Foreign Policy News Commentary Update July 27, 2007

Foreign Policy News Commentary Update July 27, 2007

THE WAR IN IRAQ: ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - JAMES PHILLIPS
(HERITAGE FOUNDATION, WEBMEMO #1565, JULY 24): Washington should launch a public
diplomacy campaign to explain to the governments and peoples of other countries
that American efforts to stabilize Iraq are essential to protecting the Iraqi
people from ruthless terrorists who seek to export revolution and suicide
bombings far beyond Iraq's borders.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/wm1565.cfm

'ISLAMOPHOBIC' OR INFORMED? - ROBERT SPENCER (FRONTPAGEMAGAZINE.COM, JULY
24): Newsweek asserted that Muslims in America are 'vulnerable as never before.'
That story began with an account of a Muslim in Cleveland asking George W. Bush:
'What are we doing with public diplomacy to change the hearts and minds of a
billion and a half Muslims around the world?' The unspoken assumption behind
this question is that Muslim fury at the West stems entirely from the actions of
the United States and other Western countries, and not from anything within the
Islamic world itself.
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=29265

AL QAEDA'S BEST PUBLICIST - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, JULY 25): Like
any terrorist organization, al-Qaeda wants attention. It wants to be perceived
as powerful. And it particularly wants Americans to live in fear. Could al-Qaeda
possibly have found a better publicist than President Bush?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/25/BL2007072501313_pf.html

TERROR SUPPORT FALLS IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES - EDWARD LUCE (FINANCIAL TIMES,
JULY 24): There has been a striking decline in support for terrorism in Muslim
countries over the past five years, according to the annual take on world
opinion by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4ed6c870-3a1b-11dc-9d73-0000779fd2ac.html

TURNING AGAINST TERROR: MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR SUICIDE BOMBING IS FALLING. THE
WEST SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS HOPEFUL TREND EDITORIAL (JULY 25, LOS
ANGELES TIMES)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-poll25jul25,0,7026478.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

NEW U.S. EMBASSY RISES IN IRAQ: CONSPICUOUSLY HUGE AND SELF-CONTAINED BUT
DEEMED INADEQUATE FOR A DISASTER SCENARIO, THE COMPOUND IS ALREADY TAKING FIRE -
ALEXANDRA ZAVIS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 24): Huge, expensive and dogged by
controversy, the new U.S. Embassy compound nearing completion here epitomizes to
many Iraqis the worst of the U.S. tenure in Iraq.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-embassy24jul24,0,7085179.story?coll=la-home-center
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/11/1803/
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0708-11.htm

IN IRAQ, LIBERALS FLIP ON GENOCIDE: IN THE 1990S, THEY ARGUED FOR
HUMANITARIAN FOREIGN INTERVENTION WHERE THERE WAS LITTLE U.S. INTEREST - JONAH
GOLDBERG (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 24): If genocide unfolds in Iraq after
American troops depart, it would be hard to argue that we weren't at least
partly to blame.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-goldberg24jul24,0,5797195.story

THE REGION: TOWARD A NEW STRATEGY IN IRAQ BARRY RUBIN (JERUSALEM POST,
JULY 23): What is needed is a US shift in strategy that includes withdrawing
most of the troops, minimizing a combat role, turning over the fighting to Iraqi
forces and using the remaining soldiers for training and logistics. Such a
strategy would involve neither surrender nor status quo; neither a humiliating
withdrawal nor a useless continuation of the status quo.http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1184766054874&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

IRAQ IS THE CENTRAL FRONT: THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN DENIAL ABOUT OUR STRUGGLE
AGAINST AL QAEDA - THOMAS JOSCELYN (WEEKLY STANDARD, JULY 30)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/900tybar.asp

ALL'S TROUBLE ON THE CENTRAL FRONT - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, JULY
24): Only by the most torturous magical thinking can the Iraq tragedy be
interpreted as anything other than a colossal mistake that has distracted from
the goal of defeating Islamic extremism and its attending terrorism.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/07/24/alls_trouble_on_the_central_front/

BUSH IN FREE FALL - ROBERT SCHEER (TRUTHDIG, JULY 24): There is simply no
plausible national security argument for the United States ongoing occupation
of Iraq. The harsh reality that the United States must now enlist the support of
Iran, the 'rogue nation' that Bush claims threatens us with nukes, which this
very week was once again accused by the U.S. ambassador of supplying arms to
Iraq's anti-American Shiite militias, underscores the folly of this disastrous
escapade. Yet, communication with Iran is a good thing.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070724_bush_in_free_fall/

WHY WE MUST LEAVE IRAQ ASAP: IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT OUR REAL ENEMY -
HANK EDSON (COMMON DREAMS, JULY 23): For the sake of the Iraqi people as well as
for the sake of American democracy, we need to pull our troops out of Iraq ASAP.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/23/2697/

US-IRAN ALLIANCE AGAINST SUNNI GUERRILLAS? - JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT:
THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, JULY 25): 'If the US is
allying with Iran against the Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda, this is a very
major development and much more important than some carping over Shiite
militias. (My guess is that 98% of American troops killed in Iraq have been
killed by Sunni Arab guerrillas). If the report is true and has legs, it will
send Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal ballistic. The Sunni Arab states do
not like 'al-Qaeda' in Iraq, but they are much more afraid of Iran than of the
Iraqi Sunni Arabs who are fighting against US military occupation.'
http://www.juancole.com/2007/07/us-iran-alliance-against-sunni.html

HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAQ: RAPPROCHEMENT WITH IRAN, HANDS OFF IRAQI POLITICS,
AND LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM, JULY 25):
We can use Iranian influence to eradicate our real enemies in Iraq, by
encouraging the Iranians and their Iraqi supporters to take on al-Qaeda.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11344

A CHANCE FOR BUSH TO SALVAGE HIS FOREIGN POLICY - AN OPENING TO IRAN IS
WORTH A TRY - JEREMI SURI (BOSTON GLOBE, JULY 24)
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/07/24/a_chance_for_bush_to_salvage_his_foreign_policy?mode=PF

WHY ARE WE REWARDING IRAN? - JEFF JACOBY, (BOSTON GLOBE, JULY 25): Granted,
threats and gunboat diplomacy are not always wise. But there are times when they
are far more effective than "engagement," when faced with the enemy we face -- a
hostage-taking, nuke-pursuing, terrorist-sponsoring, apocalypse-invoking,
America-hating Iran.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/07/25/why_are_we_rewarding_iran?mode=PF

SETBACK IN TURKEY EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 24): It's clear that
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returns to office with an
unquestionably strong mandate. He has a history of mixing religion and politics,
and this election result is not an encouraging sign for the United States and
the West.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070724/EDITORIAL/107240021/1013

TURKEY VOTES: THE AKP MAY NOT BE THE SAME AS HAMAS, BUT THEIR IDEOLOGY DOES
KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE - STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, WEEKLY STANDARD, JULY 24): Turkey?s
rellection of incumbent prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP, or Justice
and Development Party, has reenergized the low-level debate in Washington about
foreign Islamic parties that claim to respect democracy and secularism. But for
the AKP -- no less than its rivals in the Turkish military and secular state
structures -- the positive element lacking in their outlook involves pluralism,
more than either politics or prayers.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/911zygqb.asp

TALKING TURKEY - TULIN DALOGLU (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 24):
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070724/EDITORIAL/107240023/1013&template=printart

ARABS JEALOUS OF TURKISH ELECTIONS MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, JULY 24): The
Turkish election and its aftermath will continue to reverberate in Arab
political discourse for a while. It's a good chance for the US and the West to
try to show that it isn't comprehensively hostile to Islamist parties -- an
uphill battle after it ignored the Egyptian government's repression of the
Muslim Brotherhood after it performed well in the Egyptian elections, and
boycotted and worked to undermine the Hamas government after it won the
Palestinian elections.
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2007/07/arabs-jealous-o.html


TIME TO HEAL US-TURKEY WOUNDS: SUNDAY'S ELECTIONS GIVE A FRESH OPPORTUNITY
TO FIX A TERRIBLE COLLAPSE IN BILATERAL TIES - GRAHAM ALLISON (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR, JULY 24)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0724/p09s01-coop.html

A TRAP FOR FOOLS URI AVNERY (ANTIWAR.COM, JULY 23): We, the small group of
Israelis who raised the banner of the "two-state solution" more than 50 years
ago, now have to endure George Bush turning it into a rag to cover his
nakedness. In his mouth, it is an empty, deceitful, and mendacious slogan. Only
a fool will fall into this trap.
http://www.antiwar.com/avnery/?articleid=11332

SYRIA OCCUPIES LEBANON. AGAIN. A LAND GRAB PROPORTIONALLY EQUIVALENT TO A
FOREIGN POWER OCCUPYING ARIZONA - BRET STEPHENS (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL
STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, JULY 24): The only countries in a position to
help Lebanon are France and the U.S. They could strike a useful blow by closing
their embassies in Damascus until such time as Damascus opens an embassy--with
all that it implies -- in Beirut.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010375

AMERICA'S PAKISTAN DILEMMA: THE US STRUGGLES TO INCREASE PRESSURE ON
TERRORISTS AND AVERT MUSHARRAF'S DOWNFALL - HOWARD LAFRANCHI (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR, JULY 23)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0723/p01s02-usfp.html

WILL BUSH INVADE PAKISTAN?: I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST HIM OR HIS DEMOCRATIC
SUCCESSOR JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM, JULY 23)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11334

IF PAKISTAN PROSPERS, AL-QAEDA WILL NOT - PHILIP GORDON (FINANCIAL TIMES,
JULY 24): In the short run, the U.S. should encourage Pakistan to get serious
about fighting the militants within its borders and provide it with the support
to do so. In the longer run, however, helping the country overcome its vast
domestic challenges and giving its people a more hopeful future would do more
for the war on terror than any attempt to defeat extremism with military force
alone.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/aced3b94-3a00-11dc-9d73-0000779fd2ac.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

FIRST EXISTENTIALISM, NOW THIS EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, JULY 23): Despite
the parochialism of the French political elites, America's presidential
candidates could benefit by emulating Sarkozy, who has shrewdly confected a
government that transcends party affiliations
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/07/23/first_existentialism_now_this?mode=PF

BUSH'S TORTURE BAN IS FULL OF LOOPHOLES: THE PRESIDENT HAS ISSUED AN
EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP THE CIA FROM USING TORTURE, BUT THE BAN IS UNENFORCEABLE
- DAVID COLE (SALON, JULY 23)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/23/torture/

THE TORTURE TWO-STEP: BUSH'S NEW TORTURE ORDER AND ITS LOOPHOLES - PHILLIP
CARTER (SLATE, JULY 23)
http://www.slate.com/id/2170983/

PUNT RETURN: CONGRESS NEEDS TO STOP PASSING THE BUCK ON ENEMY COMBATANTS -
BENJAMIN WITTES (NEW REPUBLIC, JULY 23): The administration is likely to get
thrashed in the next round of Supreme Court litigation over Guantánamo --
litigation the High Court has just agreed to hear next term. The only viable way
to avoid this fate, which could have real negative consequences for the
executive branch, is to create a realistic statutory legal framework for
handling detainees so that the courts have something to defer to.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w072307&s=wittes072307

A WAR THE PENTAGON CAN'T WIN - DANIEL BENJAMIN AND STEVEN SIMON (NEW YORK
TIMES, JULY 24): While the C.I.A. doesn't have an unblemished record, its
counterterrorism operations have shown more promise than the Pentagon?s.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/opinion/24benjamin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

BUSH'S INCOMPETENCE GIVES AL-QAIDA NEW LIFE: THE WHITE HOUSE HINTS AT
MILITARY ACTION AS THE TERROR ORGANIZATION REGROUPS IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN AND THE
MUSHARRAF GOVERNMENT BEGINS TO WOBBLE - JUAN COLE (SALON, JULY 24): War-weary,
bogged down in a fruitless guerrilla war in Iraq, disillusioned with the Bush
team (which has lied to it assiduously), the public appears to be taking its eye
off al-Qaida. If so, it would be making the same mistake as Bush, who is
obsessed with Iraq to the detriment of urgent counterterrorism measures. Those
efforts, to be successful, will require international cooperation rather than
unilateral grandstanding, not something in which this administration has proved
adept.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/24/al_qaida/print.html

OUTSOURCING INTELLIGENCE - R.J. HILLHOUSE (NATION, JULY 24): What is not
generally known is that the secret side of the Iraq War and the larger "war on
terror" is also conducted by private corporations, fielding private spies. The
reach of these corporations has extended into the Oval Office. Corporations are
heavily involved in creating the analytical products that underlie the nation's
most important and most sensitive national security document, the President's
Daily Brief (PDB).
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20070730&s=hillhouse

ANOTHER CHENEY-LINKED HAWK DOWN - ROBERT DREYFUSS (HUFFINGTON POST, JULY
24): VicePresident Cheney is losing a trusted aide: David Wurmser, Cheney's
chief adviser on Middle East affairs and perhaps the Bush administration's most
radical hawk. According to multiple sources, Wurmser will leave the office of
the vice president (OVP) in August for the private sector, where he will start a
risk-consulting business.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-dreyfuss/another-cheneylinked-haw_b_57538.html

DIPLOMATS RECEIVED POLITICAL BRIEFINGS: BUSH AIDES LISTED ELECTION TARGETS -
PAUL KANE (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, JULY 24): White House aides have conducted at
least half a dozen political briefings for the Bush administration's top
diplomats, including a PowerPoint presentation for ambassadors with senior
adviser Karl Rove that named Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat in 2008
and a "general political briefing" at the Peace Corps headquarters after the
2002 midterm elections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301907.html?hpid=topnews