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Monday, February 28, 2011

Our Man in Pakistan

Our Man in Pakistan

The dreadful treatment of Raymond Davis is a reminder of how dysfunctional our relationship with Pakistan has become.

When it comes to Libya, Obama's wariness is Iran's gain

Posted By Dov Zakheim

This CIA agent is no diplomat

guardian.co.uk home

This CIA agent is no diplomat

The US says Raymond Davis should have immunity in Pakistan. Just another attempt to flout the rule of law outside its borders

Chinese Treasury Holdings Revised $268 Billion Higher To $1.12 Trillion, Fed Still Top Holder Of US Debt

Chinese Treasury Holdings Revised $268 Billion Higher To $1.12 Trillion, Fed Still Top Holder Of US Debt

from zero hedge

Losing the Peace

Triumphant Israel need cut no deals with Palestinians—which spells disaster for the Jewish State.
By Scott McConnell
The American Conservative

"No Other Way Out"

"No Other Way Out" -- We will not stop the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, we will not end this slaughter of innocents, unless we are willing to rise up as have state workers in Wisconsin and citizens on the streets of Arab capitals.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/no_other_way_out_20110228/

Who Owns the U.S.? by Greg Bocquet

Who Owns the U.S.?

by Greg Bocquet

Constitution Version 2.0: "Of the Banks, By the Banks and For the Banks"

Constitution Version 2.0: "Of the Banks, By the Banks and For the Banks"

from Washington's Blog

"The Financial Industry Has Become So Politically Powerful That It Is Able To Inhibit the Normal Process of Justice And Law Enforcement"

"The Financial Industry Has Become So Politically Powerful That It Is Able To Inhibit the Normal Process of Justice And Law Enforcement"

from Washington's Blog

The West, the Arabs, and the Real Qaddafi

The West, the Arabs, and the Real Qaddafi

Bahrain’s Re-Reform Movement

Bahrain’s Re-Reform Movement
Will Bahrain’s Protesters Still Accept a Constitutional Monarchy?  

[Viewpoint] The fourth global democratic wave

[Viewpoint] The fourth global democratic wave
The protests in the Arab world follow earlier democratic trends that began in the late 18th century.

Feckless EU Has Failed the Arab World

Feckless EU Has Failed the Arab World


For decades, Europe propped up dictators in North Africa in the interest of stability. Now the EU is struggling to respond to the wave of popular uprisings in the region. Its tardy response to the violence in Libya shows just how divided the bloc is.

Deutsche Bank Just Took Out The Hatchet To Its Economic Outlook

Deutsche Bank Just Took Out The Hatchet To Its Economic Outlook

from Clusterstock

Why Arab kings may outlast the dictators By Michael Meyer-Resende

Why Arab kings may outlast the dictators
By Michael Meyer-Resende

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=125374#ixzz1FHPb5DYG
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

How Stable Is Saudi Arabia? - Center for Strategic and Int'l Studies

How Stable Is Saudi Arabia? - Center for Strategic and Int'l Studies

DE BORCHGRAVE: Manic-depressive megalomaniac


February 25, 2011

DE BORCHGRAVE: Manic-depressive megalomaniac

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Why Americans Should Fear The Middle East And North Africa Revolutions

Why Americans Should Fear The Middle East And North Africa Revolutions

from Clusterstock

North Korea threatens US, South with 'all-out war'

North Korea threatens US, South with 'all-out war'

Technology Review: Middle East Conflict and an Internet Tipping Point

Technology Review: Middle East Conflict and an Internet Tipping Point

Egypt Is Too Special for al-Qaeda to Stay Silent

Egypt Is Too Special for al-Qaeda to Stay Silent

Author:
Ed Husain, Senior Fellow

France Begins 'Massive' Aid Effort for Libyan Opposition

France Begins 'Massive' Aid Effort for Libyan Opposition

from VOA News: Top Stories

The Public Pension Crisis (pdf) - DeanBaker

The Public Pension Crisis (pdf) - DeanBaker

A Microcosm of the Market Manipulation in the US and the Repeated Failure of Ideology

A Microcosm of the Market Manipulation in the US and the Repeated Failure of Ideology

Is Pakistan next in line? By James Carroll

Is Pakistan next in line?

By James Carroll

The revolutions and US euphoria

The revolutions and US euphoria




If the Western world carries on with the "instant democracy" illusion, what occurred in Egypt will bring about the fall of more moderate regimes.

Oil Shock, 2011

Oil Shock, 2011

Kremlin's Plan to Prevent a Facebook Revolution

The Moscow Times

Kremlin's Plan to Prevent a Facebook Revolution

Citizens not serfs can save Saudi Arabia By David Gardner

-

Citizens not serfs can save Saudi Arabia

By David Gardner

A false choice between Iran and the US for Arab states Tony Karon

A false choice between Iran and the US for Arab states

Tony Karon
The entire US regional strategy of organising Arab countries into an anti-Iran alliance lies in tatters.

America Primed

America Primed

 

Un-American Revolutions

Un-American Revolutions

Niall Ferguson, Newsweek
Americans love a revolution. Their own great nation having been founded by a revolutionary declaration and forged by a revolutionary war, they instinctively side with revolutionaries in other lands, no matter how different their circumstances, no matter how disastrous the outcomes. This chronic reluctance to learn from history could carry a very heavy price tag if the revolutionary wave currently sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East breaks with the same shattering impact as most revolutionary waves.

Twitterers of the World Revolution: The Digital New-New Left by Dr. K R Bolton

Twitterers of the World Revolution: The Digital New-New Left

by Dr. K R Bolton

An 8-year war built on lies: But when did the lying begin? by Kevin Ryan

An 8-year war built on lies: But when did the lying begin?

by Kevin Ryan

MAP OF THE DAY: This Is Where Libya's Oil Infrastructure Is Located

MAP OF THE DAY: This Is Where Libya's Oil Infrastructure Is Located

from Clusterstock

Civil War Looms, As Yemen's Opposition Party Declares Support For The Protesters

Civil War Looms, As Yemen's Opposition Party Declares Support For The Protesters

from Clusterstock

Bahrain and the Freedom Contagion by Rannie Amiri,

Bahrain and the Freedom Contagion
by Rannie Amiri,

Yemen and the Arab Awakening

Yemen and the Arab Awakening
Another US-supported tyrant is about to fall
by Justin Raimondo, February 28, 2011

Matt Stoller: A Very Political Oscars – “Not a single executive has gone to jail”

Matt Stoller: A Very Political Oscars – “Not a single executive has gone to jail”

By Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. His Twitter feed is http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller

In Lebanon, Hezbollah is watching, and waiting out, the Arab uprisings

David IgnatiusIn Lebanon, Hezbollah is watching, and waiting out, the Arab uprisingsThe militant group takes stock of how Arab uprisings could affect its goals.

Kim Jong II's Nuclear Resolve By: Jack David and Melanie Kirkpatrick | The Wall Street Journal

Kim Jong II's Nuclear Resolve
By: Jack David and Melanie Kirkpatrick | The Wall Street Journal

Cyberspace Wars

Cyberspace Wars

By: JOSEPH S. NYE Jr. | International Herald Tribune
The Internet has created a new dimension in national security: cyberterrorism, cyberespionage and cyberwar.

Barak: Assad ready to consider Israel-Syria peace deal

Barak: Assad ready to consider Israel-Syria peace deal

Defense minister says that if Syrian president will reach out to Israel, he will find a willing partner, also says Israel must strengthen peace efforts with Palestinians.

By Haaretz Service

Protesters defy crackdown in Oman

Protesters defy crackdown in Oman
Health minister says one person died in anti-government demonstrations, but hospital sources say six people were killed.

Advantage How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge

Advantage
How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge

The Arab Turmoil and Palestinians

The Arab Turmoil and Palestinians

Gadhafi's Chemical Weapons: A Nightmare Scenario in Libya"

Gadhafi's Chemical Weapons: A Nightmare Scenario in Libya"

By Alan W. Dowd.

As Regimes Fall in Arab World, Al Qaeda Sees History Fly By

As Regimes Fall in Arab World, Al Qaeda Sees History Fly By

By SCOTT SHANE
The powerful protests spreading across the Middle East and North Africa have shunned the two central tenets of Al Qaeda's credo: murderous violence and religious fanaticism.

Rebels in Libya Gain Power and Defectors

Rebels in Libya Gain Power and Defectors

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM
Rebels challenging Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi showed their firepower and military coordination as defecting officers in the east took steps to establish a unified command.

Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to 2015 by the Brookings Institute

February 26, 2011

Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to 2015 by the Brookings Institute

No-fly zone will help stop Gaddafi’s carnage

No-fly zone will help stop Gaddafi’s carnage Declaring a no-fly zone is not the soft option it may seem: it must mean being prepared to shoot down jets and helicopter gunships that breach it, writes Gareth Evans
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/FX2D2H/EW4YCB/BM67MD/QFWHSS/82/h?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28
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Citizens not serfs can save Saudi Arabia

Citizens not serfs can save Saudi Arabia There is a path forward, but only a short time to take it. That is to move towards a more constitutional monarchy under the rule of law, writes David Gardner


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Middle East Conflict and an Internet Tipping Point

Middle East Conflict and an Internet Tipping Point
by John Palfrey
Social media sites have played a huge role in the prodemocracy surge—but states have also been very good at using technology to suppress their people.
Read More »

Sunday, February 27, 2011

How to Write a Cable | Foreign Policy By Peter W. Galbraith

How to Write a Cable | Foreign Policy

By Peter W. Galbraith

Feb. 22, 2011 
Contrary to what Julian Assange might tell you, most ambassadors do not worry that the wrong people will read their cables, but that the right people won't. The U.S. State Department receives several million cables a year, and while most deal with mundane administrative matters, several hundred thousand report on political and economic developments. The secretary of state reads just a handful of these, and assistant secretaries read a small portion of the cables from their geographic regions. Even the desk officer might only have time to scan the post's voluminous cable traffic.
How to have your cables read? Here are a few key guidelines. Some I followed myself as an ambassador. And as WikiLeaks has revealed, my fellow diplomats have adopted their own strategies for getting noticed. The cables show that the United States has a superb diplomatic service consisting of knowledgeable and literate realists. Even when U.S. policy seems divorced from ground reality, diplomats clearly understand what is going on around the world -- and how best to describe it for the folks back in Foggy Bottom.

Saudi activists call for sweeping reforms as king issues new orders to pre-empt dissent

Saudi activists call for sweeping reforms as king issues new orders to pre-empt dissent


CAIRO — More than 100 leading Saudi academics and activists urged King Abdullah to enact sweeping reforms, including setting up a constitutional monarchy, and he ordered Sunday that government sector workers with temporary contracts be given permanent jobs in order to pre-empt the unrest that has engulfed other Arab nations.
The activists' statement, seen on several Saudi websites Sunday, reflects the undercurrent of tension that has simmered for years in the world's largest oil producer. While Abdullah is seen as a reformer, the pace of those reforms has been slow as Saudi officials balance the need to push the country forward with the perennial pressure from hard-line clergy in the conservative nation.
"The current situation ... is full of reasons for concern," said the statement, which was signed by 119 academics, activists and businessmen. "We are seeing ... a receding of Saudi Arabia's prominent regional role for which our nation was known and the .... prevalence of corruption and nepotism, the exacerbation of factionalism and a widening in the gap between state and society."
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JPMorgan fund eyes 10% stake in Twitter

JPMorgan fund eyes 10% stake in Twitter A JPMorgan fund is in talks to acquire a substantial stake in Twitter, one of the fastest-growing social networking sites.

The fund hopes to acquire 10 per cent of the online messaging service for $450m, valuing Twitter at $4.5bn, according to people familiar with the plans.

US probe into tax evasion widens

US probe into tax evasion widens A US tax evasion investigation that has prompted charges against several Swiss bankers has expanded to include Israeli and Asian banks, according to lawyers close to the probe

EU presidents draft competitiveness pact

EU presidents draft competitiveness pact The European Union’s two presidents have drafted proposals for a “pact for competitiveness” among eurozone economies in an effort to soothe disagreements over a German-backed scheme to shore up Europe’s economies

Obama says Libya's Gadhafi must go

Obama says Libya's Gadhafi must go

President Obama made the declaration via the White House's official readout of his private telephone conversation today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel:
"The President spoke today with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, as he has done with many of his international counterparts this week, to discuss the situation in Libya and coordinate our urgent efforts to respond to developments and ensure appropriate accountability. The President and the Chancellor shared deep concerns about the Libyan government’s continued violation of human rights and brutalization of its people. The President stated that when a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now. The leaders reaffirmed their support for the Libyan people’s demand for universal rights and a government that is responsive to their aspirations, and agreed that Qadhafi’s government must be held accountable. They discussed appropriate and effective ways for the international community to respond. The President welcomed ongoing efforts by our allies and partners, including at the United Nations and by the European Union, to develop and implement strong measures. The President and the Chancellor also discussed the global economic recovery and the need for effective tools to promote economic stability in the Eurozone."
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UN: 100,000 People Have Fled Libya into Neighboring States

UN: 100,000 People Have Fled Libya into Neighboring States

North Korea Threatens Military Action Over Propaganda

North Korea Threatens Military Action Over Propaganda

Balloons with leaflets condemning N. Korean leader Kim Jong Il fly in the air after its release by S. Korean activists and former N. Korean defectors during a rally near the border village of the Panmunjom (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas since the Kor
Photo: AP
Balloons with leaflets condemning N. Korean leader Kim Jong Il fly in the air after its release by S. Korean activists and former N. Korean defectors during a rally near the border village of the Panmunjom (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War, in S. Korea, February 16, 2011

 

Libyans failed by Left orientalism

Libyans failed by Left orientalism

It Takes a Network The new frontline of modern warfare.

It Takes a Network

The new frontline of modern warfare.



Defections Further Isolate Qaddafi; Security Council Approves Sanctions

Defections Further Isolate Qaddafi; Security Council Approves Sanctions
Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers: "Moammar Gadhafi found himself on the weekend even more isolated in his last major stronghold of Tripoli, as a former top aide declared he was forming a national opposition government and President Barack Obama said the Libyan dictator should leave 'now.' The United Nations Security Council, meanwhile, unanimously approved sanctions aimed at forcing Gadhafi to halt brutal onslaughts that he has unleashed in a bid to crush an 11-day-old insurrection that has left all of eastern Libya and other parts of the country under rebel control, and has left hundreds, if not thousands, dead. Possible war crimes charges would be referred to the International Criminal Court."
Read the Article

A false choice between Iran and the US for Arab states Tony Karon

A false choice between Iran and the US for Arab states

Tony Karon

It’s Well Past Time to Start Taking Peak Oil Seriously by Jeremy R. Hammond

It’s Well Past Time to Start Taking Peak Oil Seriously

by Jeremy R. Hammond

Will Gaddafi End up in a Hidey Hole Like Saddam?

Will Gaddafi End up in a Hidey Hole Like Saddam?

US economic recovery weaker than thought

US economic recovery weaker than thought

Companies concerned about rising fuel costs

Companies concerned about rising fuel costs

European leaders tell Gaddafi to go

European leaders tell Gaddafi to go

Merkel says UN vote shows ‘international solidarity’

 

Middle East Protests Continue for Unmet Demands

Middle East Protests Continue for Unmet Demands

So far, weeks of regional protests achieved nothing. Despite ousting Egypt’s Mubarak and Tunisia’s Ben Ali, their regimes remain in place, offering nothing but unfulfilled promises.
On February 26, Egyptians again protested in Tahrir Square. This time, however, military forces confronted them, Reuters headlining, “Egypt military angers protesters with show of force,” saying:
“Soldiers used force on Saturday to break up a protest demanding more political reform in Egypt, demonstrators said, in the toughest move yet against opposition activists who accused the country’s military rulers of ‘betraying the people.’”
New York Times writer Liam Stack headlined, “Egyptian Military Forces End to New Protest,” …

Price of Food at the Heart of Wave of Revolutions

The price of food is at the heart of this wave of revolutions

No one saw the uprisings coming, but their deeper cause isn't hard to fathom
By Peter Popham

Will Syria become more democratic?

Will Syria become more democratic?

Could the next Mideast uprising happen in Saudi Arabia?

Could the next Mideast uprising happen in Saudi Arabia?

On the Problem Rising Oil Prices Pose for Central Banks

On the Problem Rising Oil Prices Pose for Central Banks

Tripoli slipping from Gaddafi’s grip Financial Times

Tripoli slipping from Gaddafi’s grip Financial Times

American Manufacturing Slowly Rotting Away: How Industries Die

American Manufacturing Slowly Rotting Away: How Industries Die

Middle East Unrest: What It Means for the Markets

Middle East Unrest: What It Means for the Markets

Petrobras: Filling Middle East Oil Gaps

Petrobras: Filling Middle East Oil Gaps

Will 'Jasmine Revolutions' Give Iran More Say on Oil Prices?

Will 'Jasmine Revolutions' Give Iran More Say on Oil Prices?

Why Germany's Economic Fortress Could Come Toppling Down

Why Germany's Economic Fortress Could Come Toppling Down

This Week's Wild Ride in Oil


This Week's Wild Ride in Oil

Why Spiking Oil is Deflationary

Why Spiking Oil is Deflationary

Can the Saudis Deliver the Oil the World Needs?

Can the Saudis Deliver the Oil the World Needs?

Oil's Watershed Week: Why It Changes Everything

Oil's Watershed Week: Why It Changes Everything

Bahrain key in Sunni/Shia divide

Bahrain key in Sunni/Shia divide

Tiny Gulf island state looms large because of its close ties with Saudi Arabia.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Civil War Breaks Out In Tripoli from zero hedge

Civil War Breaks Out In Tripoli

from zero hedge

Guest Post: Analysis of the Global Insurrection Against Neo-Liberal Economic Domination and the Coming American Rebellion

Guest Post: Analysis of the Global Insurrection Against Neo-Liberal Economic Domination and the Coming American Rebellion

from zero hedge

If you think what’s happening in Egypt won’t happen within the United States, you’ve been watching too much TV. The statistics speak for themselves.

US Endless-War Budget Rolls On

US Endless-War Budget Rolls On

While cutting domestic spending, President Obama has spared the military budget from significant cuts, writes Sherwood Ross. February 23, 2011
 
Editor’s Note: Another part of Ronald Reagan’s insidious legacy is that any politician or pundit who dares to question excessive U.S. military spending can expect to be denounced as “soft” on whomever the enemy du jour is.
To protect themselves from such attacks, Democrats have typically lined up behind the Pentagon’s budget almost as slavishly as Republicans have, a pattern that is continuing in the Obama administration, as Sherwood Ross notes in this guest essay:
Under President Barack Obama's new budget for fiscal year 2012, the Great American War Machine just rolls on and on.

Mideast Policy: The Case for Sitting on Our Hands

Mideast Policy: The Case for Sitting on Our Hands

Dear world, sorry about the last 10 years. Peter Beinart on how the new wave of Mideast revolts may finally be ending America's wasteful war on terror-and why it would have been smarter not to intervene in the first place.

Cracks in decade-old US-Pakistan partnership

By TARIQ A. AL-MAEENA | ARAB NEWS

Cracks in decade-old US-Pakistan partnership

Back in 2001 when Pakistani President Pervaiz Musharraf shook hands with his US counterpart George Bush in a partnership on the latter’s war on terror, little did Pakistanis realize that some of that terror would be imported to their soil by their partner.

Neo-Con Hawks Take Flight Over Libya


Neo-Con Hawks Take Flight Over Libya


February 25th, 2011


From the wire:
WASHINGTON, Feb 25, 2011 (IPS) – In a distinct echo of the tactics they pursued to encourage U.S. intervention in the Balkans and Iraq, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives appealed Friday for the United States and NATO to “immediately” prepare military action to help bring down the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and end the violence that is believed to have killed well over a thousand people in the past week.
The appeal, which came in the form of a letter signed by 40 policy analysts, including more than a dozen former senior officials who served under President George W. Bush, was organised and released by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), a two-year-old neo-conservative group that is widely seen as the successor to the more-famous – or infamous – Project for the New American Century (PNAC).
Warning that Libya stood “on the threshold of a moral and humanitarian catastrophe”, the letter, which was addressed to President Barack Obama, called for specific immediate steps involving military action, in addition to the imposition of a number of diplomatic and economic sanctions to bring “an end to the murderous Libyan regime”.

In particular, it called for Washington to press NATO to “develop operational plans to urgently deploy warplanes to prevent the regime from using fighter jets and helicopter gunships against civilians and carry out other missions as required; (and) move naval assets into Libyan waters” to “aid evacuation efforts and prepare for possible contingencies;” as well as “(e)stablish the capability to disable Libyan naval vessels used to attack civilians.”
Among the letter’s signers were former Bush deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz; Bush’s top global democracy and Middle East adviser; Elliott Abrams; former Bush speechwriters Marc Thiessen and Peter Wehner; Vice President Dick Cheney’s former deputy national security adviser, John Hannah, as well as FPI’s four directors:Weekly Standard editor William Kristol; Brookings Institution fellow Robert Kagan; former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor; and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and Ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman.
It was Kagan and Kristol who co-founded and directed PNAC in its heyday from 1997 to the end of Bush’s term in 2005.
The letter comes amid growing pressure on Obama, including from liberal hawks, to take stronger action against Gaddafi.
Two prominent senators whose foreign policy views often reflect neo-conservative thinking, Republican John McCain and Independent Democrat Joseph Lieberman, called Friday in Tel Aviv for Washington to supply Libyan rebels with arms, among other steps, including establishing a no-fly zone over the country.
On Wednesday, Obama said his staff was preparing a “full range of options” for action. He also announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet fly to Geneva Monday for a foreign ministers’ meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss possible multilateral actions.
“They want to keep open the idea that there’s a mix of capabilities they can deploy – whether it’s a no-fly zone, freezing foreign assets of Gaddafi’s family, doing something to prevent the transport of mercenaries (hired by Gaddafi) to Libya, targeting sanctions against some of his supporters to persuade them to abandon him,” said Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation, who took part in a meeting of independent foreign policy analysts, including Abrams, with senior National Security Council staff at the White House Thursday.
During the 1990s, neo-conservatives consistently lobbied for military pressure to be deployed against so-called “rogue states”, especially in the Middle East.
After the 1991 Gulf War, for example, many “neo-cons” expressed bitter disappointment that U.S. troops stopped at the Kuwaiti border instead of marching to Baghdad and overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein.
When the Iraqi president then unleashed his forces against Kurdish rebels in the north and Shia insurgents in the south, they – along with many liberal interventionist allies – pressed President George H.W. Bush to impose “no-fly zones” over both regions and take additional actions – much as they are now proposing for Libya – designed to weaken the regime’s military repressive capacity.
Those actions set the pattern for the 1990s. To the end of the decade, neo-conservatives, often operating under the auspices of a so-called “letterhead organisation”, such as PNAC, worked – often with the help of some liberal internationalists eager to establish a right of humanitarian intervention – to press President Bill Clinton to take military action against adversaries in the Balkans (in Bosnia and then Kosovo) as well as Iraq.
Within days of 9/11, for example, PNAC issued a letter signed by 41 prominent individuals – almost all neo-conservatives, including 10 of the Libya letter’s signers – that called for military action to “remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq”, as well as retaliation against Iran and Syria if they did not immediately end their support for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
PNAC and its associates subsequently worked closely with neo-conservatives inside the Bush administration, including Abrams, Wolfowitz, and Edelman, to achieve those aims.
While neo-conservatives were among the first to call for military action against Gaddafi in the past week, some prominent liberals and rights activists have rallied to the call, including three of the letter’s signatories: Neil Hicks of Human Rights First; Bill Clinton’s human rights chief, John Shattuck; and Leon Wieseltier of The New Republic, who also signed the PNAC Iraq letter 10 years ago.
In addition, Anne-Marie Slaughter, until last month the influential director of the State Department’s Policy Planning office, cited the U.S.-NATO Kosovo campaign as a possible precedent. “The international community cannot stand by and watch the massacre of Libyan protesters,” she wrote on Twitter. “In Rwanda we watched. In Kosovo we acted.”
Such comments evoked strong reactions from some military experts, however.
“I’m horrified to read liberal interventionists continue to suggest the ease with which humanitarian crises and regional conflicts can be solved by the application of military power,” wrote Andrew Exum, a counter-insurgency specialist at the Center for a New American Security, about Wieseltier. “To speak so glibly of such things reflects a very immature understanding of the limits of force and the difficulties and complexities of contemporary military operations.”
Other commentators noted that a renewed coalition of neo- conservatives and liberal interventionists would be much harder to put together now than during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
“We now have Iraq and Afghanistan as warning signs, as well as our fiscal crisis, so I don’t think there’s an enormous appetite on Capitol Hill or among the public for yet another military engagement,” said Charles Kupchan, a foreign policy specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
“I support diplomatic and economic sanctions, but I would stop well short of advocating military action, including the imposition of a no-fly zone,” he added, noting, in any event, that most of the killing in Libya this week has been carried out by mercenaries and paramilitaries on foot or from vehicles.
“There may be some things we can do – such as airlifting humanitarian supplies to border regions where there are growing number of refugees, but I would do so only with the full support of the Arab League and African Union, if not the U.N.,” said Clemons.
“(The neo-conservatives) are essentially pro-intervention, pro-war, without regard to the costs to the country,” he told IPS. “They don’t recognise that we’re incredibly over- extended and that the kinds of things they want us to do actually further weaken our already-eroded stock of American power.”

Dean Baker How Timidity in Washington Wrecked the Economy

Dean Baker
How Timidity in Washington Wrecked the Economy

A Revolution Far From Over: Egyptian Army Cracks Down on Protesters Read the Article at Al Jazeera

A Revolution Far From Over: Egyptian Army Cracks Down on Protesters
Read the Article at Al Jazeera

Tribal Leader's Resignation Is Blow to Yemeni President

Tribal Leader's Resignation Is Blow to Yemeni President
Laura Kasinof and Sharon Otterman, The New York Times News Service: "A leading tribal figure in Yemen announced his resignation from the ruling party on Saturday, signaling a major blow to the embattled leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh as demonstrations calling for his resignation continue across the country. Four days earlier, Mohammad Abdel Illah al-Qadi, a key leader of the Sanhan tribe, a Hashid affiliate that is also a key power base of the president, had joined the growing protest movement."
Read the Article

How Qaddafi started losing Libya

How Qaddafi started losing Libya

Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and a long-time opposition hub, started a wave of rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi that is now closing in on Tripoli.

The business of doing business in Gadhafi’s oil kingdom

The business of doing business in Gadhafi’s oil kingdom

Who'll control Libya's oil economy if Gadhafi falls?

Who'll control Libya's oil economy if Gadhafi falls?

A Crazy Prophet by Uri Avnery

A Crazy Prophet

by Uri Avnery
"What will happen if hundreds of thousands of Palestinians march one day to the Separation Wall and pull it down? What if a quarter of a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon gather on our Northern border? What if masses of people assemble in Manara Square in Ramallah and Town Hall Square in Nablus and confront the Israeli troops? All this before the cameras of Aljazeera, accompanied by Facebook and Twitter, with the entire world looking on with bated breath?"...Until now, the answer was simple: if necessary, we shall use live fire, helicopter gunships and tank cannon. No more nonsense....But now the Palestinian youth, too, has seen that it is possible to face live fire, that Qaddafi’s fighter planes did not put an end to the uprising, that Pearl Square in Bahrain did not empty when the king’s soldiers opened fire. This lesson will not be forgotten....Perhaps this will not happen tomorrow or the day after. But it most certainly will happen – unless we make peace while we still can.

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Across Mideast

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Across Mideast

Book Review: Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present

Book Review: Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present

Oil price spikes set grim precedents

Oil price spikes set grim precedents

Gates warns against Iraq, Afghanistan-style wars

Gates warns against Iraq, Afghanistan-style wars
Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Friday against committing the US military to big land wars in Asia or the Middle East, saying anyone proposing otherwise "should have his head examined." Gates offered the blunt advice -- hard won after a decade of bitter conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq -- in what he said would be his last speech to cadets at the US Army's premier school for training future officers.
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Obama's executive order and statement on Libya

Obama's executive order and statement on Libya

The White House released this strongly worded statement tonight from President Obama along with an executive order freezing U.S. assets of the Libyan dictator and his family and top advisers:
"The Libyan government’s continued violation of human rights, brutalization of its people, and outrageous threats have rightly drawn the strong and broad condemnation of the international community. By any measure, Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government has violated international norms and common decency and must be held accountable. These sanctions therefore target the Qaddafi government, while protecting the assets that belong to the people of Libya.
"Going forward, the United States will continue to closely coordinate our actions with the international community, including our friends and allies, and the United Nations. We will stand steadfastly with the Libyan people in their demand for universal rights, and a government that is responsive to their aspirations. Their human dignity cannot be denied."
In the executive order, Obama said that "Qadhafi, his government, and close associates have taken extreme measures against the people of Libya, including by using weapons of war, mercenaries, and wanton violence against unarmed civilians."
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Powerful Yemeni Tribal Chiefs Join Opposition

Powerful Yemeni Tribal Chiefs Join Opposition

An Iranian Shadow on Arab Spring By Jamsheed Choksy

An Iranian Shadow on Arab Spring

By Jamsheed Choksy

The battle for Bahrain By BARAK BARFI

The battle for Bahrain


By BARAK BARFI

Chaos in the Mideast? America Should Back Off By Doug Bandow

Chaos in the Mideast? America Should Back Off

By Doug Bandow
Chaos in Cairo's streets wrecked Hosni Mubarak's presidency in Egypt. The collapse of any dictatorship should please Americans. Several other Middle Eastern leaders may soon follow him into history's dustbin.
However, the process in Egypt and elsewhere has only started. The most difficult question for any revolution is how any it ends. Tragically, revolts against repressive regimes often lead to even greater tyranny.
Washington was little more than an interested bystander in Egypt. Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, "Neither the protestors nor the government are relying on signals from the United States."
But the U.S. has no good options in such cases. Long identified with dictators, Washington now must separate itself from repressive regimes. Attempting to promote particular individuals or factions is likely to be counterproductive, however. Having chosen wrong for so long, U.S. officials are unlikely to choose right this time.
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The Wave Continues The people of the Middle East really want to choose their leaders.

The Wave Continues

The people of the Middle East really want to choose their leaders.

A second chance in the Arab world By Rami G. Khouri

A second chance in the Arab world
By Rami G. Khouri

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=125341#ixzz1F4wbkCFb
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Is North Korea Next?


Is North Korea Next?

Kim Jong-il’s regime has been censoring reports of unrest in the Arab world. It’s a sign of how worried his regime is about its survival.A report this week that the North Korean regime is on high alert is a reminder that the ongoing unrest in the Arab world kicked off by Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution has implications that stretch far beyond the Middle East.
The timing of recent events couldn’t have been much worse for the leadership in North Korea. The country is said since last year to be in the midst of another agricultural crisis, and has reportedly taken the unusual step of asking its embassies to plead for food aid.
Against this kind of backdrop, the dramatic collapse of the corrupt regime of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak must have stunned the North Korean elite, particularly Kim Jong-il, who has ruled his starving population with an iron fist. But Kim isn’t the only one who has cause for concern—his entire regime, bound by patronage and family connections, is in the same boat.

 

Arab democracy and the return of the Mediterranean world by Robert Kaplan

Arab democracy and the return of the Mediterranean world

Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present

Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present
by Yevgeny Primakov, translated from the Russian by Paul Gould.
Published by Basic Books: A Member of Perseus Books Group, New York. 387 pages, 2009.
Reviewed by Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein, MSC, USN

Major Iraq Oil Refinery Closed After Terrorist Attack from Clusterstock by Joe Weisenthal

Major Iraq Oil Refinery Closed After Terrorist Attack

from Clusterstock

‘The Revolution Is Not Yet Over’ New York Review of Books

‘The Revolution Is Not Yet Over’ New York Review of Books

Robert Fisk: The destiny of this pageant lies in the Kingdom of Oil

Robert Fisk: The destiny of this pageant lies in the Kingdom of Oil

Leading article: The West must act quickly to save Libya from Gaddafi

Leading article: The West must act quickly to save Libya from Gaddafi

Libyan protests brutally repressed

Libyan protests brutally repressed

Rebel force unable to take over Tripoli; US moves to freeze Khadafy’s assets

UK to Libyan officials: Defect or face war crimes charges

UK to Libyan officials: Defect or face war crimes charges

London's threats come as Libyan diplomats, including those at the UN in New York and Geneva, plea for international action against Gaddafi.

Libya and the new international disorder Posted By Salman Shaikh

Posted By Salman Shaikh

U.N. rights body recommends suspension of Libya

U.N. rights body recommends suspension of Libya

The United Nations Human Rights Council has unanimously passed a resolution recommending suspension of Libya from the Geneva-based body and decided to conduct an independent probe into violations by the Qadhafi regime, which has launched a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The 47-nation body’s recommendation to suspend Libya needs to be approved by a two-thirds majority at the 192-member United Nations General Assembly here.
The U.N.’s top rights body also decided to “urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry... to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Libya.”
“It (the move) must now go further,” Gerard Araud, French envoy to the U.N., said here on Friday.
“We call on the president of the General Assembly to convene as soon as possible a session of the General Assembly to confirm its (Libya’s) suspension (from U.N. Human Rights Council).”

 

Libya crisis confounds investing

Libya crisis confounds investing

A spike in oil prices means higher inflation, which makes it much harder for governments to slow growth without tanking their economies.

If the Saudis revolt, the world’s in trouble

If the Saudis revolt, the world’s in trouble

The fate of the global recovery rests on events in Riyadh , says Jeremy Warner.

U.S. Dependent on Middle East Oil? Think Again.

U.S. Dependent on Middle East Oil? Think Again.

The Misery Index Explains Middle East Turmoil - Steve Hanke, Globe Asia

The Misery Index Explains Middle East Turmoil - Steve Hanke, Globe Asia