Foreign Policy News and Commentary Update November 5, 2007

Foreign Policy News and Commentary Update November 5, 2007

COMBATING MUSLIM EXTREMISM JUAN COLE (MIDDLE EAST ONLINE, NOVEMBER 5): A wise American policy toward the small networks of Muslim extremists would reduce their recruitment pool by the quick establishment of a Palestinian state and by a large-scale military drawdown from Iraq, thus removing widespread and major grievances. An increase in visible humanitarian and development aid to Muslim countries has a demonstrable effect on improving the US image. The reconstitution of the United States Information Service as an independent body would allow better public diplomacy.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=22957

AT WAR BUT NOT WAR-READY - HANS BINNENDIJK (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 3): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201725_pf.html

KAREN HUGHES' TWO-YEAR HALLOWEEN - RAMI G. KHOURI (DAILY STAR, LEBANON, NOVEMBER 3): http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=86476

AN UGLY IMAGE THAT REQUIRES A MAMOTH TASK TO REPAIR - M. TAQI (URUKNET.INFO,IRAQIRABITA, NOVEMBER 4): http://uruknet.info/?p=m37881&s1=h1

KAREN HUGHES, "PR," AND PERVERTED SCIENCE - SHERWOOD ROSS (OPEDNEWS, NOVEMBER 3): http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_sherwood_071102_karen_hughes_2c__22pr_2c_22_.htm

SELLING AMERICA EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04sun3.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials&pagewanted=print

AMERICA'S DAYS OF INFAMY DRAG ON AS WAR CONSUMES COUNTRY - BILL GALLAGHER (NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER, NOVEMBER 5): http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher339.html

AMERICA, OPEN FOR BUSINESS, CLOSED TO FREEDOM - BOBHIGGINS (EPLURIBUS MEDIA, NOVEMBER 2): Karen Hughes was tapped for her office for the same reasons as all Bush appointees are chosen, not for expertise or experience, not for performance or integrity in public service but for loyalty, for unwavering belief in the Messianic delusions of neo conservatism, and a willingness to march in lockstep, nah, goose step, against all who might disagree or dissent.
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/11/2/83752/5278

ANOTHER BUSH FINE MESS: KAREN HUGHES ? (LADYBROADOAK: VISIONARY PLANETARY HEALING TUTORIAL, NOVEMBER 4): http://ladybroadoak.blogspot.com/2007/11/another-bush-fine-mess-karen-hughes.html

THE VERDICT ON THE HUGHES ERA IN AMERICAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BUCKAROOSKIDOO (MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! THE RAMBLINGS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, NOVEMBER 5): http://somehistoricalperspective.blogspot.com/2007/11/verdict-on-hughes-era-in-american.html

TERRORISM: DISTANT JETLINER, PRESENT THREAT - SHAUN MULLEN (KIKO'S HOUSE: WELL, WATSON, WE SEEM TO HAVE FALLEN UPON EVIL DAYS -- SHERLOCK HOLMES, NOVEMBER 3): http://kikoshouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/terorism-distant-jetliner-present.html

LINKING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TO POLICY: KAREN HUGHES DID SOME GOOD AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CHIEF, BUT THE U.S. NEEDS TO INCORPORATE IMAGE-MAKING WITH POLICYMAKING ? EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 3)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-hughes3nov03,1,6955244.story

EXIT KAREN HUGHES GRAIG HAYDEN (PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BLOG, USC CENTER ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, NOVEMBER 4): http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/newsroom/pdblog_detail/exit_karen_hughes/

THANK YOU, KAREN HUGHES.... (SWAC GIRL: S.W.A.C. - STAUNTON, WAYNESBORO, AND AUGUSTA COUNTY REPUBLICANS WORKING TO ELECT CONSERVATIVE PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY ... WITH OCCASIONAL MUSINGS ABOUT LIFE HAPPENINGS, NOVEMBER 5): http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2007/11/thank-you-karen-hughes.html

LOSING THE BATTLE AGAINST ANTI-AMERICANISM - DAVID FRUM (NATIONAL POST, CANADA, NOVEMBER 5): .
http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/11/05/david-frum-losing-the-battle-against-anti-americanism.aspx

TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS WITH KAREN HUGHES ? (TIMOTHY BIRDNOW, NOVEMBER 5): http://www.timothybirdnow.com/?p=131

SENDING COMEDY TO THE MUSLIM WORLD: THE KAREN HUGHES QUIZ - PAUL SLANSKY (YAHOO! NEWS, NOVEMBER 3)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20071103/cm_huffpost/070998&printer=1;_ylt=AkW_WD3gjgN_sf4smTBqCBEe6sgF

MORPHING INDIA'S AFGHANISTAN POLICY - SWAPNA KONA (MAINSTREAM, NOVEMBER 3): http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article400.html

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT - BY ANDREW SULLIVAN (ATLANTIC, DECEMBER): If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama's face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/obama?ca=YzFBopAZBgyS0MSHVtUeaQOpPHe%2F0qavIGegpprOsyA%3D

IS (HIS) BIOGRAPHY (OUR) DESTINY? - JAMES TRAUB (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): Obama speaks with special passion about the need to change America?s image in the world -- and not only by proving that it can elect a 46-year-old black man with roots in the Muslim world. He returns again and again to the question of what America means to the rest of the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04obama-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=print

U.S. CLIMATE OF FEAR TURNING AWAY FOREIGN BUSINESS, VISITORS - (MALAYSIA SUN, NOVEMBER 3): http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/3a8a80d6f705f8cc/id/296972/cs/1/

RICE REAFFIRMS PLAN TO FORCE DIPLOMATS TO FILL IRAQ POSTS - GLENN KESSLER (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 3): Calling Iraq "the most essential foreign policy and national security priority for our nation," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told U.S. diplomats yesterday that she will proceed with plans to order Foreign Service officers to Iraq if vacancies cannot be filled voluntarily. Rice's decision has spawned angst in the State Department, where more than 1,500 personnel have served in Iraq. There are 11,500 Foreign Service employees, one of whom declared at a State Department town hall meeting this week that being sent to Iraq was a "potential death sentence."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202053_pf.html

SCAPEGOATING US DIPLOMATS FOR FAILURES IN IRAQ? - WILLIAM FISHER (WORLD ACCORDING TO BILL FISHER, NOVEMBER 3)
http://billfisher.blogspot.com/2007/11/scapegoating-us-diplomats-for-failures.html

THE FRAYING OF STATE (MOUNTAINRUNNER, NOVEMBER 2): http://mountainrunner.us/2007/11/the_fraying_of_state.html

SERVE OR LEAVE - ALAN L. STRZEMIECZNY (LETTER TO THE EDITOR, LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 2): Re "Compelled Iraq duty angers U.S. envoys," Nov. 1: So some State Department employees do not want to serve in Iraq because it is dangerous. Poor babies! They need to suck it up as our military has. These envoys signed up for government service, and that service requires that they be where they are needed. They have two choices: Do the service or leave.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-le-friday2nov02,1,3623329,full.story

LEGAL LOOPHOLES IN IRAQ - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): The administration should withdraw all of private armies from Iraq, and while it does that, Congress must act swiftly to ensure that American justice applies to all those who remain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/opinion/05mon3.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

IS MALIKI'S CORRUPTION WORTH AMERICAN LIVES? THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER IS PRESIDING OVER A GOVERNMENT THAT IS STEALING US BLIND - HENRY A. WAXMAN (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): The secretary of State seemed completely unaware of the extent to which her own department's anticorruption efforts are in disarray when she testified before the oversight committee on Oct. 25. (Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-waxman5nov05,0,3856705.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

STORM CLOUDS OVER NORTHERN IRAQ - NORMAN STONE (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 5): Despite assurances from Ms. Rice that Turkey and the U.S. share a "common enemy" in Kurdish militants, the situation boils down to something of a conundrum: What for America is a solution -- the Kurds -- is for Turkey a terrible problem.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119423176201582201.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

TURKEY UNDER FIRE EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): Washington must make it clear to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that, in the long run, he could be putting his own nation in danger by enlisting Iranian and Syrian "help" in fighting the PKK. Whatever their current differences with the PKK, these rogue regimes have the potential to do far more damage to Turkey in the long run than the PKK ever could.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071105/EDITORIAL/111050002/1013/editorial

BORDER TURMOIL TRIPWIRES - KENNETH R. TIMMERMAN (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): A Turkish invasion of northern Iraq will destabilize a peaceful, prosperous, and pro-American region of Iraq. Even worse: A Turkish invasion of northern Iraq will directly benefit another key regional player, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/COMMENTARY/111050009/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

NOUN + VERB + 9/11 + IRAN = DEMOCRATS' DEFEAT? - FRANK RICH (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): Whatever happens in or to Iran, the American public will be carpet-bombed by apocalyptic propaganda for the 12 months to come. Mr. Bush has nothing to lose by once again using the specter of war to pillory the Democrats as soft on national security. The question for the Democrats is whether they?ll walk once more into this trap.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04rich.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Op-Ed/Columnists/Frank%20Rich&pagewanted=print

MIDEAST: TALKING THE TALK - ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): Unless bombing of Iran's suspected nuke sites is ordered by Mr. Bush before he leaves office, Vice President Cheny and his neoconservative friends think the next occupant of the White House, probably a Democrat, will "wimp out." Therefore, they conclude, the time to bomb Iran is now, and hang the consequences. But shouldn't Mr. Hill, or an equally capable diplomat, be dispatched to Tehran to at least explore the possibility of a geopolitical quid pro quo?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/COMMENTARY/111040011/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

HAT PROMISED PEACE CONFERENCE EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 3): One month before President Bush?s Mideast peace conference -- the administration?s first serious effort in six years -- it?s still not clear what will be on the agenda or who, beyond the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians, will show up. Even the date is still up in the air.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/opinion/03sat1.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials&pagewanted=print

A SECOND COUP IN PAKISTAN - AHMED RASHID (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 5): The world cannot afford to let Musharraf's second coup go unchecked. So far, the response from Washington and European capitals has been tepid. Unless the international community acts decisively, Musharraf's emergency will plunge Pakistan even more deeply into chaos.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/04/AR2007110401224_pf.html

MUSHARRAF'S LATEST COUP EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): American diplomats and others must now walk Gen. Musharraf back from the ledge where he stands so precariously. The non-Musharraf path is simply too uncertain in this nuclear-armed, terrorist-infested nation. For now cautious diplomacy with an undemocratic strongman is the only realistic option.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/EDITORIAL/111050001/1013&template=printart

PAKISTAN EMERGENCY REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 5): The Bush Administration will have to speak clearly to Pakistanis that its support for its government is not limited to Mr. Musharraf, and to loudly and publicly urge the General to honor his pledge to relinquish his military commission and hold elections as soon as possible. After this weekend, it is clearer than ever that U.S. policy has to prepare for the post-Musharraf era.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119422498985582026.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

UNBOWED IN BURMA: THE RESISTANCE CONTINUES, BUT IT NEEDS HELP EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 3): The Bush administration led the way with sanctions against Burma; Australia stoutly followed. The question -- and it could be dispositive -- is whether Europe has the spine to join in.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201862_pf.html

WATERBOARDING USED TO BE A CRIME - EVAN WALLACH (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 4): We know that US military tribunals and US judges have examined certain types of water-based interrogation and found that they constituted torture. That's a lesson worth learning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170_pf.html

CONFIRM MUKASEY -- AND STOP TORTURE: THE TWO POSITIONS CAN BE RECONCILED IF CONGRESS MAKES THE CIA STICK TO MILITARY INTERROGATION STANDARDS THAT PROHIBIT WATERBOARDING ? EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 5)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-mukasey5nov05,0,7684253.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

MORAL PREENING - MONA CHAREN (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): In a war not against massed armies or nations but against small cells of terrorists, interrogation is a key weapon.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/COMMENTARY/111050010/1012&template=printart

TORTURED JUSTICE - LINDA CHAVEZ (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): ?If waterboarding would mean preventing another September 11-style attack, I think most Americans ? including most Democratic senators ? wouldn't hesitate to allow it.?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/COMMENTARY/111040005/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

THE FUTURE WAR ON TERROR - OLIVER NORTH (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 4): Even critics of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan agree the campaign in the southern Philippines could become the model for how to win the war against Islamic terror.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/COMMENTARY06/111040008/1012&template=printart

WHY HER DREAMS CRASHED: RICE'S WORLDVIEW FLIPPED, AND HER POLICIES FLOPPED - FRED KAPLAN (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 4): As Condoleezza Rice jets around the world, she must sometimes wonder where she's going. Over her three years as secretary of state, she has squandered great opportunities by putting faith and loyalty above her old worldview. The problem isn't just that she has swerved from the realism that propelled her to prominence; it's that the result has been a shambles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201650.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

WHY ORWELL MATTERS: FOUR WRITERS ON THE RELEVANCE OF ORWELL'S 'POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE' IN A POST-9/11 WORLD ? (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 5): More than 60 years after it was written, George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" remains the classic essay on the relationship between words, truth, propaganda and politics -- one with renewed meaning, many writers believe, in the post-9/11 world.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-orwellpackage4nov04,0,4513126.htmlstory?coll=la-opinion-center