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August 7 - August 11
July 31 - August 4
July 18 - July 21

Just Foreign Policy News
August 25, 2006

Highlights:
The Jerusalem Post suggests that the US will not attack Iran militarily until 2008, near the end of Bush's term. Connecticut Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, formerly a supporter of the Iraq war, now calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. No word yet from Vice President Cheney on whether Rep. Shays' call for a timetable for withdrawal will "embolden al-Qaeda types." Israel says that countries that don't have diplomatic relations with it shouldn't be allowed to contribute troops to a UN peacekeeping force. By this logic, the Lebanese military should also be excluded south of the Litani river. (The Lebanese government also does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.)

Summary:
U.S. Politics
New York Democratic Senate candidate Jonathan Tasini continues to criticize his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting the Iraq War, and for refusing to debate him. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), once an ardent supporter of the war in Iraq, said yesterday that the Bush administration should set a time frame for withdrawing U.S. troops. He added that most of the withdrawal could take place next year. A New York man was arrested yesterday on charges that he conspired to support a terrorist group by providing U.S. residents with access to Hezbollah's satellite channel, al-Manar. An ACLU spokeswoman says the prosecution "raises serious First Amendment concerns."
Iran
Juan Cole says the Republican Congressional report on Iran is "riddled with errors" and calls the assertion that "Iran is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade using a 164-machine centrifuge cascade at this facility in Natanz" an "outright lie." Israel is watching reaction to Iran's continued refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, with some high-level officials arguing that Israel "may have to go it alone," says the Jerusalem Post. US military action would probably not occur until the spring or summer of 2008, a few months before Bush leaves office, the Post says. The low-key formal reaction from the US and its European allies to Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment is a public relations strategy intended to make the West appear patient and measured, the New York Times reports. Russia rejected Friday any talk now of sanctions against Iran and France warned against conflict with Tehran, raising doubts whether it will face swift penalties for not halting nuclear work by an August 31 deadline.
Iraq
Iraq’s most prominent Shiite religious leader has urged government ministers and members of Parliament to refrain from taking trips abroad and to focus on improving the lives of ordinary citizens. British troops abandoned a major base in southern Iraq on Thursday, a move that anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called the first expulsion of U.S.-led coalition forces from an Iraqi urban center.
Lebanon
The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated agreements with the US that restrict when it can employ such weapons. The investigation began after reports that three types of American cluster munitions have been found in many areas of southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian casualties. An opinion poll in Israel has suggested that a majority of Israelis want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign over the conduct of the recent war in Lebanon. The poll showed 63% of Israelis saying Olmert should go, and a majority saying they wanted the defence minister and the military chief of staff to resign.  Although nearly all of the roughly 900,000 refugees who fled the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas have returned, fully a third cannot move back into their family homes, aid agencies say. The homes are ruined or are too dangerous to inhabit because of unexploded cluster bombs, which have killed 11 people and wounded 43 since the cease-fire began.
Afghanistan
Eight civilians, including a child, were killed in an operation by American forces in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan police official said. US forces acknowledged killing a child and injuring a woman but said the seven men also killed were "Qaeda facilitators" who had opened fire on them as they approached a compound.
Mexico
The Center for Economic and Policy Research says Mexico’s handling of the recount raises questions about the lack of transparency in the recount and the election. CEPR recently published an analysis of Mexico’s recounted ballots.
In this issue:
U.S. Politics
1) Tasini Tackles Underdog Challenge
2) Shays Urges Iraq Withdrawal
3) New Yorker Arrested for Providing Hezbollah TV Channel
Iran
4) Republican Congressional Report on Iran Riddled With Errors
5) Israel May 'Go it Alone' against Iran
6) In Muted Response to Iran, U.S. and Allies Seek Edge
7) Foes Say Tehran Builds Fast Uranium Centrifuges
8) Russia Rejects Sanctions Against Iran
Iraq
9) Shiite Leader Urges Iraqi Politicians to Stay Home and Work Harder
10) British Leave Iraqi Base; Militia Supporters Jubilant: Some Troops Will Reposition to Border With Iran
Lebanon
11) Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs
12) Chirac doubts Lebanon force size
13) Lebanese and Aid Groups Find Dangers in the Rubble
14) France Offers Many More Troops for Lebanon
Afghanistan
15) 8 Killed in Raid by U.S. Forces in Afghanistan
Mexico
16) Was the Mexican Election Stolen? Questions Raised Over Results From Preliminary Recount

Contents:
U.S. Politics
1) Tasini Tackles Underdog Challenge
Presses bid to oust Clinton in primary
Mark Sommer, Buffalo News,  Friday, August 25, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0825-03.htm
Jonathan Tasini came to Buffalo Thursday, criticizing Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting the Iraq War. The Democrat and labor movement activist renewed calls for a debate with Clinton. Tasini said he believes the senator's voting record in support of the war is out of step with most Democrats in the state. "I believe the war was foolish, illegal, immoral - it should never have been fought. It cost the lives of 2,600 wonderful American men and women, tens of thousands of Iraqis, destroyed a country and probably left us with a legacy of anger from the Muslim world that could go on for, potentially, generations," Tasini said. Tasini said he favors legislation in the House that calls for a "safe and immediate withdrawal of troops," who would be replaced by an international security force. The self-described "internationalist" criticized Clinton's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said has ravaged upstate New York. As part of his economic plan, Tasini would push for single-payer health insurance. Tasini, who led the National Writers Union for 13 years, was born in the United States. His father was born in what is now Israel, and his mother fled Poland to escape the Holocaust. He has criticized Israel's air war in Lebanon as "disproportionate," a charge leveled Friday by Amnesty International. "Hillary Clinton is not a friend of Israel. A true friend of Israel knows when to speak up and say I love you but you're wrong," Tasini said.

2) Shays Urges Iraq Withdrawal
A Former War Backer, GOP Congressman Calls for Timetable
Anushka Asthana, Washington Post, Friday, August 25, 2006; A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401631.html
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), once an ardent supporter of the war in Iraq, said yesterday that the Bush administration should set a time frame for withdrawing U.S. troops. He added that most of the withdrawal could take place next year. Shays, who faces a tough reelection campaign because of his previous support for President Bush's war policies, made his comments after completing his 14th trip to Iraq this week. He said he found a "noticeable lack of political will" among Iraqis "to move in what I would call a timely fashion" and concluded that Iraqi officials would act with greater urgency if the US this fall set a timetable for withdrawal. Diane Farrell, Shays's Democratic challenger, said: "I think it is unfortunate it took him 14 trips and three years to recognize that Iraq has been in a constant state of turmoil since the day that Baghdad fell." [The article does not explore whether Vice President Cheney thinks that Rep. Shays' call for a timetable for US withdrawal will give comfort to "al-Qaeda types" -JFP.]

3) New Yorker Arrested for Providing Hezbollah TV Channel
Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Friday, August 25, 2006; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401461.html
A New York man was arrested yesterday on charges that he conspired to support a terrorist group by providing U.S. residents with access to Hezbollah's satellite channel, al-Manar. Javed Iqbal runs HDTV Corp., a company that provides satellite television transmissions to cable operators, private companies, government organizations and individual customers. A paid FBI confidential informant told law enforcement officials in February that Iqbal's company was selling "satellite television service, including access to al-Manar broadcasts." The informant then had a recorded conversation during which Iqbal offered al-Manar broadcasts along with other Arab television stations. The U.S. Treasury Department in March designated al-Manar a "global terrorist entity" and a media arm of the Hezbollah terrorist network. The designation froze al-Manar's assets in the United States and prohibited any transactions between Americans and al-Manar. Iqbal's attorney, Mustapha Ndanusa, said yesterday that the accusations against his client are "completely ridiculous." Ndanusa added that he is not aware of another instance in which someone was accused of violating U.S. laws by enabling access to a news outlet. Donna Lieberman of the ACLU said she is "deeply troubled" that a television distributor is being prosecuted for the content of a broadcaster. Such a prosecution, she said, "raises serious First Amendment concerns." She said she thinks that the law under which Iqbal has been charged has a First Amendment exception for news communications.

Iran
4) Republican Congressional Report on Iran Riddled With Errors
Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Friday, August 25, 2006
http://www.juancole.com/#115649640863202167
Here is what the professionals are saying about the Republican-dominated Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy report on Iran that slams US intelligence professionals for poor intelligence on Iran: The report demonstrates that these Republicans have poor intelligence . . . on Iran.  On page 9, the report alleges that "Iran is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade using a 164-machine centrifuge cascade at this facility in Natanz." This is an outright lie. Enriching to weapons grade would require at least 80% enrichment. Iran claims . . . 2.5 per cent. See how that isn't the same thing? See how you can't blow up anything with 2.5 percent? The claim is not only flat wrong, but it is misleading in another way. You need 16,000 centrifuges, hooked up so that they cascade, to make enough enriched uranium for a bomb in any realistic time fame, even if you know how to get the 80 percent! Iran has . . . 164. See how that isn't the same?

5)  Israel May 'Go it Alone' against Iran
Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 24, 2006
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525933028&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel is carefully watching the world's reaction to Iran's continued refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, with some high-level officials arguing it is now clear that when it comes to stopping Iran, Israel "may have to go it alone." One senior source said there was a need to understand that "when push comes to shove," Israel would have to be prepared to "slow down" the Iranian nuclear threat by itself. Having said this, he did not rule out the possibility of US military action, but said that if this were to take place, it would probably not occur until the spring or summer of 2008, a few months before President George W. Bush leaves the international stage. The US presidential elections, which Bush cannot contest because of term limits, are in November 2008.

6) In Muted Response to Iran, U.S. and Allies Seek Edge
Helene Cooper, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25diplo.html
After demanding for three months that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment or face penalties, the formal reaction from the US and its European allies to Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment has been low-key. It is all about a public relations strategy intended to make the West appear patient and measured in dealing with the issue, US and European diplomats say. State Department officials pressed to “keep the temperature down." They pushed for a concerted media strategy that would help keep Russia and China on board.  There were no official mentions of penalties, despite the looming Aug. 31 deadline that six countries have given for Iran to suspend enrichment. US and European diplomats still plan to pursue penalties if Iran does not suspend uranium enrichment by the Aug. 31 deadline set by the UN Security Council. But they do not want to appear trigger happy.  US officials said Rice received assurances in June that Russia would, at a minimum, sign on to a first phase of weak sanctions if Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment. Those penalties would probably include a ban on travel by Iranian officials and curbs on imports of nuclear-related technology. But Russian and Chinese cooperation is by no means assured. European officials said that the foreign ministers were not expected seriously to take up the Iran issue until Sept. 1.

7) Foes Say Tehran Builds Fast Uranium Centrifuges
Craig S. Smith, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25nuke.html
An Iranian opposition group said Thursday that Iran had built at least 15 advanced uranium enrichment machines that could speed production of nuclear fuel and asserted that the country would have hundreds more by next year. The group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has been correct before. In August 2002, its announcement that Tehran was pursuing a secret uranium enrichment program led in part to the current standoff over the Iranian nuclear development program. But many of the group’s subsequent disclosures have been either less significant or wrong.

8) Russia Rejects Sanctions Against Iran
Reuters, August 25, 2006, Filed at 11:50 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nuclear-iran.html
Russia rejected Friday any talk now of sanctions against Iran and France warned against conflict with Tehran, raising doubts whether it will face swift penalties for not halting nuclear work by an August 31 deadline. Responding to an offer of economic incentives to stop enriching uranium, Iran hinted to six world powers on Tuesday it could rein in its program as a result of talks to implement the package -- but not as a precondition as they demand. " I believe that the question is not so serious at the moment for the U.N. Security Council or the group of six to consider any introduction of sanctions,'' Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. "Russia stands for further political and diplomatic efforts to settle the issue.'' Some analysts believe Arab and Muslim world anger over Washington's perceived slowness to curb Israel's anti-Hizbollah blitz, which killed mainly civilians, could erode support in the 15-member Security Council for a showdown with Iran. Iran says it wants nuclear energy solely for its economy. Western leaders suspect a disguised effort to build atom bombs, although most analysts believe Tehran remains 3-10 years away from mastering the requisite technology. One analyst said "there will be high-level talks on whether there is some formula regarding sequencing of suspension'' based on Iran's hint it could stop enrichment as the upshot of incentives talks. "The question is whether there is a basis to fudge the sequencing -- that is, Iran commits to suspension after a very short time period of negotiations."

Iraq
9) Shiite Leader Urges Iraqi Politicians to Stay Home and Work Harder
Paul von Zielbauer, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25baghdad.html
Iraq’s most prominent Shiite religious leader has urged government ministers and members of Parliament to refrain from taking trips abroad and to focus on improving the lives of ordinary citizens. The Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who maintains a broad following of Shiites in Iraq, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, asked officials "not to travel abroad and to stay in touch with the people who elected them," said a spokesman. "We know that there is a considerable amount of danger in this," he added, referring to the violence that has plagued Baghdad, "but they have to fully fulfill their responsibilities."

10) British Leave Iraqi Base; Militia Supporters Jubilant: Some Troops Will Reposition to Border With Iran
Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, Friday, August 25, 2006; A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401917.html
British troops abandoned a major base in southern Iraq on Thursday, a move that anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called the first expulsion of U.S.-led coalition forces from an Iraqi urban center. "This is the first Iraqi city that has kicked out the occupier!" trumpeted a message from Sadr's office that played on car-mounted speakers. "We have to celebrate this occasion!" Maj. Charlie Burbridge, a British military spokesman, acknowledged that constant shelling of the base in Amarah by militia forces were part of the reason the camp closed. "By no longer presenting a static target, we reduce the ability of the militias to strike us," he said. But he rejected Sadr's claim that the British had been defeated. "It's very difficult to claim a victory without causing significant casualties." The mood was quite different in Amarah, where jubilant residents flocked to Sadr's office to offer their congratulations. Drivers in the street honked their car horns in celebration. Some prepared to take to the streets to rejoice. "Today is a holiday in our province," said an unemployed 45-year-old. He said anger toward the British reached fever pitch in recent days after soldiers entered a mosque and arrested several local men. The provincial government is controlled by Sadr's movement, he said.

Lebanon
11) Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs
David S. Cloud, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25cluster.html
The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated agreements with the US that restrict when it can employ such weapons. The investigation began after reports that three types of American cluster munitions have been found in many areas of southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian casualties. The State Department has held up a shipment of M-26 artillery rockets, a cluster weapon. The inquiry will likely focus on whether Israel properly informed the US about its use of the weapons and whether targets were strictly military. The agreements that govern Israel’s use of American cluster munitions are said to require that the munitions be used only against organized Arab armies and clearly defined military targets under conditions similar to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973. A report by the UN Mine Action Coordination Center said it had found unexploded bomblets, including hundreds of American types, in 249 locations south of the Litani River. Officials say it is unlikely that Israel will be found to have violated the Arms Export Control Act, which requires foreign governments that receive American weapons to use them for legitimate self-defense. Proving that Israel’s campaign did not constitute self-defense would be difficult, especially in view of Bush’s public support. If Israel is found to have violated the classified agreement covering cluster bombs, it is not clear what actions the US might take. In 1982, delivery of cluster-bomb shells to Israel was suspended after the Reagan administration determined that Israel "may" have used them against civilian areas. But the decision to impose a moratorium was made under pressure from Congress, which conducted a long investigation of the issue.

12) Chirac doubts Lebanon force size
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5284284.stm
French President Jacques Chirac has said sending 15,000 peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon is "excessive". In related developments: An opinion poll in Israel has suggested that a majority of Israelis want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign over the conduct of the conflict. The poll, carried out by the independent Dahaf Institute, showed 63% of Israelis saying Olmert should go, and a majority saying they wanted the defence minister and the military chief of staff to resign.

13) Lebanese and Aid Groups Find Dangers in the Rubble
Robert F. Worth And John Kifner, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25lebanon.html
Although nearly all of the roughly 900,000 refugees who fled the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas have returned, fully a third cannot move back into their family homes, aid agencies say. The homes are ruined or are too dangerous to inhabit because of unexploded cluster bombs, which have killed 11 people and wounded 43 since the cease-fire began 10 days ago. Lebanon, the UN and independent aid agencies are totaling an enormous tally of damage that includes airports, ports, water and sewage treatment facilities, electrical plants, 80 bridges and 94 roads, more than 25 gas stations, 900 other businesses and 30,000 homes or shops. But what surprises villagers is what they see as mean, gratuitous destruction by Israeli soldiers still stationed nearby after the cease-fire took effect: water and electricity systems smashed, furniture and valuables shattered or burned, cars shot up or destroyed. "They took the imam’s car and returned it completely ruined," said Muhammad Hamoud, the village mayor. "They want us to be afraid." In Khiam, the Israelis smashed the water tanks and pipes, said the deputy mayor, Muhammad Abdullah.

14) France Offers Many More Troops for Lebanon
Craig S. Smith, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25force.html
France pledged Thursday to send a total of 2,000 troops to the UN multinational peacekeeping force for Lebanon. UN diplomats emphasize that the multinational force, which the resolution says can be as large as 15,000 troops, was never intended to be entirely European. The resolution says only that Europe must form a "credible core" of the force, and Europeans say they expect their troops to make up about a third of the total. UN officials say that for all the complaints, this peacekeeping force is being assembled faster than any in history. They hope to be able to put 3,000 fresh soldiers on the ground in Lebanon as early as the end of the month, with the rest of the force in place by November. France's generals resisted a strong commitment until they obtained guarantees from the parties to the conflict and from the UN. Chirac said those guarantees had been given. People familiar with those clarifications said they included stronger than usual rules of engagement that would permit the peacekeepers to use "deadly force" against anyone interfering with their mandate. Chirac said he had lobbied other heads of state to follow his country’s example in committing troops, and he said several European countries would do so, together with "important Muslim countries in Asia." The latter was a reference to Malaysia and Indonesia, which have both offered significant contributions to the force. But neither has diplomatic relations with Israel, which has expressed opposition to the inclusion of such countries in the force. [Note that Lebanon itself does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, so by this logic, the Lebanese army should also be excluded from the area south of the Litani - JFP.]

Afghanistan
15) 8 Killed in Raid by U.S. Forces in Afghanistan
Abdul Waheed Wafa, New York Times, August 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/asia/25afghan.html
Eight civilians, including a child, were killed in an operation by American forces in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan police official said. US forces acknowledged killing a child and injuring a woman but said the seven men also killed were "Qaeda facilitators" who had opened fire on them as they approached a compound. The Afghan government has sent a team to investigate the killings, said Abdul Sabour Allah Yar, deputy police chief of Kunar province. He said the men killed were elders who had gathered in the house to resolve a family dispute. Yar said that judging from his own conversation with American commanders, they had been wrongly informed that the meeting was a Qaeda gathering. He also said the provincial authorities had not been told of the operation, something President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly requested in an effort to avoid civilian casualties.

Mexico
16) Was the Mexican Election Stolen? Questions Raised Over Results From Preliminary Recount
Democracy Now, Thursday, August 24th, 2006
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/24/1425237
Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s says Mexico’s handling of the recount raises questions about the lack of transparency in the recount and the election. CEPR recently published an analysis of Mexico’s recounted ballots (http://www.cepr.net/publications/mexico_recount_2006_08.pdf) that suggests that the process currently underway will not satisfy concerns about the legitimacy of the election unless there is a significant increase in public dislosure.

Just Foreign Policy News
August 24, 2006

Summary:
Iran
The US, in its first formal reaction after Iran’s counteroffer to an incentives proposal to quit its nuclear program, said Iran’s position "falls short" of UN demands.
Some senior Bush administration officials and top Republican lawmakers are voicing anger that American spy agencies have not issued more ominous warnings about the threats Iran presents to the US. Some have accused intelligence agencies of playing down Iran’s role in Hezbollah’s recent attacks against Israel and overestimating the time it would take for Iran to build a nuclear weapon. A key House committee issued a stinging critique of U.S. intelligence on Iran, charging that the CIA and other agencies lack "the ability to acquire essential information necessary to make judgments" on Tehran's nuclear program, its intentions or its ties to terrorism. Several intelligence officials said that American spy agencies had made assessments in recent weeks that there was no credible evidence to suggest either that Iran ordered the Hezbollah raid that touched off the recent fighting or that Iran was directly controlling attacks against Israel.

Iraq
An Iraq veterans group says the call-up of thousands of Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve is "one of the last steps before resorting to a draft." For three years, the president tried to reassure Americans that more progress was being made in Iraq than they realized. But with Iraq either in civil war or on the brink of it, Bush dropped the unseen-progress argument in favor of the contention that things could be even worse. A sergeant who examined the scene hours after Marines killed two dozen Iraqis in Haditha last year said the shootings appeared to be an appropriate response to a coordinated insurgent attack. Michael Scheuer, who served in the CIA for 22 years and served as the chief of the bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center, tells Ken Silverstein in Harpers.org that the war in Iraq "broke the back of our counterterrorism program."
Lebanon
The New York Times reports today on Amnesty International's report accusing Israel of war crimes in Lebanon. France said it would increase its commitment of troops to a multinational peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon in the coming days. Lebanon has asked the US for help in getting Israel to lift its blockade. The Israeli military places the blame for its lethal attack on a civilian convoy on UNIFIL, the Washington Post reports. The military suspected the convoy was carrying weapons and said a UN request for clearance had been denied; the UN claims clearance was granted. The military statement did not address the questions of what led the Israeli military to believe the cars were carrying weapons or how, if a request for safe passage had come from the UN, the Israeli military could believe it was seeing a Hezbollah convoy.
Israel
For decades Uri Avnery warned that the occupation was corrupting the Israeli army. Today Israeli newspapers are full of such warnings. "Good morning, Elijahu!" Avnery says. You have woken up at long last.
Palestine
Palestinian officials denounced a militant group that has demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the US in exchange for two kidnapped Fox journalists. A spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said the kidnapping of the journalists was harming Palestinian interests.
Mexico
For three months, civil unrest has gripped Oaxaca, leaving two people dead, crippling the tourist industry and shuttering schools. The original cause of the strife, a teachers’ strike for better pay, has become lost in the escalating violence and the demands of the protesters, who now insist that Gov. Ulises Ruiz step down. The tourism and hotel industry claims it has lost $150 million. If this money were in government coffers, it could have paid for the strikers' demands.

In this issue:
Iran
1) Some in G.O.P. Say Iran Threat Is Played Down
2) U.S. Spy Agencies Criticized on Iran
3) U.S. Says Iranian Nuclear Proposal Is Inadequate
Iraq
4) Is the Next Step a Draft?
5) Bush's Iraq Argument: It Could Be Worse
6) Marine Called Haditha Shootings Appropriate
7) Six Questions for Michael Scheuer on National Security
Lebanon
8) Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes
9) France to Send More Troops to Lebanon, Minister Says
10) Lebanese Premier Seeks U.S. Help in Lifting Blockade: Israeli Restrictions Impede Commerce
11) Negotiations Preceded Attack On Convoy of Fleeing Lebanese
Israel
12) Good Morning, Elijahu!
Palestine
13) Reporters' Kidnappers Denounced in Gaza
Mexico
14) Violent Civil Unrest Tightens Hold on a Mexican City

Contents:
Iran
1) Some in G.O.P. Say Iran Threat Is Played Down
Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/washington/24intel.html
Some senior Bush administration officials and top Republican lawmakers are voicing anger that American spy agencies have not issued more ominous warnings about the threats Iran presents to the US. Some have accused intelligence agencies of playing down Iran’s role in Hezbollah’s recent attacks against Israel and overestimating the time it would take for Iran to build a nuclear weapon. The complaints surfaced in a Congressional report released Wednesday. They echo tensions that divided the administration and the CIA before the war in Iraq. The criticisms reflect the views of officials in the White House and the Pentagon who advocated war with Iraq and now are pressing for confronting Iran directly over its nuclear program and ties to terrorism. The dissonance is surfacing as the intelligence agencies are overhauling procedures to prevent a repeat of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, the faulty assessment that in part set the US on the path to war with Iraq. Several intelligence officials said that American spy agencies had made assessments in recent weeks that despite established ties between Iran and Hezbollah and a well-documented history of Iran arming the organization, there was no credible evidence to suggest either that Iran ordered the Hezbollah raid that touched off the recent fighting or that Iran was directly controlling attacks against Israel. "There are no provable signs of Iranian direction on the ground," said one intelligence official. "Nobody should think that Hezbollah is a remote-controlled entity." American military assessments have broadly echoed this view. (The report: http://intelligence.house.gov/media/pdfs/iranreport082206v2.pdf.)

2) U.S. Spy Agencies Criticized on Iran
GOP-Led Panel Faults Intelligence
Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Thursday, August 24, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301309.html
A key House committee issued a stinging critique of U.S. intelligence on Iran yesterday, charging that the CIA and other agencies lack "the ability to acquire essential information necessary to make judgments" on Tehran's nuclear program, its intentions or even its ties to terrorism. The 29-page report, principally written by a Republican staff member on the House intelligence committee who holds a hard-line view on Iran, fully backs the White House position that the Islamic republic is moving forward with a nuclear weapons program and that it poses a significant danger to the United States. But it chides the intelligence community for not providing enough direct evidence to support that assertion. The report relies exclusively on publicly available documents. Its authors did not interview intelligence officials. Still, it warns the intelligence community to avoid the mistakes made regarding weapons of mass destruction before the Iraq war, noting that Iran could easily be engaged in "a denial and deception campaign to exaggerate progress on its nuclear program as Saddam Hussein apparently did concerning his WMD programs." "We want to avoid another 'slam dunk,' " Rep. Peter Hoekstra said yesterday, explaining why the staff report was made public before it had been approved by the full committee. Former CIA director George Tenet had called prewar intelligence on banned weapons a "slam dunk," but no such arms were ever found.

3) U.S. Says Iranian Nuclear Proposal Is Inadequate
Helene Cooper, New York Times, August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24diplo.html
The US, in its first formal reaction after Iran’s counteroffer to an incentives proposal to quit its nuclear program, said Iran’s position "falls short" of UN demands. A State Department statement said the US was “consulting closely” with members of the UN Security Council over next steps. "We acknowledge that Iran considers its response as a serious offer, and we will review it," said the statement. Bush administration officials are pushing their European, Russian and Chinese counterparts to impose sanctions on Iran at the end of the month, after a Security Council deadline for Iran to suspend enrichment expires. But Russia and China, which have deep economic ties with Iran, have resisted any move to penalize the country severely. On Wednesday, those two countries again urged the Europeans and Americans to respond with caution.

Iraq
4) Is the Next Step a Draft?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/is_the_next_ste.html
An Iraq veterans group says the call-up of thousands of Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve is "one of the last steps before resorting to a draft." "This move should serve as a wake-up call to America," said Jon Soltz, who was an Army captain in Iraq and heads the group VoteVets.org, which raises funds for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for Congress.  "Today's announcement that thousands of Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve will be called back to go to Iraq is proof that our military is overextended, and there is no plan for victory in Iraq." While the Pentagon has maintained the armed forces have met recruiting and retention goals, Soltz says, "Today's actions speak louder than words." The IRR are reservists, who have returned to civilian life, don't drill regularly and prior to the Iraq war were rarely called to active duty.

5) Bush's Iraq Argument: It Could Be Worse
Peter Baker, Washington Post, Thursday, August 24, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301878.html
For three years, the president tried to reassure Americans that more progress was being made in Iraq than they realized. But with Iraq either in civil war or on the brink of it, Bush dropped the unseen-progress argument in favor of the contention that things could be even worse. The shifting rhetoric reflected a broader pessimism that has reached into even some of the most optimistic corners of the administration -- a sense that the Iraq venture has taken a dark turn and will not be resolved anytime soon. Bush advisers once believed that if they met certain benchmarks, such as building a constitutional democracy and training a new Iraqi army, the war would be won. Now they believe they have more or less met those goals, yet the war rages on. While still committed to the venture, officials have privately told friends and associates outside government that they have grown discouraged in recent months. But with crucial midterm elections just 2 1/2 months away, Bush and his team are trying to turn the public debate away from whether the Iraq invasion has worked out to what would happen if U.S. troops were withdrawn, as some Democrats advocate. Christopher Gelpi, a Duke University scholar whose research on public opinion in wartime has been influential in the White House, said Bush has little choice. "He looks foolish and not credible if he says, 'We're making progress in Iraq,' " Gelpi said. "I think he probably would like to make that argument, but because that's not credible given the facts on the ground, this is the fallback. . . . If the only thing you can say is 'Yes, it's bad, but it could be worse,' that really is a last-ditch argument."

6) Marine Called Haditha Shootings Appropriate
Josh White, Washington Post, Thursday, August 24, 2006; A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301829.html
A sergeant who examined the scene hours after Marines killed two dozen Iraqis in Haditha last year said the shootings appeared to be an appropriate response to a coordinated insurgent attack, according to a sworn statement obtained by The Washington Post. Sgt. J.M. Laughner went from house to house in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, and acknowledged finding two dozen bodies, including some of women and small children. But Laughner said the scenes of the slayings appeared to match the version of events the Marine squad provided that day and did not seem especially out of the ordinary, according to a transcript of Laughner's interview with military investigators in March. Laughner's account supports the argument made by some Marines in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines -- that they believed they were following their rules of engagement when they opened fire on groups of people inside at least three homes after a roadside bomb killed a member of their unit.

7) Six Questions for Michael Scheuer on National Security
Ken Silverstein, Harpers.org, Wednesday, August 23, 2006
http://harpers.org/sb-seven-michael-scheuer-1156277744.html
Michael Scheuer served in the CIA for 22 years before resigning in 2004; he served as the chief of the bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center from 1996 to 1999.
1:  Is the country safer or more vulnerable to terrorism? MS: More vulnerable.
2:  Is Al Qaeda stronger or weaker than it was five years ago? MS: The quality of its leadership is not as high, because we've killed and captured so many. But they have succession planning that works very well.
3: Why hasn't there been an attack on the US for the past five years? MS: They're not ready. They put more emphasis on success than speed, and the next attack has to be bigger than 9/11. They could shoot up a mall if that's what they wanted to do. But the world is going their way. We've lost some 3,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've spent billions on those wars. There are more people willing to take up arms against the United States; we have less ability to win hearts and minds in the Arab world. If you're bin Laden, those things are part of the war and those things are going your way.
4: Has the war in Iraq helped or hurt in the fight against terrorism? MS: It broke the back of our counterterrorism program. Iraq was the perfect execution of a war that demanded jihad to oppose it. You had an infidel power invading and occupying a Muslim country and it was perceived to be unprovoked. The war has validated everything bin Laden said: the US will destroy any strong government in the Arab world, it will occupy Muslim holy places, it will seize Arab oil. Al Qaeda has said that it requires safe havens: it couldn't get involved with large numbers in the Balkans war because it had no safe haven in the region. Now they have a safe haven in Iraq, which is so big and is going to be so unsettled for so long.
5. Things seemed to have turned for the worse in Afghanistan. MS: The President was sold a bill of goods by George Tenet and the CIA: a few dozen intel guys, a few hundred Special Forces, and truckloads of money could win the day. In the end, we'll lose and leave. The idea that we can control Afghanistan with 22,000 soldiers, most of whom are indifferent to the task, is far-fetched. The Soviets couldn't do it with 150,000 soldiers and utter brutality.
6. Has the war in Lebanon also been a plus for the jihadists? MS: Yes. The Israel-Hezbollah battle validates bin Laden. It showed that the Arab regimes can't protect their own nationals. It also showed that the Americans will let Israel do whatever it wants.
7. What needs to be done? MS: We need to acknowledge that we are at war, not because of who we are, but because of what we do. We have a dozen years of reliable polling in the Middle East, and it shows overwhelming hostility to our policies, and at the same time it shows majorities that admire the way we live, our ability to feed and clothe our children and find work. We need to tell the truth to set the stage for a discussion of our foreign policy. We need to create a situation where moderate Muslims can express support for the US without being laughed off the block.

Lebanon
8) Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html
John Kifner, New York Times, August 24, 2006
Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of war crimes in its monthlong war in Lebanon, saying its bombing campaign amounted to indiscriminate attacks on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure and population. "Many of the violations examined in this report are war crimes that give rise to individual criminal responsibility,” Amnesty said in its report. "They include directly attacking civilian objects and carrying out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks." "During more than four weeks of ground and aerial bombardment by the Israeli armed forces, the country’s infrastructure suffered destruction on a catastrophic scale," the report said, contending this was "an integral part of the military strategy."

9) France to Send More Troops to Lebanon, Minister Says
Craig S. Smith, New York Times, August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24force.html
France told Israel Wednesday it would increase its commitment of troops to a multinational peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon in the coming days, as Syria warned that the positioning of a multinational force near its border would be seen as a "hostile position." The French foreign minister said that French president Chirac would announce a larger troop commitment as early as Friday. Last week, the UN circulated proposed rules of engagement that would allow the troops to use "deadly force" in self-defense, while protecting civilians or in support of the Lebanese Army’s efforts to keep arms from entering Lebanon from Syria. Some Europeans worry those rules could draw the force into the conflict by aligning it with Israel, which wants the force to police Lebanon’s border with Syria, the route by which most of Hezbollah’s weapons have been delivered in the past. Israel has said that it will not lift its blockade until the multinational force has been deployed at Lebanon’s airports and along the Syrian border. Lebanon regards the continuing blockade as a violation of the cease-fire agreement.

10) Lebanese Premier Seeks U.S. Help in Lifting Blockade: Israeli Restrictions Impede Commerce
Edward Cody, Washington Post, Thursday, August 24, 2006; A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301671.html
Prime Minister Siniora said Wednesday he has asked the US for help in getting Israel to lift the blockade it imposed on Lebanon.  Siniora's appeal reflected growing irritation among Lebanese leaders at continued restrictions under which the Israeli military controls all air and sea transport in and out of the country despite the U.N. cease-fire. The blockade has been particularly painful for Lebanon, whose economy depends on the free movement of people and goods. Only a few commercial flights have been permitted to resume from Beirut's international airport, damaged during the war but now repaired and ready to resume its role as a Middle East hub. Similarly, the once-busy Beirut port has been kept under strict controls enforced by Israeli gunships in the Mediterranean. Dramatizing the anger here, Labor Minister Tarrad Hamadeh of the Hezbollah party suggested Tuesday that Arab governments should send their planes and ships toward Lebanon in defiance of the Israeli blockade. His suggestion was not taken seriously, but the resentment it portrayed is widely shared in Siniora's government. Siniora said the US has the power to help Lebanon get normal transportation going again and suggested the Bush administration was not providing all the assistance Lebanon needs.

11) Negotiations Preceded Attack On Convoy of Fleeing Lebanese
Israeli Military Places Blame for Killings on U.N. Force
Edward Cody, Washington Post, Thursday, August 24, 2006; A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301809.html
"I could never have imagined that there could be an attack on this convoy of 3,000 civilians, men, women and children," said Karamallah Daher. But the attack was underway. Before it was over, a half-dozen missiles had been fired and seven people were killed, including a retreating Lebanese soldier, a Red Cross volunteer and five other civilians, and 36 people had been wounded. The Israeli military issued a statement the next morning saying the column was attacked because of suspicions -- which the military later acknowledged were baseless -- that the cars were smuggling arms for Hezbollah fighters. The military said it had received a request for safe passage for the convoy from the UN but that it had been turned down. Milos Stugar, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said that the request was granted. His statement was confirmed Wednesday by Gen. Alain Pelligrini, the UNIFIL commander, who said: "We had a green light." In response to questions from The Washington Post, the Israeli military put responsibility for the killings on UNIFIL, saying U.N. officials ignored Israeli orders to prevent the column from moving. The military "suspected that the vehicles were either returning from a weapons delivery to Hezbollah terrorists in the south or were fleeing from IDF forces with their weapons," the statement added. It did not address the questions of what led the Israeli military to believe the cars were carrying weapons or how, if a request for safe passage had come from the UN, the Israeli military could believe it was seeing a Hezbollah convoy.

Israel
12) Good Morning, Elijahu!
Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom, 23-08-2006
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1156357376
For decades I have warned again and again that the occupation is corrupting our army. Now the papers are full of learned articles by respected commentators, who have discovered - surprise! surprise! - that the occupation has corrupted our army. In such cases we say in Hebrew: "Good morning, Elijahu!" You have woken up at long last.

Palestine
13) Reporters' Kidnappers Denounced in Gaza
Associated Press, August 24, 2006, Filed at 12:19 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Gaza-Journalists.html
Palestinian officials on Thursday denounced a militant group that has demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the US in exchange for two kidnapped Fox journalists. Khaled Abu Hilal, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, said the kidnapping of Fox correspondent Steve Centanni, of Washington, D.C., and cameraman Olaf Wiig, of New Zealand, was harming Palestinian interests. ''We were shocked at their demands because we don't need a new door of hostility opened with the U.S.,'' he said. The kidnappers released a video Wednesday showing Centanni and Wiig. The journalists said they were being treated well, and Wiig called for those working on his behalf to exert pressure on the Palestinian authorities. In a statement attached to the video, a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades railed against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and characterized them as a war against Islam. It made no demands of Israel. The kidnappers of Centanni and Wiig demanded that Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails be released within three days in exchange for the hostages. Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, said Thursday that seeing her husband in the video ''was a source of great relief and comfort.'' Appealing to the kidnappers, she said: ''I don't question that you, who are holding them, have suffered greatly as everyone in Gaza and the Palestinian territories is suffering, but these two men are not responsible for the injustices that you speak of.'' The video marked the first time militants in Gaza have issued demands beyond the conflict with Israel. The footage had none of the trappings of locally produced videos, raising the possibility that foreign extremists may have taken root in Gaza. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh suggested the kidnappers had no ties to any of the Palestinian militant groups. ''The Palestinian factions are well known,'' he said after a meeting with Wiig's wife. ''They work ... according to a Palestinian agenda. Their struggle is with occupation of Palestinian lands.''

Mexico
14) Violent Civil Unrest Tightens Hold on a Mexican City
James C. McKinley Jr., New York Times, August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/americas/24mexico.html
For three months, civil unrest has gripped Oaxaca, leaving two people dead, crippling the tourist industry and shuttering schools. The original cause of the strife, a teachers’ strike for better pay, has become lost in the escalating violence and the demands of the protesters, who now insist that Gov. Ulises Ruiz step down. The teachers’ union has been joined by scores of social organizations. They have shut highways, taken over five radio stations, blocked off the city’s historic square, seized government offices, and barricaded tourists in their hotels. The state government has lost control of the center of the city, including its own offices, and is working out of improvised quarters with cellphones. Though each side has asked for federal intervention, President Fox has refused to send in troops. He has dispatched negotiators from the Interior and Labor Ministries, who have been unsuccessful in resolving the conflict.
Early Tuesday, police officers in a convoy that had been sent to clear blocked streets opened fire on a radio station that protesters had seized. An architect who worked for the state was killed. The protesters seized about a dozen radio stations on Monday afternoon after unidentified gunmen destroyed the broadcasting equipment of Channel 9, a public station the strikers and their allies commandeered early this month to spread their version of events. The state attorney general said someone had fired at the officers from roofs near the station, starting the gunfight. But witnesses said the police had opened fire twice without provocation. "They are the ones who brought arms, and we had nothing but rocks," said one teacher. "Ruiz talks out of both sides of his mouth. On the television he calls on us to negotiate. But in the streets at night, he tries to kill us." On Aug. 10, the husband of a teacher was shot and killed during a march to support the strike.
A spokesman for Governor Ruiz said the state lacks the money to meet the teachers’ salary demands. The teachers had asked for a pay package that would have cost $150 million, while the state’s final offer in June was about $8.5 million. The teachers also have asked for improvements, including new books and more classrooms, for a state school system that serves hundreds of thousands of students. Ruiz’s aides acknowledged that the government made an enormous error on June 14 when it used force, angering many teachers who were used to an annual strike and a resulting pay increase.
The city’s once-prosperous tourism industry is gasping for air. More than 1,000 hotel workers have been laid off, and tourists have canceled reservations well into 2007. The hotel and motel association estimates that the industry has lost $150 million in the last three months. [Note that this sum would have paid for the strikers' economic demands -JFP.] "No one has won anything here," said the president of the association. The federal government must intervene, he said, adding, "We are desperate."

Just Foreign Policy News
August 23, 2006

Summary:
U.S. Politics
An antiwar underdog is trying to assume the role of political giant-killer in Sept. 12 elections in New York, against Hillary Clinton. But Jonathan Tasini is struggling on a shoestring campaign to rise above his 12 percent standing in the polls, even as he hawks a message of anger over Iraq to an electorate more liberal than Connecticut’s. Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont are in a statistical tie in the race for US Senate, according to a recent survey. Among likely voters, 44% say they would vote for Lieberman, 42% say they would vote for Lamont.

Lebanon
International relief agencies that receive financing from the US government, are barred from giving money or aid through Hezbollah. But all the most demolished areas in southern Lebanon are the domain of Hezbollah, and little seems to bypass the group. Italy pressed fellow EU states Wednesday to send soldiers to join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Rome has said it could provide as many as 3,000 troops. Syria's president said he would consider the deployment of international troops along the Lebanon-Syria border a ''hostile'' move. Israel's foreign minister called the situation in Lebanon ''explosive'' and urged the international community to work quickly to deploy peacekeeping troops. Lebanese Prime Minister Saniora urged the US to help end Israel's sea and air blockade. An oil slick caused by Israeli bombing has begun sinking to the floor of the Mediterranean, blanketing marine life with sludge, according to a Greenpeace video. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed Wednesday while clearing unexploded Israeli shells in southern Lebanon, underscoring the dangers of a region awaiting the deployment of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers. Hassan Nasrallah, the name of the leader of Hezbollah, is a pretty common name in Lebanon. Israel’s elite commando unit staged a raid on the Hezbollah stronghold in Baalbek in the early morning darkness of Aug. 2, killing at least 10 people and carrying off five suspected guerrillas captured in a house. But the house belonged to Hassan Nasrallah the plasterer rather than Hassan Nasrallah the Hezbollah leader. Amnesty International accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.

Iran
Iran offered yesterday to enter into immediate and "serious" negotiations on a broad range of issues with the Bush administration and its European allies but refused a U.N. Security Council demand to suspend work at nuclear facilities by the end of the month. Several officials said Iran was willing to consider halting its nuclear program, but not as a precondition for talks. One Iranian official said suspension could come quickly if talks can begin and Iran can get answers to a list of questions included in the offer yesterday. Several officials said Iran wants a clarification about security assurances, namely whether the Bush administration intended to negotiate on the nuclear issue while seeking to topple the country's leadership. European diplomats fear that smaller countries on the Security Council are so angry over how the US and France have handled the Lebanon crisis that they will give Russia and China political cover to balk against imposing tough sanctions. Russia and China backed Iran's call for negotiations to end the standoff. The initial comments made clear the US is likely to face difficulty getting Russia and China to agree to any tough sanctions against Iran. Iran has already begun to brace for sanctions, calculating that an initial round would be relatively painless. But if the screws tighten, analysts expect the leadership to look for a face-saving compromise. Iran is forced to import more than 40 percent of its gasoline because it does not have refinery capacity to meet its own needs. Sanctions that block gasoline imports would be extremely painful. The House Intelligence Committee issued a report that concluded Iran was a strategic threat. The report found gaps in the ability of U.S. intelligence agencies to keep up with developments in Iran's nuclear program and suggested hiring more intelligence agents who speak Farsi.

Iraq
Americans increasingly see the war in Iraq as distinct from the fight against terrorism, and nearly half believe President Bush has focused too much on Iraq to the exclusion of other threats, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. 51 percent saw no link between the war in Iraq and the broader antiterror effort, a jump of 10 percentage points since June. The Marine Corps is planning to call up as many as 2,500 Marine reservists for combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has climbed back to 138,000, driven up in part by the need to control the escalating violence in Baghdad and the decision to delay the departure of an Alaska-based Army brigade.

Afghanistan
After months of widespread frustration with corruption, the economy and a lack of justice and security, doubts about President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and by extension the American effort to rebuild that nation, have led to a crisis of confidence.

Israel-Palestine
The Israeli government's plan to dismantle some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and redraw the country's borders is being shelved at least temporarily, a casualty of the war in Lebanon, government officials said. The plan, which propelled Prime Minister Olmert to victory in March elections and was warmly endorsed by President Bush as a way of solving Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, is no longer a top priority, Olmert said.

In this issue:
U.S. Politics
1) Clinton Rival Tries to Make Most of Liberal Anger
2) Lieberman and Lamont Tied in Connecticut
Lebanon
3) Relief Agencies Find Hezbollah Hard to Avoid
4) Italy urges EU to join Lebanon UN force
5) Violence Tests Israel-Lebanon Cease-Fire
6) Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks
7) Lebanese soldiers die clearing Israeli shells
8) What’s in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon
9) Israel accused over 'war crimes' - Amnesty
Iran
10) Iran Sanctions Could Fracture Coalition
11) Iran Won’t Give Promise to End Uranium Effort
12) U.S. Weighs Response to Iran Proposal
13) Russia, China Back Iran Calls for Talks
14) Iran Pushes For Talks Without Conditions
15) Bush Ensured Iran Offer Would Be Rejected
16) Trita Parsi and James Walsh on Iran's Response to the P5+1 Proposal
Iraq
17) Poll Shows a Shift in Opinion on Iraq War
18) Marine Reservists Facing Combat Duty
19) Number of U.S. Troops in Iraq Climbs
Afghanistan
20) Nation Faltering, Afghans’ Leader Draws Criticism
Israel-Palestine
21) Israel Delays West Bank Pullout

Contents:
U.S. Politics
1) Clinton Rival Tries to Make Most of Liberal Anger
Patrick Healy, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/nyregion/23challenger.html
As Ned Lamont basks in Connecticut victory, another antiwar underdog is trying to assume the same role of political giant-killer in Sept. 12 elections in New York, against much bigger prey: Hillary Clinton. But Jonathan Tasini is struggling on a shoestring campaign to rise above his 12 percent standing in the polls, even as he hawks a message of anger over Iraq to an electorate that is more liberal than Connecticut’s. Tasini's positions on the Iraq war, the death penalty and gay marriage are in step with the progressive groups and liberal bloggers that contributed volunteers, money and buzz to Lamont. Yet some of these partisans say they are deeply reluctant, and in some cases scared, to criticize or abandon Mrs. Clinton, who supported the invasion of Iraq. They cite her power in the Democratic Party and her careful positioning that has made her, if not antiwar, then a sharp critic of the administration’s handling of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the economy. A former union leader, Tasini has stirred some enthusiasm among voters - even young women, who are the Clinton core - and he is increasingly well received by liberal audiences, based on interviews with voters and time spent watching him work crowds.

2) Lieberman and Lamont Tied in Connecticut
American Research Group, August 22, 2006
http://americanresearchgroup.com/ctsenate/
Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont are in a statistical tie in the race for United States Senate in Connecticut according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among likely voters in November, 44% say they would vote for Lieberman, 42% say they would vote for Lamont, 3% say they would vote for Alan Schlesinger, and 11% are undecided.

Lebanon
3) Relief Agencies Find Hezbollah Hard to Avoid
Robert F. Worth And Hassan M. Fattah, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23lebanon.html
Like all international relief agencies here that receive financing from the US government, Mercy Corps is barred from giving money or aid through Hezbollah, which is labeled a terrorist organization by the US. But as with all the most demolished areas in southern Lebanon, where whole villages have been flattened by Israeli bombs and there is no food, water or electricity, this village is the domain of Hezbollah, and little seems to bypass the group. That fact is nettlesome for the US, not merely because it does not want Hezbollah to be strengthened even further after its war with Israel, but because it is eager to find and support a viable alternative to the group. That will not be easy. Hezbollah has been the fastest and, without a doubt, most effective organization doling out aid to the shattered towns and villages of southern Lebanon. Aid groups like Mercy Corps, which generally work through local intermediaries, have sometimes struggled to find other ways of helping, and even then, they cannot be sure their aid is not going through Hezbollah. "You can make a separation between what we do and Hezbollah," said Khiam’s deputy mayor, Muhammed Abdullah, who is organizing the local efforts, including donations of food and water from Mercy. "But of course there is coordination." On his desk is a paperweight with the logo of "Construction Jihad," Hezbollah’s building company, and in his anteroom are two posters of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader. Though Hezbollah is only one of many groups providing social services in Lebanon, its reputation for delivering those services honestly is unmatched, making it that much harder to circumvent.

4) Italy urges EU to join Lebanon UN force
Mark John, Reuters, Wednesday, August 23, 2006; 11:12 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300778.html
Italy pressed fellow EU states Wednesday to support its pledge of troops by sending soldiers to join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Rome has said it could provide as many as 3,000 troops of a European contingent of anything up to 9,000. The U.N. has authorized a force of 15,000 and is concerned that hostilities could reignite if deployment is delayed. French sources did not rule out further reinforcements being sent once the rules of engagement were set."We never said this was our last word," one French source said of their pledge of 200 troops. "We hope to get enough clarification to see how we can make further reinforcements." According to a U.N. document obtained by Reuters, new rules of engagement for the U.N. troops permit soldiers to shoot in self-defense, use force to protect civilians and resist armed attempts to interfere with their duties.

5) Violence Tests Israel-Lebanon Cease-Fire
Associated Press, August 23, 2006, Filed at 12:05 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Lebanon-Israel.html
Syria's president said he would consider the deployment of international troops along the Lebanon-Syria border a ''hostile'' move. Israel's foreign minister called the situation in Lebanon ''explosive'' and urged the international community to work quickly to deploy peacekeeping troops. Lebanese Prime Minister Saniora urged the US to help end Israel's sea and air blockade, and said his country was making ''every effort'' to secure its borders. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy renewed his calls for Israel to lift its air and sea blockade on Lebanon. ''If Lebanon is going to be reconstructed, if Lebanon is going to take off economically, the blockade must be lifted,'' he said. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert said the blockade would continue until an international force was deployed, a process that would likely take weeks or months.

6) Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks
Lauren Frayer, Associated Press, Wednesday, August 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-06.htm
An oil slick caused by Israeli bombing has begun sinking to the floor of the Mediterranean, blanketing marine life with sludge, according to a Greenpeace video that shows dead fish along the sea bottom. The scuba diver's videotape, released Tuesday by Greenpeace, graphically details some of the environmental destruction a month after the oil spill began sinking, creating what has been called Lebanon's worst-ever environmental disaster. The U.N. has said the spill could take as long as a year to clean up and cost $64 million.

7) Lebanese soldiers die clearing Israeli shells
Laila Bassam, Reuters, Wednesday, August 23, 2006; 11:14 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300281.html
Three Lebanese soldiers were killed Wednesday while clearing unexploded Israeli shells in southern Lebanon, underscoring the dangers of a region awaiting the deployment of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers. The three men were the first Lebanese troops to die since the army began moving south Thursday to bolster a U.N.-backed truce. If and when extra U.N. troops arrive, they will find a landscape littered with unexploded Israeli ordnance. A U.N. demining expert told Reuters Tuesday the Israelis had dropped cluster bombs on at least 170 sites in the south. An Israeli soldier was killed and three were wounded on Tuesday when they stepped on Israeli landmines in the south.

8) What’s in a Name? Not, It Seems, a Leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon
John Kifner, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23raid.html
Hassan Nasrallah, the name of the leader of Hezbollah, is a pretty common name in Lebanon. There are 32 Hassan Nasrallahs in the telephone book. But that is the tip of the iceberg because the book lists only land lines, which hardly anyone in this cellphone-crazed country uses anymore. So perhaps it is not surprising that even Israel’s elite commando unit became confused. It staged a raid on the Hezbollah stronghold in Baalbek in the early morning darkness of Aug. 2, killing at least 10 people and carrying off five suspected guerrillas captured in a house. But the house belonged to Hassan Nasrallah the plasterer rather than Hassan Nasrallah the Hezbollah leader. Israel released all five captives overnight.

9) Israel accused over 'war crimes' - Amnesty
BBC News, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 00:52 GMT 01:52 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5276626.stm
Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon. The human rights group says attacks on homes, bridges, roads and water and fuel plants were an "integral part" of Israel's strategy in the recent war. The group calls for a UN investigation into whether both Israel and Hezbollah broke humanitarian law. In a report released Wednesday, Amnesty International bases its accusations on an examination of Israeli attacks and comments made by Israeli officials during the conflict.

Iran
10) Iran Sanctions Could Fracture Coalition
Helene Cooper, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23diplo.html
Iran’s leaders did not agree to suspend enrichment of uranium, the central demand of the coalition. The question is whether Rice can keep the coalition together use sticks against Iran. The entire UN Security Council is supposed to vote on the sanctions package. While only permanent members can veto, the rising fear among European diplomats is that smaller countries on the Council are so angry over how the US and France have handled the Lebanon crisis that they will give Russia and China political cover to balk against imposing tough sanctions. "The Lebanese situation has caused a lot of bad faith and I think that will play into this,” said one European diplomat. Russia and China have deep economic interests in Iran and dislike the blunt instrument of sanctions. And for the West, any sanctions levied that could actually hurt Iran - its energy sector - would ratchet up already high global oil prices. Bush administration officials have said Rice received assurances in June that Russia would, at a minimum, sign on to a first phase of weak sanctions if Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment. Those sanctions would most likely include a ban on travel by Iranian officials and curbs on imports of nuclear-related technology. US officials portray their coalition as united. A senior Bush administration official said, "I don’t think there’s any question that there will be a resolution on sanctions." But the initial sanctions will undoubtedly be too weak to be effective, said some diplomats, who also predicted trouble if the US tried to prod Russia and China to take aim at Iran’s energy sector.  And if Iran has indeed held out the possibility of having talks about suspending uranium enrichment, as some reports indicated, that could further fracture the coalition. Smaller Council members are suffering from enforcement fatigue, analysts said, made worse by the specter of figuring out how to implement the Council’s resolution calling for a cease-fire in Lebanon.

11) Iran Won’t Give Promise to End Uranium Effort
Michael Slackman, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/middleeast/23iran.html
Tehran - Nasser Hadian, a political science professor at Tehran University, said that if the proposal offers concrete details to ensure that Iran does not divert enriched uranium to a weapons program - steps like intrusive inspections and real-time monitoring of the nuclear facilities with cameras - it is possible that Iran will win some more support from Russia and China. Iran has already begun to brace for sanctions, calculating that an initial round would be relatively painless. But if the screws tighten, analysts here said, they expect the leadership to look for a face-saving compromise. Iran sits on some of the largest known oil reserves, but is forced to import more than 40 percent of its gasoline because it does not have the refinery capacity to meet its own needs. Sanctions that block gasoline imports would be extremely painful, analysts here said.

12) U.S. Weighs Response to Iran Proposal
Associated Press, August 23, 2006, Filed at 11:09 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Iran.html
The Bush administration is taking its time responding to a mixed message from Iran that offers negotiations on its nuclear program but resists suspension of uranium enrichment. A White House spokeswoman said the Iranian response was getting careful consideration and review ''as it deserves.'' By not flatly rejecting the proposal the administration indicated there may be a basis for dealing with concerns that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The House Intelligence Committee issued a report that concluded Iran was a strategic threat and a country focused on developing nuclear weapons capability. The report also found gaps in the ability of U.S. intelligence agencies to keep up with developments in Iran's nuclear program and suggested hiring more intelligence agents who speak Farsi.

13) Russia, China Back Iran Calls for Talks
Associated Press, August 23, 2006, Filed at 10:45 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html
Iran urged Europe on Wednesday to pay attention to what it called ''positive'' signals in its counterproposal to a nuclear incentives package aimed at persuading Tehran to roll back its nuclear program. Russia and China backed Iran's call for negotiations to end the standoff. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said ''the door is still open'' for negotiations but only if Iran suspends uranium enrichment first, a step Tehran appears reluctant to agree to. The initial comments made clear the US is likely to face difficulty getting Russia and China to agree to any tough sanctions against Iran. Iran said Tuesday it was ready for ''serious negotiations'' on its nuclear program and cast its counterproposal as a new formula to resolve the crisis. The Iranian offer appeared aimed at enticing European countries and China and Russia into further negotiations by offering a broad set of proposals vague enough to hold out the hope of progress.

14) Iran Pushes For Talks Without Conditions
U.N. Demand for Freeze On Nuclear Work Rejected
Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 23, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082200367.html
Iran offered yesterday to enter into immediate and "serious" negotiations on a broad range of issues with the Bush administration and its European allies but refused a U.N. Security Council demand to suspend work at nuclear facilities by the end of the month. Bush administration officials said they will need time to study the Iranian response, but vowed to press efforts to impose economic sanctions against Iran if it fails to meet the deadline to freeze its nuclear program. European officials were quieter, saying privately that they did not want to rush toward sanctions before the deadline. U.S. diplomats at the UN tried to organize a meeting today, but European officials said they have no plans to attend. The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, is expected to meet with Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, this week. The Iranian response comes at a difficult time, when Iran is feeling emboldened in the region and the Security Council is juggling a multitude of crises in the Middle East, including the Iraq war and recent fighting in southern Lebanon. The instability has made many council members wary of ratcheting up pressure on Iran, a major oil supplier, if it will mean further confrontation in the region. Privately, several officials said Iran was willing to consider halting its nuclear program, but not as a precondition for talks. One Iranian official said suspension could come quickly if talks can begin and Iran can get answers to a list of questions included in the offer yesterday. Several officials said Iran wants a clarification about security assurances, namely whether the Bush administration intended to negotiate on the nuclear issue while seeking to topple the country's religious leadership.

15) Bush Ensured Iran Offer Would Be Rejected
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service, Wednesday, August 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-03.htm
Even before Iran gave its formal counter-offer to ambassadors of the P5+1 countries Tuesday, the Bush administration had already begun organising sanctions against Iran. Thus ends what appeared on the surface to be a genuine multilateral initiative for negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program. But the history of that P5+1 proposal shows that the Bush administration was determined from the beginning that it would fail, so that it could bring to a halt a multilateral diplomacy. Britain, France and Germany had concluded early on that Iran's security concerns would be central to any agreement. The Nov. 2004 agreement between the EU and Iran included an assurance that the "long-term agreement" they pledged to reach would "provide...firm commitments on security issues." The European three tried in vain to get the Bush administration to support their diplomatic efforts with Tehran by authorising the inclusion of security guarantees. The European three and the Bush administration agreed that the P5+1 proposal would demand that Iran make three concessions to avoid Security Council sanctions and to begin negotiations on an agreement with positive incentives: the indefinite suspension of its enrichment programme, agreement to resolve all the outstanding concerns of the IAEA, and resumption of full implementation of the Additional Protocol, which calls for very tight monitoring of all suspected nuclear sites by the IAEA. That meant that Tehran would have to give up its major bargaining chips before the negotiations even began. [Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix made this same point yesterday in a BBC interview - JFP.]

16) Trita Parsi and James Walsh on Iran's Response to the P5+1 Proposal
http://irannuclearwatch.blogspot.com/
http://www.freeconference.com/Recordings/ConferenceRecording-3239347-774599.mp3
On August 22, Iran formally responded with a 21 page memo to a proposal from the P5+1 seeking to resolve the dispute over the country’s nuclear program. The above link contains an MP3 recording of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation’s press conference with experts Dr. Trita Parsi and Dr. James Walsh.

Iraq
17) Poll Shows a Shift in Opinion on Iraq War
Carl Hulse And Marjorie Connelly, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/washington/23poll.html
Americans increasingly see the war in Iraq as distinct from the fight against terrorism, and nearly half believe President Bush has focused too much on Iraq to the exclusion of other threats, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. The poll found that 51 percent saw no link between the war in Iraq and the broader antiterror effort, a jump of 10 percentage points since June. The rising skepticism could present a political obstacle for Bush and his allies on Capitol Hill, who are making their record on terrorism a central element of the midterm election campaign. The Republicans hope that by expressing a desire for forceful action against terrorists, they can offset unease with the Iraq war and blunt the political appeal of Democratic calls to establish a timeline to withdraw American troops. Public sentiment about the war remains negative, threatening to erode a Republican advantage on national security. Fifty-three percent said going to war was a mistake, up from 48 percent in July; 62 percent said events were going “somewhat or very badly” in the effort to bring order and stability to Iraq. Voters in the poll indicated a strong preference for Democratic candidates this fall.

18) Marine Reservists Facing Combat Duty
With Volunteers Lagging, as Many as 2,500 to Be Called Up for Afghanistan, Iraq
Josh White, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 23, 2006; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082201080.html
The Marine Corps is planning to call up as many as 2,500 Marine reservists for combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, dipping into a rarely used pool of troops to fill growing personnel gaps in units scheduled to deploy in coming months. It is the first time the Marines have resorted to involuntary call-ups since the initial invasion of Iraq in March 2003, when about 2,000 Marines were ordered into service for a short duration. It means thousands of Marines across the country who have left active service could soon be forced to return.

19) Number of U.S. Troops in Iraq Climbs
Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, Wednesday, August 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-01.htm
The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has climbed back to 138,000, driven up in part by the need to control the escalating violence in Baghdad and the decision to delay the departure of an Alaska-based Army brigade.Troop levels in Iraq had been declining, from about 138,000 for much of last year to a low of about 127,000 earlier this summer, amid growing calls from Congress and the public for a phased withdrawal. Part of the latest increase is due to the overlap of units that are currently moving in and out of Iraq. But much of it comes from the decision late last month to delay the departure of the 172nd Stryker Brigade for four months. The brigade had served its one-year deployment and was beginning to head home to Alaska, but was instead ordered into Baghdad.

Afghanistan
20) Nation Faltering, Afghans’ Leader Draws Criticism
Carlotta Gall, New York Times, August 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/asia/23karzai.html
After months of widespread frustration with corruption, the economy and a lack of justice and security, doubts about President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and by extension the American effort to rebuild that nation, have led to a crisis of confidence. Interviews with ordinary Afghans, foreign diplomats and Afghan officials make it clear that the expanding Taliban insurgency represents the most serious challenge to his presidency to date. The insurgency and other issues have brought an eruption of doubts about Karzai, widely viewed as having failed to attend to a range of problems. Corruption is so widespread, the government apparently so lethargic and the divide between rich and poor so gaping that Karzai is losing public support, warn officials like Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy chairman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "Nothing that he promised has materialized," Hakim said, echoing the comments of diplomats and others in Kabul, the capital. "Beneath the surface, it is boiling."

Israel-Palestine
21) Israel Delays West Bank Pullout
Doug Struck, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 23, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082201088.html
The Israeli government's plan to dismantle some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and redraw the country's borders is being shelved at least temporarily, a casualty of the war in Lebanon, government officials said. The plan, which propelled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to victory in March elections and was warmly endorsed by President Bush as a way of solving Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, is no longer a top priority, Olmert told his ministers last weekend. Instead, the government must spend its money and efforts in northern Israel to repair the damage from the war and strengthen the area in case fighting breaks out again, Olmert said. Even without the financial considerations, the plan for unilateral withdrawal from some settlements is dead, other political figures and analysts said. The seizure of Israeli soldiers and the renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip - from which Israel withdrew last year - and in southern Lebanon -from which Israel withdrew in 2000 - have left the Israeli public with little appetite for additional pullouts. "It's not operative or realistically possible today," said Dan Schueftan, deputy director of national security studies at the University of Haifa and a proponent of the plan. But he predicted that "inevitably, we will have to come back to it."

Just Foreign Policy News
August 22, 2006

Summary:
U.S. Politics
President Bush Monday seized on Democratic calls for withdrawal from Iraq to make an election-year case that his political rivals did not properly understand the threats to the nation and would create a more dangerous world. Activists in New Haven asked for Sen. Joe Lieberman's Democratic party afffiliation to be revoked, citing state law calling for such affiliation to be "stricken or excluded" for two years if someone runs for office as a candidate of a different party.

Lebanon
President Bush called Monday for swift deployment of UN peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon, as European governments put off committing forces to the effort; potential contributors, are expressing concern about the rules of engagement. Italy has said it would be willing to lead a force in southern Lebanon, but only if Israel respected the truce. The aura of imminent violence is pervasive in southern Lebanon, the New York Times reports.

Israel
A group of Israeli reservists demanded the resignations of top officials and a national inquiry; they say that planning, training, and supplies, including food and water, were inadequate. Prime Minister Olmert dismissed the criticism, as well as widespread calls, including from his own cabinet, to resume negotiations with Syria.

Iran
As expected, Iran has apparently rejected the demand of the UN Security Council that it freeze its uranium enrichment activities. (It had said that it would give a formal response today.) The Iranian government is willing negotiate and consider a freeze, but will not accept a freeze as a precondition for the talks. U.S. officials said they would push for strong financial sanctions against Iran and expected support from Europe.

In this issue:
U.S. Politics
1) In Election Push, Bush Faults Talk of Iraq Pullout
2)  City Asked To Un-"Democrat" Lieberman
Lebanon
3) Bush Calls Need for Robust Lebanon Force "Urgent," as Europeans Continue to Seek Specifics
4) War Lingers in the South of Lebanon
5) Italy steps in with Lebanon offer
Israel
6) Israeli Reservists Demand Olmert’s Resignation
7) Olmert Rejects Syria Talks, Dismisses Soldiers' Protests
Iran
8) Iran Reportedly Rejects Demands to Halt Nuclear Efforts
9) Former President of Iran Invited to Speak in D.C.
Iraq
10) Violence melts last remaining pleasures in Baghdad
11) JonBenet Ramsey and Abeer al-Janabi
Palestine
12) Hamas speaker charged in Israel
Mexico
13) Mexico teachers extend protests

Contents:
U.S. Politics
1) In Election Push, Bush Faults Talk of Iraq Pullout
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, August 22, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/washington/22bush.html
President Bush Monday seized on Democratic calls for withdrawal from Iraq to make an election-year case that his political rivals did not properly understand the threats to the nation and would create a more dangerous world. It effectively signaled the beginning of a more outright political season for him and his aides as they work to help Republicans maintain control of Congress. The appearance offered a preview of the themes the White House and Republicans will use this fall during their most daunting electoral challenge of Bush’s presidency, with continued voter dissatisfaction over the course of the war, the high price of gasoline and the president’s overall job performance. Democrats have pointed to polls showing public support for the war continues to wane, and the president acknowledged as much on Monday. Analysts from both parties have called the war the biggest political liability facing the Republicans this year. Bush’s aides have urged fellow Republicans to embrace the conflict, and Bush seemed to go a step further, suggesting that he hoped the midterm elections would be fought over rival approaches on Iraq.

2)  City Asked To Un-"Democrat" Lieberman
New Haven Independent (Connecticut) - Tuesday, August 22, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0822-03.htm
The activists in New Haven, led by Henry Lowendorf of the Greater New Haven Peace Council, cited Section 9-61 of Chapter 143 of the state statutes in their request. That section allows for a Democrat's party afffiliation to be "stricken or excluded" for two years if he runs for office as a candidate of a different party. (http://search.cga.state.ct.us/surs/chap143.htm#Sec9-60.htm)

Lebanon
3) Bush Calls Need for Robust Lebanon Force "Urgent," as Europeans Continue to Seek Specifics
Helene Cooper, New York Times, August 22, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/washington/22prexy.html
President Bush called Monday for swift deployment of UN peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon, as European governments put off committing forces to the effort. A UN resolution on Aug. 11 authorized a force of up to 15,000 troops, but diplomats are talking of reducing that number substantially, particularly in light of France’s refusal so far to commit more than 200 troops. Diplomats said the force would probably not number more than 6,000 or 7,000 troops. Potential contributors, many of whom helped draft the resolution that authorized the force, are expressing concern about the rules of engagement, including what troops would be required to do. Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy told reporters Monday that his country was ready to lead the force, and would contribute perhaps 2,000 troops. Several Muslim countries have pledged troops, but Israel has said it does not want countries in the force that do not have diplomatic relations with it. The delay has heightened concern that the cease-fire, which wobbled somewhat on Saturday after Israel launched strikes in the Bekaa, might crumble.  France, after indicating that it would lead the force with a substantial troop contribution, has come under fire for its offer of only 200 troops, particularly given that it negotiated the resolution calling for the force and laid out the rules of engagement it now says it does not understand. Some said a schism between the French Foreign Ministry and the country’s military command may be responsible for the pullback.  "It’s like when Powell would negotiate something, and Cheney would say no," a US official said. A defense specialist at the Center for European Reform offered another view: "The French don’t want to be seen occupying a Muslim country…Shooting at the Israeli Defense Forces also would not go down well with the French Jewish community." He said the Italians "have less baggage than the French" because there are fewer Jews in Italy and because the Italians have less of a history of colonizing Muslim countries. Except for Italy, the European response so far has been dismal, UN officials said. "They’ve offered ships and frigates to police the Mediterranean,” said one official, "We need boots, not boats."

4) War Lingers in the South of Lebanon
Hassan M. Fattah, New York Times, August 22, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/world/middleeast/22lebanon.html
More than a week after a UN cease-fire took hold in Lebanon, the fighting has come to a halt, but the trappings of war linger on. The eerie sense of quiet in the villages and towns on southern Lebanon’s western edge underscores the sense of a war frozen in time, with the combatants still facing off and the deployment of international and Lebanese soldiers just a promise. The aura of imminent violence is pervasive. "I can tell you we’re still at war," said the mayor of Shamaa, a village less than 10 miles from the Israeli border. Israeli troops and Hezbollah soldiers clashed here on Monday, AP reported, leaving three Hezbollah fighters dead. "They don’t want peacekeepers here; they want someone to destroy Hezbollah," the mayor said. "Our safety is irrelevant. They just want to protect the border." Israeli military officials said that all of the reservists called up last month had been pulled out of Lebanon, but regular soldiers, estimated at 8,000 to 10,000, remained in Lebanon, awaiting the arrival of an international peacekeeping force. Hamaa remains a virtual ghost town as residents keep their distance. "The Israelis are still here and there are unexploded bombs everywhere," the mayor said.

5) Italy steps in with Lebanon offer
BBC News Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 15:22 GMT 16:22 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5273188.stm
Italy has said it would be willing to lead a force to police the ceasefire in southern Lebanon. But Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema warned his country could only fulfil its offer if Israel respected the truce. "It is right to demand that Hezbollah give up its weapons but we cannot send our soldiers to Lebanon while the Israeli armed forces continue to fire," he said. Italy's "positive role" has been welcomed by the Lebanese cabinet; Israel has also said it would be happy if Italy led the force. But Italy's offer appears to be conditional on an agreement being reached on a new UN resolution. Deputy UN Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown rejected Israel's view that countries it has no diplomatic relations with - such as Malaysia and Indonesia - should be excluded from the force. "[The UN peacekeeping force] must enjoy the confidence of Israel, but that doesn't give them a right to blackball individual contributions," he said.

Israel
6) Israeli Reservists Demand Olmert’s Resignation
Steven Erlanger, New York Times, August 22, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/world/middleeast/22israel.html
A group of Israeli reservist soldiers who served during the recent fighting in Lebanon, Monday demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz. The reservists say that their training was inadequate and that they were sent into Lebanon with unclear missions, inadequate supplies, outdated equipment and a lack of basics, like drinking water. They called for a national inquiry into how the war was waged.

7) Olmert Rejects Syria Talks, Dismisses Soldiers' Protests
Doug Struck, Washington Post, Tuesday, August 22, 2006; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101303.html
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday ruled out peace negotiations with Syria and rejected criticisms of the Lebanon war as reserve soldiers expanded their protests over the government's handling of the conflict. Olmert's Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Monday that Israel ought to restart the negotiations with Syria that ended in 2000. Since the fighting in Lebanon, there has been increasing public debate over whether to seek a deal with Syria that would bring peace to the border. "What we did with Egypt and Jordan is also legitimate in this case," Dichter said. A peace deal with Syria would involve Syria's demands for a return of the Golan Heights. "Before we negotiate with Syria, they should stop financing terror," Olmert said. He added: "The antitank weapons which took the lives of very many of our soldiers were supplied by Syria. I can tell you Syria is a committed, aggressive member of the axis of evil."

Iran
8) Iran Reportedly Rejects Demands to Halt Nuclear Efforts
Fred Barbash and Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Tuesday, August 22, 2006; 10:56 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082200367.html
Iran's semi-official news agency reported today that Tehran has "rejected suspension of its nuclear activities" as demanded by the United Nations Security Council but has proposed a "new formula for resolving the issue through talks." The Iranian government told senior European officials that it will not accept the condition set by the Bush administration and its Western allies for talks on the country's nuclear program and will continue enriching uranium, despite the threat of international sanctions, senior U.S. and European officials said yesterday. Diplomats said the Iranian government is willing to enter negotiations and to consider a freeze of the program, but it will not accept a freeze as a precondition for the talks. U.S. officials said they would push for strong financial sanctions against the Tehran government and expected support from Europe.

9) Former President of Iran Invited to Speak in D.C.
Robin Wright, Washington Post, Tuesday, August 22, 2006; A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101685.html
Despite a looming diplomatic showdown with Iran over its nuclear program, the Bush administration has agreed to issue a visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to give a public address at the Washington National Cathedral next month, according to the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, director of the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation. Khatami would be the most senior Iranian to visit Washington since Iran's 1979 revolution. Evan Anderson, deputy director of the Center For Global Justice and Reconciliation, said the visit comes at a critical juncture in U.S.-Iran relations, particularly in light of the current crisis in the Middle East. The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the cathedral, said, "It will be an honor for the cathedral to provide a platform for President Khatami." He added: "President Khatami's commitment to a dialogue between civilizations and cultures is an important component in the peace process. This is much needed in the world today." In February, Khatami founded the International Institute for Dialogue Among Civilizations and Cultures. He plans to speak in Washington on the dialogue of civilizations and the role the three Abrahamic faiths can play in the peace process. Plans call for the event, at the National Cathedral at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, to be free and open to the public.

Iraq
10)Violence melts last remaining pleasures in Baghdad
Reuters - Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:42 AM ET
It was one of Baghdad's last remaining pleasures, but even eating ice-cream is now too risky."I have brought my family just once this season. Each year is worse than the last," said Abdul Rasoul Majeed, a civil servant, savoring a rare vanilla ice-cream in Al -Ballut, a usually popular parlor in central Baghdad. Bombs and bloodshed drove Iraqis from the streets, parks and playgrounds of their capital long ago. But they kept coming out for ice-cream, at least until February, when a spasm of sectarian violence pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

11) JonBenet Ramsey and Abeer al-Janabi
Juan Cole, Informed Comment, August 22
http://www.juancole.com/#115623480111764195
Although I mind this pollution of the air waves with something that is not, whatever it is, news, the main thing I mind is the racism. The case of Abeer al-Janabi, the little fourteen-year old Iraqi girl who was allegedly raped and killed after being stalked by a US serviceman would never be given the wall to wall coverage treatment. That is frankly because the victim was not a blonde, blue-eyed American, but a black-eyed, brunette Iraqi. Both victims were pretty little girls. Both were killed by sick predators. The very pedophiliac nature of the crime is more or less covered up in the case of al-Janabi.

Palestine
12) Hamas speaker charged in Israel
BBC News Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 16:03 GMT 17:03 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5275340.stm
An Israeli court has charged the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Abdel Aziz Dweik, with being a member of the militant group Hamas. Dweik is one of dozens of Hamas officials to be detained by Israeli authorities in recent weeks. Hamas, which leads the Palestinian government, is illegal in Israel and regarded as a terrorist organisation. Standing in shackles before a court in an Israeli prison, Dweik said the court had no right to charge him. "It is a political trial, and I don't recognise it," Dweik said. "I am an elected official." Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian cabinet and a civil rights activist, said the case was politically motivated. "This is a political abduction, this is an attempt at exercising pressure and political blackmail, and we feel that this is in violation of all international laws and conventions, and Israel has to be held accountable." Dweik's lawyers have complained that he is being held in unsanitary conditions and that his cell is full of cockroaches.

Mexico
13) Mexico teachers extend protests
http://ne