[lbo-talk] Just Foreign Policy News, November 7, 2006

Robert Naiman naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
Tue Nov 7 15:01:57 PST 2006


Just Foreign Policy News November 7, 2006 http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/

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Summary: U.S./Top News The Bush administration's successful effort to have Congress eliminate the right of Guantánamo prisoners to challenge their detentions before federal judges is now moving toward what may be an epic battle in the courts, the New York Times reports. Lawyers for the detainees say Congress can not take away the right to bring habeas corpus lawsuits because that would violate the Constitution. The Constitution provides that Congress may suspend the right only in cases of rebellion or invasion.

A Halliburton subsidiary charged the Iraqi government as much as $25,000 per month for each of as many as 1,800 fuel trucks that were to deliver gasoline to Iraq, but the trucks often spent days or weeks sitting idle on the border, says a report released by an auditing agency sponsored by the UN, the New York Times reports.

As the International Criminal Court prepares to begin hearings on its first case, debate among senior U.S. military officials seems to be shifting away from staunch opposition, the Washington Post reports. Court supporters note approvingly that the court has rejected many war crimes cases against the US.

The international Red Cross called Monday for the abolition of cluster bombs, saying the indiscriminate deaths they cause outweigh any military advantages.

As the 2006 campaign staggered to an angry close, national security and the Iraq war dominated the debate, the Washington Post reports. Democrats said a vote for them would force change in Iraq strategy, while President Bush led the GOP charge in warning that the opposition party cannot be trusted in a time of war.

Controversy over the timing of Sunday's announcement of Saddam Hussein's conviction provides a fitting finish for an election campaign that has been as much a contest between competing views of reality as between two political parties, writes Dan Froomkin for the Washington Post.

Iran Iran is ready to share its missile systems with political allies and neighboring countries, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon said Iran was ready to supply air defense systems to the Lebanese military.

The US wants a UN Security Council resolution on Iran to say that Tehran's nuclear ambitions pose a threat to international peace and security, Reuters reports. Russia and China, on the other hand, want to remove some of the sanctions in the European draft.

Iraq The vast majority of American military deaths in Iraq are still being caused by Sunni insurgents, ABC News reports.

Many in the Middle East said the court verdict against Saddam Hussein had been a foregone conclusion and questioned whether it had been fair, the New York Times reported. Amnesty International deplored the death sentence, describing the proceedings as "deeply flawed and unfair."

Iraq's Interior Ministry has charged 57 employees, including high-ranking officers, with human rights crimes for their roles in the torture of hundreds of detainees jailed in a notorious Baghdad prison. Shiite officials have said such accusations are exaggerations, the Washington Post notes. But on Monday, senior Interior Ministry officials acknowledged there was clear evidence of such abuses.

A high-ranking commission of Iraq's Shiite-led government said Monday it had prepared a draft law that could return tens of thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to their government jobs.

Afghanistan Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban, AP reports. Heavy-handed NATO tactics have deepened suspicion of foreign forces.

Palestine Discriminatory laws, traditional practices and a severe shortage of emergency shelters combine to perpetuate violence against women by their family members and intimate partners in the Palestinian territories, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Venezuela In a letter to the Washington Post, Chuck Kaufman noted that the Venezuelan presidency is significantly less powerful than the U.S. presidency. The president does not appoint the judges of the Supreme Court, who are elected by the legislature. Venezuela has a free, oppositional press, unlike many US allies.

Nicaragua The electoral victory of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, despite threats and warnings from US officials, is another example of plummeting US influence in Latin America, writes Mark Weisbrot on Huffington Post.

Contents: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/ - Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org

Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming U.S. foreign policy so it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.



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