MoveOn.org calls for talks with Iran and Syria, letters to the editor: Following the release of the Iraq Study Group report, which calls for the US to talk with Iran and Syria, MoveOn.org sent an action alert asking for letters to newspapers in support of the ISG's call for talks. The alert says: "The Iraq Study Group has opened up the opportunity for a new diplomatic effort in the Middle East. Now we need to show broad public support for diplomacy. Can you write a letter to the editor?" http://pol.moveon.org/lte/index.html?lte_campaign_id=69 We encourage everyone to respond to this appeal. It is a very worthy task in its own right; moreover, some at MoveOn have suggested in the past that they would do more on these issues if they received greater response to such appeals. Responding to this appeal will encourage MoveOn to do more to get the US out of Iraq and prevent war with Iran: http://pol.moveon.org/lte/index.html?lte_campaign_id=69
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Summary: U.S./Top News Four years after invading Iraq, the US still does not understand the enemy American troops are fighting, according to the Iraq Study Group. Al Qaeda in Iraq is small and is not the main enemy confronting American troops, notes the New York Times. The far bigger Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias are still largely mysteries to American intelligence, according to the report.
Iraq is failing to spend billions of oil revenues set aside to rebuild and repair roads, schools, power stations, refineries and pipelines, James Glanz reports for the New York Times.
Arab leaders said they intended to start a joint nuclear energy development program, the New York Times reports. At the same time, they called for a peaceful settlement of the crisis over Iran's nuclear program. Some analysts and officials said the announcement was a warning to the US not to acquiesce to Iran's nuclear ambitions, although the Saudi foreign minister denied it was a threat.
Secret talks in which senior American officials met with bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, the London Sunday Times reports. The article seems to suggest that the proposal of the Iraq Study group to negotiate with insurgents has already been tried and has failed, so there is no point in discussing it. But this ignores that fact that whether negotiations are successful depends on what's on the table. For example, in past negotiations insurgent groups have demanded that the US set a timetable for the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq. Such a timetable, while opposed by the Bush Administration, is supported by a majority of Americans.
Among the 1,000 people who work in the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, only 33 are Arabic speakers and only six speak the language fluently, according to the Iraq Study Group.
Republican Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon said he could no longer support the status quo in Iraq. "I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day," Smith said. "That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his farewell address, criticized the Bush administration, warning that America must not sacrifice its democratic ideals while waging war against terrorism.
Iran Britain and France plan to introduce a revised U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and hope to put the measure to a vote in the next two weeks, Reuters reports. In an effort to get Russian support, the two nations, circulated to the council members Friday a new draft that narrowed bans to the most dangerous bomb-building materials and technology.
When the State Department asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft, the Washington Post reports. The State Department then assigned a Foreign Service officer to find the names by using Google. Those with the most hits under search terms such as "Iran and nuclear," became targets for international rebuke Friday when a sanctions resolution circulated at the UN.
The report issued by the Iraq Study Group provides fresh proof of Iran's strengthened hand in the Middle East since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, writes Alissa Rubin in the Los Angeles Times. The report makes clear that Iran has substantial leverage in any negotiation, said George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, because of Iran's importance in helping to quell the civil war in Iraq. "We have to deal with reality," Perkovich said.
Iraq Major partners in Iraq's governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, AP reports.
Lebanon Most analysts and politicians in Lebanon say American policy may bear much of the blame for the threat to the Lebanese government from Hizbollah, writes Tom Lasseter for McClatchy Newspapers. Many say U.S. failure to stop Israel's onslaught this summer crippled the Lebanese government while strengthening Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and its allies turned out the biggest crowds yet in downtown Beirut, the Washington Post reports, sending hundreds of thousands of followers to the gates of the government headquarters Sunday. Hezbollah refused to confirm or deny it planned to cut roads in the capital in a mounting campaign of civil disobedience, and Michel Aoun, a Christian ally, suggested a more forceful march on the government itself.
Afghanistan Popular support for the Afghan government is faltering, and Western military allies are deeply divided over how best to combat the insurgency, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Taliban have regained the strength to dominate large swaths of Afghanistan; government control is tenuous at best in at least 20% of the country.
President Hamid Karzai on Sunday lamented that Afghan children are being killed by NATO and U.S. bombs and by terrorists from Pakistan, AP reports. Karzai said the cruelty imposed on his people "is too much" and that Afghanistan cannot stop "the coalition from killing our children."
Pakistan Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, the New York Times reports. The result, say officials, is virtually a Taliban mini-state.
IMF Talks on rebalancing voting power in the International Monetary Fund start Monday with some major emerging economies already complaining that an opening proposal fails to clearly spell out changes needed to give them more say in the institution, Reuters reports.
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