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Better Numbers – Washington Post editorial
News coverage and debate about Iraq during the past couple of weeks have centered on the alleged abuses of private security firms like Blackwater USA. Getting such firms into a legal regime is vital, as we've said. But meanwhile, some seemingly important facts about the main subject of discussion last month -- whether there has been a decrease in violence in Iraq -- have gotten relatively little attention. A congressional study and several news stories in September questioned reports by the U.S. military that casualties were down. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), challenging the testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus, asserted that "civilian deaths have risen" during this year's surge of American forces.
A month later, there isn't much room for such debate, at least about the latest figures. In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed in action numbered 43 -- down 43 percent from August and 64 percent from May, which had the highest monthly figure so far this year. The American combat death total was the lowest since July 2006 and was one of the five lowest monthly counts since the insurgency in Iraq took off in April 2004…
Iraq Oil Spoils – New York Times editorial
The quickening pace of oil deals between Kurdish regional leaders and foreign companies is another sign that Iraq is spinning out of control and the Bush administration has no idea how to stop it.
President Bush set enactment of a national oil law that centralizes development and ensures an equitable division of the profits as a key benchmark of progress. Iraq’s leaders, who have little interest in equity or reconciliation, have blithely ignored it. So the Kurds have taken matters into their own hands, signing nine legally questionable exploration deals with foreign companies.
The administration has complained that the deals “needlessly elevated tensions” between the Kurds and the central government…
Coalition of the Reluctant – Roger Cohen, New York Times
A senior Pentagon official has spent this month on a magical mystery tour of little-known European and Eurasian capitals trying to deliver a dribble of troops for Iraq and Afghanistan.
The low-profile trip reads more like a geography test than a geostrategic foray. It has whisked Debra Cagan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for coalition affairs, from Tirana to Skopje, and on to Chisinau and Astana, among other luminous world metropolises…
Afghan Hostage Horrors - Ann Marlowe, New York Post
Lately, Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has shown a genius for doing exactly the wrong thing for the Afghan people and their fledgling democracy.
He has been asking, indeed begging, the Taliban to negotiate with him. Not because the rebels are gaining ground - in fact, more and more of rural Afghanistan is finally seeing the benefits of government. The Taliban's destructiveness is limited to bombings that kill Afghan civilians and lightly armed Afghan police. Sad, yes, but not a threat to the state.
Part of the problem is Afghanistan's "friends." On Thursday, Karzai bowed to German pressure and exchanged five prisoners and, German sources say, a few hundred thousand dollars for the freedom of Rudolf Blechschmidt, a German taken hostage in July, and five Afghans kidnapped with him...
Solidarity with Iran - Akbar Atri, Wall Street Journal
... Here in America, where I have been living since 2005 as an exiled activist, a controversy has emerged over the Bush administration's pledge to provide $75 million in democracy and human-rights assistance to Iranians. Critics of the funding, among them some Iranian-Americans, say the money endangers the lives of activists and gives pretext for the Iranian regime to crack down on their activities. Supposedly speaking on behalf of the Iranian people, these critics claim Iranians do not want and do not need America's help in their fight against oppression.
But it is not just among Americans that this debate is taking place. Even during this highly repressive time, Iranian democracy activists are debating the merits of accepting foreign support. Last month, in an open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, my friend and fellow activist, Akbar Ganji, who spent six years in Evin prison, condemned the "intolerable" human-rights violations in Iran. But he also argued that funds from the U.S. to promote democracy in Iran had "made it easy for the Iranian regime to describe its opponents as mercenaries of the U.S. and to crush them with impunity."
I respectfully disagree. There are many sides to this debate, but one thing is clear: Those in Iran who favor receiving foreign assistance and consider international solidarity essential to the success of Iran's homegrown civic movements cannot speak freely. If they do, they will be subject to immediate retaliation by the regime. The lack of robust, transparent appeals for outside help by civic leaders should not be confused with a lack of need or desire for such help...
Turkey in the Crosshairs – Washington Times editorial
A combination of events — including a dramatic upsurge in violence from Kurdish terrorists based in northern Iraq and a House resolution condemning Turkey for the mass killings of Armenians more than 80 years ago — have created an explosive, dangerous situation on the Turkish-Iraq border that could endanger the resupply of U.S. forces in Iraq.
In recent years, Ankara has been complaining with considerable justification about an upsurge in attacks from northern Iraq by members of the Marxist-Leninist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Beginning in 1984, PKK forces (based in Syria and Lebanon) launched a bloody war in southern Turkey in which 37,000 people were killed; the war appeared to have ended in 1999 after Turkey pressured Syria to exile PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey for the past eight years.
Unfortunately, however, the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq has failed to crack down vigorously against PKK operatives based in KRG territory…
The Kurdish Example - Falah Mustafa Bakir, Washington Times
In 1998 I was barred from obtaining a graduate degree in Iraq because I refused to join Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party. Luckily, a prestigious British scholarship program allowed me to leave Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and attend the University of Bath in England to get a degree in Development Studies. I've always found that rather ironic — not Ba'ath, but Bath.
Last week I again left Erbil, but this time as a member of the Iraqi delegation to the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. In the past two decades I have gone from being a member of a marginalized and oppressed group within Iraq to helping represent it to the outside world. While the news from Iraq may be dominated by terrorism and violence in a society that seems irrevocably split by ethnic and sectarian divisions, my being a member of this delegation showed another side to the story: Kurds and Arabs working together to make Iraq's case to the United Nations…
Labeling Genocide Won't Halt It - Niall Ferguson, Los Angeles Times
Last Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemned mass murder in the Middle East. Quite right, you may say -- except that this mass murder took place more than 90 years ago.
The committee approved a resolution, which could go to the House floor this week, calling on the president "to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing and genocide . . . relating to the Armenian genocide."
Now, let's be clear about three things: First, what genocide means; second, whether or not the Armenians suffered one; third, whether or not it was smart for a U.S. congressional panel to say so...
Armenians Who Need Help Today – Fred Hiatt, Washington Post
Imagine what the Armenian diaspora might have accomplished had it worked as hard for democracy in Armenia as it did for congressional recognition of the genocide Armenians suffered nearly a century ago. It's even possible that modern Armenia would be as democratic as modern Turkey.
The Armenian American community notched a political victory last week when the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27 to 21 for a resolution demanding that the U.S. government officially acknowledge that Turkey committed genocide against the Armenian people early in the 20th century. The Turkish government insists that, while terrible things happened, there was no genocide. The Bush administration, reluctant to offend an important ally, lobbied hard against the resolution…
Tortured by Compromise - Suzanne Fields, Washington Times
… Sometimes debate pits domestic politics against foreign policy interests. Congressmen with a significant Armenian constituency have for years been pushing for a congressional resolution to label as "genocide" the massacre of a million and a half Armenians by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago. Last week they succeeded, getting a strongly symbolic but essentially meaningless resolution endorsed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Like so much else debated in Washington, the politicians are not debating what happened way back when, but taking care to appease a domestic constituency. Both President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates argue that the resolution is likely to anger the Turks, jeopardizing the use of Turkish airfields and supply routes in support of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, sensitive to the importance of Turkey to the United States, declined to use the word "genocide" to describe the great suffering of the Armenians. This time, however, the "principled" congressional grandstanders trumped the security of American soldiers in Iraq with a feel-good resolution of non-binding sentiment. Not necessarily good…
Ideologically Besides the Point – Mark Steyn, Washington Times
Peter Robinson, a Reagan speechwriter in the last years of the Cold War, posed an interesting question the other day. He noted that on Feb. 22, 1946, a mere six months after the end of World War II, George Kennan, a U.S. diplomat in Moscow, sent his famous 5,000-word telegram that laid out the stakes of the Cold War and the nature of the enemy. That "Long Telegram" in essence shaped how America thought about the conflict all the way up to the fall of the Berlin Wall four decades later.
Mr. Robinson, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, wondered: "Here we are today, more than six years after September 11. Does anyone believe a new 'Long Telegram' has yet been written? And accepted throughout the senior levels of the government?" …
Muslim Outreach – Claude Salhani, Washington Times
In what can only be described as a historic event, prominent Muslims from around the world extended an olive branch to Christianity on the eve of the Eid, the Muslim holy day marking the end of Ramadan.
In an open letter to the heads of all Christian churches — including Pope Benedict XVI — and to all Christians around the world, 138 of the world's most senior Muslim leaders, including several prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, stressed that "the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians."
"Everybody thinks they have a historic event," said John L. Esposito, a professor at Georgetown University and director of the center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. "But if you look at the history of Islam and the Muslim world, this is really the first time in history that we have an initiative where Muslims have collectively come together and agreed to what binds them to Christians," said Mr. Esposito…
How to Beat bin Laden and al Qaeda – Tom Roemer, Miami Herald
As the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, passed, the release of three tapes featuring Osama bin Laden reminded Americans of al Qaeda's savagery and persistence. Some might take comfort that al Qaeda has been unable to repeat such destruction. But they shouldn't get too comfortable. Al Qaeda poses a multifaceted threat to the United States that stands to undermine more than just the physical security of Americans on their own soil.
Bin Laden's messages before and after Sept. 11 illustrate a calculated strategy within a total war doctrine: a military dimension aimed at killing Americans around the world, a financial dimension targeted at bleeding our country economically and a political dimension designed to diminish our reputation and support. We should recognize that by provoking the United States into costly wars of attrition and by separating us from our allies, al Qaeda can damage America without a single terrorist setting foot in this country.
Bin Laden believes that even if he fails to attack the United States, he still can defeat us. A winning strategy therefore must include not only a political solution in Iraq but also a comprehensive energy policy that cuts our dependence on foreign oil…
Measuring 'Toughness' How Would Candidates Fight Terrorism? – Gary Andres, Washington Times
In a post-September 11 world, testing a presidential candidate's mettle in dealing with terrorists will no doubt rank high on the ledger of vote-determining factors for most Americans. "Toughness" is a characteristic driven more by perception than objective criteria, but those impressions — good or bad — will play a major role in who next occupies the White House.
With the first caucuses and primaries only three months away, we took a "toughness quotient" snapshot of several leading Democratic and Republican presidential candidates…
Renditions and the Rule of Law – Daniel Byman, Boston Globe
In the upcoming movie "Rendition" starring Reese Witherspoon, renditions - the extrajudicial transfer of suspected terrorists from one country to another - turn out to be a tool used by foolish and brutal intelligence officials, with innocents caught up in the fray.
The plot mixes together various techniques, not all of which are inherent to renditions, but the movie's exaggerations nevertheless highlight the very real human rights abuses and mistakes now associated with the program. The key, however, is not to jettison renditions, but rather to increase the program's transparency, strengthen oversight efforts, and embed within the process procedures that ensure more accord with the rule of law.
When renditions put terrorists behind bars, it removes them from the streets and keeps them from plotting more attacks. Even when renditions do not lead to imprisonment, they can produce considerable information as those arrested often have documents, phone numbers, or other information that is useful in disrupting plots…
Legal Limits for Wiretaps – Boston Globe editorial
Just as Congress was about to break for its August recess, President Bush pressured it into passing a bill allowing widespread wiretapping of Americans' phone calls and e-mails without judicial warrants. The only saving grace in this odious legislation is that it expires in February. Now, two committees in the House of Representatives have drawn up a new bill that establishes some degree of judicial oversight on this surveillance. If the House and Senate cannot come up with an even stronger bill, it would be better to let the current law die an unmourned death in February.
Last summer's law legalized the warrantless wiretapping that the administration began on the president's order - in secret - after Sept. 11. In fact, the bill passed by Congress in a rush that justifies its low approval ratings gave the administration even broader powers than it had taken on its own. Under the president's secret program, warrantless eavesdropping was permitted only when one of those involved in a communication was a suspected terrorist. There is no such requirement in the August legislation…
Gitmo Prisoners Deserve Dignity - Nat Hentoff, Washington Times
In what used to be called "the greatest deliberative body in the world, Sens. Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, and Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, tried last month to get a vote on their Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007. But their bill could not get the four votes needed to reach the supermajority total for the debate to go on. Only six Republicans wanted to keep on deliberating.
Among the opponents of the bill was The Washington Times (a paper in which this column appears). The Oct. 1 editorial "A terrorist bill of rights?" lauded "the cohesive structure already in place (at Guantanamo Bay)." The editorial did not mention that those prisoners, many held for five years, are not allowed nonmilitary lawyers when they appear before military commissions. Nor can they see core evidence against them that can be obtained from sources through "coercive interrogation," verging on torture…
You Can’t Buy Love - Paul Chamberlin, Washington Times
The recent inter-Korea summit requires damage control, not praise, due to its low potential for developing mutually respectful inter-Korea relations and facilitating constructive engagement with North Korea. Moreover, the cool, cautionary responses of senior U.S. officials reveal concerns regarding the summit's impact on the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
Constructive engagement by the allies requires wisdom, patience and courage to wean North Korean autocrats away from their internationally threatening and internally dysfunctional methods. What distinguishes constructive engagement from appeasement or exploitation is insistence on such important principles as transparency, verifiability, and mutual benefits…
A Parley with Putin – Boston Globe editorial
The mutual dependence of the United States and Russia, which both countries too often seem to disdain, formed the backdrop to Friday's visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the dacha of Russian President Vladimir Putin in a suburb of Moscow.
The central aim of the visit was to resolve differences over the Bush administration's plan to site a radar station in the Czech Republic and 10 antimissile interceptors in Poland. The administration insists this extension to Central Europe of a missile defense system currently being deployed in Alaska is meant to counter the prospect of a long-range missile threat from Iran. The Kremlin fears that such a system could eventually be upgraded to negate Russia's nuclear deterrence…
Kremlinology Redux - Paul Gregory, Washington Times
Just when we thought we had things figured out, Russian President Vladimir Putin did the unexpected. He announced he would head the party list in the election and as such would surely be named prime minister by whoever his successor might be.
We had thought Mr. Putin would yield power to a successor, anointed by him but also approved by the KGB state, and retire to a lucrative sinecure, such as chief executive officer of Gazprom. It now appears he wishes to hold on to power, either as the head of revamped government or as a replacement for an aging president who somehow decides to step down in his favor. The consensus had been that his successor would be chosen by Russia-KGB Inc. It did not particularly matter if it was an obscure figure (as was Mr. Putin in 1999) or already known on the world stage. We now have to go back to the drawing board to figure this out. What do we know for sure? …
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