The GOP's Southern Exposure
By Harold Meyerson
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A31
You've seen the numbers and understand that America is growing steadily
less white. You try to push your party, the Grand Old Party, ahead of
this curve by taking a tolerant stance on immigration and making common
cause with some black churches. Then you go and blow it all in a
desperate attempt to turn out your base by demonizing immigrants and
running racist ads against Harold Ford. On Election Day, black support
for Democrats remains high; Hispanic support for Democrats surges. So
what do you do next?
What else? Elect Trent Lott your deputy leader in the Senate. Sure
locks in the support of any stray voters who went for Strom in '48.
Baker-Hamilton Does Its Job
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601673.html
By David Ignatius
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A31
DUBAI -- The Iraq Study Group's report achieved the goal of any
blue-ribbon commission: It stated the obvious, emphatically.
"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating." Of various
proposals for fixing Iraq, "all have flaws." A "precipitate" withdrawal
would be a mistake, but so would a big increase in U.S. troops. America
should set "milestones" for the Iraqi government to control all
provinces by next September. The U.S. military should shift to a
training and advising mission so that most American troops can leave by
early 2008. But there is no "magic formula," and even if this approach
fails, the United States "should not make an open-ended commitment to
keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq."
Bringing Down Bolton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601669.html
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A31
Over lunch in New York two weeks ago, John Bolton told me he was
thinking about abandoning his long struggle for confirmation as U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations and leaving government service. But he
asked me to defer writing about his situation. The White House believed
that anything I wrote would undermine last-ditch efforts at
confirmation.
That reflects continuing failure by George W. Bush and his team, six
years in power, to perceive the implacable nature of Democratic
opposition. The White House was still eager not to offend Sen.
Christopher Dodd (Conn.), the Democrat most determined to block Bolton.
Furthermore, Bush aides, to the end, sought to bring around lame-duck
Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) to allow Bolton's nomination onto
the Senate floor during the lame-duck session.
Go Long? Go Big? Go Back To Congress
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601670.html
By Michael J. Glennon
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A31
With President Bush apparently inclined to accept some of the
recommendations released by the Iraq Study Group yesterday and reject
others, there's an important consideration to keep in mind. Although
it's widely assumed that the president alone is empowered to decide
what military option the United States should pursue in Iraq, that is
not the case. Congress did not, as many believe, write the president a
blank check in 2002 with regard to the use of force in Iraq. It still
has a lot to say on the subject.
Since its earliest days, the Supreme Court has recognized a president's
obligation to respect congressional restrictions when Congress has
authorized "imperfect war" -- a war fought for limited purposes. In an
imperfect war, Justice Bushrod Washington said in Bas v. Tingy (1800),
those "who are authorized to commit hostilities . . . can go no farther
than to the extent of their commission." The following year, in Talbot
v. Seeman (1801), Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that "[t]he whole
powers of war being, by the Constitution of the United States, vested
in congress, the acts of that body can alone be resorted to as our
guides in this enquiry."
Iraq Panel Proposes Major Strategy Shift
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120600419_pf.html
Study Group Calls for New Diplomacy, Greater Advisory Role for U.S.
Military
By Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 7, 2006; A01
A panel of prominent elder leaders yesterday offered a stinging
assessment of virtually every aspect of the U.S. venture in Iraq and
called for a reshaping of the American military presence and a new
Middle East diplomatic initiative to prevent the country from sliding
into anarchy.
The long-awaited report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group,
co-chaired by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former
Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, said that the focus of U.S. troops
in Iraq should shift from combat to training Iraqi soldiers and police,
and that all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could
be withdrawn by early 2008.
The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601482.html
By Glenn Kessler and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A01
The Iraq Study Group report released yesterday might well be titled
"The Realist Manifesto."
From the very first page, in which co-chairmen James A. Baker III and
Lee H. Hamilton scold that "our leaders must be candid and forthright
with the American people," the bipartisan report is nothing less than a
repudiation of the Bush administration's diplomatic and military
approach to Iraq and to the whole region.
Carter Book on Israel 'Apartheid' Sparks Bitter Debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120602171.html
Scholar Resigns From Ga. Center
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page A04
A veteran Middle East scholar affiliated with the Carter Center in
Atlanta resigned his position there Monday in an escalating controversy
over former president Jimmy Carter's bestselling book on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," traces the ups and downs of
the Israeli-Palestinian peace process beginning with Carter's 1977-1980
presidency and the historic peace accord he negotiated between Israel
and Egypt and continuing to the present. Although it apportions blame
to Israel, the Palestinians and outside parties -- including the United
States -- for the failure of decades of peace efforts, it is sharply
critical of Israeli policy and concludes that "Israel's continued
control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary
obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land."
On Display, The Fruits Of Afghan Altruism
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601895_pf.html
Priceless Treasures Hidden 28 Years Ago
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 7, 2006; A18
PARIS, Dec. 6 -- Mountainous and isolated, caught for centuries between
competing empires along one of the world's great trading routes,
Afghanistan has always been a place of legends. Twenty-eight years ago,
another one was born.
It was then, on the eve of the Soviets' 1979 invasion, that a small
group of Afghans put love of art and country above all else and hid
many of their country's cherished national treasures. These museum
guards, curators and other antiquities lovers became known as the
"keyholders" because they held the keys, literally and figuratively, to
a priceless fortune in art, including 22,000 pieces of gold known as
the Bactrian Hoard. And they pledged never to give up their secret.
Democratic Wave in Congress Further Erodes Moderation in GOP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601954_pf.html
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, December 7, 2006; A29
Iowa Rep. Jim Leach (R) seemed a natural to weather voters' antiwar
sentiment this fall. His independent streak and moderate views had
engendered the allegiance of his Democratic-leaning district for the
past 30 years, and he broke with his party and President Bush in
October 2002 by voting against the Iraq war.
Yet on Election Day, voters in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District ousted
him in favor of an untested Democrat, a college professor -- a
testament to the vulnerable position that Republican moderates found
themselves in all year. Voters in Leach's district said that they
respected him but that his party affiliation kept them from voting for
him this year.
Welcome Political Cover
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/opinion/07thu1.html
If President Bush has the capacity to seriously reassess his Iraq
strategy, he will need exactly the kind of political cover that the
Iraq Study Group was meant to provide.
Israeli Official Discusses Iran and His Controversial Agenda
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/world/middleeast/07mideast.html?ref=world
By GREG MYRE
The portfolio for Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's new minister for
strategic affairs, includes developing the country's strategy on
Iran.
Gas Smugglers Dodge the Law in Brazil and Venezuela
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/world/americas/07brazil.html?ref=world
By LARRY ROHTER
The price disparity for gas between Brazil and Venezuela has generated
a booming contraband trade that is spurring fuel traffickers to use
ingenious efforts at evasion.
Sitcom's Precarious Premise: Being Muslim Over Here
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/arts/television/07mosq.html?ref=americas&pagewanted=all
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
"Little Mosque on the Prairie," a new Canadian comedy series,
explores the funny side of an often misunderstood life.
Canada's Police Commissioner Resigns Over Deportation Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/world/americas/07canada.html?ref=americas
By IAN AUSTEN
Giuliano Zaccardelli was the first official to resign over the
deportation of a Canadian citizen to Syria.
If Castro Had a Talk Show, It Might Sound a Bit Like This
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/us/07cuba.html?ref=us
By ANDY NEWMAN
Francisco Aruca, onetime Cuban political prisoner turned Castro
admirer, speaks to - and for - a tiny community of committed
Cuban-American leftists on the radio.
Cheney Pregnancy Stirs Debate on Gay Rights
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/us/07cheney.html?ref=politics
By JIM RUTENBERG
The announcement of Mary Cheney's pregnancy prompted new debate over
the Bush administration's opposition to gay marriage.
Democrats Set to Press Bush on Privacy and Terrorism
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/washington/07mueller.html?ref=politics
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Leading Senate Democrats said they intend to press for a fuller
accounting on a wide range of counterterrorism programs, including
wiretapping, data-mining operations and the interrogation and treatment
of detainees.
Democrats' Challenge: Keeping the Egos in Harmony
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/nyregion/07egos.html?ref=politics
By PATRICK HEALY
The constellation of New York power and egos in Washington raises the
question of whether the personalities can get along well enough to get
things done.
Lean Left? Lean Right? News Media May Take Their Cues From Customers
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/business/media/07scene.html?ref=business
By AUSTAN GOOLSBEE
Research on the economics of the media industry suggests that papers
slant their coverage to their readers' tastes, not based on an
internal agenda.
Humiliating the nation
Simon Jenkins
December 7, 2006 10:54 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_jenkins/2006/12/post_757.html
Why is there no British Baker/Hamilton report? Why must Britain's war
in Iraq, now its most protracted, costly and savage war in half a
century, dance attendance on events in Washington? While "stay the
course" has been abandoned in America, even by George Bush, the foreign
secretary, Margaret Beckett, indicated yesterday that it remained
British policy. Tony Blair is now in Washington, apparently seeking
permission to make a change. This is humiliating.
The Baker/Hamilton report is near-irrelevant to events on the ground in
Iraq. It is an exercise in demystifying American attitudes to the war
prior to withdrawal. Talk of appealing to Iran and Syria to get America
off the hook is absurd. Why should they move an inch as their sworn foe
squirms in agony? The White House declares it will not talk to Iran
"unless it agreed to stop nuclear enrichment". That is no way to talk
to a rescuer.
Winners and losers
Madeleine Bunting
December 7, 2006 10:04 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/madeleine_bunting/2006/12/a_challenge_to_amartya_sen.html
In the summer, the publication of Amartya Sen's book, Identity and
Violence, was greeted with delight by many reviewers and commentators.
The Grand Old Man of economics threw his huge moral authority into the
fevered debate about multiculturalism and argued that it was a huge
mistake for British government policy to have cultivated the rise of
religious identity. He was promptly adopted by the lobby of vociferous
aggressive secularists who regard all faith in the public sphere as
evidence of some sinister plot.
Sen promoted the idea of multiple identities - we all have them, he
writes, and cited himself as an academic, Indian, father and husband.
Why should one of those identities have primacy?
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