in the US reconstruction of Iraq,
applicants had to pass a political loyalty test to the Bush
Administration, writes Rajiv Chandrasekaran in the Washington Post in
an excerpt from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," Many who were
chosen lacked vital skills and experience.

The U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons,
keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law, AP
reports. Many former detainees say they were interrogated around the
clock, then released without apology, compensation or any word on why
they were taken.

Shiite militiamen and criminals entrenched throughout Iraq's police
and internal security forces are blocking efforts by Iraqi leaders and
the American military to root them out, the New York Times reports.

The U.S. has imprisoned an AP photographer in Iraq for five months,
never filing charges or permitting a public hearing, AP reports. He
says he was targeted because his photos from Ramadi and Fallujah were
deemed unwelcome.

Israel
The Israeli government established a committee Sunday to investigate
the political and military leadership's handling of the recent war in
Lebanon. Protesters demanded that the investigation be carried out by
a state commission with greater powers and independence.

Palestine
A Palestinian official said internal Palestinian talks were in a state
of crisis. He said Hamas needed to accept previous agreements between
the Palestinians and the Israelis, or a new government would not win
international acceptance. Hamas said that its position had not
changed, and that it still refused to recognize Israel.

Over the past six years, more than 70,000 people have applied without
success to immigrate to the West Bank or Gaza to join relatives,
according an Israeli human rights group, the New York Times reports.
Palestinians say Israel is pursuing a systematic policy of limiting
the population in the Palestinian areas, even if it means separating
family members.

Afghanistan
After NATO's leaders demanded reinforcements for their mission in
Afghanistan, only one member offered more troops, the Washington Post
reports.  NATO's forces are suffering the highest casualty rates of
the five-year-long conflict.

Pope's Comments on Islam
Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday he is "deeply sorry" about the
reaction to a speech in which he quoted a 14th-century emperor as
saying that the prophet Muhammad brought "only evil and inhuman"
things to the world. The statement was the third attempt by Vatican
officials to cool the reaction to his speech.

In this issue:
U.S.
1) Behind the Debate, Controversial CIA Techniques
2) White House: deal possible on CIA interrogations
3) Torture and the Content of our Character
Iran
4) What War With Iran Would Look Like
5) In a Replay of Iraq, A Battle is Brewing Over Intelligence on Iran
6) Europeans Trying to Grease Wheels for U.S. Talks With Iran
Iraq
7) Iraq war's signature wound: brain injury
8) Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
9) U.S. War Prisons Legal Vacuum for 14, 000
10) Iraq Stumbling in Bid to Purge Its Rogue Police
11) U.S. Jails Journalist in Iraq
Israel
12) Israel Forms Committee to Investigate Lebanon War
Palestine
13) Israeli Visa Policy Traps Thousands of Palestinians in a Legal Quandary
Afghanistan
14) NATO Faces Growing Hurdle As Call for Troops Falls Short
Pope's Comments on Islam
15) Pope 'Sorry' About Reaction to Islam Remark

Contents:
U.S.
1) Behind the Debate, Controversial CIA Techniques
Interrogation Options Seen as Vital
R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, Saturday, September 16, 2006; A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501252.html

President Bush's push for legislation that narrowly defines U.S.
obligations under the Geneva Conventions is motivated by conviction
that the CIA must continue using highly controversial interrogation
techniques, according to current and former officials. These methods
include some that cause extreme discomfort and have been repudiated by
other federal agencies. The legitimacy of these coercive techniques is
the subtext of the dispute between the administration and opponents on
Capitol Hill, including lawmakers who have said they find some of the
CIA's past interrogation methods abhorrent.

Bush's proposal requires interrogations in the CIA prison system to
comply with rules written by Congress last year. The administration
has concluded this would allow the CIA to keep using virtually all the
interrogation methods it has employed for the past five years,
officials said. A memo to the CIA from the Justice Department's Office
of Legal Counsel named interrogation methods the department believed
to be sanctioned by last year's broadly written congressional
requirement. One source said the techniques include prolonged sleep
deprivation and forced standing or other stress positions. Another
source said they match the techniques used by the agency in the past,
except that the CIA no longer seeks to use a "waterboarding," which is
meant to simulate drowning.

A retired intelligence professional said the predominant view at the
agency is that McCain - who made clear in congressional debate last
year that he disapproved of what the CIA was doing - was surprised to
learn later that the Detainee Treatment Act did not put a stop to it.

2) White House: deal possible on CIA interrogations
Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters, Sunday, September 17, 2006; 5:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700294.html
The White House and Senate Republicans who revolted against the
president's proposal on tough CIA interrogations of terrorism suspects
said on Sunday a compromise was possible to heal a party rift over
treatment of prisoners. Media reports have said "water boarding,"
which simulates drowning, and sleep deprivation have been employed by
the CIA. Newsweek magazine, in its September 25 issue, said the CIA
has sought to use techniques that include induced hypothermia, long
periods of forced standing, sleep deprivation, "belly slap," and sound
and light manipulation. Administration officials have agreed to drop
water boarding from a list of approved CIA techniques, Newsweek said.
That method was prohibited in the new Army Field Manual.

3) Torture and the Content of our Character
Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith, The Nation, September 15, 2006
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061002/brecher
At stake in this standoff between the President and the Senate are
legal and moral issues central to the Constitution and the character
of the American people: the right to a fair trial, the use of torture,
the accountability of high government officials for war crimes. It
also tests the powers of Congress and the Supreme Court to rein in an
errant executive.

Iran
4) What War With Iran Would Look Like
Michael Duffy, Time Magazine, Sunday, Sep. 17, 2006
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1535316,00.html
The first message was routine enough: a "Prepare to Deploy" order sent
through naval communications channels to a submarine, an Aegis-class
cruiser, two minesweepers and two mine hunters. The orders didn't
actually command the ships out of port; they just said to be ready to
move by Oct. 1. But inside the Navy those messages generated more buzz
than usual last week when a second request, from the Chief of Naval
Operations (CNO), asked for fresh eyes on long-standing U.S. plans to
blockade two Iranian oil ports on the Persian Gulf.
What's going on? The two orders offered tantalizing clues. There are
only a few places in the world where minesweepers top the list of U.S.
naval requirements. And every sailor, petroleum engineer and
hedge-fund manager knows the name of the most important: the Strait of
Hormuz, the 20-mile-wide bottleneck in the Persian Gulf through which
roughly 40% of the world's oil needs to pass each day. Coupled with
the CNO's request for a blockade review, a deployment of minesweepers
to the west coast of Iran would seem to suggest that a much discussed
prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with
Iran.
No one is talking about a ground invasion of Iran. Too many U.S.
troops are tied down elsewhere to make it possible, and besides, it
isn't necessary. If the U.S. goal is simply to stunt Iran's nuclear
program, it can be done better and more safely by air. An attack
limited to Iran's nuclear facilities would nonetheless require a
massive campaign. Experts say that Iran has between 18 and 30
nuclear-related facilities. The sites are dispersed around the
country--some in the open, some cloaked in the guise of conventional
factories, some buried deep underground.
A Pentagon official says that among the known sites there are 1,500
different "aim points," which means the campaign could well require
the involvement of almost every type of aircraft in the U.S. arsenal:
Stealth bombers and fighters, B-1s and B-2s, as well as F-15s and
F-16s operating from land and F-18s from aircraft carriers.
5) In a Replay of Iraq, A Battle is Brewing Over Intelligence on Iran
Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott, McClatchy Newspapers, September 17, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0917-02.htm
U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials say Bush political
appointees and hard-liners on Capitol Hill have tried to portray
Iran's nuclear program as more advanced than it is and to exaggerate
Tehran's role in Hezbollah's attack on Israel in mid-July. Several
former U.S. defense officials who maintain close ties to the Pentagon
say they've been told that plans for airstrikes are being updated. The
leader of a Persian Gulf country who visited Washington recently came
away without receiving assurances he sought that the military option
was off the table, said a person with direct knowledge of the
meetings.

Some officials at the CIA, DIA and the State Department said they're
concerned that the offices of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice
President Cheney may be receiving a stream of questionable information
that originates with Iranian exiles, including a discredited arms
dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar, who played a role in the 1980s
Iran-Contra scandal. Officials at all three agencies said they suspect
that the dubious information may include claims that Iran directed
Hezbollah to kidnap two Israeli soldiers in July; that Iran's nuclear
program is moving faster than generally believed; and that the Iranian
people are eager to join foreign efforts to overthrow their rulers.

The officials said there is no reliable intelligence to support any of
those assertions and some that contradicts all three. Officials say
they have fought to tone down administration public statements and
internal briefing papers about Iran's complicity in the attack on
Israel. "They're just basically saying all kinds of wacky stuff," said
the first counter-terrorism official. "Now Iran is responsible for
everything Hezbollah does." Adding to the unease, Rumsfeld's office
earlier this year set up a new Iranian directorate, reported to be
under the leadership of neoconservatives who played a role in planning
the Iraq war.

Current and former officials said the Pentagon's Iranian directorate
has been headed by Abram Shulsky. Shulsky was the head of the Office
of Special Plans, whose role in allegedly manipulating Iraq
intelligence is under investigation by the Pentagon's inspector
general. Some officials fear the offic is being used to funnel
intelligence from Ghorbanifar, the arms dealer, and the Iranian exile
group Mujahedeen Khalq. Bill Murray, a retired CIA station chief,
called the office's establishment "a big bell ringer." "That is
outright manipulation of information to suggest a predetermined
policy," Murray said.

6) Europeans Trying to Grease Wheels for U.S. Talks With Iran
Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Monday, September 18, 2006; A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700681.html
European efforts to get Iran and the US around the same negotiating
table are at an advanced yet sensitive stage, with a small number of
remaining differences to be tackled this week when world leaders
gather at the UN, according to several officials involved. Bush plans
to make Iran a centerpiece of his speech Tuesday before the U.N.
General Assembly. While many of his allies share suspicions of a
secret Iranian effort, they have also been wary of supporting a U.S.
president who has invaded two countries in the past five years and who
has said that "all options are on the table" for Iran.

The EU's Javier Solana will meet with Iran's nuclear negotiator, Ali
Larijani, later this week. Officials said he is waiting for Larijani
to deliver a firm commitment from his government to halt its uranium
enrichment program. Larijani has suggested a temporary suspension, but
it is unclear whether he can get Iran's various political factions to
agree to that approach. If a deal is reached, U.S. diplomats will join
group talks with European powers, Russia, China and Iran to discuss
Tehran's energy needs and the future of its nuclear program. Several
administration officials expressed skepticism, however, that Larijani
would be able to secure that commitment.
Iranian officials are seeking assurances of their own. They have said
it would be hard for them to sit down with a U.S. administration that
is seen as threatening the Iranian leadership. Two Bush administration
officials and several European negotiators said the security issue has
been a major sticking point for Iran but that efforts to resolve it
are serious. Officials noted that Bush refrained last week from
characterizing Iran as a "grave threat," as he did last month.
To avoid a standoff over whether the US  or Iran will make the next
move toward talks, diplomats said it is possible that European foreign
ministers will meet with Larijani during the week in New York,
effectively kicking off negotiations, followed by an Iranian
suspension of its nuclear program and then U.S. participation. Other
E.U. members have strongly supported talks, rather than punitive
measures, noting that Iran's technical progress on its nuclear program
has been marginal, while its position as a major oil exporter gives
Tehran significant leverage to batter their economies.

Iraq
7) Iraq war's signature wound: brain injury
Jordan Robertson, Associated Press, Friday, September 15, 2006
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Iraq_War_Brain_Injuries.html
Doctors say traumatic brain injuries are the signature wound of the
Iraq war, a byproduct of improved armor that allows troops to survive
once-deadly attacks but does not fully protect against roadside
explosives and suicide bombers. About 1,000 patients have been treated
for the symptoms, which include slowed thinking, severe memory loss
and problems with coordination and impulse control. Some doctors fear
there may be thousands more active duty and discharged troops who are
suffering undiagnosed.

8) Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
Early U.S. Missteps in the Green Zone
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post, Sunday, September 17, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193.html
[From "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
The opportunity to participate in the effort to reconstruct Iraq
attracted all manner of Americans. But before they could go to
Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.
To pass muster with O'Beirne, applicants didn't need to be experts in
the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most
important was loyalty to the Bush administration. O'Beirne's staff
posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did
you vote for Bush? Do you support the way the president is fighting
the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs said they were even
asked their views on Roe v. Wade. Many chosen by O'Beirne's office
lacked vital skills and experience. One who had never worked in
finance was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. Two were tapped
to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a
background in accounting.

The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and
the brightest is now regarded by many as one of the Bush
administration's gravest errors. Many of those selected because of
their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a
conservative agenda on the postwar occupation, which sidetracked more
important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the
Iraqi people.

9) U.S. War Prisons Legal Vacuum for 14, 000
Associated Press, Filed at 7:16 a.m. ET, September 18, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-In-American-Hands.html
Since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S.
military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands
of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of
established law. Captured on battlefields, pulled from beds at
midnight, grabbed off streets as suspected insurgents, tens of
thousands now have passed through U.S. detention, the vast majority in
Iraq. Many say they were caught up in U.S. military sweeps, often
interrogated around the clock, then released months or years later
without apology, compensation or any word on why they were taken.
Seventy to 90 percent of the Iraq detentions in 2003 were
''mistakes,'' U.S. officers once told the international Red Cross.

10) Iraq Stumbling in Bid to Purge Its Rogue Police
Edward Wong & Paul von Zielbauer, New York Times, September 17, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/world/middleeast/17ministry.html
Shiite militiamen and criminals entrenched throughout Iraq's police
and internal security forces are blocking efforts by Iraqi leaders and
the American military to root them out, a step critical to winning the
trust of skeptical Sunni Arabs and quelling the sectarian conflict,
Iraqi and Western officials say. The new interior minister, Jawad
al-Bolani, who oversees the police, lacks the political support to
purge many of the worst offenders, including senior managers who
tolerated or encouraged the infiltration of Shiite militias into the
police under the previous government.

11) U.S. Jails Journalist in Iraq
Associated Press, Monday, September 18, 2006; A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700480.html
The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an AP photographer for five
months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing
charges or permitting a public hearing. Bilal Hussein was being held
for "imperative reasons of security" according to military officials.
His attorney said Hussein has proclaimed his innocence and believes he
has been unfairly targeted because his photos from Ramadi and Fallujah
were deemed unwelcome by the U.S. military.

Israel
12) Israel Forms Committee to Investigate Lebanon War
Greg Myre, New York Times, September 18, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/world/middleeast/18mideast.html
The Israeli government established a committee Sunday to investigate
the political and military leadership's handling of the recent war in
Lebanon. Many Israelis say the military campaign in Lebanon was poorly
planned and executed, and that leaders should be held accountable.
Israel could not halt the rocket fire into northern Israel by the
Hezbollah, and has not achieved the return of two soldiers Hezbollah
captured in the raid on July 12 that ignited the conflict. Dozens of
protesters demanded that the investigation be carried out by a state
commission. Such a commission would have greater power and be seen as
more independent because it would be appointed by a Supreme Court
judge instead of by the government it was investigating.

On Sunday, Palestinian president Abbas, left on a trip that will take
him to the UN for the opening of the General Assembly. His absence
puts on hold talks about a national unity government for the
Palestinians. Abbas had wanted an agreement before he left so he could
appeal to Western leaders to restore the financial assistance that was
cut after Hamas came to power. Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas say
they remain committed to the unity government, but they have traded
sharp words in recent days. Yasser Abed Rabbo, who is part of Abbas's
delegation, said the internal Palestinian talks were in a state of
crisis. He said Hamas needed to accept previous agreements between the
Palestinians and the Israelis, or a new government would not win
international acceptance. Hamas said that its position had not
changed, and that it still refused to recognize Israel. Western
countries have demanded the Palestinian Authority government recognize
Israel as one condition for restoring aid.

Palestine
13) Israeli Visa Policy Traps Thousands of Palestinians in a Legal Quandary
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/world/middleeast/18palestinians.html
Over the past six years, more than 70,000 people have applied without
success to immigrate to the West Bank or Gaza to join relatives,
according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group. Many who worked
around the ban with tourist visas now have no legal way to remain.
Palestinians say Israel is pursuing a systematic policy of limiting
the population in the Palestinian areas, even if it means separating
family members. "Most every Palestinian knows someone with this kind
of problem," said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for B'Tselem. In her
view, the Israeli policy has several purposes: to apply political
pressure on the Palestinians, to create a bargaining chip that could
be used in future negotiations and to be a tool in a battle of
demographics. The largest single category of people affected by the
Israeli policy is Jordanian women of Palestinian descent who have
married Palestinian men and want to move to the West Bank to live with
their husbands, Michaeli said.

Afghanistan
14) NATO Faces Growing Hurdle As Call for Troops Falls Short
Alliance Casualties Hit 5-Year High in Volatile Afghanistan
Molly Moore & John Ward Anderson, Washington Post, September 18, 2006; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700570.html
More than a week after NATO's top leaders publicly demanded
reinforcements for their embattled mission in southern Afghanistan,
only one member of the alliance has offered more troops, raising
questions about NATO's largest military operation ever outside of
Europe and the goal of expanding its global reach. The plea for more
soldiers and equipment to fight resurgent Taliban insurgents comes as
NATO's forces are suffering the highest casualty rates of the
five-year-long conflict in Afghanistan, and as European governments
are feeling stretched by the demands for troops there and in Iraq,
Lebanon, the Balkans and in several African countries.

Pope's Comments on Islam
15) Pope 'Sorry' About Reaction to Islam Remark
Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, Monday, September 18, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/17/AR2006091700178.html
Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday he is "deeply sorry" about the
reaction in some countries to a recent speech in which he quoted a
14th-century emperor as saying that the prophet Muhammad brought "only
evil and inhuman" things to the world. The pope said the quotation
does not reflect his personal views, and that his speech last Tuesday
was intended to invite inter-religious dialogue "with great mutual
respect." Benedict's statement was the third attempt by Vatican
officials in as many days to cool the reaction to his speech, which
escalated from diplomatic protests to violence over the weekend.

--------
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
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