[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, September 25, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
September 25, 2006

Summary:
U.S.
An assessment of terrorism trends by US intelligence agencies found
the invasion & occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of
Islamic radicalism. The classified National Intelligence Estimate
attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism
than presented in White House documents or a report Wednesday by the
House Intelligence Committee.

Democratic lawmakers, responding to the report, said the assessment
demonstrated that the Bush administration needed to devise a new
strategy for its handling of the war. Representative Harman said,
"Every intelligence analyst I speak to confirms that"the Iraq war had
contributed to the increased terrorist threat."

When the US sent Maher Arar to Syria, where he was tortured for
months, the deportation order stated unequivocally that Arar was a
member of Al Qaeda. But Canadian investigators had told the FBI they
had not been able to link him to the group. Cases like Arar's would
not be affected by the legislation on detainee treatment worked out
between the White House and Republican senators last week.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America, attacked President Bush's proposal to reinterpret the Geneva
Conventions and the Senate "compromise" in an op-ed in the New York
Times.

The US army should scrap its "Warrior Ethos" because its emphasis on
annihilating the enemy is inimical to the patient, confidence-building
warfare America is engaged in the Middle East, according to
Lieutenant-General Gregory Newbold, former director of operations to
the joint chiefs of staff, the London Sunday Times reports.

Human rights groups have denounced the compromise deal on the
application of the Geneva Conventions to detainees, Inter Press
Service reports.

The CIA's former top expert on radical Islamists denounced the conduct
of Bush's "war on terrorism" and the continued U.S. military presence
in Iraq, which he said is "contributing to the violence," in an
interview with Harper's Ken Silverstein.

On ''Fox News Sunday,'' former President Clinton defended his handling
of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden.' Clinton accused host Chris
Wallace of a ''conservative hit job'' and asked: ''I want to know how
many people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do
anything about the Cole?...Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'''

Iraq
Iraq's political parties reached a deal Sunday to prevent the country
from splintering into a federation of three autonomous zones until at
least 2008. The deal appears to have forestalled a crisis over
federalism, but lawmakers emphasized the issue remains unresolved. "We
still need a miracle to save the country," said a spokesman for the
Iraqi Accordance Front. "The process of sectarian cleansing is still
going on, and the violence is not waning, and this may serve those
proponents of federalism who want to make the people believe that
living together in a unified country is not possible."

Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert recently held talks with a member of
Saudi Arabia's royal family on Middle East peace & Iran's nuclear
program, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

With Iran seen gaining the ability to produce nuclear weapons within a
few years, and preventive military options limited, some experts now
anticipate another "lifting of the veil" on the Israeli atomic
arsenal, Reuters reports. The objective would be to establish a more
open military deterrence vis-a-vis Iran and perhaps win Israel's
nuclear option formal legitimacy abroad.

Palestine
The movement to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank is
experiencing a revival after a summer of war caused many Israelis to
question abandoning more territory, the Washington Post reports. The
government has stepped up construction in large settlement blocs,
including areas the Bush administration warned Israel against
developing, & the West Bank settlement population of a quarter-million
people is growing.

Syria
Syrian President Assad said his nation wants ''peace with Israel'' and
welcomed U.S. intervention in the region. But he also said Washington
must listen to what people in the Middle East think. ''Terrorism is
growing instead of declining,'' he said. ''We both suffer from it, but
the US doesn't want to cooperate with us."

Argentina
Many Argentine officials & social activists want to confiscate
property Douglas Tompkins, the American founder of the North Face &
Esprit clothing lines, says he bought to create an ecological
preserve, the Washington Post reports. They think he & other
foreigners who have bought enormous swaths of the Argentine & Chilean
countryside are trying to wrest control under the guise of
environmental preservation.

Sudan
The African Union is completing plans to send an additional 1,200
peacekeeping troops to join its 7,200-member force in Darfur. AU
officials said their peacekeepers intended to broaden the rules of
engagement to protect civilians more efficiently.

Contents:
U.S.
1) Study of Iraq War and Terror Stirs Strong Political Response
Philip Shenon & Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, September 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/world/middleeast/25terror.html
Democratic lawmakers, responding to an intelligence report that found
that the Iraq war has invigorated Islamic radicalism and worsened the
global terrorist threat, said the assessment by American spy agencies
demonstrated that the Bush administration needed to devise a new
strategy for its handling of the war. Representative Harman said,
"Every intelligence analyst I speak to confirms that" the Iraq war had
contributed to the increased terrorist threat. "Even capturing the
remaining top Al Qaeda leadership isn't going to prevent copycat
cells, and it isn't going to change a failed policy in Iraq," Harman
said on CNN. "This administration is trying to change the subject. I
don't think voters are going to buy that."

2) Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat
Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, September 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html
A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence
agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq
has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the
overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks. The
classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct
role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either
in recent White House documents or in a report Wednesday by the House
Intelligence Committee.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal
appraisal of global terrorism by US intelligence agencies since the
Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate
spy services inside government. Titled "Trends in Global Terrorism:
Implications for the United States," it asserts that Islamic
radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread
across the globe. An opening section of the report, "Indicators of the
Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement," cites the Iraq war as a
reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology. The report "says that the
Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse."

3) Torture Victim Had No Terror Link, Canada Told U.S.
Scott Shane, New York Times, September 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/world/americas/25arar.html
When the US sent Maher Arar to Syria, where he was tortured for
months, the deportation order stated unequivocally that Arar, a
Canadian engineer, was a member of Al Qaeda. But a few days earlier,
Canadian investigators had told the FBI that they had not been able to
link him to the terrorist group. That is disclosed in the report
released last week after a Canadian investigation of Arar's case found
him innocent of any terrorist ties. The report urges the Canadian
government to formally protest the American treatment of Arar, a
recommendation Canadian officials are considering. Arar has a lawsuit
against US officials and agencies that is on appeal, and has demanded
an explanation for his treatment from the Bush administration.

The Arar Commission report offers a rare window on American actions in
the case, describing seemingly flimsy evidence behind the American
decision in 2002 to send Arar to a country notorious for torture; a
deliberate attempt by American officials to deceive Canada about where
Arar was; and lingering confusion among top American officials about
the two countries' roles in the case. President Bush this month
acknowledged that high-level people suspected of being terrorists had
been held in secret prisons overseas by the CIA. But US officials have
said nothing publicly about the American practice of rendition, in
which dozens of suspects have been seized and turned over for
interrogation to other countries, including several known to engage
routinely in torture.

Cases like Arar's would not be affected by the legislation on detainee
treatment worked out between the White House and Republican senators
last week, since it would have no effect on interrogation methods used
by other countries. In fact, the proposed bill would strip
non-Americans held overseas under US control of the right to challenge
their detention in federal court. "It's a huge hole in what Congress
is doing," said Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional
Rights, which represents Arar in his lawsuit. "The government can
still send people secretly to other countries where they'll be
tortured."

4) Do Unto Your Enemy...
Paul Rieckhoff, Op-Ed, New York Times, September 25, 2006
Paul Rieckhoff is executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
of America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/opinion/25rieckhoff.html
In 2002, I attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course. A seasoned
senior officer explained the importance of the Geneva Conventions:
"When an enemy fighter knows he'll be treated well by US forces if he
is captured, he is more likely to give up." In Baghdad, I saw
countless insurgents surrender when faced with the prospect of a hot
meal, a pack of cigarettes and air-conditioning. America's moral
integrity was the single most important weapon my platoon had on the
streets of Iraq. It saved innumerable lives, encouraged cooperation
with our allies and deterred Iraqis from joining the insurgency. But
those days are over. America's moral standing has eroded, thanks to
its flawed rationale for war and scandals like Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo
and Haditha. The last thing we can afford is to leave Article 3 of the
Geneva Conventions open to reinterpretation, as President Bush
proposed and can still do under the compromise bill.

5) US Army's Kill-Kill Ethos Under Fire
Sarah Baxter, Sunday Times (London),  Sunday, September 24, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0924-02.htm
The American army should scrap the Warrior Ethos, a martial creed that
urges soldiers to demonstrate their fighting spirit by destroying the
enemies of the US at close quarter rather than winning the trust of
local populations, according to senior US officers and
counter-insurgency experts. The Warrior Ethos's emphasis on
annihilating the enemy is inimical to the type of patient,
confidence-building counter-insurgency warfare in which America is
engaged in the Middle East, according to Lieutenant-General Gregory
Newbold, former director of operations to the joint chiefs of staff.
"The future crises that relate to Iraq and Afghanistan will be a
struggle for hearts and minds," Newbold said. "We're in a different
environment now and that requires different techniques."

6) Groups Denounce Deal on Detainee Rights
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Saturday, September 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0923-02.htm
Human & civil rights groups have denounced a compromise deal on the
application of the Geneva Conventions to detainees worked out between
the White House and a group of Republican senators whose efforts have
been backed until now by their Democratic colleagues. While the deal
appeared to make some concessions, most analysts expressed skepticism
it would make a substantial difference in the way the administration
intends to treat detainees. Those doubts were bolstered by White House
statements Friday that the proposed legislation would permit the CIA
to use what the White House calls "alternative interrogation
procedures."

Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, declined to answer a
reporter's question about whether "waterboarding", a technique that
rights groups and even the State Department have long denounced as
torture, could be permitted under the compromise. His refusal came
hours after John McCain asserted that the deal's language barred
waterboarding and other "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions.

"It only takes 30 seconds or so to see that the Senators have
capitulated entirely, that the U.S. will hereafter violate the Geneva
Conventions... and that there will be very little pretense about it,"
said Marty Lederman, international law professor at Georgetown. His
interpretation was similar to that of Human Rights Watch and the ACLU.
"The definition of what is cruel and inhuman is narrowly drawn," Human
Rights Watch said. "While it should be sufficient to prohibit the most
abusive CIA techniques, the administration may try to interpret it as
allowing certain humiliating and degrading practices banned by Common
Article 3." The ACLU's legislative director, Caroline Fredrickson,
assailed the deal as a "compromise of America's commitment to the rule
of law."

7) Top CIA Expert Slams Bush Anti-Terror Actions
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Friday, September 22, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0922-03.htm
http://www.harpers.org/sb-six-questions-emile-nakhleh-1158706094.html
The CIA's former top expert on radical Islamists has strongly
denounced the conduct of Bush's "war on terrorism" and the continued
U.S. military presence in Iraq, which he said is "contributing to the
violence". In an interview this week by the online edition of Harper's
Magazine, Emile Nakhleh, former director of the agency's Political
Islam Strategic Analysis Program, said the Bush administration's
tactics had "lost a generation of goodwill in the Muslim world" and
its Middle East democratisation program "has all but disappeared,
except for official rhetoric". Nakhleh called for Washington to "begin
to explore creative ways to engage Iran and bring Iran and Shiite
politics to the forefront of our policy in the region." "The growing
influence of Hezbollah, and its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, across the
region and within the Sunni street, and the growing regional influence
and reach of Iran, are two new realities that we should recognise and
engage," he told Ken Silverstein.

8) Clinton, Fox Anchor Battle in Interview
Associated Press, September 25, 2006, Filed at 6:36 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Clinton-Fox-News.html
On ''Fox News Sunday,'' former President Clinton defended his handling
of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, saying he tried to have bin
Laden killed and was attacked for his efforts by the same people who
now criticize him for not doing enough.''That's the difference in me
and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me
now,'' Clinton said. ''They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight
months to try, they did not try.'' Clinton accused host Chris Wallace
of a ''conservative hit job'' and asked: ''I want to know how many
people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do
anything about the Cole?' I want to know how many people you asked,
'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'''

Iraq
9) Iraqi Parties Reach Deal Postponing Federalism
Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, Monday, September 25, 2006; A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR2006092400918.html
Iraq's political parties reached a deal Sunday meant to prevent the
country from splintering into a federation of three autonomous zones
until at least 2008. The agreement forestalled concerns that the
debate over federalism could cause the country's fragile multi-sect
government to collapse. Sunni Arabs had threatened to boycott
parliament over a proposal, introduced by a Shiite Muslim group this
month, to create a mechanism that could carve out a predominantly
Shiite region in southern Iraq. Sunnis adamantly oppose that plan,
which would leave them with a central area devoid of oil reserves.

Under the compromise, parliament will form a 27-member committee on
Monday to review the constitution and then introduce the Shiite
measure on creating federal regions the following day. The federalism
law would not take effect for at least 18 months after it is enacted.
The deal appears to have forestalled a political crisis over
federalism, but lawmakers emphasized the issue remains unresolved. "We
still need a miracle to save the country," said Dhafer al-Ani, a
spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc in
parliament. "The process of sectarian cleansing is still going on, and
the violence is not waning, and this may serve those proponents of
federalism who want to make the people believe that living together in
a unified country is not possible."

Israel
10) Olmert Met High - Ranking Saudi: Israeli Newspaper
Reuters, September 25, 2006, Filed at 1:34 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mideast-israel-saudi.html
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert recently held talks with a member of
Saudi Arabia's royal family on Middle East peace & Iran's nuclear
program, Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said Monday. Israel &
Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. Israel's biggest daily
reported some sources said Olmert met King Abdullah 10 days ago. Other
sources identified the Saudi as another senior member of the royal
family. The kingdom was a moving force behind a 2002 Arab peace
initiative cited in a document providing the basis for a unity
government Palestinian factions have been trying to form. According to
the newspaper, the peace plan was a main item on the agenda of the
Israeli-Saudi talks.

11) Israel seen lifting nuclear veil in Iran stand-off
Dan Williams, Reuters, Monday, September 25, 2006; 8:43 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR2006092500290.html
In October 1973, with its forces battling to repel invasions by Egypt
and Syria, Israel briefly wheeled its nuclear-capable Jericho-1
missiles out of their secret silos. That, historians believe, was
picked up by U.S. spy satellites and stirred fears in Washington of a
catastrophic flare-up between Israel and Arab states. Message
received, an urgent American shipment of conventional arms to Israel
was quick to follow, and helped turn the war. With Iran seen gaining
the ability to produce nuclear weapons within a few years, and
preventive military options limited, some experts now anticipate
another "lifting of the veil" on the assumed Israeli atomic arsenal.
The objective would be to establish a more open military deterrence
vis-a-vis Iran and perhaps win Israel's nuclear option formal
legitimacy abroad.

Palestine
12) War Turns the Tide For Israeli Settlers
Scott Wilson, Washington Post, Monday, September 25, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR2006092400757.html
The movement to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which only
a few months ago appeared to be a divided, waning political force, is
experiencing a revival after a summer of war caused many Israelis to
question the wisdom of abandoning more territory. Little more than a
year ago, Prime Minister Sharon withdrew all Jewish settlers and
Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. After Sharon's stroke in January,
Ehud Olmert won national elections in March on a promise to evacuate
dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to uproot smaller,
unauthorized communities known as outposts in a bid to define Israel's
final borders. But after the war in Lebanon and as fighting continues
in Gaza, a highly unpopular Olmert has put his West Bank withdrawal
plan on hold. His government has stepped up construction in the large
settlement blocs, including areas the Bush administration has warned
Israel against developing, and the West Bank settlement population of
a quarter-million people is growing.

Syria
13) Syria Calls for Peace With Israel
Associated Press, September 25, 2006, Filed at 2:36 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Syria-US.html
Syrian President Assad said in comments released Sunday his nation
wants ''peace with Israel'' and welcomed U.S. intervention in the
region. But he also said Washington must listen to what people in the
Middle East think if it wants positive change in the region. In a Der
Spiegel interview, Assad blamed U.S. policies in the region for
''contributing to hopelessness in our country, and to silencing the
dialogue between cultures.'' Only when the U.S. government considers
the point of view of individual nations in the region will it be able
to make progress, he was quoted as saying. ''America must listen,''
Assad said. ''It must listen to the interests of others.'' ''Terrorism
is growing instead of declining,'' he said. ''We both suffer from it,
but the US doesn't want to cooperate with us."

Argentina
14) Argentine Land Fight Divides Environmentalists, Rights Advocates
Monte Reel, Washington Post, Sunday, September 24, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092301054.html
Many Argentine officials & social activists want to confiscate
property Douglas Tompkins, the American founder of the North Face &
Esprit clothing lines, says he bought to create an ecological
preserve. They think he & other foreigners who have bought enormous
swaths of the Argentine & Chilean countryside are trying to wrest
control of a continent under the guise of environmental preservation.
"We believe this is a new way of trying to dominate the South American
countries," said Araceli Mendez, a congresswoman. "It is dangerous for
the defense of our national security to have the concentration of so
much land in the hands of foreigners." The relatively cheap acreage of
Argentina has attracted millionaires in search of unspoiled estates,
including Ted Turner & Sylvester Stallone. Last month, Argentina's
undersecretary for land & social habitat declared war on such
purchases: He marched onto Tompkins' land, cut down a fence & called
for the expropriation of the property. Later, meeting with ambassadors
of Venezuela & Bolivia, countries that have implemented measures to
redistribute land from wealthy estate owners to the poor, he made his
intentions even clearer. "We want to tell everyone: We're going to
continue cutting down fences," said Luis D'Elia,. "What is more
important, the private property of a few, or the sovereignty of
everyone?"

Sudan
15) New Rules for Africa's Growing Darfur Force
Associated Press, September 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/world/africa/25darfur.html
The African Union is completing plans to send an additional 1,200
peacekeeping troops to join its 7,200-member force in the Darfur
region of Sudan, the group said Sunday. The union said it would
toughen the soldiers' role in protecting civilians. The AU announced
last week that it would send new troops to the region. The AU mission
was scheduled to wrap up at the end of September & be replaced by a
larger UN force, but Sudan's leaders fiercely opposed such a move. The
union agreed to stay on until the end of the year.

AU officials said their peacekeepers intended to broaden the rules of
engagement to protect civilians more efficiently. Peacekeepers would
not only monitor violence and investigate incidents, but also try to
prevent attacks on civilians by the multiple rebel groups and
pro-government militias. The AU's spokesman in Sudan said the new
rules would improve the peacekeepers' ability to carry out a peace
deal signed in May between Sudan and the main Darfur rebel group. The
UN representative in Sudan said last week that the accord was "in a
coma," and international aid groups say violence has only worsened
since it was signed.

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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.