Rice's Strategic Reset
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501555.html
By David Ignatius
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A21
What's America's strategy in the Middle East? Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice this week sketched a new framework based on what she
calls the "realignment" of states that want to contain Iran and its
radical Muslim proxies.
In an interview Tuesday, Rice summarized the new strategy that has been
coming together over the past several months. Although many of its
elements have been previewed in recent weeks by commentators such as
Columbia University scholar Gary Sick, Rice's comments were an
unusually detailed public explanation of the new American effort to
create a de facto alliance between Israel and moderate Arab states
against Iranian extremism.
No Words for the Gulf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501556.html
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A21
More infuriating than anything George W. Bush said in his State of the
Union address was what he didn't say. Congress and the nation heard
nothing, zilch, nada, not a single, solitary word about New Orleans,
the Gulf Coast and the devastation that remains from the worst natural
disaster in United States history.
A disaster that happened on his watch. How nice that the White House
has been able to move beyond the trauma of September 2005 -- wind and
water, death and destruction, poverty and race, "Brownie, you're doing
a heck of a job." Too bad the people of New Orleans, St. Bernard
Parish, Pass Christian, Biloxi and the rest of the coast will never
have the luxury of forgetting.
Looking at the Surge From the Other Side
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501384.html
By Gary Anderson
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page
Policy Memo From the Planning Directorate, Mahdi Army:
We have completed a review of the new American surge strategy announced
by their president. In analyzing possible courses of action, we must
make two key assumptions:
The President's Energy Policy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501644.html
Where might 20 billion alternative-fuel gallons come from?
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A20
ANTICIPATING Tuesday's State of the Union speech, Al Hubbard, President
Bush's national economic adviser, spoke of "headlines above the fold
that will knock your socks off in terms of our commitment to energy
independence." The address that Mr. Bush delivered certainly was bold.
But by choosing energy independence as his main policy target, Mr. Bush
missed opportunities to improve energy security and to combat climate
change.
Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502199_pf.html
Administration Strategy Stirs Concern Among Some Officials
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; A01
The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or
capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new
strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel
it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and
counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort.
For more than a year, U.S. forces in Iraq have secretly detained dozens
of suspected Iranian agents, holding them for three to four days at a
time. The "catch and release" policy was designed to avoid escalating
tensions with Iran and yet intimidate its emissaries. U.S. forces
collected DNA samples from some of the Iranians without their
knowledge, subjected others to retina scans, and fingerprinted and
photographed all of them before letting them go.
Tehran's Influence Grows As Iraqis See Advantages
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502087_pf.html
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 26, 2007; A01
BAGHDAD, Jan. 25 -- When Fadhil Abbas determined that his mother's
astigmatism required surgery, they did not consider treatment in his
home town of Najaf, in southern Iraq. Instead they joined a four-taxi
convoy of ailing Iraqis headed to Iran.
For more than two weeks last fall, Abbas, his sister and his mother
were treated to free hotels, trips to the zoo and religious shrines,
and his mother's $1,300 eye surgery at a hospital in Tehran, all
courtesy of the offices of Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq's ascendant Shiite
Muslim cleric. Abbas returned to Najaf glowing over the technical
prowess of Iran.
In Ex-Aide's Testimony, A Spin Through VP's PR
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501951_pf.html
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; A01
Memo to Tim Russert: ***** Cheney thinks he controls you.
This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice
president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up
yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand
in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter"
Libby.
Hagel Ponders White House Run As War Criticism Raises His Profile
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502086_pf.html
By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; A01
His Republican colleagues regard him warily. The White House barely
speaks to him. He is reviled by his party's conservative base.
Looks as though Sen. Chuck Hagel is on a roll.
Ex-Aide Says Cheney Led Rebuttal Effort
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012500171_pf.html
By Carol D. Leonnig and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 26, 2007; A03
Vice President Cheney personally orchestrated his office's 2003 efforts
to rebut allegations that the administration used flawed intelligence
to justify the war in Iraq and discredit a critic who Cheney believed
was making him look foolish, according to testimony and evidence
yesterday in the criminal trial of his former chief of staff.
Cheney dictated talking points for a White House briefing in the midst
of the controversy that summer, his former press aide, Cathie Martin,
testified, stressing that the CIA never told Cheney that a
CIA-sponsored mission had found no real evidence that Iraq was trying
to buy nuclear materials in Africa.
FCC to Feel Unfamiliar Heat From Democrats
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501736.html
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A04
As congressional Democrats prepare to give the Federal Communications
Commission its toughest scrutiny in years, a rivalry between the
powerful agency's two most prominent Republicans is raising questions
about its readiness to handle barbed questions and stiff challenges.
The Republican-controlled FCC -- which makes far-reaching decisions on
telephone, television, radio, Internet and other services that people
use daily -- has sparred infrequently with Republican-controlled
congresses. But the Democratic-run 110th Congress is about to heat up
the grill, starting with a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee hearing on Thursday.
GOP Lawmakers Reflect on Losses
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502012.html
House Republicans Ponder New Approach at Winter Retreat
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A04
CAMBRIDGE, Md., Jan. 25 -- House Republicans have decamped to the
Eastern Shore this week for a soul-searching mission trying to both
find the cause of their electoral rout last November and craft new
legislative ideas to regain the trust of voters.
Cloistered inside the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Resort, Republicans
spent Thursday in sessions looking back at 2006 and peering ahead to
2008. In between, they mixed in a lunchtime session with their onetime
shepherd, former speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), who urged the lawmakers
to "think outside the box."
GOP Senators Wrestle With Iraq War Resolution
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501766.html
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A04
Senate Republicans, scrambling to head off GOP defections to a
resolution opposing President Bush's war policy, are considering their
own resolution demanding benchmarks to measure progress in Iraq and
possibly a new diplomatic effort to end the war, senators said
yesterday.
Senators from both parties began preparing for a showdown with
President Bush over his plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, although
that showdown may be pushed back to the week of Feb. 5. Two rival camps
opposed to the additional troop deployments continued to dicker over
the wording of a resolution expressing the Senate's opposition, while
GOP leaders and White House loyalists plotted a response.
Dismissal of Lawsuit Against Warrantless Wiretaps Sought
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501434.html
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A05
A lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Security Agency's
warrantless surveillance program should be thrown out because the
government is now conducting the wiretaps under the authority of a
secret intelligence court, according to court papers filed by the
Justice Department yesterday.
In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in
Cincinnati, Justice Department lawyers said the lawsuit of the American
Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs -- which received a
favorable ruling from a federal judge in Detroit -- should be
considered moot because the case "no longer has any live significance."
Rival Groups Clash in Beirut Streets
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012500729_pf.html
Four Killed in Battles Sparked by Argument at University; Army Imposes
Curfew
By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 26, 2007; A10
BEIRUT, Jan. 25 -- The Lebanese army imposed a curfew on the capital
Thursday after hundreds of government supporters and foes wielded
rocks, molotov cocktails and sometimes guns in street battles that
dragged on past nightfall. Four people were killed and 150 wounded,
officials said, many of them soldiers who at times stood helplessly
between the two sides.
The clashes, which began in a university cafeteria and spread to the
surrounding neighborhood of Tariq Jedideh, offered a bitter contrast to
the optimism of an international conference in Paris, where more than
$7.6 billion was pledged to help Lebanon's economy recover from last
summer's war between Israel and the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah.
$7.6 Billion in Assistance Pledged to Lebanon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012500388.html
International Conference Backs Siniora Government
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A10
PARIS, Jan. 25 -- The embattled Lebanese government of Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora won more than $7.6 billion in pledges of financial
assistance Thursday from international donors eager to help rebuild the
war-ravaged country, stabilize its economy and improve the security
situation.
The package -- including pledges of grants and loans totaling $1.1
billion from Saudi Arabia and $770 million from the United States -- is
a major boon for Siniora, whose government has been buffeted since
early December by a Hezbollah campaign to topple it.
Bush and Democrats Just Can't Agree on How to Be Bipartisan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501700.html
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A19
There's more evidence that any new era of bipartisanship in Washington
may be rather short-lived.
In unveiling his new plan for increasing the number of troops in Iraq
two weeks ago, President Bush proposed the establishment of a special
bipartisan panel to advise him on waging the "war on terror."
The President's Risky Health Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/opinion/26fri1.html
President Bush's new health care proposals would be unlikely to
reduce the ranks of the uninsured very much and could actually increase
their numbers.
More Willful Indifference
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/opinion/26fri2.html
It turns out that the F.B.I. was just as phlegmatic about Mark
Foley's sexual approaches to teenage pages as Mr. Foley's
Republican colleagues.
Renewal, in Real Estate and in Culture, for Ancient People
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/world/europe/26rome.html?ref=world
By IAN FISHER
High real estate prices in Rome are driving the last Jews from their
homes in the old ghetto, which is transforming itself into a trendy
enclave.
Beirut University Dispute Escalates Into Rioting, Killing 4
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/world/middleeast/26lebanon.html?ref=world
By NADA BAKRI and HASSAN M. FATTAH
The army declared a rare night curfew amid fears that Lebanon's
two-month political crisis had entered a violent phase.
Debate in India: Is Rule on Yoga Constitutional?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/world/asia/26yoga.html?ref=asia
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Whether public school students should take up a common yoga exercise
has engendered a legal and political row in India.
Colleges Regroup After Voters Ban Race Preferences
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/education/26affirm.html?pagewanted=all
By TAMAR LEWIN
Many public universities are scrambling to find race-blind ways to
attract more blacks and Hispanics.
Secrecy Is at Issue in Suits Opposing Domestic Spying
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/washington/26nsa.html?ref=us&pagewanted=all
By ADAM LIPTAK
The judges who will hear cases challenging the N.S.A. program expressed
uneasiness about the administration's extraordinary security measures.
Groups Head to Capital to Step Up Antiwar Drive
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/washington/26left.html?ref=us
By JEFF ZELENY and CARL HULSE
The groups that are organizing the demonstrations against the
president's strategy are also carrying out a sophisticated lobbying
campaign on Capitol Hill.
From Kerry to Obama
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/from-kerry-to-obama/
Major contributors to the Massachusetts senator begin switching
alliances.
A No Vote on Senate Raises Just Might Count
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/us/26pay.html?ref=politics
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
The Senate approved a provision that would deny the pay increases to
any individual member who voted against them, even if they passed.
Big States' Push for Earlier Vote Scrambles Race
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/us/politics/25vote.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=all
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Shifts in the 2008 presidential primaries would force candidates of
both parties to rethink their campaign strategies
Davos 07: will China upset the apple cart?
Larry Elliott
January 26, 2007 12:42 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/larry_elliott/2007/01/china.html
There are two ways of looking at the impact of China on the world's
geo-politics. The first is to look at China's economic strengths and
weaknesses - it is rich in labour but poor in natural resources - and
conclude that it is in Beijing's interests for the status quo to
continue. If you are reliant on the rest of the world to supply your
oil, the raw materials for your factories and - increasingly - the food
to feed your population - the argument is that it makes absolutely no
sense to upset the global apple cart. Peace and stability create the
only conditions in which strong economic growth can be guaranteed.
China, in other words, will pursue the same sort of strategy followed
by Germany and - an even closer parallel - Japan in the years after the
Second world War.
Commenter, reveal thyself!
AC Grayling
January 26, 2007 12:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ac_grayling/2007/01/blogging_and_posting.html
The phenomenon of blogging exemplifies a typical pattern in innovations
that spread quickly into general usage, one aspect of which is that
practice precedes theory, and theoretical debate in turn quickly gives
rise to questions of governance. The open-access democracy (some think
anarchy) of the blogosphere is rightly resistant to imposed
restrictions, but many people who run their own blogs soon come to ask
those who post on them to observe a degree of self-government in the
way of minimum courtesy and fairness, to prevent degeneration into a
brawling, name-calling chaos.
On the other hand, the informal and impromptu nature of blogs and
responding posts license a high degree of no-punches-pulled robustness
in opinion which is refreshing and direct, and good for the health of
the polity - as is the rapid spread of information that accompanies it.
(Most of what accompanies it is rubbish: but happily most know that.)
The balance between courtesy and fairness on the one hand, and blunt,
robust challenge on the other, is not hard to achieve: if one is
critical, even scathing, about ideas and institutions, and provides a
case for being so, that is fine.
Davos 07: when Claudia met Shimon
Alan Rusbridger
January 26, 2007 11:40 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alan_rusbridger/2007/01/davos_when_claudia_met_shimon.html
Davos is famously a place of unexpected connections. As in Claudia
Schiffer and Shimon Peres. The word was that they were sharing a little
publicised post-dinner fringe-event platform. The question was why?
The answer may be something to do with Rupert Murdoch, but only in the
most roundabout way. The old man was in town, looking pretty fit for
his years (a good deal younger than Peres) and sounding pretty sharp.
He did a round of dinners and events and (not talking of unexpected
connections) was due to share a platform with Gordon Brown.
Time to ban forced marriages
Sunny Hundal
January 26, 2007 11:03 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2007/01/time_to_ban_forced_marriages.html
It is frustrating to find that while racism and terrorism is so high on
the political agenda, violence against women is almost forgotten.
Excused, as if it were a necessary evil.
While British Asians were huffing and puffing over the treatment meted
out to Shilpa Shetty, getting worked up in self-righteous indignation,
they can't seem to find similar conviction over the fact that thousands
of young British Asian girls get forced into marriages that lead to
domestic violence, depression and suicide.
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