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Summary: U.S./Top News Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party, AP reported this morning. Democrats issued calls for bipartisanship even as they vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.
Rumsfeld's resignation resignation opens the possibility of closing the detention facility at Guantánamo, the Miami Herald reports.
In 2004, Robert Gates, Bush's nominee to replace Rumsfeld, recommended that the U.S. government lift its ban on US nongovernmental organizations being able to operate in Iran, the New York Times reports. Gates said, "Greater interaction between Iranians and the rest of the world," he said, "sets the stage for the kind of internal change that we all hope will happen there."
President Bush acknowdged that he "dissembled" (a euphemism for lying) when he told a reporter before the election that he wanted Rumsfeld to stay for another two years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Iraqis on Thursday cheered the resignation of U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, AP reports.
Democratic control of the House and possibly the Senate, combined with the resignation of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, has set the stage for a dramatic shift in the Bush administration's policy toward the Iraq war, the Washington Post reports.
Iraqi leaders, bolstered by assurances from U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad, said yesterday they saw no change in the level of U.S. support, despite the Democratic electoral victory and the resignation of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Reuters reports.
Iran Western diplomats said Moscow has grown impatient with Iran's refusal to open all its facilities to inspections by the IAEA, Reuters reports. Russia has told Iran Russia will "have to back some sanctions in the end," and that Russia find's Iran's "refusal to let the IAEA into some facilities incomprehensible and that Iran would benefit the most from such transparency because it would dispel all doubts."
India detained an empty North Korean cargo ship bound for Iran after it strayed into Indian waters, Reuters reports. A Security Council resolution calls on U.N. members to take steps, including inspection of cargoes to and from North Korea to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Indian officials said they were not acting at the behest of the U.N. but simply because a suspicious ship had entered Indian waters.
Iran's press wrote with glee on Thursday about the drubbing President Bush's Republicans received in U.S. elections but predicted it would only moderate, not radically change, U.S. foreign policy, Reuters reports.
Iraq Iraq's parliament voted Wednesday to extend the country's state of emergency for 30 more days, as at least 66 more Iraqis were killed or found dead, AP reports. The state of emergency has been renewed every month since it was first authorized in November 2004.
Lebanon Lebanon faces a political crisis with the emerging power of Lebanon's Shiite population and the Christians' feeling of vulnerability, the New York Times reports.
Palestine Israeli tank shells killed 18 Palestinians, including 8 children and 6 women, in Gaza Wednesday, the New York Times reports. Some Hamas leaders called for retaliation inside Israel. Hamas's military wing also said the US should be taught "hard lessons" as well. The threat was an unusual escalation for Hamas, which has portrayed its fight as being against Israel alone. It was immediately disavowed by a spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
Afghanistan Afghans have lost confidence in the direction of their country over the past two years, according to a survey financed by USAID.
Venezuela Since President Chávez returned to power after a coup in 2002, the US has channeled millions of dollars to Venezuelan organizations, many of them critical of his government. This aid has become a key issue in the presidential election next month, the New York Times reports.
Cyprus The EU Wednesday issued its strongest warning yet to Turkey to open its ports to Cyprus and make more progress on human rights or face a possible suspension of talks over allowing the country to join the EU, the New York Times reports.
Contents: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/ - Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org