Reid/Pelosi letter against a "surge" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/01/05/dem_n_37915.html
The Four Questions The new Congress has taken its seats. President Bush is planning to "surge" troops in Iraq. Get Members of Congress and presidential candidates on the record on the Four Questions:The "Surge." The timetable. The funding. Talks with Iran. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-weisbrot-and-robert-naiman/the-four-questions-get_b_37841.html
Tell Your Representatives: Stop the Money and Bring the Troops Home Please write/call your Members of Congress if you have not done so recently. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iraq.html
Talk to Iran: Petition More than 40,000 have signed the Peace Action/Just Foreign Policy petition. Please sign/circulate if you have yet to do so. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html
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Summary: U.S./Top News Sen. Biden, said yesterday he believes top officials in the Bush administration have privately concluded they have lost Iraq and are simply trying to postpone disaster so the next president will "be the guy landing helicopters inside the Green Zone, taking people off the roof," the Washington Post reports.
President Bush confronts a wary Congress unconvinced the administration can chart a successful exit from the war, the Los Angeles Times reports. But the new Democratic majorities are reluctant to assume responsibility for the war, leaving unclear Congress' willingness to block any troop escalation or to compel Bush to change strategy.
One of Donald Rumsfeld's last acts as Defense secretary was to urge President Bush to let the Pentagon create a new Africa Command, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Bush is said to have agreed to the idea and is expected announce it early this year. The US government's motives include countering Al Qaeda's presence in Africa, safeguarding future oil supplies, and competing with China.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry acknowledged Thursday that an Iraqi police officer whose existence had been denied by the Iraqis and the U.S. military is in fact an active member of the force, and said he now faces arrest for speaking to the media, AP reports.
Congress has a way out of Iraq that sidesteps President Bush without a partisan debate on the war, writes Roscoe Born in the Baltimore Sun. Congress can replace the resolution authorizing force in Iraq with one stating that US military presence in Iraq is no longer authorized. Congress used this procedure in 1993 to withdraw U.S. troops from Somalia.
Oprah Winfrey's new school in South Africa is part of a growing worldwide campaign to improve girls' education, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The article notes that "Many African governments have recently eliminated primary school fees, which have hampered girls' enrollment." But in listing challenges that remain, it neglects to mention the removal of these fees in other countries. The fees are a legacy of the IMF and the World Bank.
Iran Five Iranians arrested by US troops in Iraq last month were on a covert mission to influence Iraq's government, British officials told the BBC. The story contradicts statements from US officials, who have tried to link the Iranians to attacks on US troops. Rather, the story suggests that the "threat" represented by the Iranians was one of political influence with their allies in the Iraqi government, who also happen to be allies of the US government.
Israel/Palestine A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Olmert met and Egyptian President Mubarak to give momentum to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations was overshadowed by an Israeli raid in Ramallah which killed four and wounded 20, the New York Times reports.
Israeli peace activist Tali Fahima, released after 30 months in jail, says her crime was meeting Palestinians and refusal to cooperate with Israel's Shin Bet, the Guardian reports. Fahima had been a Likud voter until 2003, when she decided she wanted to understand why the Palestinians were attacking Israel.
Afghanistan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar said he would never negotiate with the US-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. He also threatened to continue the war until foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan. [It's worth recalling that when then-Senate Majority Leader Frist called on the US to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" into the government, he was talking about lower-level people, not top leaders like Omar.] Omar emphasized that his goal was the removal of US troops from Afghanistan, not the broader jihad advocated by bin Laden.
Pakistan's prime minister said Thursday he wanted the three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan to go home as one way to end the problem of insurgents using the country as a haven, the New York Times reports. Afghan president Hamid Karzai said the gulf in relations between the two countries is growing wider.
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- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org