Summary: U.S. The Senate, with no debate Saturday, passed and sent to the president legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran and countries that trade with Iran.
As the top Democrat on the House military spending subcommittee, John Murtha delivers Democratic votes to Republican leaders in exchange for earmarks for himself and his allies, the New York Times reports. Murtha has helped Republicans round up Democratic votes to block proposals to investigate federal contracting fraud in Iraq, to add $150 million for veterans' health care and job training, and to divert money intended to be spent on base closings to research prosthetic limbs for veterans.
The Bush administration is so attached to torturing people because torture is what provides evidence for large important networks of terrorists where there aren't really any, or aren't very many, or aren't enough to justify 800 military bases and a $500 billion military budget, writes Juan Cole . Congress Friday moved to block the Bush administration from building permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector, as it approved $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iran The San Francisco Chroncle reports on preparations by the U.S. to attack Iran. In a podcast interview, Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford, argues that, far from weakening the Iranian regime, air strikes probably would strengthen its hand because the Iranian people would rally around the flag.
Iraq Iraq's government showed further signs of strain Sunday, as Shiite political leaders expressed growing frustration at having to share power with Sunni Arabs whom they view as having ties to insurgents. The complaints came after the disclosure on Friday that a guard working for a leading Sunni politician might have been involved in a plot to detonate multiple car bombs in the Green Zone.
Palestine Steven Erlanger reports for the New York Times that efforts to form a Palestinian unity government have been more slogan than reality. As in a previous report, he obscures the fact that some of the "aid" being withheld from the Palestinians is in fact Palestinian tax revenues which the Israeli government is legally required to hand over to the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought running battles in Gaza on Sunday, as Hamas forces tried to disrupt Fatah-organized protests over unpaid government salaries. Six Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were wounded.
Bahrain A former government adviser has set off a firestorm with a report describing a vast conspiracy to rig the elections, manipulate the country's sectarian balance and ensure Sunni domination over the country's majority Shiites. The report suggests that unusual business dealings were occurring between government officials that may have amounted to an effort to set off ethnic conflict.
Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished first in the presidential vote held Sunday, but fell short of the majority he needed to avoid a runoff on Oct. 29.
Nicaragua Daniel Ortega is once again smiling down from campaign billboards across Nicaragua. Now 60, he stands his best chance yet of returning to power in elections on Nov. 5, the New York Times reports. Washington has sent word that aid will be re-evaluated if Ortega is elected.
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-------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org
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