In this issue: 1) Iran Demands Patience From West on Nuclear Incentive Offer 2) Incentives Offered to Iran Detailed at Security Council 3) Iran Warns Israel Not to Attack Syria 4) Oil Soars to Record $78 on Mideast Conflict 5) Israel Blockades Lebanon; Wide Strikes by Hezbollah 6) Only deal with Hamas can bring peace 7) Accused G.I. Was Troubled Long Before Iraq 8) More Troops May Be Needed in Baghdad, U.S. General Says 9) Ex-C.I.A. Officer Sues Cheney and Others Over Leak 10) U.S. Vetoes U.N. Condemnation of Israel 11) Videos, Doubts, and a Backlash in Mexico Vote
Summary: President Ahmadinejad of Iran said on Thursday that the West should be patient in awaiting his country's response to a package of proposed incentives in return for freezing its nuclear program, Nazila Fathi reports in the New York Times today. The Times notes that he "said again that Iran would announce a decision in late August." Other reporting by the Times has claimed that Iran has not said when it would respond. Mr. Ahmadinejad said Thursday that the Europeans would bear the consequences if they tried to create tension. In another speech on Thursday Mr. Ahmadinejad accused the United States of trying to stir up the dispute.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, confirmed reports that Iran had complained to the International Atomic Energy Agency about one of its inspectors, but he said the agency had barred the inspector from Iran. Western diplomats said this week that Iran had barred Chris Charlier, the agency's section chief for Iran, from coming for several months. "We made a complaint about the way he worked, and it was the decision of the agency to bar him from coming," Mr. Larijani said.
The Bush administration agreed to consider lifting sanctions on the sale of commercial jets, agricultural equipment and telecommunications technology to Iran if it agreed to halt its enrichment of uranium and submit to more intrusive U.N. inspections of its nuclear program, the Washington Post reports. The offer would require congressional approval. The package presented to the Security Council Thursday provides no explicit assurances Tehran has sought to bar U.S. military strikes on its territory. Instead, it pledges the major powers' support for a vaguely defined international conference to "promote dialogue and cooperation" on regional security. President Bush, who once described Iran as a member of the axis of evil, has resisted European appeals to provide Iran with such security assurances, insisting that the military option not be taken off the table.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad said on Thursday an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a ``fierce response,'' Iranian state television reported.
Oil surged to record highs above $78 on Friday on fears that conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas could escalate and spread to more Middle East countries. Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, fears over oil supply in Nigeria due to militant attacks, an influx of fund buying and falling U.S. crude supplies also contributed to the rise in the oil market, which is up nearly 30 percent this year. "There is nothing to stop prices at the moment with the stream of headlines that are coming in," one analyst said. "All we need now is a big hurricane.'' Oil prices averaged $67.67 so far this year, but were still a long way from the inflation adjusted $87.65 average of 1980, the second oil shock that followed the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Israel imposed a full naval blockade on Lebanon on Thursday and put Beirut International Airport out of commission, and the militant group Hezbollah unleashed a hail of rockets and mortar shells that killed two and sent thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters. The Lebanese government said 53 Lebanese had died since Wednesday, including one family of 10 and another of 7 in the southern village of Dweir. More than 103 have been wounded, the Lebanese said.
The European Union criticized Israel on Thursday for "the disproportionate use of force" in Lebanon "in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel." It said that "the imposition of an air and sea blockade on Lebanon cannot be justified." President Bush said that "Israel has the right to defend herself," but he also called for care, warning Israel not to weaken the government in Lebanon. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, warned that Israel's Lebanon offensive "is raising our fears of a new regional war" and urged world powers to intervene. The Lebanese government, which has said that it had nothing to do with the raid by Hezbollah, called for a cease-fire, saying that all means should be used to end "open aggression" against the country.
A senior Israeli foreign ministry official told reporters on Thursday that Israel has "concrete evidence that Hezbollah plans to transfer the kidnapped soldiers to Iran," but he gave no specifics or source for the claim.
In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami argues that only a deal with Hamas can bring peace to Israel. Israel's two-front war has dealt a mortal blow to the Israeli government's plan for unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank. If Olmert wants to save his withdrawal plan, he will have to co-ordinate it with the Hamas government. A recent poll indicated that 45% of Israelis would now support direct negotiations with Hamas.
An article in today's New York Times notes that days before Steven Green, the former Army private accused of raping an Iraqi girl and murdering her family, enlisted in the Army, he was in jail on alcohol-possession charges, an unemployed 19-year-old high school dropout who had just racked up his third misdemeanor conviction. He arrived at the very moment that the Army was increasing by nearly half the rate at which it granted what it calls "moral waivers" to potential recruits. The change opened the ranks to more people like Mr. Green, those with minor criminal records and weak educational backgrounds. Mr. Green's Army waiver allowed a troubled young man into the heart of a war that bore little resemblance to its original declared purposes, but which continued to need thousands of fresh recruits.
The United States vetoed a resolution Thursday that would have demanded Israel halt its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The resolution accused Israel of a ''disproportionate use of force'' that endangered Palestinian civilians, and demanded Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza. The United States was alone in voting against the resolution. Ten of the 15 Security Council nations voted in favor, while Britain, Denmark, Peru and Slovakia abstained. The draft was reworked repeatedly to address concerns that it was too biased against Israel. Language was added calling for the release of an abducted soldier and urging the Palestinians to stop firing rockets at Israel. In Gaza, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the United States must bear some responsibility for Israel's attacks. ''The veto is a political cover for the crimes of the occupation,'' he said. Eight of the last nine vetoes in the council have been cast by the United States. Of those, seven concerned the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Valerie Wilson and her husband Joseph Wilson filed suit on Thursday against Vice President Cheney, Cheney's former aide Lewis Libby and presidential adviser Karl Rove, charging they had conspired to violate their constitutional rights. The lawsuit accused Cheney, Rove and Libby of conspiring to destroy Ms. Wilson's career by leaking her identity as an undercover C.I.A. operative to the press. It says the three men had conspired to punish Mr. Wilson for his public assertions that the Bush administration had twisted intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
López Obrador has bet his political future that it will not take much to make that doubt about the Mexican election grow into a national call for a recount, the New York Times reports. His opponents in Mr. Calderón's camp are betting people will see things the way they do: that the one playing dirty is Mr. López Obrador.
Articles: 1) Iran Demands Patience From West on Nuclear Incentive Offer Nazila Fathi New York Times July 14, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/world/middleeast/14iran.html
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said in a defiant speech on Thursday that the West should be patient in awaiting his country's response to a package of proposed incentives in return for freezing its nuclear program. "We have tried to be positive in our examination of the package," Mr. Ahmadinejad said in his speech in Mianeh, in northwestern Iran, the ISNA student news agency reported. He said again that Iran would announce a decision in late August.
2) Incentives Offered to Iran Detailed at Security Council U.N. Body to Demand Halt in Uranium Enrichment Colum Lynch Washington Post Friday, July 14, 2006; A18 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071301659.html
The Bush administration agreed last month to consider lifting long-standing sanctions on the sale of commercial jets, agricultural equipment and telecommunications technology to Iran if it agreed to halt its enrichment of uranium and submit to more intrusive U.N. inspections of its nuclear program, according to a copy of the agreement made public Thursday.
3) Iran Warns Israel Not to Attack Syria Reuters July 13, 2006 Filed at 6:58 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-mideast-ahmadinejad.html
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a ``fierce response,'' state television reported.
4) Oil Soars to Record $78 on Mideast Conflict Reuters July 14, 2006 Filed at 7:42 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-markets-oil.html
Oil surged to record highs above $78 on Friday on fears that conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas could escalate and spread to more Middle East countries. Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, fears over oil supply in Nigeria due to militant attacks, an influx of fund buying and falling U.S. crude supplies also contributed to the rise in the oil market -- which is up nearly 30 percent this year.
5) Israel Blockades Lebanon; Wide Strikes by Hezbollah Hassan M. Fattah and Steven Erlanger New York Times July 14, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/world/middleeast/14cnd-mideast.html
Israel imposed a full naval blockade on Lebanon on Thursday and put Beirut International Airport out of commission, and the militant group Hezbollah unleashed a hail of rockets and mortar shells that killed two and sent thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters.
6) Only deal with Hamas can bring peace Shlomo Ben-Ami Financial Times July 14 2006 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/95d32c3c-12d5-11db-aecf-0000779e2340.html
Regardless of whether or not Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip and its massive retaliation against Lebanon achieve its military objectives, one thing is clear. Israel's two-front war has dealt a mortal blow to the "convergence plan" for the West Bank, the raison d'être of Ehud Olmert's government and Kadima, his ruling party. Three months after its inception, the Israeli government has been left without a political agenda. Oddly enough, only Hamas can save it from prospectless political agony. The case of Hizbollah is different. In Lebanon, it is the credibility of the international community that brokered and legitimised Israel's withdrawal that is at stake.
7) Accused G.I. Was Troubled Long Before Iraq Jim Dwyer and Robert F. Worth New York Times July 14, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/us/14private.html
On the last day of January 2005, Steven D. Green, the former Army private accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her family, sat in a Texas jail on alcohol-possession charges, an unemployed 19-year-old high school dropout who had just racked up his third misdemeanor conviction. Days later, Mr. Green enlisted in a soldier-strapped Army, and was later assigned to a star-crossed unit to serve on an especially murderous patch of earth.
8) More Troops May Be Needed in Baghdad, U.S. General Says Paul Von Zielbauer and David S. Cloud New York Times July 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html
Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, said Wednesday that "terrorists and death squads" were responsible for the surge in sectarian killings here in recent weeks, and that there might be a need to move more American forces into the capital to prevent the deadly cycle from worsening.
9) Ex-C.I.A. Officer Sues Cheney and Others Over Leak Neil A. Lewis New York Times July 14, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/washington/14leak.html
Valerie Wilson and her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, filed suit on Thursday against Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Cheney's former top aide and the senior presidential adviser Karl Rove, charging they had conspired to violate their constitutional rights.
10) U.S. Vetoes U.N. Condemnation of Israel Associated Press July 14, 2006 Filed at 4:41 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-UN-Israel-Gaza.html
The United States blocked an Arab-backed resolution Thursday that would have demanded Israel halt its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the first U.N. Security Council veto in nearly two years. The draft, sponsored by Qatar on behalf of other Arab nations, accused Israel of a ''disproportionate use of force'' that endangered Palestinian civilians, and demanded Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza.
11) Videos, Doubts, and a Backlash in Mexico Vote Ginger Thompson and James C. Mckinley Jr. New York Times July 14, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/world/americas/14mexico.html
To an untrained eye, the scenes captured on video certainly looked like Mexico's bad old days when votes were stolen instead of won. There was a man inside a polling station stuffing one vote after another into a ballot box.
-- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy