Foreign Policy News and Commentary Update Decembewr 14, 2007

FRUM JOINS KRISTOL IN RELUCTANTLY RULING OUT IRAN ATTACK JIM LOBE (LOBELOG.COM, DECEMBER 14): Neoconservative David Frum appears to agree with The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol that the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has made a US attack on Iran before the end of Bush's term highly unlikely. Frum is explicit about rejecting Bob Kagan's suggestion that Washington now engage Iran in unconditional negotiations, arguing, 'A 'grand bargain' is the dead end to avoid." Instead, he goes back to the 'regime-change' strategy of the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) and is counting on a combination of falling oil prices (due to the reduced danger of war in the Gulf), a poorly managed economy, enhanced economic sanctions, and 'communications operations' (now to be led at the State Department by his AEI colleague, James Glassman); and discontent with the mullahs to achieve the desired end. http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/?p=87

MENDING AMERICA'S IMAGE CLIVE DAVIS (SPECTATOR, DECEMBER 13): http://www.spectator.co.uk/clivedavis/401581/mending-americas-image.thtml

TIME TO INVEST IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY? - ANDREW LEONARD (SALON, DECEMBER 13): http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/12/13/james_glassman/index.html

MORE ODDS AND ENDS ? (RELIGION, POLITICS, AND THE GREAT PUMPKIN, DECEMBER 14): http://community.livejournal.com/politics4geekz/720026.html

BUSH LAUDS LONGTIME CONFIDANTE HUGHES AS SHE LEAVES WHITE HOUSE SERVICE - TODD J. GILLMAN (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, DECEMBER 13):
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/washington/tgillman/stories/DN-hughes_13nat.ART.State.Edition1.36dce68.html

BUSH SAYS BYE TO KAREN HUGHES ? AP (DECEMBER 12): http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEbQhUPuvxHTBl8idRRkvPJO7iWAD8TG79TO0

KAREN HUGHES WATCH ? DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, DECEMBER 13): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/12/13/BL2007121301134_pf.html

GOING AWAY, AGAIN ? AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 14): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121302017_pf.html (

NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON. EXCEPT HITCHENS; HE DAST. PLUS, REID TORPEDOES OBEY - WELDON BERGER (SMIRKING CHIMP, DECEMBER 13): http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/11550

ANALYSIS: STUDENT VISA CONCERN HIGHLIGHTED - SHAUN WATERMAN (MIDDLE EAST TIMES, DECEMBER 13): http://www.metimes.com/Security/2007/12/13/analysis_student_visa_concern_highlighted/c9c6/

EU LAUNCHES PROPAGANDA RADIO (BRUSSELS JOURNAL, DECEMBER 13): http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2769

OVERHYPED, BUT BLOGS ARE HERE TO STAY - SAM ROGGEVEEN (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, DECEMBER 14): http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/overhyped-but-blogs-are-here-to-stay/2007/12/13/1197135651507.html

AFRICA: DIPLOMACY GOES VIRTUAL - ROSELEEN NZIOKA (ALLAFRICA.COM, WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 13): http://allafrica.com/stories/200712131230.html

INDIA CALLS FOR TRANS-NATIONAL COOPERATION TO COMBAT TERRORISM (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC NEWS AGENCY, IRAN, DECEMBER 13):
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0712138707195308.htm

US BOOSTS FEES TO ENTER THE COUNTRY - ASSOCIATED PRESS (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 13): America's admission price is going up. Even though the dollar is weak overseas, beginning in January most people will have to shell out more money for US visas. The higher charges will help pay for increased processing costs caused by new security measures imposed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Visas.html?pagewanted=print

HOW SECURE ARE U.S.' NEW 'SMART' PASSPORTS? - JANE ENGLE (LOS ANGELES TIMES, DECEMBER 16): ?[The passport?s] possible flaws, I suspect, needn't keep you up at night.?
http://www.latimes.com/travel/printedition/la-tr-insider16dec16,1,5721523.column

U.S. TO CUT 10 PERCENT OF DIPLOMATIC POSTS NEXT YEAR - KAREN DEYOUNG (WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 13): .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121201186.html

U.S. MILITARY'S AFRICA COMMAND ALARMS AID WORKERS ? REUTERS (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 13): http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-africa-africom.html?pagewanted=print

AFTER THE SURGE GIDEON RACHMAN (FINANCIAL TIMES, DECEMBER 12): The Americans are well aware of the fragility of security gains in Iraq, without real political progress to back it up.
http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2007/12/after-the-surge.html

WILL IRAQ'S GREAT AWAKENING LEAD TO A NIGHTMARE? U.S. CASUALTIES ARE DOWN IN IRAQ. BUT A RETIRED ARMY COLONEL ARGUES THAT THE SURGE AND AMERICAN PAYOFFS TO SUNNI TRIBAL LEADERS MAY EVENTUALLY BACKFIRE?PRODUCING MORE INSTABILITY AND POSSIBLY A REGIONAL WAR - DOUGLAS MACGREGOR (MOTHER JONES, DECEMBER 11)
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2007/12/iraq-surge-great-awakening-anbar.html

BLACKWATER IN BAGHDAD: "IT WAS A HORROR MOVIE": EXCLUSIVE TESTIMONY FROM WITNESSES AND VICTIMS PROVIDES THE MOST IN-DEPTH, HARROWING ACCOUNT TO DATE OF THE U.S. SECURITY FIRM'S DEADLY RAMPAGE IN IRAQ - JENNIFER DASKAL (SALON, DECEMBER 14)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/12/14/blackwater/print.html

CONVENTIONALLY IGNORANT: THE SAME OLD SIMPLICITIES ABOUT IRAQ - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (NATIONAL REVIEW, DECEMBER 14): History will assess Iraq when it ends -- either in defeat through a precipitous American withdrawal and collapse of Iraq, or in victory after a gradual redeployment of American troops as Iraqi forces step in to ensure the stability and security of a constitutional state.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ODBiMjAwOTdiZDFjNDA2MDdkMTkxMTQ4MjMyZTMxMzM=

MAN OF THE YEAR ? EDITORS (NATIONAL REVIEW, DECEMBER 14): Time magazine hasn
t announced its pick for man of the year yet, but we certainly know ours: Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multinational force in Iraq and architect of the surge strategy that is turning the tide in the war
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzRkNzBmMDRkMmY5NDRmZDY4ODgwMzc5ZWExOTgzZDk=

MISREADING THE IRAN REPORT: WHY SPYING AND POLICYMAKING DON'T MIX - HENRY A. KISSINGER (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 13): We could be witnessing not a halt of the Iranian weapons program -- as the NIE asserts -- but a subtle, ultimately more dangerous, version of it that will phase in the warhead when fissile material production has matured.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202331_pf.html

IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE: WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS MIXED-UP PICTURE OF IRAN AND ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM? - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (NATIONAL REVIEW, DECEMBER 14): With the new intelligence assessment, our allies got, and did not get, their wishes. There will probably be no American preemption against Iranian nuclear sites and, unfortunately, less American strong-arming for more sanctions on an Iran that seems to have been already reeling under the pressure. But there will also be for our allies the growing nightmare that a sneaky Iran could now think it is free to race to the nuclear finish line -- something that will endanger them far more than us.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=OWIwNjdhYjE0NDhhZDQyM2RjMzVmNWIyZWZmNmNhNjM=

LOVE THY ENEMY: IS TALK OF A U.S.-IRANIAN DIALOGUE REALISTIC? - MICHAEL YOUNG (REASON, DECEMBER 13): Iran would gladly draw the U.S. into a lengthy discussion of everything and nothing, and use this empty gabfest as a smokescreen to advance its agenda.
http://reason.com/news/printer/123873.html

THE CAN'T-WIN KIDS: THE DUNDERHEADED PUBLIC ROLL-OUT OF THE NIE - DENNIS ROSS (NEW REPUBLIC, DECEMBER 11): 'I don't question the assumptions or analysis in the NIE, or for that matter, its main conclusion. I accept that the Iranians suspended their covert nuclear weapons program in 2003. But I am afraid that misses the point. Weaponizing is not the issue, developing fissionable materials is. Because compared with producing fissionable material, which makes up the core of nuclear bombs, weaponizing it is neither particularly difficult nor expensive. ... Sadly, it's now easier for Iran to proceed unimpeded with its nuclear plans.'
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e240cac9-e666-4092-ba87-2c4e703b3e6d

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IRAN - WILLIAM M ARKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, DECEMBER 11):http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/iran_wants_dialogue_heres_a_10.html#more'


SECULAR EUROPE'S MERITS ROGER COHEN (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 13):
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/opinion/13cohen.html?ref=opinion

AT DIVIDED CLIMATE TALKS, CONSENSUS THAT U.S. IS AT FAULT - THOMAS FULLER AND ELISABETH ROSENTHAL (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 13)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/world/14climate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print

EUROPEANS RAISE ANTE AT BALI CLIMATE TALKS U.S. STANCE ON EMISSIONS TARGETS PROMPTS THREAT TO BOYCOTT BUSH FORUM - JULIET EILPERIN (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121300658.html

THE USAS HUMAN RIGHTS DAZE ? NORMAN SOLOMON (COMMON DREAMS, DECEMBER 13): http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/13/5796/

RESTORING HABEAS: WHY OLD "ENEMY COMBATMANT" RULES CAN'T APPLY TO A GLOBAL BATTLEFIELD - JULIAN SANCHEZ (REASON, DECEMBER 12):.
http://reason.com/news/show/123899.html

TORTURE'S BLAME GAME: WHO GAVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO 'ENHANCED' INTERROGATIONS? WE ALL DID - ROSA BROOKS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, DECEMBER 13): http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks13dec13,0,213071.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

ORTURE: LEADERSHIP REQUIRES ACCOUNTABILITY, ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP - BILL RICHARDSON (HUFFINGTON POST, DECEMBER 13)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-bill-richardson/torture-leadership-requi_b_76768.html

FORUM: WHAT GWOT HAS WROUGHT ? (NATION, DECEMBER 13): While purporting to protect democracy against its enemies, the "war on terror" has become one of them.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071231/forum_intro

AMERICA'S TRINITY OF TERRORISM: THE NETWORK OF U.S.-SPONSORED TERRORISM NOW ON GLOBAL DISPLAY RELIES ON DEATH SQUADS, DISAPPEARANCES AND TORTURE - GREG GRANDIN (SALON, DECEMBER 14)
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/12/14/unholy_trinity/print.html

HAS THE WAR CZAR GONE AWOL? - ANDRES MARTINEZ (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, DECEMBER 14): http://blog.washingtonpost.com/stumped/2007/12/is_the_war_czar_awol.html

NOTES FROM THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 14): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/opinion/14fri1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

OVER LUNCH, CONDI BEQUEATHS THE TERROR WAR TO SUCCESSOR - CHRISTINE Y. CHEN (PASSPORT, FOREIGN POLICY, DECEMBER 11): http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/7324

ENABLING THE KREMLIN: HOW CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S WORDS HELP PUTIN TIGHTEN HIS GRIP - ANDREI ILLARIONOV (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 14): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121301465_pf.html

EMBARRASSED TO EXPLAIN US FOREIGN POLICY DOUG BANDOW (ANTIWAR.COM, DECEMBER 14): We have far to go to turn foreign policy into an issue that moves voters and, in doing so, stirs so-called major candidates to challenge the interventionist status quo. Only then will we be able transform the American empire back into the American republic.
http://www.antiwar.com/bandow/?articleid=12049