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Summary: U.S./Top News The Bush Administration intends to defy any Congressional restrictions on making war on Iran or trying to overthrow the Iranian government, suggests an article by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker. Hersh cites the fears of some analysts that the appointment of Robert Gates and the release of the Iraq Study Group report may not herald the shift in policy on Iran that many have been hoping for. Hersh notes that the Administration's planning for a military attack on Iran has been hampered by a CIA assessment challenging the White House's assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb. The C.I.A. found no conclusive evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear-weapons program.
We must bomb Iran, writes Joshua Muravchik of the American Enterprise Institute in the Los Angeles Times. Muravchik advocates for a bombing campaign that might last "a couple of weeks" on "a large fraction" of 1,500 targets. Muravchik says this would not end, but would delay, Iran's alleged weapons program. To purchase such delay, Muravchik is willing to accept "inflamed global anti-Americanism" and "retaliation in Iraq or by terrorism."
Video of the physical abuse of an Iranian-American student by UCLA police has been posted on the Internet. The video clearly shows the use of a taser on the young man although he is already in handcuffs.
The Pentagon's review of how to improve the situation in Iraq is likely to recommend a combination of a small, short-term increase in U.S. troops and a long-term commitment to stepped-up training and advising of Iraqi forces, the Washington Post reports. Under the plan, the short increase in U.S. troop levels would be followed by a long-term plan to radically cut the presence, perhaps to 60,000 troops. The plan could backfire if Iraqis suspect it is a way for the US to "moonwalk" like Michael Jackson out of Iraq, the Post reports.
Syria's foreign minister Sunday pledged cooperation in stemming sectarian violence in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. He called on the US to set a timetable for withdrawing US troops. He said that Syria was doing all it could to control the border, and noted that the US also has problems controlling its border with Mexico.
Henry Kissinger said Sunday he no longer believed a military victory was possible in the conflict, the Financial Times reports. Meanwhile, Senator McCain suggested on ABC's This Week that he would consider calling for American troops to leave Iraq if the White House did not agree to send additional forces. McCain said US troops were "fighting and dying for a failed policy."
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats would do everything they can to stop George Bush sending more troops to Iraq, the Guardian reported Friday, following up a report that Bush was planning "one last push" that would require more troops.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich wants to cut off funding for the Iraq war, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, saying it's the only way to assure a pullout soon.
Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq has dropped to the lowest level ever, AP reported Friday.
Iran The EU urged the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation governing board not to assist Iran with its Arak heavy water reactor project, Reuters reports. But developing nations say rejecting Iran's request would set a politicized precedent for withholding technical aid from them to peaceful atomic energy programs. Diplomats said the most likely outcome was a compromise to defer decision pending guidance from the Security Council, while approving other aid requests submitted by Iran seen as less problematic.
A hard-line cleric who opposes all dialogue with the West is a leading contender to become Iran's next supreme spiritual leader, the London Sunday Telegraph reports.
Iraq U.S. tank fire killed scores of civilians in Ramadi last week, according to Iraqis interviewed by Inter Press Service.
The trial of Saddam Hussein, in which he was sentenced to death, was marred by flaws so serious that they undermined the trial's fairness and called into question the verdict, says Human Rights Watch. The Washington Post says this is the "first significant challenge" to the trial, an odd assertion. See, for example, CBS/AP, "Debate Rages Over Saddam Trial, Int'l Jurists: Iraqi-Led Tribunal Could Be A Travesty Of Justice," Dec. 16, 2003. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/15/iraq/main588752.shtml?cmp=EM8706
Palestine In a remarkable display of bravery and popular initiative, Palestinians stopped Israel from destroying the home of two militants by surrounding it with a human shield. Hundreds of neighbours surrounded the home of Mohammed Baroud and climbed on its roof after he received a call from the Israeli army informing him he had 30 minutes to vacate his home before it was destroyed by missiles, the Guardian reports. The Israeli airforce called off its strike because of the risk of killing a large number of civilians.
Lebanon The leader of Hezbollah urged his well-organized followers to prepare for mass protests aimed at toppling the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the Washington Post reports. Many in Lebanon see the struggle as a proxy battle involving the US, Israel, Syria and Iran.
Venezuela A poll released by Reuters suggests 57.8% of Venezuelans support Hugo Chavez' re-election on December 3rd. Zulia governor Manuel Rosales is second with 26.9 %. In 2000, Chavez was elected with 59.5 % of the vote.
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- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org