Daily Archives: July 22, 2009

How serial war became the American way of life

America’s wars
By David Bromwich, TomDispatch, July 21, 2009

On July 16, in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the “central question” for the defense of the United States was how the military should be “organized, equipped — and funded — in the years ahead, to win the wars we are in while being prepared for threats on or beyond the horizon.” The phrase beyond the horizon ought to sound ominous. Was Gates telling his audience of civic-minded business leaders to spend more money on defense in order to counter threats whose very existence no one could answer for? Given the public acceptance of American militarism, he could speak in the knowledge that the awkward challenge would never be posed.

We have begun to talk casually about our wars; and this should be surprising for several reasons. To begin with, in the history of the United States war has never been considered the normal state of things. For two centuries, Americans were taught to think war itself an aberration, and “wars” in the plural could only have seemed doubly aberrant. Younger generations of Americans, however, are now being taught to expect no end of war — and no end of wars. [continued…]

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Ahmadinejad defies ayatollah on vice president

Ahmadinejad defies ayatollah on vice president
By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2009

Iran’s president, under attack by reformists after his disputed election victory last month, on Tuesday openly defied his most powerful backer, refusing an order by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dump a newly chosen vice president who is despised by hard-liners for insisting last year that Iranians had no quarrel with the Israeli people.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finds himself under increasing pressure from Iranian hard-liners who appear eager to reap political rewards after leading a weeks-long crackdown on supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who say vote fraud was responsible for Ahmadinejad’s victory.

The leader of a hard-line scholars group linked to the Basiji militia said his organization would propose its own “desired Cabinet lineup” to the president.

“Our organization intends to become the government’s think tank,” said Lotfali Bakh- tiari, leader of the group, in an interview published by Khabar newspaper. “We want to introduce our elite into the government to serve the country. No obstacle is on our way, even the current climate of mistrust.”

Ahmadinejad surprised many observers by defending the vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, an in-law, in the face of a torrent of criticism from his hard-line allies.

News agencies confirmed Tuesday that Khamenei sent a letter to Ahmadinejad on Monday asking for the removal of Mashaei. [continued…]

Clinton: U.S. will extend ‘defense umbrella’ over Gulf if Iran obtains nuclear weapons
Fox News, July 22, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran Wednesday that the United States would extend a “defense umbrella” over its allies in the Persian Gulf if the Islamic Republic obtains a nuclear weapons capability.

Appearing on a Thai TV program, Clinton said the U.S. would also take steps to “upgrade the defense” of America’s Gulf allies in such an event, a reference to stepped-up military aid to those countries.

Clinton’s reference to a U.S. “defense umbrella” over the Persian Gulf represented a potentially significant evolution in America’s global defense posture. Washington already explicitly maintains a “nuclear umbrella” over Asian allies like Japan and South Korea, but seldom, if ever, has any senior U.S. official publicly discussed the concept in relation to the Gulf. [continued…]

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Netanyahu: Israel won’t dismantle West Bank fence

Netanyahu: Israel won’t dismantle West Bank fence
Haaretz, July 22, 2009

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel has no intention of dismantling the West Bank separation fence, which he called “a critical component of Israel’s security.”

“The separation fence will remain in place and will not be dismantled,” Netanyahu told Knesset members.

Media reports in Israel on Wednesday indicated that the Palestinian Authority had relayed to U.S. President Barack Obama a demand that the fence be removed since the security situation in the West Bank had improved. [continued…]

Hamas: We won’t stand in way of PA-Israel deal
By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz, July 22, 2009

Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal told a Russian diplomat a few days ago that his group would not stand in the way of a peace deal brokered between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel. Meshal reportedly told Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov in Damascus that if Abbas comes to an agreement on a final settlement of the conflict with Israel, and if the agreement is approved in a Palestinian referendum, Hamas would not try to derail such an accord.

After the talks, Saltanov traveled to Israel, where he had two days of meetings with senior Israeli officials. Saltanov told his Israeli hosts that Meshal’s comments were positive in nature and should be given the attention they deserve.

Israel, for its part, has been unhappy about Russian contacts with high-ranking Hamas officials in the Syrian capital, and Israeli officials have expressed skepticism about Meshal’s reported comments. [continued…]

Israel bans use of Palestinian term ‘nakba’ in textbooks
Reuters, July 22, 2009

Israel will remove from school textbooks an Arabic term that describes its creation in 1948 as a “catastrophe”, the Education Ministry said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when he was opposition leader two years ago the word “nakba” in Israeli Arab schools was tantamount to spreading propaganda against Israel.

The term, which is not part of the curriculum in schools in Jewish communities, was introduced into a book for use in Arab schools in 2007 when the Education Ministry was run by Yuli Tamir of the center-left Labor party. [continued…]

Israel turns on itself
By Noah Ephron, Foreign Policy, July 20, 2009

Tensions between ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews in Jerusalem have been mounting for months. November’s municipal election replaced the affable ultra-Orthodox mayor, Uri Lupolianski, with Barkat, a combative, secular high-tech millionaire. In the spring, Barkat ordered that a municipal parking lot not far from the Old City be opened for business on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, inflaming some ultra-Orthodox leaders who saw it as a violation of the “status quo,” or long-standing modus vivendi concerning religious observance in the city. Protests, sometimes more peaceful, sometimes less, have materialized each Saturday since, as the new mayor-tried to negotiate a compromise involving opening a different lot, farther from the likely path of any ultra-Orthodox Jews. Then in June, Jerusalem hosted its largest ever gay pride march, which further angered rabbis and their flocks. Seen against this backdrop, last week’s riots were about much more than one case of putative child abuse; the starved kid, it becomes clear, only turned a longer-simmering potion of frustration and anger into a boiling rage. [continued…]

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Taliban claims responsibility for new wave of attacks in Afghanistan

Taliban claims responsibility for new wave of attacks in Afghanistan
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2009

Sowing security fears less than a month before presidential elections, a wave of gunmen and suicide bombers staged coordinated attacks in two eastern cities Tuesday that killed at least six Afghan security officers and eight of the insurgents during hours of chaotic fighting.

The commando-style assaults in the provincial capitals of Jalalabad and Gardez, targeting a U.S. military base and several Afghan government compounds, demonstrated the insurgents’ ability to mount sophisticated, multi-pronged attacks over a wide geographical area. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which began moments apart in midmorning. [continued…]

Pakistan objects to U.S. plan for Afghan war
By Eric Schmitt and Jane Perlez, New York Times, July 22, 2009

Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.

Pakistani officials have told the Obama administration that the Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will force militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Pakistan does not have enough troops to deploy to Baluchistan to take on the Taliban without denuding its border with its archenemy, India, the officials said. Dialogue with the Taliban, not more fighting, is in Pakistan’s national interest, they said. [continued…]

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Iraq’s reluctant leader emerges as unlikely force

Iraq’s reluctant leader emerges as unlikely force
By Gina Chon, Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2009

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, reluctantly thrust three years ago into a job few expected him to hold onto, arrives in Washington this week as a transformed leader — with widening popularity among Iraqis, grudging respect of some political foes and a more even footing with his U.S. hosts.

The quiet former Arabic-literature scholar has demonstrated surprising resilience, establishing himself as Iraq’s first national leader since Saddam Hussein. His three years of consistent leadership, a prospect that initially seemed remote, augurs more stability for Iraq as U.S. involvement diminishes.

Though he still faces formidable problems at home, Mr. Maliki is positioning himself as the person capable of moving Iraq beyond the security concerns that have consumed the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In meetings Wednesday with President Barack Obama and other officials, he will seek foreign investment and stronger ties to the U.S. in education, culture and trade. [continued…]

American troops under ‘house arrest’ after Iraq pullout
By Oliver August, The Times, July 22, 2009

When American troops pulled out of Iraqi cities this month they did not realise quite how final their departure would be. The Iraqi military has since barred them from re-entering areas they previously controlled and all but locked them out of towns and cities.

US convoys can no longer pass through checkpoints in Baghdad without prior approval and an Iraqi escort. American night-time raids in pursuit of insurgents have also been curtailed by Iraqi officials who gained the right to veto all such missions on July 1.

In several cases, the Iraqis took action themselves; in others the suspected insurgents slipped away. [continued…]

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Amnesty accuses Saudi Arabia of ‘gross’ abuses

Amnesty accuses Saudi Arabia of ‘gross’ abuses
By Alan Cowell, New York Times, July 22, 2009

The human rights group Amnesty International accused Saudi Arabia on Wednesday of using its campaign against terrorism as a facade for “a sustained assault on human rights” and said the rest of the world had failed to hold the authorities to account for “gross violations.”

Its report said thousands of people had been arrested and detained in virtual secrecy “while others have been killed in uncertain circumstances.” It accused the Saudi authorities of using torture to extract confessions and of using their “powerful international clout to get away with it.”

Rich in oil, Saudi Arabia is an important Western ally, both as a bulwark against Iran and as a wealthy and influential player in the Middle East crisis. But it has been under Western pressure to combat terrorism since 15 of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were found to be Saudi citizens. [continued…]

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