October 2009

Allies push Israel for Gaza probe

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Allies push Israel for Gaza probe BBC News, October 15, 2009 Israel has come under pressure from its allies to investigate UN allegations of possible war crimes by its army during its Gaza offensive last winter. Britain’s UN envoy urged Israel to hold “full, credible and impartial” investigations, echoing similar calls from his US and [...]

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Why Palestinians have lost faith in Obama

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Why Palestinians have lost faith in Obama By Donald Macintyre, The Independent, October 15, 2009 For a man who is sometimes seen as the Palestinian politician that the Israelis and the Americans like best, Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad was in a strikingly robust mood during a two-hour press conference in Ramallah yesterday. While too polite [...]

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A new role for Turkey

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

A new role for Turkey By Stephen Kinzer, Boston Globe, October 15, 2009 When Turkish officials land in bitterly divided countries like Lebanon or Afghanistan or Pakistan, every faction is eager to talk to them. No country’s diplomats are as welcome in both Tehran and Jerusalem, Moscow and Tblisi, Damascus and Cairo. As a Muslim [...]

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Experts say Iran may be ready for a nuclear deal

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Experts say Iran may be ready for a nuclear deal By Michael Slackman, New York Times, October 15, 2009 In contentious, high-stakes negotiations, deals are possible when both sides have a chance to declare victory, and that point may have been reached. “If the Iranian endgame is to keep enrichment, and if the United States’ [...]

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Stanley McChrystal’s long war

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Stanley McChrystal’s long war By Dexter Filkins, New York Times, October 18, 2009 In his initial assessment of the country, sent to President Obama early last month, McChrystal described an Afghanistan on the brink of collapse and an America at the edge of defeat. To reverse the course of the war, McChrystal presented President Obama [...]

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Obama’s delusion

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Obama’s delusion By David Bromwich, London Review of Books, October 22, 2009 Long before he became president, there were signs in Barack Obama of a tendency to promise things easily and compromise often. He broke a campaign vow to filibuster a bill that immunised telecom outfits against prosecution for the assistance they gave to domestic [...]

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Russia: We’ll nuke ‘aggressors’ first

by Paul Woodward 10.15.2009

Russia: We’ll nuke ‘aggressors’ first By Nathan Hodge, Danger Room, October 14, 2009 Russia is weighing changes to its military doctrine that would allow for a “preventive” nuclear strike against its enemies — even those armed only with conventional weapons. The news comes just as American diplomats are trying to get Russia to cut down [...]

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Turkey becoming the strongest democratic force in the Middle East

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

Israeli-Turkish diplomatic crisis worsens By David Harris, Xinhua, October 13, 2009 Ten months after Turkey first protested Israel’s military operation in and around Palestinian Gaza Strip, crisis between Ankara and the Israelis appears to be going from bad to worse. It became clear on Sunday that Turkey had banned Israel from participating in a NATO-led, [...]

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Jordanian frustration with U.S., Israel mounting

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

Jordanian frustration with U.S., Israel mounting By Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy, October 13, 2009 While I was in Jordan, King Abdullah gave a lengthy interview to Haaretz about the Israeli-Palestinian situation in which he warned that “We’re sliding back into the darkness.” My conversations with more than two dozen Jordanian officials, political activists, journalists and [...]

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In Kabul, little hope that a runoff will be fair

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

In Kabul, little hope that a runoff will be fair By Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, October 14, 2009 As experts pore over ballots to determine whether the fraud in this country’s presidential election was so big that a runoff vote was required, many Afghans interviewed here on Tuesday shared the same view: Why bother? [...]

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Saudis seek payments for any drop in oil revenues

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

Saudis seek payments for any drop in oil revenues By Jad Mouawad and Andrew C Revken, New York Times, October 14, 2009 Saudi Arabia is trying to enlist other oil-producing countries to support a provocative idea: if wealthy countries reduce their oil consumption to combat global warming, they should pay compensation to oil producers. The [...]

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Russia resists U.S. position on sanctions for Iran

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

Russia resists U.S. position on sanctions for Iran By Mark Landler and Clifford J Levy, New York Times, October 14, 2009 Denting President Obama’s hopes for a powerful ally in his campaign to press Iran on its nuclear program, Russia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that threatening Tehran now with harsh new sanctions would be “counterproductive.” [...]

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U.S. sees Saudi program as an option for detainees

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

U.S. sees Saudi program as an option for detainees By Sudarsan Raghavan and Peter Finn, Washington Post, October 14, 2009 Four years after Khalid al-Jehani’s release from the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the 34-year-old Saudi lives a peaceful life in this sprawling coastal city. He has a car, a job and a [...]

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More US troops deployed overseas under Obama than Bush

by Paul Woodward 10.13.2009

More US troops deployed overseas under Obama than Bush By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post, October 13, 2009 President Obama announced in March that he would be sending 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But in an unannounced move, the White House has also authorized — and the Pentagon is deploying — at least 13,000 troops [...]

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Obama floats like a butterfly – and stings like one as well

by Paul Woodward 10.13.2009

Obama floats like a butterfly – and stings like one as well By Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, October 12, 2009 Just five years ago, Barack Obama was still a local politician in Illinois, preparing for a run for the US Senate. His office wall in Chicago at the time was decorated with the famous picture [...]

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U.S. to Egypt: Fatah-Hamas deal undermines Israel-PA talks

by Paul Woodward 10.13.2009

U.S. to Egypt: Fatah-Hamas deal undermines Israel-PA talks By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz, October 13, 2009 The United States sent a message to Egypt stating it does not support the proposed reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas as it would undermine negotiations with Israel, Haaretz has learned. George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to [...]

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Russian FM: Threats of Iran sanctions won’t work

by Paul Woodward 10.13.2009

Russian FM: Threats of Iran sanctions won’t work By Mathew Lee, AP, October 13, 2009 Russia pushed back Tuesday at U.S. efforts to threaten tough new sanctions if Iran fails to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, a setback to the Obama administration’s desire to present a united front with Moscow. After meeting with U.S. [...]

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Hadron Collider physicist Adlene Hicheur charged with terrorism

by Paul Woodward 10.13.2009

Hadron Collider physicist Adlene Hicheur charged with terrorism By Charles Bremner and Adam Sage, The Times, October 13, 2009 A French physicist with the European atomic research centre near Geneva was charged with terrorism offences by a Paris judge last night after investigators said that he offered to work with the North African branch of [...]

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The myth of “America”

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

The myth of “America” By Dahr Jamail and Jason Coppola, Truthout, October 12, 2009 Catholic priest Bartolome de las Casas, in the multi-volume “History of the Indies” published in 1875, wrote, “… Slaves were the primary source of income for the Admiral (Columbus) with that income he intended to repay the money the Kings were [...]

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The world’s first terrorists

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

The world’s first terrorists By Johann Hari, Huffington Post, October 11, 2009 Imagine it. A network of violent radicals is picking off the world’s leaders one by one. They have killed the American president, the Russian head of state, the French president, the Austrian head of state, and the Spanish prime minister. Bomb attacks are [...]

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Israeli Nobel prize winner: Release all terrorists

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

Israeli Nobel prize winner: Release all terrorists Ynet, October, 2009 Professor Ada Yontah, who became the first Israeli woman to win a Nobel Prize this week, shared her political views in an interview with Army Radio on Saturday. Referring to the Shalit affair, Yonath said that regardless of the deal “Anyone who is imprisoned in [...]

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Afghanistan – the proxy war

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

Afghanistan – the proxy war By Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston Globe, October 11, 2009 Obama ran for the presidency promising change. The doves sense correctly that Obama’s decision on Afghanistan may well determine how much – if any – substantive change is in the offing. If the president assents to McChrystal’s request, he will void [...]

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Diplomacy in the lead on Iran nuclear issue — for now

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

Diplomacy in the lead on Iran nuclear issue — for now By Greg Miller and Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2009 Agreement to open Iran’s hidden nuclear complex to inspection has reduced talk of military action and put diplomacy back on track — at least for a while. But even as the [...]

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Bombings outside Iraq reconciliation meeting kill 23

by Paul Woodward 10.12.2009

Bombings outside Iraq reconciliation meeting kill 23 By Timothy Williams, New York Times, October 12, 2009 A series of apparently coordinated bombings aimed at a meeting for national reconciliation killed 23 people and wounded 65 others in western Iraq on Sunday, but they did not injure the officials who were at the gathering, the authorities [...]

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