Check It Out for Thursday, March 26th
Check It Out on a rainy, dreary fourth Thursday in March:
Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe at IPS News on neo-con attempted resurrection from ignominy and failure:
"A newly-formed and still obscure neo-conservative foreign policy organisation is giving some observers flashbacks to the 1990s, when its predecessor staked out the aggressively unilateralist foreign policy that came to fruition under the George W. Bush administration.
"The blandly-named Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) - the brainchild of Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, neo-conservative foreign policy guru Robert Kagan, and former Bush administration official Dan Senor - has thus far kept a low profile; its only activity to this point has been to sponsor a conference pushing for a U.S. "surge" in Afghanistan.
"But some see FPI as a likely successor to Kristol’s and Kagan’s previous organisation, the now-defunct Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which they launched in 1997 and which became best known for leading the public campaign to oust former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein both before and after the Sep. 11 attacks.
"PNAC’s charter members included many figures who later held top positions under Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, and his top deputy, Paul Wolfowitz.
"The organisation’s mission statement argues that the 'United States remains the world’s indispensable nation," and warns that "strategic overreach is not the problem and retrenchment is not the solution" to Washington's current financial and strategic woes. It calls for "continued engagement - diplomatic, economic, and military - in the world and rejection of policies that would lead us down the path to isolationism.' "
Sami Moubayed at Asia Times writes about Iraq's offering to Turkey.
"A historical run-through of non-state players in the Middle East concludes that they were never intended to win, just achieve the short- and long-term objectives of their patrons.
"In 1974, former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger encouraged Iraqi Kurds to rebel, for example, to drain the energy of the Iraqi army and divert Baghdad's attention from supporting Syria's "steadfastness front” against Israel.
"Kissinger fanned the flames of conflict in Iraq and was generous with the Kurds, prompting Kurdish leader Mustapha Barazni to send him expensive rugs as a token of appreciation, and a gold necklace for his bride on the occasion of Kissinger's marriage in March 1974.
"This incident, among Kissinger's numerous endeavors, was revealed during the Watergate investigations in 1976, in what became known as the Pike Report. The testimony said that Kissinger had armed and financed the Kurds to dissuade Iraq from 'adventurism', such as coming to the aid of Syria. The report added, 'Our clients, who were encouraged to fight, were not told of this policy.'
"From where Kissinger saw things, the Kurds were never intended to win, only weaken Iraq.
"This week, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) suffered a similar trade-off, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Baghdad and met with Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani (the grandson of Mustapha). The latter promised that the Kurdistan-based PKK would lay down its arms completely - thereby ending a state of war with Turkey that has lasted for 30 years - in exchange for a full pardon for all Kurds who had fought the Turkish government.
"For his part, Barzani said, 'We are determined, and we confirm again our territory will not be used to attack Turkey.' Falling in line with the "new mood" in relations between Turkey, Iraq and the Kurds, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, recently said that creating an independent Kurdish state - his dream for over five decades - was 'impossible', describing it as a 'dream in poems'.
"His comments were carried in the Turkish daily Sabah. 'I tell this to my Turkish brothers: don't be afraid of Kurdish independence.. To stay within Iraq is in the interest of the Kurdish people in an economic, cultural and political sense.'
"US President Barack Obama arrives in Turkey on April 5 to acknowledge the importance of Turkey as America's ally in the region, an economic and political heavyweight that follows a moderate Islam, which needs to be copied throughout the Muslim world.
That might explain why Talabani and Barzani are both over-anxious to be on the good side of Turkey. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already made the trip to Ankara, and so has Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Gone are the days of US anger at Turkey's refusal to allow the US to use its territories to launch war against Iraq in 2003.
"Also gone is America's fury at Ankara for hosting Hamas leaders like Khaled Meshaal, or its loud words criticizing Israel at Davos last January. Turkey has already announced that it is willing to mediate between Iran and the US, after having mediated indirect talks in 2008 between Syria and Israel.
"All parties reason that Turkey cannot be sidelined from any solutions to the region, and it will be Obama's strategic partner in 2009-2013. It would be madness to maintain sour relations with Ankara, and if the price is the PKK, then so be it."
Liliana Segura at AlterNet writes about FBI Director, Robert Mueller, pushing for renewal of Patriot Act surveillance powers. (My note: itsn't about time to scrap the Patriot Act and give Mueller the heave-ho? Is anyone in the administration even listening or is this another stupid holdover of both terrible policy and equally terrible department and agency leadership?)
"Earlier this month, the ACLU released a report taking stock of the USA PATRIOT Act, almost eight years after its passage. The study, titled "Reclaiming Patriotism," identifies key sections of the law that codified the most radical abuses of power under the Bush administration, interweaving stories of people who were unlawfully spied on, coerced, and intimidated through the PATRIOT Act's sweeping powers.
" 'More than seven years after its implementation, there is little evidence to demonstrate that the Patriot Act has made America more secure from terrorists,' the report's authors write. 'But there are many unfortunate examples that the government abused these authorities in ways that both violated the rights of innocent people and squandered precious security resources.'
"The ACLU report highlights three specific provisions of the PATRIOT Act that have led to unprecedented surveillance against Americans:
(Here is just one.)
"Section 206 -- which grants the authority to use secret "roving wiretaps." "In the past, authorities had to seek court approval for each electronic device carried by a suspect, from a cellphone and a BlackBerry to a home computer," writes the Post, "But under the provision, one warrant can cover all of those machines." "Unlike roving wiretaps authorized for criminal investigations," the ACLU explains, "section 206 does not require the order to identify either the communications device to be tapped nor the individual against whom the surveillance is directed, which is what gives section 206 the Kafkaesque moniker, the "John Doe roving wiretap provision."
"Yesterday, however, during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller made it clear that he considers these PATRIOT Act provisions valuable tools in intelligence gathering and will pressure Congress to keep them past their expiration date."
Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe at IPS News on neo-con attempted resurrection from ignominy and failure:
"A newly-formed and still obscure neo-conservative foreign policy organisation is giving some observers flashbacks to the 1990s, when its predecessor staked out the aggressively unilateralist foreign policy that came to fruition under the George W. Bush administration.
"The blandly-named Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) - the brainchild of Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, neo-conservative foreign policy guru Robert Kagan, and former Bush administration official Dan Senor - has thus far kept a low profile; its only activity to this point has been to sponsor a conference pushing for a U.S. "surge" in Afghanistan.
"But some see FPI as a likely successor to Kristol’s and Kagan’s previous organisation, the now-defunct Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which they launched in 1997 and which became best known for leading the public campaign to oust former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein both before and after the Sep. 11 attacks.
"PNAC’s charter members included many figures who later held top positions under Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, and his top deputy, Paul Wolfowitz.
"The organisation’s mission statement argues that the 'United States remains the world’s indispensable nation," and warns that "strategic overreach is not the problem and retrenchment is not the solution" to Washington's current financial and strategic woes. It calls for "continued engagement - diplomatic, economic, and military - in the world and rejection of policies that would lead us down the path to isolationism.' "
Sami Moubayed at Asia Times writes about Iraq's offering to Turkey.
"A historical run-through of non-state players in the Middle East concludes that they were never intended to win, just achieve the short- and long-term objectives of their patrons.
"In 1974, former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger encouraged Iraqi Kurds to rebel, for example, to drain the energy of the Iraqi army and divert Baghdad's attention from supporting Syria's "steadfastness front” against Israel.
"Kissinger fanned the flames of conflict in Iraq and was generous with the Kurds, prompting Kurdish leader Mustapha Barazni to send him expensive rugs as a token of appreciation, and a gold necklace for his bride on the occasion of Kissinger's marriage in March 1974.
"This incident, among Kissinger's numerous endeavors, was revealed during the Watergate investigations in 1976, in what became known as the Pike Report. The testimony said that Kissinger had armed and financed the Kurds to dissuade Iraq from 'adventurism', such as coming to the aid of Syria. The report added, 'Our clients, who were encouraged to fight, were not told of this policy.'
"From where Kissinger saw things, the Kurds were never intended to win, only weaken Iraq.
"This week, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) suffered a similar trade-off, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Baghdad and met with Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani (the grandson of Mustapha). The latter promised that the Kurdistan-based PKK would lay down its arms completely - thereby ending a state of war with Turkey that has lasted for 30 years - in exchange for a full pardon for all Kurds who had fought the Turkish government.
"For his part, Barzani said, 'We are determined, and we confirm again our territory will not be used to attack Turkey.' Falling in line with the "new mood" in relations between Turkey, Iraq and the Kurds, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, recently said that creating an independent Kurdish state - his dream for over five decades - was 'impossible', describing it as a 'dream in poems'.
"His comments were carried in the Turkish daily Sabah. 'I tell this to my Turkish brothers: don't be afraid of Kurdish independence.. To stay within Iraq is in the interest of the Kurdish people in an economic, cultural and political sense.'
"US President Barack Obama arrives in Turkey on April 5 to acknowledge the importance of Turkey as America's ally in the region, an economic and political heavyweight that follows a moderate Islam, which needs to be copied throughout the Muslim world.
That might explain why Talabani and Barzani are both over-anxious to be on the good side of Turkey. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already made the trip to Ankara, and so has Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Gone are the days of US anger at Turkey's refusal to allow the US to use its territories to launch war against Iraq in 2003.
"Also gone is America's fury at Ankara for hosting Hamas leaders like Khaled Meshaal, or its loud words criticizing Israel at Davos last January. Turkey has already announced that it is willing to mediate between Iran and the US, after having mediated indirect talks in 2008 between Syria and Israel.
"All parties reason that Turkey cannot be sidelined from any solutions to the region, and it will be Obama's strategic partner in 2009-2013. It would be madness to maintain sour relations with Ankara, and if the price is the PKK, then so be it."
Liliana Segura at AlterNet writes about FBI Director, Robert Mueller, pushing for renewal of Patriot Act surveillance powers. (My note: itsn't about time to scrap the Patriot Act and give Mueller the heave-ho? Is anyone in the administration even listening or is this another stupid holdover of both terrible policy and equally terrible department and agency leadership?)
"Earlier this month, the ACLU released a report taking stock of the USA PATRIOT Act, almost eight years after its passage. The study, titled "Reclaiming Patriotism," identifies key sections of the law that codified the most radical abuses of power under the Bush administration, interweaving stories of people who were unlawfully spied on, coerced, and intimidated through the PATRIOT Act's sweeping powers.
" 'More than seven years after its implementation, there is little evidence to demonstrate that the Patriot Act has made America more secure from terrorists,' the report's authors write. 'But there are many unfortunate examples that the government abused these authorities in ways that both violated the rights of innocent people and squandered precious security resources.'
"The ACLU report highlights three specific provisions of the PATRIOT Act that have led to unprecedented surveillance against Americans:
(Here is just one.)
"Section 206 -- which grants the authority to use secret "roving wiretaps." "In the past, authorities had to seek court approval for each electronic device carried by a suspect, from a cellphone and a BlackBerry to a home computer," writes the Post, "But under the provision, one warrant can cover all of those machines." "Unlike roving wiretaps authorized for criminal investigations," the ACLU explains, "section 206 does not require the order to identify either the communications device to be tapped nor the individual against whom the surveillance is directed, which is what gives section 206 the Kafkaesque moniker, the "John Doe roving wiretap provision."
"Yesterday, however, during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller made it clear that he considers these PATRIOT Act provisions valuable tools in intelligence gathering and will pressure Congress to keep them past their expiration date."
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