–updated– Senior lawyers in the Obama administration are deeply divided over some of the counterterrorism powers they inherited from former President George W. Bush, according to interviews and a review of legal briefs. The rift has been most pronounced between top lawyers in the State Department and the Pentagon, though it has also involved conflicts [...]
Tag Archives | Russia
Brennan, and ‘Bomb Iran’ is Back
Some news that’s surfacing slowly is Iran’s new bluster on refining higher grade uranium. Russia and Israel seem to be talking the same language, while China still isn’t willing to sign on to harsh sanctions, something SecDef Gates is promising will come sooner rather than later. Even as it will take some time to reconfigure [...]
If The Deal Holds…
This could be one of the first breakthroughs for Obama to tout in his diplomacy achievement column. It’s something foreign policy watchers have been waiting to see for some time, with Joseph Nye using the “if the deal holds” caveat on Al Jazeera English today. Take Stephen Walt. Time to start working on a Plan [...]
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Russia Hedges on Iran Sanctions
After Obama backed away from missile defense, with the news of Iran’s newest nuclear revelations, the President had received signs from Medvedev that Russia might consider sanctions against Iran. However, today in Russia they clearly brushed Clinton off. That noise you hear is Liz Cheney and her “Keep America Safe” characters clucking over it. As [...]
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Russia Sends Signals on Iran Sanctions
At least that’s the tease coming from Russian Pres. Medvedev after meeting with Pres. Obama yesterday. “Russia’s position is clear: Sanctions rarely lead to productive results, but in some cases sanctions are inevitable,” Medvedev said in a joint appearance with Obama after their talks. [...] Medvedev said Wednesday that he and Obama discussed negotiations with [...]
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Lead Balloon on Rosh Hashanah
–bumped– The report on the investigation into January’s Operation Cast Lead and the charges that Israel committed multiple war crimes in its Gaza war this year, orchestrated through the UN Human Rights Council and headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, has landed with a dull kaboom. Ian Kelly with State’s reaction: MR. KELLY: Okay. So I [...]
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Obama Missile Shield Decision Brings Out Mitt Romney
Conservatives are breathless. Evidently the reality that the “Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended to the President” what Pres. Obama announced today didn’t make a dent. They’re running around with their rhetoric half cocked, with Michael Goldfarb emotionally upset, accusing Obama of “smears” against the right’s beloved missile shield system: The [...]
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FOREIGN POLICY NOTES (Amidst Health Care Chaos)
Amidst the chaos of health care and the Obama administration’s messaging ineptitude, I see it all through the prism of the news that Tom Delay will be joining “Dancing with the Stars.” Domestic news turning into an edition of theater of the absurd today. So, let’s turn to a few underreported events around the world. [...]
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Robert S. McNamara Changed
“He’s like a jackhammer,” President Johnson said. “No human being can take what he takes. He drives too hard. He is too perfect.” – Ex-Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93 Coming from Johnson, the king of political jackhammers, that’s quite a statement. Though as history has proven over time, Robert S. McNamara was [...]
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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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Hail To The Chief
In one visit, President Obama turned the page from the Bush-Cheney era of cowboy leadership to one that acknowledges that in the 21st century we cannot go it alone. Merkel of Germany and Sarcozy of France went from promising disgruntlement to giving credit where it’s earned: Both credited the new U.S. president with helping to [...]
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Obama on the World Stage
Tea with the Queen of England, getting ready for tomorrow’s one-day G-20 meeting, amidst protesters, and meetings with President Putin, and dialogue with China on economic development. A lot going on in the world, as President Obama has the most important trip of his presidency so far. I’ll be out this afternoon, so consider this [...]
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No One’s Looking Into Anyone’s Soul
Praise the gods, Bush’s idiocy nowhere to be found. “A good place to start will be the issue of nuclear proliferation…” – President Obama Obama and Putin released a joint statement: Joint Statement by President Dmitriy Medvedev of the Russian Federation and President Barack Obama of the United States of America Reaffirming that the era [...]
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Secretary Clinton on Iran, Russia, and Afghanistan
Andrea Mitchell had a hell of a show today, talking to Secretary Clinton on Iran, but also Russia. One aspect of the Iran issue was the human side that could be a point of interaction where we begin to have some dialogue with the Iranians outside the geopolitics of it all, something Clinton stressed. “… [...]
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Want Some Clinton Gossip?
Ben Smith of Politico has written a Clinton State story that goes way beyond what he contends is his “just the facts” journalism. His opening paragraph is the tell: Hillary Clinton’s departure for the State Department was meant to end the era of Clinton drama, and to leave the turmoil of her campaign behind. But [...]
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