[Peace-discuss] Fw: JFP News 9/24: 500,000 Troops in Afghanistan?

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Yet another petition to sign and forward widely. Keep it up, folks -- one of these days it'll work... or maybe we'll think of something else that will!!
 --Jenifer

--- On Thu, 9/24/09, Just Foreign Policy <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:




Just Foreign Policy News
September 24, 2009

Just Foreign Policy News on the Web: 
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/350

Tell President Obama: No More Troops for Afghanistan 
Some of Obama's advisers are urging him to reject General McChrystal's request for more troops. With Obama publicly deliberating, now is the time to weigh in. Send President Obama a letter. Urge him to reject the request for more troops and turn U.S. policy away from military escalation and towards diplomacy and negotiation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/nomoretroops

Scholars, NGOs Appeal to President Obama for UN Security Council Meeting on Honduras 
Brazil has asked for an emergency UN Security Council session on the crisis in Honduras. The State Department has said it is viewing Brazil's request positively. Scholars and NGO leaders have initiated a letter to President Obama urging him to support Brazil's request. You can sign too.
http://bit.ly/3KGt7g

Video - Andrea Mitchell: 500,000 Troops Needed for Afghanistan? 
Journalist Andrea Mitchell is reporting that in the classified section of the McChrystal report on Afghanistan was a statement that 500,000 troops would be needed in Afghanistan. That's total troops, not U.S. forces, but Mitchell makes the point that since many are deeply skeptical that McChrystal's goals for increasing Afghan troops are realistic, it's reasonable for President Obama to view McChrystal's request for more U.S. troops very skeptically, since the request for more U.S. troops is based on a promise of a "success" in which there are 500,000 troops overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX794aJ_y8

Support the Work of Just Foreign Policy 
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Summary:
U.S./Top News 
1) Latin American leaders pressed for the return to office of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in their U.N. General Assembly speeches on Wednesday, VOA reports. Brazilian President Lula warned that unless international support for Zelaya is able to force his return to office, Latin America could see a return to an era when military coups were commonplace. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez also demanded Zelaya's immediate restoration to power, with the Chilean leader saying Honduras' planned November elections should go forward only with, in her words, the country's "constitutional president leading this process." Argentine President Cristina Kirchner protested water and power cutoffs this week to the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa and a local television station that reported Zelaya's return as well as a crackdown on his supporters.

2) Gen. McChrystal's request for more troops and other resources to fund the expanded counterinsurgency campaign he has proposed in Afghanistan will arrive at the Defense Department by the end of this week but will not be immediately turned over to the White House, the Washington Post reports. McChrystal rejected reports of a rift between the military and administration civilians, denied that he considered resigning, and said "a policy debate is warranted."

3) Iranian President Ahmadinejad said Iran is willing to have its nuclear experts meet with scientists from the US as a confidence-building measure aimed at resolving concerns about Iran's nuclear program, the Washington Post reports. Iran also will seek to buy from the US enriched uranium needed for medical purposes. Iran's medical reactor was supplied by the United States during the shah's rule.

4) Former and current U.S. officials say Syria is reorganizing its foreign intelligence operations and sidelining officials with unsavory pasts in an effort to improve Syria's relations with the US, the Washington Times reports. 

Iran 
5) President Obama said he and Russian President Medvedev agreed on Wednesday that serious additional sanctions must be considered if Iran does not respond to proposals to end a nuclear standoff, Reuters reports. Medvedev made clear Russia was ready to back further sanctions against Iran unless it changes course on its nuclear program, despite Russia's general reluctance to support such punitive measures. "Russia's position is simple," he said. "Sanctions are seldom productive but they are sometimes inevitable."

6) A government spokeswoman said China will not support increased sanctions on Iran as a way to curb its nuclear program, the New York Times reports. "At present, it is not conducive to diplomatic efforts," the foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

7) Brazilian President Lula said he will visit President Ahmadinejad in Tehran next year and defended his relationship with Iran, Bloomberg reports. "I defend for Iran the same rights with respect to nuclear energy that I do for Brazil," Lula said.

Robert Naiman 
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org

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

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