[Peace-discuss] JFP 1/5: NBC Should Tell Santorum There's Inspectors in Iran

Fri Jan 6 10:12:43 CST 2012

For those not yet on JFP's e-list, I encourage you to sign up. Meanwhile, this is worth yr attention. Thanks, folks. --Jenifer

--- On Thu, 1/5/12, Just Foreign Policy <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:

        Just Foreign Policy News, January 5, 2012

David Gregory Should Tell Rick Santorum There Are UN Inspectors in Iran

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I) Actions and Featured Articles

David Gregory Should Tell Rick Santorum There Are UN Inspectors in Iran

Rick Santorum is running as the "more AIPAC than thou" candidate. But David Gregory wants people to think of him as a "journalist." We can hold David Gregory to a higher standard. Politicians will say whatever they can get away with, but journalists have an obligation to correct serious misstatements of fact.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/david-gregory-should-tell_b_1186410.html

If you agree, you can write to Meet the Press here:

meetthepressquestions at nbcuni.com

Heather Hurlburt: Pentagon Strategy Review: Why It Matters

2012 and 2013 Pentagon spending will represent the first real declines in military spending in more than a decade; but the total 8% cut envisaged is less than the Reagan defense builddown of the 1980s. Even if the more dramatic cuts in the Budget Control Act sequester were enacted, they would only return the Pentagon to 2007 levels.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-hurlburt/pentagon-strategy-review-_b_1184685.html

Mark Thompson: The Two-MRC Strategy: Major Regional Contingencies, Or Mythical Routine Canards?

Thompson argues that the claim that the U.S. could win two major wars at once was never really true, it was just an excuse to justify Pentagon budgets, so formally abandoning the claim is not that big a deal.

http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/01/04/the-two-mrc-strategy-major-regional-contingencies-or-mythical-routine-canards/

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II) Summary:

U.S./Top News

1) If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days, the New York Times reports. Energy analysts say even a partial blockage of the Strait of Hormuz could raise the world price of oil within days by $50 a barrel or more, and that would quickly push the price of a gallon of regular gasoline to well over $4 a gallon. 

Various Iranian officials in recent weeks have said they would blockade the strait if the US and Europe imposed a tight oil embargo on their country in an effort to thwart its development of nuclear weapons, the Times says.

[Of course, the Times should not have referred to Iran's "development of nuclear weapons" as if this were a known fact. We have asked the New York Times for a correction. To add your voice, the addresses are: nytnews at nytimes.com for a correction, letters at nytimes.com to send a letter to the editor, public at nytimes.com to complain to the Public Editor - JFP.]

2) Defense Secretary Panetta has concluded that the Army should shrink to 490,000 soldiers over the next decade, but that the US should not cut any of its 11 aircraft carriers, the New York Times reports. The Army is already is slated to drop to a force of 520,000 from 570,000. A smaller Army would be a clear sign that the Pentagon does not anticipate conducting another expensive, troop-intensive counterinsurgency campaign, like those waged in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Times says. Panetta says the reduction should be carried out over several years so that combat veterans are not flooding into a tough employment market, the Times says. Panetta is expected to propose cuts in coming weeks to next-generation weapons, including delays in purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet. 

3) The family of Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier held by the Taliban, is optimistic about a possible deal that would allow insurgents to open an office in Qatar with the aim of holding talks with the US, AP reports. His parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, released a statement through the Idaho National Guard expressing hope their son would be returned home safely as soon as possible. The family says that "serious discussions among diplomats are the most likely way to make this happen."

4) Iran is mounting a campaign to convince Afghan leaders not to let US troops stay in the country after 2014, the Washington Post reports. U.S. officials appear eager to reach a deal with Afghanistan that would include a substantial military partnership beyond 2014, the Post says. The US has said that it seeks no permanent bases in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon hopes to leave 10,000 to 30,000 troops. It has said that they would be positioned on Afghan bases. But Iran has rejected the distinction.

Iran

5) EU countries moved closer to agreement on an embargo on Iranian oil that would be imposed gradually, the New York Times reports. Italy, Spain and Greece have expressed concerns about the impact on their already fragile economies of the increase in oil prices that would inevitably follow a sudden embargo. Turkey, which gets about 30 percent of its oil imports from Iran, has asked the US for a waiver on dealing with Iran's Central Bank so it can continue to buy at least some Iranian oil.

Iraq

6) The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said that an investigation into allegations against Iraq's vice president appears to be proceeding fairly, USA Today reports. "There is a serious effort by the Iraqi judiciary to have a free and fair and just investigation," Ambassador James Jeffrey said. "It seems a lot of care is being taken at this point to maintain judicial independence and to have a very broad investigation."

Bahrain

7) A top executive at Lockheed Martin worked with lobbyists for Bahrain to place an Op-Ed defending Bahrain in the Washington Times, but the newspaper did not reveal the role of the regime's lobbyists to its readers, Justin Elliott reports in Salon. 

Colombia

8) Colombian President Santos is asking lawmakers to expand the military's jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute alleged human rights crimes committed by security forces, notes the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. Colombia has yet to prosecute most of those responsible for the false positives scandal, the paper notes. The Obama administration should make clear that any efforts to prevent human rights crimes from being referred to civilian courts will jeopardize military aid under Plan Colombia, the LAT says.

Honduras

9) A priest in western Honduras filed a criminal complaint accusing eight police officers of torturing him and two of his brothers, EFE reports. Demands for a thorough overhaul of the police force intensified after eight police were named as the chief suspects in the Oct. 22 murders of two unarmed college students who were killed while driving home from a party. 

- 

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