U.S. Should Promote Diplomacy, Not War, in Somalia The Washington Post reported this week on entry of thousands of Ethiopian troops into Somalia, with the perceived blessing of the Bush Administration. Ask Congress to pressure the Bush Administration to support diplomacy in Somalia, not war. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/somalia.html
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Summary: U.S./Top News 1) Americans voted for diplomacy, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington Post. But not only is the Bush Administration pushing increased troops in Iraq and sending gunboats to Iran, it's trying to extend the war to Somalia. The Bush Administration has given a "green light" to Ethiopia to send thousand of troops into Somalia to confront the Islamic Courts Union, instead of backing European diplomacy to defuse the crisis.
A New York Times editorial welcomed the success of opposition groups in recent Iranian elections and the apparent resurgence of the student movement. But the editorial actually did these forces some disservice, by seeming to link their activities with the Bush Administration's push for broad economic sanctions against Iran. The editorial says Bush Administration "needs to keep pushing for effective economic sanctions." But as the Times has reported, the dispute at the UN has been whether there should be broad economic sanctions to punish Iran, as the Bush Administration has argued, or whether sanctions should be narrowly focused on activities suspected of violating nonproliferation agreements, as Russia has argued. Broad economic sanctions would weaken, not strengthen, domestic critics of the Iranian government. The best environment for Iranian civil society is one in which the US tries to engage Iran, not isolate it economically or threaten it militarily. [To send a letter to the Times: letters at nytimes.com]
The New York Times published today the White House-censored version of Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann's op-ed on US policy towards Iran, with the redacted words blacked out, and a cover note explaining the censorship controversy. The effect is visually impressive. In the censored op-ed, Leverett and Mann argue that a "grand bargain" with Iran is the only diplomatic approach that will work. They argue that Iran's cooperation with the U.S. in Afghanistan was given with the expectation that it would lead to a change in US policy towards Iran (rather than the "axis of evil" designation Iran received shortly thereafter), noting that they could have sat out the conflict, as they did in the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraqi political groups on Thursday maneuvered to undercut an American-backed initiative that would create a bloc intended to isolate Moktada al-Sadr, the New York Times reports.
The sudden departure of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US is linked to a struggle in Saudi Arabia over Iran policy, the New York Times reports. Officials and analysts say Prince Turki resigned over differences with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the national security minister and former Washington ambassador, over how to deal with Iran. Prince Bandar is believed to favor the American approach of confronting Iran, while Prince Turki advocates more diplomatic tactics, including negotiating with Iran.
Four U.S. Marines were charged with murder for their alleged roles in the deaths of two dozen civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha. The Marine Corps also charged four officers with crimes related to their alleged failure to investigate and report the 2005 slayings, the Washington Post reports.
Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki told visiting Defense Secretary Gates he would let U.S. generals decide whether there is a need for a "surge" in U.S. troops in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. But a Shiite member of parliament close to Maliki said in a subsequent meeting of Shiite Muslim members of Maliki's alliance there was a general feeling that "there's no need for further troops."
The top issue Washington will face in January is the White House's apparent "urge to surge" as many as 50,000 new troops into Iraq for up to two years in a last-ditch effort to claim "victory," Jim Lobe reports for Inter Press Service. "A 'surge' of the size possible under current constraints on U.S. forces will not turn the tide in the guerrilla war," warned former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Pat Lang, who noted that the reinforcement of thousands of U.S. troops in Baghdad since last summer had actually increased the violence there. Lang suggested that in Bush's mind "this might 'clear up' Iraq so that he could move on to Iran."
A campaign to disallow the first Muslim elected to Congress to take an oath of office on the Koran was condemned by by Jewish organizations across the ideological spectrum, writes Alan Dershowitz on Huffington Post. The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith noted that the U.S. Constitution bars any religious test for public office and that no Member of Congress is officially sworn in with the Bible. Holy books are only used in unofficial, private ceremonies.
Iran Europeans and the US hoped for a vote today on a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Iran but Russia's U.N. ambassador said further negotiations would prevent adoption for a day, Reuters reports. Russia wanted to dilute a provision calling for a freeze on financial assets abroad of 11 individuals and 12 organizations associated with Iran's nuclear program, insisting that sanctions be narrowly focused on enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water nuclear reactors.
Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to allow supporters to rejoin the Iraqi government after a three-week boycott, AP reports. On Thursday, al-Sadr loyalists met with members of the Shiite bloc and laid out their demands, a lawmaker said. "Our demands are to hand over the security file and not allow any regional interference in Iraqi affairs," he said, meaning, apparently, that U.S. forces must hand over all control of security forces to the Iraqi government.
Israel A Syrian peace initiative and the Israeli prime minister's statement that he rejected it out of deference to the Bush Administration has set off a heated debate in Israel, former Israeli official Daniel Levy writes on Huffington Post, with many prominent Israelis arguing that Israel should pursue its own interests and stop taking orders from the Bush Administration, lest it miss a historic opportunity for peace with Syria. "Bush will go home but we will still be here," wrote one commentator.
Somalia Ethiopian tanks rolled to the battlefront on Friday as Somali Islamists and Somalia's pro-government troops pounded each other with artillery and rockets in a fourth day of clashes edging closer to all-out war, Reuters reports. The Reuters article says that "Washington and what it considers to be its top counter-terrorism ally in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, say the [Islamic Courts Union] is led by an al Qaeda cell, which the military-religious movement denies." This example shows the danger of this use of the word "Washington" in press reports. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte has publicly expressed skepticism towards the claim that the Islamic Courts Union is controlled by Al Qaeda, according to reporting this week in the Washington Post. Presumably, consensus inside the Beltway on such a matter ought to include the Director of National Intelligence.
Cuba Cuban leader Raul Castro has set a surprising new tone for Cuban politics, telling University students they should debate "fearlessly," the Washington Post reports. At one time, Raul Castro encouraged open debate, including criticism of the government, at Cuba's military college. Some experts say they think Raul Castro could one day introduce a similar system of free speech in Cuban society.
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- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org