Just Foreign Policy News
February 8, 2010

CEPR's Haiti Relief Watch Blog
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/

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Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) The British defense secretary, Bob Ainsworth, said NATO should not seek the Taliban's unconditional surrender and warned against "setting the bar too high" for peace talks, the Guardian reports. Ainsworth argued it was unrealistic to require insurgents to support western-style democracy before entering dialogue. "Afghanistan is a conservative Muslim country. It's never going to be Bavaria or Surrey," Ainsworth said. "Neither must we wait until there has been victory before we try to reconcile and bring in those elements from the insurgency who are prepared to come across." US envoy Holbrooke "distanced" the US from talks, the Guardian says. But Ainsworth disagreed, saying: "I don't believe that reintegration is something you do after victory. This is not total war. We're not looking for unconditional surrender in Afghanistan. We're looking for the stabilisation of a country and its participation in the world in a manner that doesn't threaten its neighbours and doesn't threaten us. "We mustn't raise that bar too high in terms of our preparedness to bring people in. Neither should we wait until there is real victory before we try to reconcile or reintegrate those elements in the insurgency who are prepared to come across."

Just Foreign Policy News
February 5, 2010

Okinawa Anti-Base YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/2010okinawa

CEPR's Haiti Relief Watch Blog
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
http://www.change.org/ideas/browse/war_and_peace

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Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) The US Treasury Department released a statement saying it is supporting the cancellation of Haiti's external debt, and financing of recovery through grants.

Just Foreign Policy News
February 4, 2010

FSRN: Plan to negotiate with Taliban leaders gathers support from world leaders
Just Foreign Policy talks with Free Speech Radio News about prospects for negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.
http://www.fsrn.org/audio/web-special-plan-negotiate-with-taliban-leaders-gathers-support-world-leaders/6144

CEPR Launches Haiti Relief Watch Blog
CEPR has launched a blog, "Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch," to monitor aid efforts to Haiti.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/

Eat Your Spinach: Time for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
When U.S. and British officials say the end of the war in Afghanistan is a negotiated political settlement with the Afghan Taliban, it's time for the talks to produce that agreement to start.
http://www.truthout.org/eat-your-spinach-time-peace-talks-afghanistan56626

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
At this writing, our proposal is in second place in change.org's war and peace category (behind Peace Action West's worthy "Freeze Pentagon Spending" proposal - since the top three proposals in the category will emerge from this round, you can vote for our proposal without fear of harming Peace Action West.) Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the war supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.

Just Foreign Policy News
February 3, 2010

Eat Your Spinach: Time for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
When U.S. and British officials say the end of the war in Afghanistan is a negotiated political settlement with the Afghan Taliban, it's time for the talks to produce that agreement to start.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/03-5

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
At this writing, our proposal is in second place in change.org's war and peace category. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the war supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Health GAP: Aid Groups, Labor Call for Financial Transactions Taxes
The G-20 charged the IMF with preparing a report on options countries are considering for how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system. Seventy aid, labor, development, and environemental organizations from around the world, including the AFL-CIO, Oxfam, RESULTS, Public Citizen, and Friends of the Earth, have called on the IMF to "tell the truth" about financial transactions taxes: FTTs are feasible, would raise significant revenue, and would discourage speculation.
http://www.healthgap.org/imf_ftt_letter.htm

Okinawa Anti-Base YouTube Channel:

Just Foreign Policy News
February 2, 2010

Eat Your Spinach: Time for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
When Mom says you can have ice cream after you've eaten your spinach, you eat your spinach. When U.S. and British officials say the end of the war in Afghanistan is a negotiated political settlement with the Afghan Taliban, it's time for the talks to produce that agreement to start.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/eat-your-spinach-time-for_b_446149.html

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Support the work of Just Foreign Policy:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html

Summary:
U.S./Top News

Just Foreign Policy News
February 1, 2010

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Support the work of Just Foreign Policy:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html

Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) A former Pakistani intelligence (ISI) officer says Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar is ready to break with al-Qaida to make peace, the Guardian reports.
Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar said Taliban talks could succeed only through direct engagement with Omar. A senior western official said the ISI's co-operation in negotiations was vital - if not to aid negotiations, then at least to prevent the spy agency sabotaging them.

2) India's foreign minister said India is willing to back efforts to seek peace with Taliban to stabilise Afghanistan, Reuters reports. "If the Taliban meets the three conditions put forward - acceptance of the Afghan constitution, severing connections with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and renunciation of violence, and are accepted in the mainstream of Afghan politics and society, we could do business," foreign minister S.M. Krishna said.

Just Foreign Policy News
January 29, 2010

Al Jazeera Video: Haiti PM slams US aid delays
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive says he does not understand why so much water and food in storage facilities at the airport is not being distributed. Bellerive expressed his frustration with security decisions made by the US military that are hindering the earthquake relief effort. "Haitians don't care about the security, they just want the water, food and medicine to get to them ... they don't feel that there is the need for so much security," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/2010129151615240430.html

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Support the work of Just Foreign Policy:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html

Summary:
U.S./Top News

Just Foreign Policy News
January 28, 2010

Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte: Speed Emergency Aid to Haiti
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, and Harry Belafonte, together with Haiti NGOs, peace groups, and Latin America scholars, have written to Congress urging that the delivery of medical aid and other urgently needed aid to Haiti be speeded up and prioritized over the deployment of U.S. troops.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/464/

AWOL from the SOTU: Peace, Reconciliation, and Debt
On foreign policy, while the President said some good things, he missed key opportunities to say better things. In particular, he missed opportunities to promote reconciliation as an essential way of ending our wars and promoting peace. In speaking about U.S. domestic politics, the President is eloquent in his efforts to promote reconciliation, but he seems to have lost his voice in applying these ideas to our foreign policy.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/463

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

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Just Foreign Policy News
January 27, 2010

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Beverly Bell: "7.0 on the Horror Scale - Notes on the Haitian Earthquake"
Beverly Bell, author of "Walking on Fire: Haitian Women's Story of Survival and Resistance," publishes her log of 10 days following the earthquake.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/beverly-bell-70-on-the-ho_b_439164.html

UN: Time for Direct Talks with Afghan Taliban Leaders
The top UN official for Afghanistan has called for direct talks with senior Taliban leaders. Is Washington listening?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/27-4

Members of Congress to Obama: Ease Gaza Suffering
54 Members of Congress wrote to President Obama, urging the lifting of restrictions on the movement of people, access to clean water, food, medicine construction materials for repairs and rebuilding, and fuel. (Just Foreign Policy members wrote to Congress in support of this letter)

Just Foreign Policy News
January 26, 2010

UN: Time for Direct Talks with Afghan Taliban Leaders
The top United Nations official for Afghanistan has called for direct talks with senior Taliban leaders. Is anyone in Washington listening?
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/459

Change.org: End the War in Afghanistan
The vote on funding for military escalation in Afghanistan will be the next major opportunity for Congress to change course. Now is the time to begin establishing "timetable for withdrawal" and "political negotiations" as demands on the supplemental. Help us move these ideas to the center of public discussion.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/end_the_war_in_afghanistan_establish_a_timeline_for_withdrawal_and_begin_political_negotiations

Jubilee USA: Organizations Unite to Tell Treasury Secretary Geithner: Cancel Haiti's Debt Now and No More Debt for Disaster
80 US religious denominations, human rights groups, and development agencies including Jubilee USA Network, the AFL-CIO, and the ONE Campaign sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner, urging him to negotiate immediate debt cancellation for Haiti by the international financial institutions.
http://www.jubileeusa.org/press/press-item/article/broad-coalition-of-labor-development-and-religious-organizations-to-treasury-secretary-geithner-ca.html

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