Foreign Policy News and Commentary October 4, 207

Foreign Policy News and Commentary Update October 4, 2007

BUSH PROTECTS THE IRGC - SCOTT SULLIVAN (CONSERVATIVE VOICE, OCTOBER 2): Bush

is passive about a possible visit by Ahmadinejad to Berlin and Baghdad. This

Ahmadinejad visit could undercut the US leadership role in Western Europe and

the Middle East. The U.S. needs a vigorous public diplomacy campaign against

Ahmadinejad well in advance of his trip.

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/28349.html



THE SAUDI PROPAGANDA MACHINE - EFFWIT (SWEDISH MEATBALLS CONFIDENTIAL,

OCTOBER 3): Saudi Arabia in recent years has been making efforts to assume the

position -- occupied for decades by Egypt -- as the Arab world's leading

propaganda player (Qatar's Al Jazeera notwithstanding).

http://swedemeat.blogspot.com/2007/10/saudi-propaganda-machine.html



SEEING THE CASKETS - BRUCE FEIN (WASHINGTON TIMES, OCTOBER 2): Photos of the

coffins of returning soldiers would spur voters to think more seriously about

U.S. policy in Iraq just as a visit to the Holocaust Museum awakens more sober

thinking about genocide.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071002/COMMENTARY02/110020012/1012&template=printart



LEAVING FRIENDS TO DIE: ABANDONING OUR IRAQI INTERPRETERS - PAUL RIECKHOFF

(HUFFINGTON POST, OCTOBER 3): We must ramp up the number of Iraqis allowed safe

haven in the US dramatically--and quickly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/leaving-friends-to-die-a_b_66888.html



ACCESS DENIED - SAMANTHA POWER (TIME, SEPTEMBER 26): The US debate about

withdrawal from Iraq seems remarkably indifferent to those whose lives have been

upended. The Bush Administration talks of staying the course without expending

nearly enough political or financial capital to mitigate the humanitarian

catastrophe that it pretends does not exist.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1665921,00.html



INSANE ON ASYLUM: THE ADMINISTRATION CAN'T OR WON'T ADMIT MOST IRAQI

REFUGEES. IS IT INCOMPETENCE OR INDIFFERENCE? EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES,

OCTOBER 4)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-refugees4oct04,0,626757.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail



MORE QUESTIONS ON BLACKWATER: PRIVATE SECURITY HAS HURT THE US IMAGE IN

IRAQ, SAID A NEW HOUSE REPORT - PETER GRIER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, OCTOBER

3)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1003/p01s01-woiq.html



THE STATE DEPT.'S MURDEROUS GUARDIANS - ROBERT SCHEER (TRUTHDIG, OCTOBER 3):

The Blackwater guards know their job all too well, which is to guard top U.S.

officials by any means necessary?including the casual extermination of innocent

Iraqis.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071002_robert_scheer_oct_3_us_outlaws_in_iraq/



SINKING IN A SWAMP FULL OF BLACKWATER - MAUREEN DOWD (NEW YORK TIMES,

OCTOBER 3): The compromises W. makes to slog on in Iraq, be it with warlords,

dictators or out-of-control contractors, are spreading a dark stain on America?s

image.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03dowd.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print



BLACKWATER'S RICH CONTRACTS EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 3): It

should come as no surprise that the Bush administration would take any

opportunity to reward its political friends with lavish no-bid contracts. Still,

there is something particularly unseemly about the munificent payments to

Blackwater, the State Department?s principal private security contractor in

Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03wed2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print



THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT BLACKWATER: OUTSOURCING THE WAR TO PRIVATE MILITARY

CONTRACTORS SUCH AS BLACKWATER HAS SHATTERED THE UNITED STATES' MORAL AUTHORITY

AND ITS ABILITY TO WIN WARS LIKE THAT IN IRAQ - P.W. SINGER (SALON, OCTOBER 2)

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/02/blackwater/print.html



RED, WHITE AND MERCENARY IN IRAQ: UNDER THE CLOAK OF FREEDOM, THE U.S.

EXEMPTED BLACKWATER AND OTHER CONTRACTORS FROM IRAQI LAW -- AND DESTROYED ITS

OWN DEMOCRATIC CREDIBILITY - SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL (SALON, OCTOBER 3): Under cover

of war the Bush administration defends lawlessness. In the name of fighting

terrorism it protects outlaws.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/10/04/private_military_in_iraq/print.html



ACCEPT THE BLACKWATER MERCENARIES: CONTRACTORS ARE A FACT OF WAR, BUT THEY

NEED STRONGER OVERSIGHT - MAX BOOT (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 3)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-boot3oct03,0,3573793.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions



ARE WE WINNING THE "WAR ON TERROR"? A TNR ONLINE DEBATE - REUEL MARC GERECHT

(NEW REPUBLIC, OCTOBER 3): The long war in Iraq, precisely because it has been

excruciating for the Iraqis themselves, who on both the Sunni and Shiite sides

have questioned the morality of Islamic extremism in their midst, makes this a

contest where Al Qaeda is actually now losing the hearts-and-minds game.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w071001&s=reuel100207



TOMGRAM: HAVING A CARNAGE PARTY: WE COUNT, THEY DON'T - TOM ENGELHARDT (TOM

DISPATCH, OCTOBER 2): While we hunker into Iraq, the numbers-crunchers will

undoubtedly redouble their efforts for the next "progress report," upcoming in

March 2008, from General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They are

undoubtedly already preparing their bar charts and multi-colored graphs. Out in

the field, the pressure on the troops to provide the stats that will make those

graphs reflect "progress," that will allow units to achieve "success" and

commanders to advance, will only increase.

http://tomdispatch.com/post/print/174844/Tomgram%253A%2520%2520Having%2520a%2520Carnage%2520Party



OPEN FIRE: THE U.S. NEEDLESSLY INFLAMED IRAQ IN THE VAIN HOPE OF SPARKING A

DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION. WE GOT AN INFERNO INSTEAD - PAUL W. SCHROEDER (AMERICAN

CONSERVATIVE, SEPTEMBER 24)

http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_09_24/feature.html



DIVIDING IRAQ TO SAVE IT - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 4): Iraq

may indeed separate into three semi-autonomous cantons -- Sunni, Shiite and

Kurdish -- as Biden and others recommend. Looking at the sectarian strife

plaguing the country, that often seems like an inevitable outcome. But this act

of national dismemberment is not something that Americans should recommend.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302001_pf.html



ARE U.S. AND IRAN HEADED FOR WAR? DESPITE HARD-LINE RHETORIC ON BOTH SIDES,

ANALYSTS SAY DIPLOMACY IS THE FAR MORE LIKELY OUTCOME - SCOTT PETERSON

(CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (OCTOBER 3)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1003/p01s03-wome.html



BEATING THE DRUMS FOR THE NEXT WAR SCOTT HORTON (HARPER?S, OCTOBER 3):

It?s still not certain, and it's still avertable, but at this point it has to be

seen as conventional wisdom to say that America is headed for another war in the

Islamic world, this time against Iran?it?s fourth since Bush became president,

if we include the proxy war in Lebanon.

http://harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001319



"THE CASE FOR BOMBING IRAN": NORMAN PODHORETZ AND CRITICS (COMMENTARY,

OCTOBER)

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.html?id=10949



GODFATHER OF NEOCONSERVATIS] PODHORETZ: "I BELIEVE BUSH IS GOING TO

ORDER AIRSTRIKES ON IRAN BEFORE HE LEAVES OFFICE" FAIZ (THINKPROGRESS, OCTOBER

1)).

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/01/podhoretz-bush-iran-attack/



IN SEARCH OF FOREVER WAR [REVIEW OF WORLD WAR IV: THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST

ISLAMOFASCISM, NORMAN PODHORETZ, DOUBLEDAY, 240 PAGES] - SCOTT MCCONNELL

(AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, SEPTEMBER 21): World War IV is written to shore up what

Podhoretz calls the ?Bush Doctrine,? to revive waning enthusiasm for the war in

Iraq and for new wars Podhoretz wants Washington to initiate?especially a

campaign against Iran.

http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_09_24/review1.html



HOLD IRAN ACCOUNTABLE - LYNN SMITH DERBYSHIRE AND JUDITH C. YOUNG

(WASHINGTON TIMES, OCTOBER 4): Governments such as Iran have been perpetrating

acts of terrorism, and supporting terrorist organizations long enough. Today we

say to them: no more.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/EDITORIAL/110040004/1013&template=printart



INFLATING A LITTLE MAN - JOE KLEIN (TIME, SEPTEMBER 26): The neoconservative

campaign to transform Ahmadinejad into Hitler or Stalin, to pretend that he has

the ability to destroy the world, to make a hoo-ha over letting the little man

speak, is a cynical attempt to plump for war.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1665905,00.html



RUSSIAN ROULETTE ON IRAN - MICHAEL RUBIN (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 3):

The defiant Mr. Ahmadinejad offers the White House a stark choice: Live with a

nuclear Iran, or take action to stop it. Winning Russian approval is a chimera,

delaying an inevitable decision.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119137889324847320.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

PAID SUBSCRIPTION



DENIAL AND HOPE IN THE MIDEAST - MORTIMER ZUCKERMAN (U.S. NEWS & WORLD

REPORT, SEPTEMBER 29): The Bush administration, with the help of Tony Blair, is

seeking to build a partnership by convening a meeting between the Palestinians

and Israelis this fall, tentatively in November and most likely in the United

States. It is hoped that this meeting will be joined by other Arab countries.

This meeting then should be seen not as a climax but as just the beginning of a

process.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mzuckerman/2007/09/28/mortimer-b-zuckerman-on-irans-campaign-of-repudiation_print.htm



SCORE ONE FOR DIPLOMACY - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 4): If North

Korea lives up to its promise to begin disabling key parts of its nuclear

program within weeks, and to finish the job by year?s end, the world will be a

safer place. To get this deal, the Bush administration, after dragging its feet

for four years, displayed an admirable and all too rare mixture of diplomatic

creativity, flexibility, patience and follow-through.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/opinion/04thur1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print



THE SAFFRON REVOLUTION: BLOODY BUT HOPEFUL DAYS IN BURMA - STEPHEN SCHWARTZ

(WEEKLY STANDARD, OCTOBER 8): For Americans and all haters of oppression, the

message is clear: The United States should show effective support for the

aspirations of Burma's diverse citizens; tougher sanctions against the regime

are only the beginning.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/174jedwp.asp



DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN DEMOTED DANIEL HENNINGER (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER

4): The president's critics have felt compelled not only to refute Iraq but

every jot of the Bush foreign policy, including its espousal of democracy and

freedom. They have come very close to displacing the Bush Doctrine with the idea

that promoting democracy in difficult places is, very simply, a mistake.

Bye-bye, Burma.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119146179012648500.html



THE NEW L-WORD: NEOCON - ROGER COHEN (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 4): Neocon has

morphed into an all-purpose insult for anyone who still believes that American

power is inextricable from global stability and still thinks the muscular

anti-totalitarian U.S. interventionism that brought down Slobodan Milosevic has

a place, and still argues, like Christopher Hitchens, that ousting Saddam

Hussein put the United States ?on the right side of history.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/opinion/04cohen.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print



NEOCONSERVATISM'S FUTURE: IT'S STILL THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN - JOSHUA

MURAVCHIK (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, OCTOBER

3): For a strategy in the war on terror that has been imposed upon us,

neoconservatism remains the only game in town.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010684



SECRET U.S. ENDORSEMENT OF SEVERE INTERROGATIONS - SCOTT SHANE, DAVID

JOHNSTON AND JAMES RISEN (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 4): Soon after Alberto R.

Gonzales?s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department

issued an opinion, in secret, which was an expansive endorsement of the harshest

interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04interrogate.html?pagewanted=print



SYCOPHANT SAVIOR: GENERAL PETRAEUS WINS A BATTLE IN WASHINGTON?IF NOT IN

BAGHDAD - ANDREW J. BACEVICH (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, OCTOBER 8): Once we

recognize the global war on terror for the fraudulent enterprise that it has

become, then we can get serious about designing a strategy to address the threat

that we actually face, which is not terrorism but violent Islamic radicalism.

The antidote to Islamic radicalism, if there is one, won?t involve invading and

occupying places like Iraq. This defines Petraeus?s failure. Instead of obliging

the president and the Congress to confront this fundamental contradiction?are we

or are we not at war??he chose instead to let them off the hook.

http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_09_24/article2.html



TERRORISM DETAINEES AND HABEAS CORPUS - JIM SAXTON (WASHINGTON TIMES,

OCTOBER 2): We should not be going down the path of granting additional rights

to foreign terrorist detainees. We need to give this current system a chance to

work. (Jim Saxton, New Jersey Republican, is a member of the U.S. House of

Representatives.)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071002/COMMENTARY/110020011/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart