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Summary: U.S. Government lawyers said Monday American courts had no authority to stop the military from transferring an American citizen to an Iraqi court to face charges that he supported terrorists and insurgents. Government lawyers said American courts did not have jurisdiction because Omar was being held by a multinational force, not the American military. Defense lawyers say that is a legal gimmick.
Britain David Cameron, leader of Britain's opposition Conservatives, sought Monday to distance his party from what he called a "slavish" bond established between Britain and the US by Prime Minister Blair.
Iran Secretary of State Rice signaled that a temporary suspension of Iran's nuclear programs might be enough to pave the way for direct negotiations involving the US and Iran. Rice said Iran needs to suspend uranium-enrichment activities before talks can begin, but did not rule out something less than a permanent suspension. In talks with European officials, the Iranian negotiator offered a two-month freeze at the start of talks. In a response to proposals made by the members of the U.N. Security Council last June, Iran stopped short of rejecting demands to halt its nuclear enrichment program, saying the issue could be resolved in negotiations. The response was made public on a Web site Tuesday.
Iraq Brigadier General Mark Scheid told a Virginia newspaper that Rumsfeld refused to plan for post-war Iraq and threatened to fire anyone who did so, saying the American public "will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."
Iraq's political process has sharpened the country's sectarian divisions, polarized relations between its ethnic and religious groups, and weakened its sense of national identity, the GAO said Monday.
Iraq had nothing to do with the war on terror until the Bush administration decided to invade it, notes a New York Times editorial The president now admits that Saddam Hussein was not responsible for 9/11. But he has failed to offer the country a new, realistic reason for being there.
A deputy of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr sketched out his vision of the Iraq to come, after the Americans withdraw, in a Washington Post interview. First, "there will be a civil war," he said. "It would be better than the Americans staying." No matter when the Americans withdraw, "the first year of transition, it will be worse," he warned. "After that, it will gradually improve."
Pentagon officials said the rise of "ethno-sectarian violence" has laid the conditions for civil war, aborting plans to begin withdrawing U.S. troops. U.S. forces may have to stay in the country for as many as five or more years, they said.
Lebanon Hundreds of people protested in Beirut against British Prime Minister Blair's visit to Lebanon. Several ministers refused to meet him. The front pages of most of the country's newspapers said he was not welcome.
Israel An IDF commander said the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets in Lebanon. Soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war. They said the vast majority of such explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war.
An Israeli military judge Tuesday ordered the release of 21 Palestinian Hamas officials detained in a dragnet launched after a soldier was abducted by gunmen in the Gaza Strip. A senior aide to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of Hamas, said the court's decision represented "significant progress" in securing the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
Uruguay The Bush administration and Venezuela are jockeying for position in Uruguay, the New York Times reports. Washington is offering a trade deal that would pull Uruguay into the US orbit and weaken the regional trade group Mercosur. Venezuela has countered with investments, subsidized oil, and acts of charity.
In this issue: U.S. 1) U.S. Appeals Ruling on American Held in Iraq Britain 2) Tory Denounces Blair's 'Slavish' Tie to U.S. Iran 3) Brief Nuclear Halt May Lead to Talks With Iran 4) Iran Proposes Negotiations on Nuclear Stand-Off Iraq 5) Retired General: Rumsfeld Refused to Plan For Post-War Iraq scheid 6) Iraqi Elections Believed to Have Worsened Divisions, Report Says 7) President Bush's Reality 8) Top Aide to Sadr Outlines Vision of a U.S.-Free Iraq 9) Pentagon Weighing Report On Anbar Lebanon 10) Protesters in Lebanon Drown Out Blair's Offers of Aid and Support Israel 11) IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon 12) Israel orders release of 21 detained Hamas officials Uruguay 13) Uruguay at Center of Lively U.S.-Venezuela Chess Game
-------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org