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Summary: U.S./Top News Americans do not support an unprovoked attack on Iran, writes Just Foreign Policy on Common Dreams. In October, Newsweek found 54 percent of Americans opposed to air strikes and 76 percent against a land invasion. But our dealings with Iran continue to resemble the run-up to war in Iraq: unsubstantiated allegations of WMD programs; a refusal to talk to Iran; a policy of regime change.
A case of "Iraq syndrome" would serve us well in our dealings with Iran, writes Just Foreign Policy on Huffington Post.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says President Bush still doesn't get the need to change course in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. Reid vowed to press quickly for phased troop withdrawals, using hearings and public pressure but not the power of the purse.
President Bush launched an internal review of Iraq policy, the Washington Post reports. The White House wants to complete the process before mid-December, about the time the Iraq Study Group's final report is expected.
The argument of many Democrats that a phased withdrawal will galvanize the Iraqi government to assume more responsibility is being challenged by military officers, experts and former generals who have been vehement critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policies, the New York Times reports. Some are arguing for more US troops to be deployed in Iraq rather than fewer.
In a study billed as the "first systematic mapping" of an ideology sometimes called jihadism, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has found that bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, have had a relatively minor influence on the movement's intellectual foundation, the New York Times reports. Among the network's ideologists, they have come to be seen more as propagandists than strategic thinkers.
Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee is expected to chair the committee in the next Congress, notes the Institute for Public Accuracy in a press release. His foreign-policy views are widely deplored by antiwar analysts.
Many who voted for Democrats may have difficulty accepting that immediate withdrawal from Iraq is the least bad option, Walden Bello writes for Foreign Policy in Focus. Without more sustained pressure, Democrats will likely compromise with Bush, which means another unworkable policy.
Iran President Bush will not hesitate to use military force against Iran if other options fail, Israel's outgoing ambassador to the United States said in an interview published Wednesday.
Congressional leaders requested an intelligence assessment of India's nuclear program and its government's ties to Iran in January amid concerns about a White House effort to provide nuclear technology to India. Ten months later, as the Senate prepares to vote on nuclear trade with India, the intelligence assessment has yet to be seen on Capitol Hill, the Washington Post reports.
After 9/11, Iran helped the US extensively in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban and establish a new government. It anticipated better relations in exchange for its assistance. But it was soon dubbed a member of the "Axis of Evil" by President Bush, the Christian Science Monitor reports. This led Iran to conclude the Bush Administration was intent on overthrowing their regime no matter what. Iran still has reasons to engage, but the price tag may now be higher.
Iran, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Hezbollah are providing arms, training and financing to Islamic militants in Somalia according to a confidential U.N. document, the Washington Post reports. Iran and Syria denied they had shipped weapons to Somalia or trained Somali forces.
Iraq A U.S. airstrike in Ramadi killed at least 30 people, including women and children, according to witnesses, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Democrats' election victory will make things easier for Iraqis, the Iraqi health minister told Der Spiegel.
Pakistan The Pakistani government pushed legislation through Parliament that would amend the country's rape laws, the New York Times reports. Supporters of the changes say they will make it easier to prove charges of rape and reduce fears of retribution against accusers.
Lebanon Half of the Lebanese public said their opinion of the US was much worse following this summer's invasion by the US-supplied Israeli military, AP reports.
Essential Medicines Oxfam says the US and the EU have broken promises they made to stop blocking developing countries from obtaining affordable medicines, the Guardian reports.
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-- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org