[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, January 18, 2007

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
January 18, 2007
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/

Ask your Representative to Co-Sponsor the DeFazio and Jones "Iran War
Powers" Resolutions
Representative DeFazio (D) and Representive Jones (R) have introduced
resolutions re-affirming that President Bush cannot attack Iran
without Congressional authorization. Ask your Representative to
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http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3468

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Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) The Iraqi president says Iranian leaders told him they are ready to
reach an understanding with the US over Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon,
al-Hayat reports in Beirut.

2) In a thorough article on Democracy Rising, Arash Norouzi of the
Mossadegh Project explains the controversy over Western press reports
that Iranian President Ahmedinijad called for Israel to be "wiped off
the map." The article explains that the mistranslation originated with
Iran's news agency, but when Iranian officials corrected its report,
Western media did not follow suit. Norouzi notes that Ahmedinijad has
contributed significantly to the misunderstanding by repeatedly
failing to explicitly disavow the mistranslation when confronted by
Western reporters. He also notes that some Western media and
politicians, not content with the original mistranslation, have
further distorted the quote in the service of an agenda of
confrontation.

3) Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday played down the
possibility of American military action against Iran but said it was
not the right time for diplomatic engagement, the New York Times
reports, since "there's really nothing the Iranians want from us."


4) The cost of the Iraq war will reach about $8.4 billion a month this
year, Pentagon spokesmen said Thursday, Reuters reports. When U.S.
combat costs in Afghanistan are factored in, the Pentagon will spend
about $9.7 billion a month during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30,
Pentagon spokesmen said.

5) The Bush administration will abandon the practice of financing
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through emergency spending
requests that have relatively little supporting detail, Pentagon
officials said Thursday, AP reports. The day-to-day cost of Pentagon
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached almost $10 billion a
month, according to Tina Jonas, the Pentagon's top budget officer.
That is up from an average of $8 billion per month for 2006, Jonas
told the committee.

Iran
6) Iraq is carrying out an extensive review of its diplomatic
protocols with Iran and may place new restrictions on them, the New
York Times reports.

7) Iraq Study Group co-chair Lee Hamilton met a skeptical response
from leaders of the House International Relations Committee as he
argued for engagement with Iran, the New York Times reports. "Talking
is not appeasement. It's diplomacy," said Hamilton. "Conversation with
a country is not capitulation." Hamilton noted that Washington
negotiated with Moscow throughout the cold war era. "All kinds of
things can happen when diplomats get together and begin talking about
the relationships," he said.

Iraq
8) U.S. intelligence leaders told Congress Moqtada al-Sadr will
probably lower the profile of his militia and watch to see if the new
U.S. strategy of placing more troops in the city is aimed at
uncontrolled violence or specifically at him and his organization, the
Washington Post reports.

Venezuela
9) Chavez's 21st-century socialism is different in one chief respect:
It's been rather polite, writes columnist Marcela Sanchez for the
Washington Post. Land reform in Venezuela, for example, has been
accomplished with compensation, not expropriation.

Bolivia
10) Bolivia's government will move ahead with plans to nationalize the
mining industry, President Morales said Friday, Reuters reports.
Morales said it would not be a "full nationalization," referring to
"deep reforms that will allow investors to recover their investments"
but require investors to "make an economic contribution to the state."

Contents:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/

-
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org