National - Friday, November 6, 2009 10:00 - 0 Comments
Hopes for Two-State Solution Dwindling, and Obama’s Not Helping
Yesterday, Middle East expert and University of Michigan professor Juan Cole had a piece in Salon in which he suggested that a two-state resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict had reached a dead end. And it’s true, things look pretty grim right now. Sadly, the Obama administration, while initially signaling a promising shift in US policy towards Israel, has only exacerbated things by retreating to the reflexively pro-Israeli government posture of the Bush administration.
It started with the Goldstone Report, the product of a UN investigation which found evidence that both Israel and Palestinian militant groups (most notably Hamas) were guilty of war crimes. Needless to say, the Israeli government was displeased.
Pop quiz: Did the Obama administration A) acknowledge the slaughter committed by their ally, or B) do everything they could to suppress the report? The depressing answer is below the fold.
Continue…
National - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 10:20 - 0 Comments
Obama Administration Rolls Out New Posture on Sudan
From the New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Laying out the basic outlines of his Sudan policy, President Obama said Monday that he would renew “tough sanctions” against the Khartoum government and increase pressure if it failed to improve the dire situation in Darfur — but he also held out the possibility of incentives if Sudan cooperated.
“As the United States and our international partners meet our responsibility to act, the government of Sudan must meet its responsibilities to take concrete steps in a new direction,” Mr. Obama said in a statement released by the White House.
The strategy, worked out after months of intensive debate, is meant to build pressure on Sudan to end the abuses that have left millions of people dead or displaced in its vast Darfur region. It places a greater emphasis on incentives than the Bush administration policy, but officials were quick to stress that there were also additional punishments on the table.
National - Monday, October 19, 2009 14:00 - 2 Comments
Two-State Solution Advocacy Group Under Fire
If you haven’t heard of J Street yet, you probably will soon; the left-wing lobbying organization and PAC is rapidly becoming one of the major domestic players in American-Israeli relations. Here’s some of the flavor of their mission from their about page:
J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region.
J Street represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own – two states living side-by-side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.
National - Monday, October 19, 2009 7:45 - 0 Comments
What a Functioning Conservative Opposition Party Looks Like
Thick Of It Spinners and Losers – Opposition Extra
Will Smith | MySpace Video
I’m not what you would call a David Brooks fan, but while he’s frequently off-base, he’s also a valuable conservative critic of the complete intellectual meltdown of the Republican Party. And to that end, he had a solid column on Friday contrasting the GOP with their UK counterparts.
The core of the piece, which is worth reading in its entirety, is a speech by leading Conservative MP George Osborne. Here’s the part that really stuck out to me:
Osborne declared that there would be no tax cuts any time soon. He said that as a matter of principle he believes that the top income tax rate of 50 percent is too high. But, he continued, “we cannot even think of abolishing the 50 percent rate in the rich” while others down the income scale are asked to scrimp.
City - Friday, September 25, 2009 10:30 - 0 Comments
Libyan Leader Having Trouble Finding Where in NY to Pitch His Tent
It’s no secret that Libyan dictator Muammar Al-Gaddafi is sorta crazy. But did you know that he’s so crazy that insanity follows him everywhere he goes like a billowing, toxic cloud?
That’s the takeaway from his visit this week to New York City, where he addressed the United Nations. In tow: his large retinue of virginal, heavily made-up bodyguards and the massive bedouin tent that serves as his home away from home.
Turns out it probably would have been easier to just get a hotel room. After being told that he couldn’t make camp in Central Park, Gaddafi opted instead to hunker down in Bedford, NY, a little ways upstate–but a couple nights ago, after receiving legal threats from some of the locals, the tent went down.
Just as well, I guess, since Gadaffi already did what he came to do and delivered a 95-minute address to the United Nations on Wednesday. If you haven’t had your bad acid trip for the week yet, you can find the whole thing here.
National - Thursday, September 24, 2009 12:00 - 0 Comments
Ousted President of Honduras Seeks Return to Power
On Monday, BBC News reported that deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya (pictured, center) has secretly returned to his country, and holed up in the Brazilian embassy. Zelaya serves as a reminder to the world: You can politic until you’re blue in the face. You can involve Nobel Laureates, or attack protestors all day long. You can do everything you can to resolve a political crisis running more than 40 years past its sell-by date. And then some things just happen. The details of the situation still appear vague, and though government forces have clashed with the protestors, the situation seems to be in a sort of stalemate.
Oddly, up until recently the acting president Micheletti in Honduras had seemed content to stall until new elections had been held and seemed confident that it could weather American pressure until the storm had passed. Despite a tone deaf policy, that involved televised broadcasts by a man allegedly associated with 80s era death squads, Micheletti only started facing real pressure when in early September Clinton and Obama suspended aid to Honduras.
Continue…
National - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:02 - 0 Comments
Obama Shakes Up Missile Defense To Deal With Iran
President Obama addressed the UN General Assembly this morning amid a political climate best characterized as awkward. By attempting to handle a relatively new enemy, Obama has endeared himself to an old enemy and angered long-standing allies.
Obama drew criticism last week for abandoning a proposed Eastern European based antiballistic missile shield in favor of a downgraded missile defense system. The Bush-era plan would have placed radar facilities and ground-based interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland that could nullify long range missiles from Iran — a military capability the country is yet to acquire. Obama’s new proposal is sea/air-based and deals competently with only short-to-medium range missiles from Iran.
Poland is not amused, not least for the fact the Obama administration made the announcement on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion. Though Obama reaffirmed the NATO pledge that “an armed attack against one is considered an attack against all,” Poland still see Russia as the biggest threat to their national security.
Continue…
City - Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:19 - 0 Comments
First NYU, Now the UN is Back in Session
Coverage will be ongoing for the rest of the week. Things to look out for:
Climate Change
That’s at the top of the agenda this time around, but it remains to be seen whether or not the urgency of the matter is dire enough to overcome the most powerful force in politics: institutional inertia. We’ll see, but I’m not holding my breath–something tells me that as long as the sea level remains relatively unchanged, so will attitudes.
Regulatory Reform
Another very, very important matter on which, sadly, it seems little will be done. But don’t take my word for it–listen to MIT economist Simon Johnson.
Ahmadinejad!
With his frequent, uninvited visits, besieged Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is starting to seem a little bit like the Kramer to New York City’s Seinfeld, but with more Holocaust denial. Keep an eye out for the protests. And as always, his public remarks should be … interesting.
The G20 Summit
They’re going to be meeting in Pittsburgh, of all places, on Thursday and Friday, but given that the G20 and the GOtherGuys are all going to be rubbing elbows at the UN for a couple days beforehand, there’s a pretty fair chance that what happens in New York could set the tone for the summit.
Photo by Flickr user wallyg used under a Creative Commons license.
National - Friday, September 18, 2009 8:25 - 2 Comments
Iran Takes One Step Forward, But Anticipate Two Steps Back
The precariously poised President of Iran rolls into New York next Wednesday to address the UN General Assembly. His visits here hardly inspire a hospitable welcome. A cluster of anti-Ahmadinejadists have already set up camp on the southeast corner of Washington Square Park, hoping to enlist protesters in the form of politically-schizophrenic college kids (”The UN is a disgrace for letting the Iranian President speak, but you know – Free speech! Free Palestine!”).
While “hostile” usually characterizes US-Iranian relations, tensions toned down last week when the US accepted Iran’s proposal for face-to-face talks slated for early October. The meeting will involve Iran sitting down at the negotiation table with the US along with Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany at a neutral venue rumored to be in Turkey.
Iran has already endured three rounds of sanctions and is under threat of a fourth if the country does not begin to comply with the United Nations. Director General of the UN’s nuclear watchdog and NYU alumni, Mohamed ElBaradei, recently confirmed that Iran has neither discontinued nor demystified its nuclear program. The US has already offered Iran a “freeze-for-freeze” deal, which requires Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment in exchange for a halt on further sanctions against the country. Theoretically, from there negotiations could begin to reduce the sanctions already in place.
Practically, that best-case scenario seems as probable as a reduction in NYU tuition fees. Ahmadinejad frames the “peaceful” nuclear program as a inviolable right of Iran that will never be compromised, meaning the matter is not even up for debate. The ever blunt Sectary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that “Iran says it has a number of issues it wishes to discuss with us, but what we are concerned about is discussing with them the questions surrounding their nuclear program and ambitions.”
Technically, when Ahmadinejad arrives in New York next week the US and Iran will be on better terms than they’ve been in over eight years. However, in all likelihood the ill-fated negotiations will merely legitimize for the next round of sanctions to be imposed on Iran without much diplomatic progress.
National - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 12:02 - 0 Comments
US-Backed Afghan President On Shaky Ground
Hamid Karzai is causing his fair share of agita this election season. Maybe more. The hand-wringing occurring in Washington is accompanied by violence in Afghanistan, making Karzai and his administration look like liabilities in the stabilization of the country. Things didn’t seem like they would end up this poorly; the idea that the new government would seem to be worse than the Taliban seemed patently absurd considering the atrocious mismanagement and chaos of Taliban-era Afghanistan. Knowing how Karzai managed to boldly stride his way into a situation he is now unable to limp out of is essential to understanding what to do next.
Member of one of the most powerful Pashtun tribes, and son of a man who, under Afghanistan’s Pashtun dominated monarchy, was extremely powerful, Karzai went on to bolster his credentials by fighting with the Mujahadeen against the Soviets, supporting the Taliban against some of the Mujaheds, and finally backing the remaining monarchists and the Northern Alliance against the Taliban after they were implicated in the murder of Karzai’s father. Not content to derive his authority in Afghanistan exclusively from the Afghans, Karzai was named chairman of the UN-commissioned interim government.
With the full backing of the Germans, Americans, and international community, Karzai was named Interim President by the Western-backed Loya Jirga (Parliament) of the new Afghan state. Karzai even felt strong enough vis a vis the Americans to openly call for the normalization of relations between the US and Iran while still holding chummy weekly teleconferences with President Bush. So far, so good, right?
Continue…
