Secretary Clinton once again reiterated Pres. Obama’s policy on Israeli settlements yesterday, mincing no words. The Obama administration reiterated emphatically on Wednesday that it viewed a complete freeze of construction in settlements on the West Bank as a critical step toward a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking of President Obama, Secretary of [...]
Tag Archives | diplomacy
Liveblogging CSIS Journo Panel: Afghanistan – Pakistan
Reporting from CSIS Listen/watch taped event –updated– 5:40:58 PM: Bob Schieffer, moderator; Edward Luce, Nancy Youssef, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, David Sanger. 5:45:00 PM: Schiefer: Bush saw it as 2 policies; Obama sees it as one. 5:47:40 PM: Sanger: Obama policy says nothing about “democratization,” it’s about getting al Qaeda, which is in Pak. 5:49:42 PM: Chandra.: [...]
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North Korea’s Nukes
North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. – Bloomberg Secretary Clinton weighed in this past hour: “North Korea has made a choice. It has chosen to [...]
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Vice President Biden in Lebanon
Hezbollah isn’t happy. Joe Biden’s surprise visit is causing them indigestion. It’s the most senior U.S. official sent to Lebanon in 26 years, which comes too close to the June 7th election for Hezbollah’s comfort. Biden said he had come to show U.S. support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, which “cannot and will not be traded away.” [...]
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Keeping Tabs on Israel
The truest thing uttered today by Secretary Clinton was that Iran acquiring nuclear weapons “is going to spark an arms race” in the Middle East. She went on: Clinton also described a nuclear capability in Tehran as an “extraordinary threat,” and said the U.S. goal is “to persuade the Iranian regime that they will actually [...]
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Around the World, Plus Times Buries Netanyahu-Obama Lede
One would not guess, judging from yesterday’s press conference, that Gaza lies in ruins with the Israelis continuing to block the delivery of essentials. … USAID, which is the lead American agency working with the NGOs to supply relief, is so intimidated by Israel’s watchdogs in Congress that it won’t simply approve delivery of the [...]
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Obama Appoints Hunstman for China
–updated– Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, due to his Mormon mission in Taiwan (missions being the right of passage for devout Mormons), Gov. John Huntsman has solidified himself as a major player in the future of the Republican Party by accepting Pres. Obama’s charge to become Ambassador to China. It also doesn’t hurt that he began [...]
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IPF Runs Full Page Ad Backing Obama on Two-State Solution
Israel Policy Forum Guess what appeared in the New York Times today. A full-page ad from the Israel Policy Forum (h/t MidEast Peace Pulse), timed for the Friday before Prime Minister Netanyahu lands in the U.S. to meet with Barack Obama. That the ad unequivocally supports the American president’s policies on Israeli-Palesinian equilibrium and towards [...]
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Preempting the Obama-Netanyahu Meeting
Haaretz reports that Obama has made his views on Israel bombing Iran explicit. That’s being greeted in some quarters as “putting Israel at risk,” as the Likud lobby finds a new enemy, Gen. James Jones. Let the games begin. U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel [...]
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Personal Moment as Clinton Meets the Press
Secretary Clinton talking about her meetings with Zardari of Pakistan, and Karzai of Afghanistan. But in addressing the meeting with Zardari, slain leader Benazir Bhutto’s husband, a moment presented itself to allow Clinton to speak to, in a personal way, her relationship with Mrs. Bhutto, mentioning her son, whom she hadn’t seen in a while. [...]
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What About Israel’s Nukes?
It has finally been uttered, down the chain, but uttered nonetheless. Via Eli Lake: Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, speaking Tuesday at a U.N. meeting on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), said Israel should join the treaty, which would require Israel to declare and relinquish its nuclear arsenal. “Universal adherence to the NPT itself, [...]
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Survivor Times
via Huffington Post What do Pres. Karzai of Afghanistan and the current crop of Republicans have in common? George W. Bush was their patron, but isn’t anymore, so they’re finding themselves in dire straights in Obama’s time. There’s a lengthy article in the Washington Post that lays it all out, but this gives you a [...]
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Rahm Joins Hillary Over Iran and Equilibrium
Secretary Clinton made a similar statement recently. According to the Jerusalem Post, Rahm joined her on it. Thwarting Iran’s nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Israeli TV reports said Monday that Emanuel made the comments in a closed-door [...]
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Gingrich Invokes Hitler at AIPAC
It was a real crowd pleaser, greeted with thunderous applause. Mr. Gingrich knows his audience. A large majority of Israeli Jews support military action aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to a survey sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League. – Haaretz Mr. Gingrich’s speech is quite a stem winder. Watch it if you have the [...]
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Round the World, and a Saudi Demand
Nobody really pays enough attention to our relationships with the Saudis. But if we want anything done in the Middle East, especially since Egypt and Hamas don’t exactly play well together, according to all the experts I’ve been listening to recently, the Saudis will have to play, perhaps, the major role, beyond the U.S. It’s [...]
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