1325 days have passed since President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. There have been more than 25,000 U.S. killed and wounded in Iraq. http://www.icasualties.org/oif/
Sen. Harry Reid Recants Support for "Surge" "I don't believe that more troops is the answer for Iraq. It's a civil war and America should not be policing a Sunni-Shia conflict… we don't have the additional forces to put in there…even the Joint Chiefs do not support increased combat forces for Baghdad." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-harry-reid/the-clock-is-ticking-mr_b_36752.html
Time to Talk to Iran: Petition More than 27,200 people have signed the Peace Action/Just Foreign Policy petition. Please sign/circulate if you have yet to do so: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html
Tell Your Representatives: Stop the Money and Bring the Troops Home Please write/call your Members of Congress if you have not done so recently. They need to hear from you. The Capitol switchboard is 202-225-3121. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iraq.html
Voices for Creative Nonviolence: "Occupation Project" at Congressional Offices http://www.vcnv.org/project/the-occupation-project
AFSC Calls for Local Events Marking 3000 deaths http://www.afsc.org/3000/
Friends Committee on National Legislation is Looking for Interns: http://www.fcnl.org/young/intern.htm
Just Foreign Policy News daily podcast: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/podcasts/podcast_howto.html
Summary: U.S./Top News Outgoing UN Secretary General Annan said Tuesday that confronting the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program militarily would be "disastrous," but he expected the Security Council would come up with a negotiated settlement, the New York Times reports. [To send a letter to the Times: letters at nytimes.com]
Annan was right about Iraq, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington Post. We should press upon our elected officials the fact that he is right about Iran.
President Bush acknowledged that the US is not winning the war in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. However, in a comment reminiscent of Kevin Kline's assertion that "Vietnam was a tie," he also said the US is not losing. Bush said he plans to expand the "stressed" armed forces.
Gen. Abizaid, the senior US commander in the Middle East, Gen. Casey, the senior US commander in Iraq, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff all oppose a White House plan to increase US troops in Iraq, the New York Times reports. [In the past, President Bush said he was listening to his generals. Why won't he listen to them now?] Gen. Abizaid says the US has to "internationalize the problem" and attack it diplomatically.
The Iraq war will cost more this year than the $110 billion the Bush administration had forecast, the head of the White House budget office said Tuesday. Rob Portman's statement adds fuel to speculation that the war costs will top last year's record $120 billion, USA Today reports.
The suicide rate among troops deployed for the Iraq war reached its highest point last year since the 2003 invasion, according to an Army mental health study. Overall, the number of soldiers who killed themselves last year almost doubled from the 2004 total, USA Today reports.
U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50% more likely to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army survey. The report suggests many soldiers were returning to Iraq with combat stress symptoms unresolved from previous tours, notes the Washington Post.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan says the US should set a timetable to withdraw its forces from Iraq, Reuters reports. Erdogan also called for talks with neighboring countries, including Iran, Syria, and of course, Turkey. Turkey is a close NATO ally of the United States.
Iran The Pentagon is considering a buildup of Navy forces in the Persian Gulf as a show of force against Iran, the Guardian reports. The proposal calls for sending a second aircraft carrier to the region.
Iraq Efforts are underway to weed out up to one-quarter of Iraq's national police who are thought to be sympathetic to militias involved in sectarian violence, AP reports.
Iraq's prime minister wants U.S. forces to aggressively target Sunni Arab insurgents instead of Shiite militias, the Washington Post reports. Under these conditions he would accept a surge of U.S. troops.
Grand Ayatollah Sistani has tentatively approved an American-backed coalition of Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties that aims to isolate Shiite militia leader Moktada al-Sadr, the New York Times reports.
An Iraqi government shake-up won't change key security and economic Cabinet positions, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Israel/Palestine Israel is considering handing over millions of dollars in withheld Palestinian tax funds to President Abbas, Reuters reports. Israel has been under pressure from Europe and the United Nations for months to release the tax money.
Ethiopia A widespread view in Ethiopia's capital is that Prime Minister Meles is using the conflict in Somalia to distract people from internal problems and to justify further repression of opposition groups, the Washington Post reports. Opponents of war say he is playing up the claim there are al-Qaeda operatives within the Islamic Courts Union to maintain support of the U.S., which relies on a steady flow of Ethiopian intelligence some regional analysts say is of dubious value.
Cuba The smooth transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his successors is exposing the ignorance of U.S. policy toward Cuba, writes Julia Sweig in the January issue of Foreign Affairs. Doug Henwood interviewed Sweig on his radio show; the link is provided below.
Contents: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/
- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org