[Peace] News notes for 2007-04-15 AWARE meeting

[C. G. Estabrook]

[1] IRAN. The New York Times leads today by saying that Iran's nuclear 
ambition is prompting nations across the region to look into developing 
their own nuclear technology. The article claims, unbelievably, that 
most Arab nations would prefer a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear 
facilities to Iran's having nuclear weapons.
	To return to reality, at the World Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, this 
week, Iran offered a security plan to the Gulf Cooperation Council, 
which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the 
United Arab Emirates.  These Arab states have traditionally relied on US 
protectorate power.  Iran says it is willing to share nuclear technology 
and to create a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.  The US is 
once again confronted with the threat of a good example.
	Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told the opening session of 
the kingdom's Shura (consultative council) that Saudi diplomacy had been 
careful to deal with the "nuclear issue in a peaceful, rational and 
objective manner that seeks to avoid tense rhetoric and aims at 
guaranteeing that the Gulf and the Middle East are free of weapons of 
mass destruction."  The only countries that have nuclear weapons in the 
region are the US and Israel.
	The Bush administration has decided to keep in prison five Iranian 
diplomats [the Washington Post calls them "Iranian Revolutionary Guard 
intelligence agents"] seized in January in the Kurdish city of Irbil, 
overruling a State Department recommendation to release them. At a 
meeting of the president’s foreign policy team Tuesday, the 
administration decided that the five Iranians will remain in custody and 
go through a periodic six-month review used for the 250 other foreign 
detainees held in Iraq, U.S. officials said. The next review is not 
expected until July.  This behavior contrasts notably with Iran's in the 
matter of the British sailors.

[2] IRAQ. Two months into the U.S.-led Baghdad Security Plan, at least 
289 people were killed and injured across Iraq on Saturday, including 36 
dead in a car bomb attack in the holy Shiite city of Karbala. The 
carnage of a crowd teeming with women and children set off an angry mob 
of hundreds against the governor and police.
	Tens of thousands of protesters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr had rallied in 
the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Monday to demand an end to the U.S. 
military presence in Iraq.  Six bombs exploded in predominantly Shiite 
sections of the capital Sunday, killing at least 45 people ... 
Meanwhile, dozens of Iraqi policemen demonstrated in front of their 
Baghdad station Sunday, accusing U.S. forces of treating them like 
"animals" and "slaves." [They] chanted "No, no to America! Get out 
occupiers!" while U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting 
vehicle watched from a distance.
	Baghdad's Green Zone is supposed to be the most secure area in Iraq. 
But Thursday, a suicide bomber struck Iraq's parliament building inside 
the heavily fortified area, killing at least two people and wounding at 
least 13 others.  [Similarly,] the southern areas of Iraq have long been 
said to be secure, and people there peaceful towards the occupation 
forces. But demonstrations against the occupation and the United States 
by hundreds of thousands of angry Shi'a in Najaf, Kut and other cities 
across the South April 9 mark a sharp break from a policy of 
cooperation. Protesters demanded an end to the U.S.-led occupation, 
burnt U.S. flags and chanted "Death to America!"
	The Los Angeles Times  leads today with reports that Iraqi Sunnis have 
set up a parallel intelligence agency within the Iraqi government to 
counter the predominately Shiite official agency, which is entirely 
funded by the CIA.  The Washington Post reports that Sunni militant 
groups are severing their association with al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni 
group that claims allegiance to the organization led by Osama bin Laden.

[3] WAR. The Washington Post leads with an admission by the U.S. 
military that Marines fired on civilians during an incident in 
Afghanistan last month, killing or injuring more than 40 people. 
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross is warning that 
the conflict in Iraq is inflicting immense suffering on the entire 
population and is steadily getting worse.  Meanwhile, in the Occupied 
Territories, the aid group Oxfam is warning that the international 
boycott of the Palestinian government is leading to a “devastating” 
humanitarian crisis.
	Partially complying with a Freedom of Information Act request from the 
ACLU, the the Army disclosed 500 claims submitted by Iraqi and Afghan 
civilians seeking payment for killings, injuries or property damage 
American forces inflicted on them or their relatives, the New York Times 
reports. The paperwork provides unusually detailed accounts of how 
bystanders to the conflicts have become targets of American forces, says 
the Times.
	An international panel charged with recommending invitations for a 
meeting of the world’s democracies has rendered its verdict that Iraq is 
not a democracy, the Washington Post reports. US clients Afghanistan, 
Egypt, and Jordan were also downgraded, as was Russia.

[4] ADMINISTRATION. When President Bush said this week that the 
Democrats’ push for troop withdrawals could cause longer tours of duty 
for soldiers in Iraq, he was unaware that his defense secretary had 
already decided to extend those tours, the White House said Thursday. 
(Why the disarray?)  The New York Times said that the Pentagon’s 
announcement that tours in Iraq would automatically be extended three 
months to accommodate the administration’s push to secure Iraq 
complicated the Republican plan to hold Democrats accountable for any 
strain on the military.
	There's surprisingly little support for the administration's threatened 
veto of the war spending bill, according to a poll by Bloomberg and the 
Los Angeles Times. 48% think Bush should sign a funding authorization 
that includes a timetable for withdrawal, while 43% think he should veto 
the legislation. If the president vetoes the legislation, 45% think 
Congress should refuse to pass any funding bill until Bush agrees to 
accept conditions for troop withdrawal, while 43% want the Congress to 
pass another version of the bill that provides funding for the war 
without any conditions.

[5] RUSSIA. In Moscow, police beat and detained protesters -- including 
Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion -- who violated their 
permit for a rally against President Vladimir Putin's government in 
Pushkin Square; city officials had granted a permit for a rally in 
Turgenev Square, about a mile east.
	A similar march was planned for today in St. Petersburg.  A coalition 
of opposition groups organize these "Dissenters Marches" to protest the 
economic and social policies of Putin.  Kasparov was freed late Saturday 
after paying a fine of $38.  Kasparov and his allies mustered, by their 
own reckoning, about 2,000 people — far fewer than the 30,000 people who 
patronize the McDonald's restaurant at Pushkin Square on an average day 
[noted the AP in a seeming irrelevance].  About 100 of the detained 
protesters belong to the ultranationalist National Bolshevik Party, but 
Eduard Limonov, the punk-novelist who heads the semi-fascist party, was 
not.  Around noon, several hundred protesters headed away from Pushkin 
Square toward the sanctioned demonstration site, marching past startled 
motorists while chanting "Putin get out!" and "We need a new Russia!" As 
they walked arm-in-arm down a main thoroughfare, a police cordon blocked 
their path. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who observed the march, said 
authorities were only trying to maintain order, not to interfere with 
the exercise of political rights.
	Polls show that President Putin has the support of more than 70% of 
Russians. (For an excellent account of the Putin government, see Perry 
Anderson, "Russia’s Managed Democracy" 
<http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n02/ande01_.html>.)

[6] WORLD BANK President Paul Wolfowitz's hold on his job weakened as 
the U.K., France and Germany declined to join the U.S. in backing him 
... World Bank directors are weighing Wolfowitz's future as head of the 
largest development organization after finding that he personally 
dictated the terms of his partner's pay increase and promotion ... the 
Bank lends $23 billion a year, [supposedly to fight poverty] ... 
Wolfowitz, architect of the war in Iraq, plans to beef up the bank's 
presence in Baghdad [and has used Bank money to promote US military 
bases in central Asia].

[7] BARACK OBAMA is planning to deliver [what he calls] an important 
foreign policy speech on Tuesday -- billed as "a comprehensive, 
substantive proposal for improving American's damaged international 
standing and fortifying its security by dealing more proactively with 
failed states." [That's of course the phrase the Bush administration 
used as it invaded Haiti, Iraq and Somalia.  It does not inspire 
confidence that the awful Samantha Power, decrier of genocide and 
proponent of humanitarian intervention] is helping to write the speech. 
"We're going to hear something very unusual on the left, which is a 
genuine pride in what America can be again," she said. The speech will 
"lay out his vision of where American leadership needs to take the 
country in the 21st century to protect its interests and the American 
people" [more Bush phrases]. "Obama has a uniquely international 
background. He is American first and is proud of America and is proud of 
what only America can do."  This shit defies parody.

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