Foreign Policy Commentary News Update July 18, 2007

BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS WEAR HIJABS - ROXIEAMERICA (INDEPENDENCE LOST,
JULY 16): Bush Administration officials wear hijabs as a special U.S. envoy is
appointed to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Are our government
officials showing us what we will all be wearing in the future? Is it too
radical to ask if this is the beginning of re-submitting to a male-dominated
society?
http://independencelost.blogspot.com/2007/07/bush-administration-officials-wear.html

THE SYRIAN CHANNEL/ASSAD'S ROAD MAP - ZVI BAR'EL (HAARETZ.COM, JULY 18): The
work of the various mediators, especially the Turks, have borne fruit, in the
form of public diplomacy that relies on new languae.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/883336.html

FALLING BACK INTO FAVOR - ED FEULNER (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 17): Since
2002, "the image of the United States has declined in most parts of the world,"
according to the latest Pew Global Attitudes survey. Winning a global popularity
contest may not top our list of priorities. But if we can enhance our reputation
through a few simple steps -- such as keeping our word and not treating our
friends as if they're suspects -- why not take them?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/COMMENTARY/107170022/1012&template=printart

U.S. IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTING CYPRIOT COINS - JEREMY KAHN (NEW YORK
TIMES, JULY 18): In a move that some coin collectors fear could eventually make
it difficult to pursue their passion, the United States government has imposed
import restrictions on ancient coins from Cyprus. It is the first time the
United States has limited trade in a broad category of coins as part of an
effort to guard the cultural heritage of another country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/arts/design/18coins.html?8dpc=&_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

BENCHMARKS OF A QUAGMIRE: CONSIDERING VICTORY IN IRAQ - DON MONKERUD
(COUNTERPUNCH, JULY 17): By any measure Iraq is a mess with 4,300 American dead,
30,000 wounded (including mercenaries), $500 billion in tax dollars, increased
anti-Americanism around the globe, and Bush's ratings matching those of "Tricky
Dick" Nixon.
http://www.counterpunch.org/monkerud07172007.html

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN IRAQ: 100 MORE FATHERS, MOTHERS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS
KILLED - PATRICK COCKBURN (COUNTERPUNCH, JULY 17)
http://www.counterpunch.org/patrick07172007.html

NIGHTMARE ON THE TIGRIS: IRAQ PLUNGES DEEPER INTO CRISIS - BERNHARD ZAND
(SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL, JULY 16): Once again, US President George W. Bush has
called on Iraqis to settle their differences -- and on Americans to be patient.
But the country's political landscape is becoming ever more complex and its
leaders have their own priorities.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,494879,00.html

LARGEST IRAQ CONTRACT RIFE WITH ERRORS - MATT KELLEY, (USA TODAY, JULY 17):
By far the largest government contractor in Iraq, KBR has been paid more than
$20.1 billion through last October -- about half of all government spending on
contracts in Iraq, mostly under a multiyear Army contract to provide logistical
support for U.S. troops. The company also has contracts to help rebuild Iraq's
oil industry. The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has challenged nearly
$2.2 billion of KBR's invoices and cost proposals. The Army has resolved nearly
$1.3 billion of those questioned costs, paying KBR only $804 million, records
show.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-07-16-iraq-auditors_N.htm
VIA
http://www.juancole.com/2007/07/80-dead-in-kirkuk-bombings-lat-reports.html

INTELLIGENCE PUTS RATIONALE FOR WAR ON SHAKIER GROUND - MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ
(WASHINGTON POST, JULY 18): The White House faced fresh political peril
yesterday in the form of a new intelligence assessment that raised sharp
questions about the success of its counterterrorism strategy and judgment in
making Iraq the focus of that effort.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071702007_pf.html

READ IT AND WEEP: EVEN BUSH'S INTELLIGENCE REPORT SAYS THE WAR IN IRAQ IS
MAKING US LESS SAFE AT HOME - FRED KAPLAN (SLATE, JULY 17)
http://www.slate.com/id/2170564/

EXIT STRATEGIES: WOULD IRAN TAKE OVER IRAQ? WOULD AL-QAEDA? THE DEBATE ABOUT
HOW AND WHEN TO LEAVE CENTERS ON WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN AFTER THE U.S. GOES - KAREN
DEYOUNG AND THOMAS E. RICKS (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 17): There are no firm
conclusions regarding the consequences of a reduction in U.S. troops. What is
perhaps most striking about the military's simulations is that its post-drawdown
scenarios focus on civil war and regional intervention and upheaval rather than
the establishment of an al-Qaeda sanctuary in Iraq.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/16/AR2007071601680.html

NO MAGIC BULLETS FOR IRAQ - ANNE APPLEBAUM (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 17): There
are no obvious solutions in Iraq, only policy changes that could make some
things better and some things worse. Maybe much worse.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/16/AR2007071601289_pf.html

LAST HAWK STANDING: A RESOLUTE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF - RICH LOWRY (NATIONAL
REVIEW, JULY 17): As leaks, GOP defections and plummeting approval ratings swirl
all around him, Bush remains resolute: The Iraq war must, and can, be won.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTgxZjliZTcyZTM2MjhjOTcxOGVhZTU0OTM1NmZkN2Y=

CALL IT SURRENDER - FRANK J. GAFFNEY JR. (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 17): This
week, senators will consider a variety of Iraq-related initiatives
euphemistically dubbed "redeployments," "withdrawals," "regional negotiations"
and "changes in strategy." These legislative gambits will result in something
very different, however. Call it surrender.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/COMMENTARY03/107170021/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

THE IRAQ WAR IS LOST: BUSH AND HIS BAND OF BACKERS WON'T ADMIT THAT -- BUT
THEIR STRATEGY IS ALREADY DEFINED BY THE SPECTER OF AMERICAN DEFEAT - PETER
GALBRAITH (SALON, JULY 18): Even if the surge has had some modest military
success, it has failed to accomplish its political objectives. Iraq after an
American defeat will look very much like Iraq today -- a land divided along
ethnic lines into Arab and Kurdish states with a civil war being fought within
its Arab part. Defeat is defined by America's failure to accomplish its
objective of a self-sustaining, democratic and unified Iraq. And that failure
has already taken place, along with the increase of Iranian power in the region.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/18/iraq/print.html

THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: BLEAK FORECAST; PULLOUT PROPOSAL LACKING A PLAN B --
THOSE WHO WANT TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SECTARIAN VIOLENCE WILL
LIKELY FOLLOW - NOAM N. LEVEY (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 18)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dems18jul18,0,2284891.story?coll=la-home-center

HELP WANTED: PEACEMAKER - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 18): We
owe Iraqis our best military -- and diplomatic effort -- to avoid the disaster
of walking away. But if they won?t take advantage of that, we owe our soldiers a
ticket home.
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/opinion/18friedman.html?pagewanted=print
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

WE NEED A FIRM AND ENFORCEABLE DEADLINE FOR REDEPLOYMENT - CHRIS DODD
(HUFFINGTON POST, JULY 17)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-dodd/we-need-a-firm-and-enforc_b_56657.html

BILL KRISTOL: ON THE TRAIN TO DELUSIONVILLE - ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (HUFFINGTON
POST, JULY 17/COMMON DREAMS): Instead of sending their boss out with the real
facts or logical arguments, Bush's aides and their friends concoct some nonsense
phrase in the spin lab, hand it to him and tell him to go out there and repeat
it as often as he can. The latest is 'precipitous withdrawal.'
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/17/2577/
SEE ALSO
http://www.slate.com/id/2170534/

THE POLITICS OF FEAR - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 18): Fear of
terrorism is the only shard remaining of Mr. Bush's justification for invading
Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/opinion/18wed1.html?pagewanted=print

FEAR AS FOREIGN POLICY - JOHN BROWN (TOMPAINE.COM, JUNE 14, 2005)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2005/06/14/fear_as_foreign_policy.php

BUSH'S BIG IRAN PROBLEM: THE WHITE HOUSE IS FOOLISH NOT TO RECOGNIZE THAT
THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THE IRAQ MESS NOW INCLUDES SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS WITH IRAN -
HOOMAN MAJD (SALON, JULY 16)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/16/iran/

TONKIN GULF II AND THE GUNS OF AUGUST? - PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (ANTIWAR.COM,
JULY 17): Is the United States provoking war with Iran, to begin while the
Congress is conveniently on its August recess?
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=11301

THE OTHER IRAN CRISIS - NIR BOMS (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JULY 18): A country
-- Iran -- brazen enough to kidnap, torture and liquidate its own people is an
unlikely partner for a new world order.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118470723900369394.html?mod=opinion_main_europe_asia
PAID SUBSCRIPTION


TEN QUESTIONS FOR: YOSSI MELMAN: THE ISRAELI AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST DESCRIBES
ISRAELI THINKING ABOUT IRAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, AND THE
MYSTIQUE OF ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE - LAURA ROZEN (MOTHER JONES, JULY 16): MELMAN:
Indeed Iran and the U.S. are on a confrontational course because of Iran's
desire to have nuclear weapons and its involvement in arming militias in Iraq.
The U.S. is trapped. It may reach an agreement with Iran over Iraq -- to
stabilize Iraq and reduce terrorism and political violence -- but the U.S. will
have to pay a heavy price for it. It will cost the U.S. to accept nuclear Iran.
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/yossi_melman.html

FLASHBACKS OF A LOST CAUSE - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, JULY 17): There
may be little comparison between the two national movements who fought the
British and each other over Palestine and the contentious groups struggling for
power in Iraq today. But the danger of a foreign power fighting a long war to
force compromise on combatants who have no interest in compromise is hauntingly
similar.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/07/17/flashbacks_of_a_lost_cause?mode=PF

BUSH'S FINAL PUSH FOR A PALESTINE: THE US MUST PUSH ISRAEL FOR BIG
CONCESSIONS AT THE PEACE CONFERENCE TO WIN OVER EVEN HAMAS BACKERS ? MONITOR?S
VIEW (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, JULY 18)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0718/p08s01-comv.html

YES, YOU CAN WORK WITH HAMAS: THE US APPROACH TO THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
IS INVITING DISASTER - AUGUSTUS RICHARD NORTON AND SARA ROY (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR, JULY 17)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0717/p09s02-coop.html

RICE AND BUSH/SHE, NOT HE - SHMUEL ROSNER (HAARETZ, JULY 18): A regional
summit holds out hope and risk for Israel. The hope is that additional members
will be added to the circle of peace, and Israel will receive augmented
legitimization. The risk of is that Israel will find itself dealing with a
coalition for whom its interests are not primary. The big question is, of
course, what side of this coalition Rice will come down on?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/882528.html

DAVID BROOKS' FIELD TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE - GLENN GREENWALD (SALON, JULY
17): Everything we do in the Middle East has religious and theological
overtones. Whatever else is true, we are sending a largely Christian army into
Muslim land to wage war against devotees of Islam.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/17/brooks/index.html

THE BUSH DOCTRINE LIVES - MICHAEL B. OREN (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JULY 18):
Mr. Bush has not backtracked an inch from his revolutionary Middle East policy.
Never before has any American president placed the onus of demonstrating a
commitment to peace so emphatically on Palestinian shoulders.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118472113474569770.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

LEAVE THE MUSLIM WORLD ALONE: BUSH'S MORALISTIC MIDDLE EAST CRUSADE HAS
BACKFIRED, CREATING MORE ENEMIES THAN IT DESTROYS. IT'S TIME FOR A TACTICAL
RETREAT - GARY KAMIYA (SALON, JULY 17): It is precisely because we are fighting
Arabs and Muslims "over there" that the American people are less safe.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/07/17/iraq_withdrawal/print.html

MIDEAST EXPERTS SKEPTICAL ABOUT BUSH PA PROPOSAL  JIM LOBE (ANTIWAR.COM,
JULY 17)
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=11302

BUSH'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOLLY - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, JULY 17):
President Bush's sudden devotion to the cause of peace in the Middle East is
ringing more than a little hollow.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/17/BL2007071700706_pf.html

A CHANCE IN SENATE FOR BUSH AND IRAQ  TRUDY RUBIN (BALTIMORE SUN, JULY 17):
If Mr. Bush were smart, he would join in and use the Iraq Study Group report as
a cover to do what he's avoided: putting all of America's withering diplomatic
muscle behind a push to stabilize the entire Mideast.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.rubin17jul17,0,7910557.story

LISTEN TO THE MILITARY: THEY KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING - MICHAEL LEDEEN
(NATIONAL REVIEW, JULY 17): 'Big wars require big strategies, and we do not have
one. Yet. I believe the country would support one if the case were made clearly
and honestly. Taking the war to our enemies in Damascus and Tehran does not
require troops on the ground or bombs from the air, except in the limited cases
of terrorist training camps and weapons factories. It requires, above all, two
things: support for the democratic forces in Syria and Iran, and the will to
confront our enemies.'
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWM0MTQ2YmE0NGY0MzcwZjk1MjgyOGVlNTc3MmQ2OGI=

MEANS AND ENDS: THIS WAR - JOHN DERBYSHIRE (NATIONAL REVIEW, JULY 17): We
would be perfectly justified in acting militarily against Iran and Syria. So why
don't we? Because that would make the war much bigger, and we don't want a
bigger war.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWFlM2Q3Y2I0YzM0MTM2ZWRiZjhjNDQ1MTUxNzJhNTU=

HEY, W! BIN LADEN (STILL) DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S. - MAUREEN DOWD (NEW
YORK TIMES, JULY 18): While the administration lavishes billions on Pakistan,
including $750 million in a risible attempt to win ?hearts and minds? in tribal
areas where Al Qaeda leaders are hiding and training, President Musharraf has
helped create a quiet mountain retreat, a veritable terrorism spa, for Osama and
Ayman al-Zawahiri to refresh themselves and get back in shape.
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/opinion/18dowd.html?pagewanted=print
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

WHEN A 'FRIEND' OF THE U.S. ALSO COMFORTS OUR ENEMIES - MATTHEW MAINEN (SF
GATE, JULY 17): Recent events in Pakistan demand that President Bush take a
stern position in dealing with the government of Musharraf, but such pressure
must extend to Saudi Arabia as well.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/17/EDG6QQ501C1.DTL&type=printable

FIVE YEARS LATER IN NORTH KOREA  EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 17): North
Korea's decision to shut down its plutonium-producing reactor and admit
international inspectors was only the first of several steps it needs to take
under the deal it made with the United States and five other countries in
February. But that initial progress, confirmed officially yesterday, shows that
real nonproliferation diplomacy can produce real results.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/opinion/17tue2.html?pagewanted=print

PUTIN GETS HIGH MARKS FOR POLICY - REUTERS (MOSCOW TIMES, JULY 18):
President Vladimir Putin's aggressive foreign policy enjoys huge support at
home, according to an opinion poll conducted for Renaissance Capital by
state-controlled pollster VTsIOM that showed that 81 percent of 1,600 people
polled in 46 regions in mid-June agreed that Russia was forging a strong global
role.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2007/07/18/013.html

WITH DUE RESPECT TO MR PUTIN . . . - PHILIP STEPHENS (FINANCIAL TIMES, JULY
16): By inviting confrontation with the west and, in particular, with the U.S.,
Mr. Putin seeks to create the impression of equality.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/080e7444-33c5-11dc-9887-0000779fd2ac.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

'FOR THE SAKE OF ONE MAN': GETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT ABOUT THE OLD-NEW
RUSSIA - BRET STEPHENS (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL
PAGE, JULY 17): The Bush administration is not provoking a new Cold War with
Russia. Russia is acting with increasingly unrestrained rhetorical, diplomatic,
economic and political hostility to whoever stands in the way of Mr. Putin's
ambitions.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010345

PUTIN'S DISTURBING MESSAGE  EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 18): The
Litvinenko case is set in the context of generally deteriorating relations
between Russia and the West, and that has made the affair more divisive than it
needed to be.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070718/EDITORIAL/107180007/1013

MAKING US SAFER - BRUCE FEIN (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 17): Guantanamo is
tantamount to a potential life sentence without accusation or trial, a
monumental injustice when inflicted on the innocent -- even if their last names
are ordinarily foreign and unpronounceable.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/COMMENTARY02/107170025/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

JUSTICE AT GUANTANAMO: CONGRESS HAS ANOTHER CHANCE TO REPAIR THE RULES FOR
HANDLING DETAINEES IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM  EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, JULY
18)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701675.html

WHY US SEES AL QAEDA AS A GROWING THREAT: WITH A HAVEN IN PAKISTAN, THE
TERROR GROUP IS BOOSTING FUNDING AND TRAINING, US AGENCIES SAY - PETER GRIER
(CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, JULY 17)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0717/p03s01-usfp.htm

AFTER IRAQ: IT DOESN'T END IN BAG[H]DAD - THOMAS SOWELL (NATIONAL REVIEW,
JULY 17): The 'war on terror' is a misleading phrase.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTMwMDllYmU3MTFmNzhhYzdjMTM4ZjMzYWQ1MzQ4MzU=

HEROES AND HISTORY - DAVID BROOKS (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 17): Bush is
convinced that history is moving in the direction of democracy, or as he said
Friday: 'It's more of a theological perspective. I do believe there is an
Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom. And I will
tell you that is a principle that no one can convince me that doesn't exist.'
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/opinion/17brooks.html?pagewanted=print

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