As if we needed more instruments of division to get in Pres. Obama’s way (see video). Oh, and please ignore that CIA case over rendition too. House Res. opposing the Goldstone report passes overwhelmingly. Meanwhile, an Italian court convicts 23 Americans in rendition case. Oh, didn’t hear about that? An Italian court on Wednesday convicted 22 CIA [...] [...more]
“Needless to say, this is not where we wanted to be after nine months,” commented a senior aide to the president. – AfPak Channel (via New York Times) One year since Barack Obama won the election, come November 4th, the above statement seems apt, though not just for Afghanistan or Karzai’s “win.” Anthony Cordesman defines the [...] [...more]
Palestinian officials on Sunday criticized the United States for what one called “back-pedaling” on demands that Israel stop settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, saying that the Obama administration’s change of approach on the issue damaged the likelihood of a peace agreement. … The settlement freeze has become central to those perceptions: both Egypt [...] [...more]
“The only way to clean up Chicago is to get rid of Capone,” General Flynn said. – Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll I wonder if this was Dick Cheney’s idea? Andrew Exum writes today that it’s the most important article on Afghanistan that you’re going to read this week: Again, [...] [...more]
updated version cross-posted at Huffington Post His name is Matthew Hoh and this could turn into a story that will haunt Pres. Obama’s decision on Afghanistan every day until the strategy is announced. I’m sure it is already. Hoh simply doesn’t believe in where the U.S. mission has been and where Obama is about to take [...] [...more]
In the preface of “The Shriver Report,” Maria Shriver’s report on women, John D. Podesta, President and CEO of Center for American Progress, makes important points, starting with basics: Women becoming primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners changed everything.But, even though we were all witness to this phenomenon’s slow emergence over many years, these changes seem somehow to [...] [...more]
“Certainly from our standpoint, this gives us a sense of momentum — when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes.” – Secretary Hillary Clinton And the hits just keep on comin’. Well said, Madame Secretary. Though Obama’s Nobel has sparked a lot of conversation, some of it leading to better choices, [...] [...more]
expanded edition cross-posted at Huffington Post, World Section –updated– Pool Report: … shorty before 2 pm POTUS has decided to give the approximately $1.4 million prize accompanying his Nobel Peace prize to charity. No decision yet on which charity or charities that will be. One word described Barack Obama as he delivered his remarks on receiving the Nobel [...] [...more]
updated version at Huffington Post Everyone was meeting, listening and thinking about Afghanistan yesterday. From the President meeting with McChrystal to Clinton meeting with the Administration’s AfPak team, and beyond, everyone is bearing down to get to an answer. I spent the late afternoon yesterday at the New America Foundation continuing to listen to experts on [...] [...more]
–edited version cross-posted on Huffington Post– The background, as always, is Iran, which will be up front today as world leaders take up the subject of sanctions. Former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s main political opposition leader, called Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy “wrong and adventurist” this week but came out against new sanctions, saying he worried that [...] [...more]
Michael Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, released a statement saying the United States took the mission’s allegations seriously and encouraged Israel to use “meaningful” efforts to investigate “credible allegations.” However, he also described the report as “deeply flawed,” and said it failed to deal adequately with the asymmetrical [...] [...more]
“We must insist that the future does not belong to fear.” – Pres. Barack Obama …and someone has the courage to liveblog it! Strong speech at the United Nations today from Pres. Obama, driving straight into the responsibilities of other nations to live up to what the United Nations is supposed to represent. In an alternative universe, [...] [...more]
–updated below – bumped– “President Clinton helped create a model for individual responsibility and collective action through the Clinton Global Initiative and it is a model that all of us are going to be studying for a very long time.” — Barack Obama, President, United States of America As the Clinton Global Initiative kicks off, USA Today [...] [...more]
“… and we need to really, really put to bed the issue that I think is behind everybody, which that this is another Vietnam. And I think it’s a terribly debilitating analogy for our country. Every time something is difficult we say Oh! It’s Vietnam. Afghanistan and Vietnam have nothing to do with each other. [...] [...more]
[...] Most inaccurate of all, and most bizarre, is Carter’s claim that “a total freeze of settlement expansion is the key” to a peace agreement. Not a halt to terrorism, not the building of Palestinian institutions, not the rule of law in the West Bank, not the end of Hamas rule in Gaza — no, [...] [...more]
