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Summary: U.S./Top News Former CIA analyst Flynt Leverett accused the Bush administration yesterday of trying to muzzle his criticism of its Iran policy and of falsely alleging that his writings contained classified material to prevent them from being published, the Washington Post reports. Buried in the Post article are the two things that Leverett said the White House wanted to censor: his discussion of Iran's assistance in Afghanistan and his discussion of Iran's offer of a "grand bargain" with the United States in 2003.
The Washington Post article is correct that Iran's help in Afghanistan and its offer of a grand bargain with the US have been "widely reported," in the sense that no-one can plausibly claim that they are sensitive government secrets, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington Post. But these key facts haven't been reported as prominently as they should have been, as they are highly relevant to the question of whether the U.S. should now talk to Iran. (To write a letter to the Washington Post: letters at washpost.com)
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are pushing back against a White House proposal for a "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq, the Washington Post reports.
Only 11% of respondents support sending more U.S. troops to Iraq, according to a CNN poll. Fewer than a third still support the war in Iraq, and more than half say they want U.S. troops out of the country within a year.
Attacks against American and Iraqi targets have reached a record high, according to a Pentagon assessment, the New York Times reports. While most attacks were directed at American forces, most deaths and injuries were suffered by the Iraqi military and civilians.
Senate Democrats, are directly challenging the Bush Administration's policy of no talks with Syria and Iran, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Kerry and Dodd are due in Syria today for high-level talks, and Kerry says he is willing to go to Iran.
Before 2003, the US Air Force was riding high on the notion that air power could transform warfare, the Christian Science Monitor reports. But the war in Iraq has changed that. Like the Lebanon War this summer, this should serve as a cautionary tale about the miracles of air power in confronting Iran.
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a setback in elections Friday for municipal councils and a key supervisory body, with voters rebuking him for failing to deliver on promises to improve the economy, the New York Times reports.
Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday a new draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran over its nuclear program largely met Moscow's concerns and could become the basis of a consensus decision, but Russia and the U.S. are still divided on a travel ban and an asset freeze, Reuters reports.
Iraq Baghdad has been all but isolated electrically by insurgents, the New York Times reports.
Many proposals for U.S. policy in Iraq call for greater reliance on the Iraqi state, but the reality is that the Iraqi state in many respects does not exist, the Christian Science Monitor reports. "The military is mostly a Shia force, and the police even more so, " says Middle East specialist Patrick Lang.
Armed militiamen affiliated with Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr pose the gravest danger to the security of Iraq, surpassing Sunni insurgents and Al Qaeda terrorists according to a Pentagon assessment, the Los Angeles Times reports. The article gently hints that this undermines President Bush's claim that the US is confronting Al Qaeda.
Israel/Palestine President Abbas' call for new elections was made with great fanfare and supported by the West, notes Steven Erlanger in the New York Times. But they are unlikely to happen and if boycotted by Hamas they would be hollow. Mouin Rabbani of the International Crisis Group argues against supporting one Palestinian faction against another. "Palestinians will remain unable to take significant decisions, or implement them, unless they're based on a broad consensus that includes at least Fatah and Hamas," he said. "The international community may have preferences, but this practice of trying to make progress on the basis of divisions in the Palestinian national movement has backfired spectacularly."
Colombia Over the past several weeks, Colombians have been gripped by revelations of ties between paramilitary fighters and several congressmen close to President Uribe, as well as some officials in his administration, Juan Forero reports for the Washington Post. The scandal now threatens to unravel Uribe's authority.
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- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org