Summary: U.S. Politics 600 protesters in Kennebunkport, Maine Saturday called for an immediate end to the Iraq war. The rally coincided with President Bush's first trip here in two years. Iran Italy's government wants to join nuclear negotiations with Iran, currently being led by the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. Iran's leaders view the conflict over Iran's nuclear program as a fight for survival, the New York Times reports. Iran Monday dismissed a U.S. threat to form an independent coalition to impose sanctions if the U.N. Security Council failed to act over Tehran's nuclear program. In a speech Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's said, "Iran is not a threat to any country, and is not in any way a people of intimidation and aggression." He said that Iran does not even pose a threat to Israel, and wants to deal with the problem there peacefully. Western pundits, journalists and politicians maintain that Ahmadinejad threatened "to wipe Israel off the map," but he never said those words. Iraq Fuel and electricity prices are up more than 270 percent from last year's. Tea in some markets has quadrupled, egg prices have doubled. The inflation rate has reached 70 percent a year, up from 32 percent last year. Few US troops in Iraq are prosecuted for killing civilians, according to a Washington Post review of concluded military cases. A recent survey of Iraqi public opinion indicates that 91.7 percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of US troops in their country. 84.5% are "strongly opposed." Lebanon UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Lebanon today, opening an 11-day tour of the Middle East on which he will press for support of the Security Council resolution that ended the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and set a path for securing Lebanon's independence. Israel's blockade of Lebanese waters goes on, and its most direct victims are fishermen. The blockade has left them at the brink of destitution. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said in an interview televised Sunday that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war. Palestine The war in southern Lebanon has overshadowed Israel's second front, a military and economic siege of the Gaza Strip that is deepening the poverty and desperation in this dense area of 1.4 million people. More than 200 Palestinians, at least 44 of them children, have been killed in the past 8 1/2 weeks. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed. Two Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza were released unharmed on Sunday. Israeli forces rocketed an armored car belonging to Reuters, wounding five people. Mexico Mexico's electoral court rejected some of the opposition candidate's legal challenges to last month's disputed presidential vote on Monday as it began a session to rule on his allegations of massive fraud. The court's judges were expected to reject most of the fraud claims and confirm the victory of ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon. Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City is now immersed in a nasty political tussle that illuminates the sensitivity in Mexico about mixing religion and politics. Supporters of López Obrador accuse Rivera of siding with ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón. Rivera calls protesters who have disrupted Mass at the cathedral "crazies."
In this issue: U.S. Politics 1) Kennebunkport Antiwar Protest Attracts 600 Iran 2) Italy wants to join Iran nuclear talks 3) An Ex-Official Offers Glimpse of Iranian Views of U.S. 4) Iran Dismisses U.S. Threat of Sanctions Coalition 5) Ahmadinejad: We are Not a Threat to Any Country, Including Israel Iraq 6) Weary Iraqis Face New Foe: Rising Prices 7) Homicide Charges Rare in Iraq War 8) 91.7 percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of US troops in their country Lebanon 9) Annan Arrives in Beirut, Beginning Mideast Tour 10) Wake of War Idles Lebanon's Fleet, and Its Fishermen 11) Hezbollah Chief Revisits Raid Palestine 12) Israeli Siege Leaves Gaza Isolated and Desperate 13) Fox News Journalists Free After Declaring Conversion Mexico 14) Judges rule on Mexico's bitter presidential vote 15) In Mexico, the Cardinal and the 'Crazies'
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Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org