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Summary: U.S./Top News President Bush came under new pressure yesterday to alter his policies in the Middle East, the Washington Post reports. British Prime Minister Blair pushed for a broader Arab-Israeli peace initiative, while the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee pledged to take a hard line on seeking early troop withdrawals.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Monday that the US should keep its troops in Iraq only as long as they are contributing to a "responsible transition" to Iraqi rule, the Washington Post reports. He said the nation needs an "honest dialogue" that acknowledges past mistakes and seeks agreement on concrete steps. The original agenda for the bishops' meeting in Baltimore did not contain any discussion of Iraq, leading some bishops to wonder aloud whether they were avoiding the most important moral issue facing the country.
Democrats continue to resist the appointment of David Laufman as Pentagon inspector general, the Washington Post reports, questioning his independence from the Administration.
House and Senate Democrats introduced bills yesterday that would extend the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the New York Times reports. The Senate bill had bipartisan support. The House version would not only extend the lifetime of the inspector general's office, but also widen its authority to include American programs for training and equipping Iraqi security forces.
After years of denials, the CIA has formally acknowledged the existence of two classified documents governing aggressive interrogation and detention policies for terrorism suspects, the Washington Post reports. But CIA lawyers say the documents are still so sensitive that no portion can be released to the public.
The Israel-Palestine conflict is as central to Middle East stability as the Iraq war is, writes former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy in the December issue of Washington Monthly. He suggests Congress should broaden the scope of the Iraq study group to provide recommendations for reviving the Middle East peace process.
Israel's Prime Minister Olmert drew fire from Democrats for praising the Iraq war, Haaretz reports. Olmert, visiting President Bush, had said that the war brought stability to the Middle East.
Iran President Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran would soon celebrate completion of its nuclear fuel program and claimed the international community was ready to accept it as a nuclear state, AP reports.
President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert kept up their tough talk on Iran on Monday, warning it once again to drop its nuclear ambitions, the New York Times reports.
Britain's Prime Minister Blair said Monday that Western strategy in the Middle East must "evolve," possibly to include a "new partnership" with Iran.
Iraq Prime Minister Maliki discussed the "influence of the neighboring countries on the security situation" with Gen. Abizaid, the top American commander in the Middle East.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says the war in Iraq is not winnable, Der Spiegel reports.
The editor and two reporters from one of Denmark's main newspapers have gone on trial charged with publishing secret intelligence about Iraqi weapons BBC reports. The published report concluded that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the US invasion. The case raises the question of whether there are two standards for freedom of expression in Denmark: one for offending Muslims, the other for offending the Bush Administration.
Afghanistan A joint NATO and Afghan investigation found that a NATO air attack killed 31 civilians in southern Afghanistan last month, the highest civilian death toll since NATO took over security in the south in August, the New York Times reports.
Israel Many conservative Christians say they believe that the president's support for Israel fulfills a biblical injunction to protect Israel, which some of them think will play a pivotal role in the second coming, the New York Times reports. One evangelical leader called support for Israel "God's foreign policy."
South Korea South Korea said Monday that it would not join a US-led effort to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying unconventional weapons or related cargo, the New York Times reports. As the Bush Administration sought to build unity ahead of the APEC meeting, South Korea made clear it was hewing to its policy of avoiding confrontation with the North.
Contents: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/ -------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org