Just Foreign Policy News October 12, 2006 Sign the petition - No War with Iran! At this writing, more than 1600 people have signed the Just Foreign Policy/Peace Action petition against war with Iran through the Just Foreign Policy website. Please sign and circulate today if you haven't already. Signing the petition takes less than a minute. To sign the petition, use this link: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html
What Happened in the World Today? While the person on the next treadmill at the gym learns which Hollywood starlet's heart was broken yesterday, you can keep up with what's going on the world. Subscribe to the Just Foreign Policy daily podcast: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/podcasts/podcast_howto.html Summary: U.S. The Army is gearing up to keep current troop levels in Iraq through 2010, AP reports. The announcement was the latest acknowledgment by Pentagon officials that a significant withdrawal of troops from Iraq is not likely in the immediate future. In President Bush's imaginary world, Saddam Hussein defied UN demands that he get rid of weapons of mass destruction and barred U.N. inspectors; al-Qaeda's public statements must be believed; and U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is unthinkable because it would let al-Qaeda "extend the caliphate," a mythical state that doesn't exist, writes Robert Parry. John Bolton was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Sweden's former deputy Prime Minister for "exposing Iran's secret plans to develop nuclear weapons," BBC reports. President Bush said Wednesday he would not use force against North Korea because "diplomacy hasn't run its course," but acknowledged many Americans wonder why he invaded Iraq but has not taken military action to head off North Korea's race for a bomb. The American-financed rebuilding of an Iraqi police headquarters that was meant to show a new approach to reconstruction has instead turned out to be rife with shoddy construction and is exposing security forces to unnecessary risk, a federal oversight agency said yesterday. A former Pentagon employee accepted bribes worth thousands of dollars for steering $6 million in contracts to an Iraqi company, according to an indictment released yesterday by the Justice Department. President Bush asserted yesterday the administration's strategy on North Korea is superior to the one pursued by his predecessor, because Clinton reached a bilateral agreement that failed, while the current administration is trying to end North Korea's nuclear programs through multi-nation talks. But the reality is more complicated, the Washington Post reports. Bush's current policy envisions bilateral negotiations with North Korea on certain issues, while it is not fully accurate to describe the negotiations that led to a 1994 agreement between the US and North Korea as purely the result of one-on-one negotiations. The US wants a vote on North Korea by Friday despite opposition from China to some of the economic and weapons sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its reported nuclear weapons test, Reuters reports. Iran The permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Wednesday to start working on U.N. sanctions against Iran, but failed to bridge differences on how harsh the penalties should be, AP reports. While the U.S. called for broad sanctions to punish Iran, Russia and China favored less severe measures. Iraq Iraq's Shiite-dominated Parliament approved a law on Wednesday enabling provinces to unite to form autonomous regions, in spite of vehement opposition by Sunni Arab leaders. Juan Cole notes that Sunni Arabs only agreed to run for office and participate in last December's elections because they were promised an effective voice on this sort of issue. The senior American commander in Iraq said Wednesday violence in Baghdad had reached its highest levels in recent weeks, despite the assignment of thousands more American and Iraqi troops to the capital in August. Israel Dovish members of the American Jewish community are planning to set up a pro-Israel alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Among figures behind the initiative are philanthropists George Soros, Edgar and Charles Bronfman and former Democratic congressman Mel Levine. Lebanon Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora warned Wednesday Israeli military flights over Lebanon were endangering the truce that ended this summer's war, the Washington Post reports. The UN considers the overflights a violation of the truce. Turkey Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel literature prize Thursday. His trial for "insulting Turkishness" raised concerns about free speech in Turkey. Turkey's Foreign Ministry congratulated Pamuk, wishing him continued success and saying the prize would help give Turkish literature a wider audience abroad. Egypt Former President Sadat's nephew Talaat was brought before a military court Wednesday, charged with defaming the army for saying his uncle had died because of military negligence. The case echoes other recent efforts to silence criticism of Egypt's leadership. Talaat, a member of Parliament, will be tried in secret with no right to appeal. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison. North Korea North Korea's second most powerful political figure threatened Wednesday North Korea would carry out further nuclear tests if the US did not change what he called its "hostile attitude." He dismissed the impact economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council would have. He said North Korea would refuse to return to six-party talks unless the US dropped sanctions imposed in 2005. Analysts have said the explosion Monday was small enough to suggest that the test partially failed or was not in fact nuclear. Colombia A battle to wean Colombian farmers off of the cocaine trade is quietly being cut back in a region where cocaine production is surging, AP reports. The US Agency for International Development cites security risks for its workers and a lack of private investment partners for its pullout from Caquetá State. Six years and more than $4 billion in American tax dollars after Plan Colombia began in Caquetá, coca is still the region's No. 1 cash crop. But programs to provide farmers with a profitable alternative to coca are vanishing. Contents: U.S. 1) Army: Troops to Stay in Iraq Until 2010 Robert Burns, Associated Press, Wednesday, October 11, 2006; 11:05 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092900471.html For planning purposes, the Army is gearing up to keep current troop levels in Iraq for another four years, a new indication that conditions there are too unstable to foresee an end to the war. Gen. Schoomaker, Army chief of staff, cautioned against reading too much into the planning, which is done far in advance to prepare the right mix of combat units for expected deployments. He noted that it is easier to scale back later if conditions allow, than to ramp up if they don't. "This is not a prediction that things are going poorly or better," Schoomaker said. Even so, his comments were the latest acknowledgment by Pentagon officials that a significant withdrawal of troops from Iraq is not likely in the immediate future. There are now 141,000 U.S. troops there. 2) Bush & His Dangerous Delusions Robert Parry, Consortiumnews.com, October 12, 2006 http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/101106.html In George W. Bush's world, Saddam Hussein defied UN demands that he get rid of his weapons of mass destruction and barred U.N. inspectors; al-Qaeda's public statements must be believed even when contradicted by its private comments; and U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is unthinkable because it would let al-Qaeda "extend the caliphate," a mythical state that doesn't really exist. At his Oct. 11 news conference, Bush gave the country a peek into his imaginary world, a bizarre place impenetrable by facts and logic, where falsehoods, once stated, become landmarks. Bush maneuvered casually through this world like an experienced guide making passing references to favorite points of interest, such as Hussein's defiance of U.N. resolutions banning WMD (when Hussein actually had eliminated his WMD stockpiles). "We tried the diplomacy," Bush said. "Remember it? We tried resolution after resolution after resolution." Though the resolutions had worked – and left Hussein stripped of his WMD arsenal – that isn't how it looks in Bush's world, where the resolutions failed and there was no choice but to invade. 3) Bolton Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize BBC News, Thursday, 12 October 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5398780.stm The US Ambassador at the UN, John Bolton, and long-time Iran investigator Kenneth Timmerman were formally nominated by Sweden's former deputy Prime Minister Per Ahlmark, for what was described in a press release in February as playing a major role in exposing Iran's secret plans to develop nuclear weapons. They documented Iran's secret nuclear build-up and revealed Iran's "repeated lying" and false reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a press release said. A Bush administration hawk, he has been a long-time critic of the UN and his appointment there caused considerable controversy. The US Senate has yet to confirm him in the post. 4) For Bush, Many Questions on Iraq and North Korea Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/washington/12prexy.html President Bush said Wednesday he would not use force against North Korea because "diplomacy hasn't run its course," but acknowledged many Americans wonder why he invaded Iraq but has not taken military action to head off North Korea's race for a bomb. "I'm asked questions around the country, 'Just go ahead and use the military,' " Bush said at a morning news conference "And my answer is that I believe the commander in chief must try all diplomatic measures before we commit our military." Then, without prompting, the president asked an obvious next question. "I'll ask myself a follow-up," Bush said. " 'If that's the case, why did you use military action in Iraq?' And the reason why is because we tried the diplomacy." Experts believe the nuclear buildup in the North dates back to the early 1990's, when the first President Bush was in office. Under an agreement Clinton struck in 1994, North Korea agreed to freeze its production of plutonium in return for energy aid. North Korea abided by the freeze, but starting around 1997, it took steps on a second, secret nuclear program. In 2002, after South Korean and American intelligence agencies found conclusive evidence of that program, the Bush administration confronted the North with the evidence that it had cheated while Clinton was in office. That led to the six-nation talks, involving the US, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. "The Clinton administration was prepared to accept an imperfect agreement in the interest of achieving limits," said Gary Samore, a North Korea expert who helped negotiate the 1994 agreement. "The Bush administration is not prepared to accept an imperfect agreement, and the result is that we have no limits." 5) U.S. Agency Cites Flaws in Another Iraqi Construction Project James Glanz, New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/middleeast/12reconstruct.html The American-financed rebuilding of an Iraqi police headquarters that was meant to show a new approach to reconstruction has instead turned out to be rife with shoddy construction and is exposing security forces to unnecessary risk, a federal oversight agency said yesterday. The headquarters project, in the volatile northern city of Mosul, is the second police-related contract to face harsh criticism recently. Two weeks ago, the same oversight agency told Congress of grotesque plumbing failures and other problems at a $72 million police college in Baghdad. In the earlier project, most of the criticism was directed at Parsons, the American contractor hired by the Army Corps of Engineers to carry out the work with the help of Iraqi subcontractors. But this time, in a step the Army Corps has said will eliminate some of the construction problems, the work was contracted directly to a local Iraqi company. But the Mosul police headquarters project, a $988,000 contract that was much smaller and presumably simpler than the earlier one, suffered some of the same troubles, according to a report released yesterday by the agency, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Brian Flynn, assistant inspector general for inspections at the oversight agency, said there had been no plans to look into the headquarters, called One West, until an inspection team happened to be in Mosul and was approached by the Iraqi police. The police "were so upset with the quality of construction that they asked us to inspect it while we were there," Flynn said. Problems with the construction were not hard to find, the agency's report said. One part of the contract called for the construction of 10 showers, 12 toilets, 10 urinals, 10 sinks and a changing room at One West. Instead, just one shower and one toilet had been built, and there was no changing room. A tree in the spot where the construction took place was allowed to remain standing, and its trunk was cemented into the building's structure. An electrical generator was delivered but not installed and instead of installing fans in the guard houses, as called for in the contract, workers installed extra windows, leaving the guards exposed in a city where police stations have frequently been attacked. The problems stemmed from a poor Iraqi contractor and a lack of inspection by Army engineers early in the project, said Stuart Bowen, who runs the oversight agency. "The issue is oversight," Bowen said. "Our experience is that where there is good oversight there are good projects." 6) American Accused of Taking a Bribe for Work on Iraq New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/middleeast/12bling.html A former Pentagon employee accepted gold jewelry worth thousands of dollars for illegally steering nearly $6 million in contracts to an Iraqi company for work at a sprawling American military base adjacent to Baghdad's main airport, according to an indictment released yesterday by the Justice Department. The indictment charges the former employee, Bonnie Murphy, with accepting a bribe and illegally padding her federal salary. From July to December 2004, court papers say, Murphy accepted gold jewelry worth $9,000 from the owners of the company in exchange for ensuring that they received lucrative contracts. Murphy, who worked for a Pentagon office responsible for disposing of surplus and hazardous materials, carefully followed through on her promises to the company, court papers charge. They allege that before each contract was awarded, she requested an outside contractor be used for the work and then recommended that the company that had given her the jewelry be hired. 7) Bush Faults Clinton Policy, But the Debate is Complex Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Thursday, October 12, 2006; A23 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101101793.html President Bush asserted yesterday the administration's strategy on North Korea is superior to the one pursued by his predecessor, because Clinton reached a bilateral agreement that failed, while the current administration is trying to end North Korea's nuclear programs through multi-nation talks. As Secretary of State Rice said Tuesday: "The US tried direct dialogue with the North Koreans in the '90s, and that resulted in the North Koreans signing onto agreements that they then didn't keep." But the reality is more complicated, according to former and current U.S. officials and a review of the diplomatic history. Bush's current policy, in fact, envisions direct, bilateral negotiations with North Korea on certain issues in the six-nation talks, such as missile proliferation and normalizing relations. That commitment to direct talks is enshrined in the agreement of principles reached in September 2005. Rice was prepared to authorize her chief negotiator to travel to Pyongyang in November 2005, provided North Korea shut down its nuclear reactor as a sign of good faith. It refused that condition, and the trip was scrubbed. It is not fully accurate to describe the negotiations that led to a 1994 agreement between the US and North Korea as purely the result of one-on-one negotiations. During talks that produced the Agreed Framework, in which North Korea said it would freeze its nuclear program, U.S. negotiators briefed Japanese and South Korean officials every day. South Korea and Japan agreed to bankroll much of the cost of the light-water reactors that were to be provided to North Korea under the deal. Robert Gallucci, chief negotiator of the accord and now dean of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, said it is "ludicrous" to say the Clinton agreement failed. For eight years, the Agreed Framework kept North Korea's five-megawatt plutonium reactor frozen and under international inspection, while North Korea did not build planned 50- and 200-megawatt reactors. If those reactors had been built and running, he said, North Korea would now have enough plutonium for more than 100 nuclear weapons. By Gallucci's account, North Korea may have produced a small amount of plutonium for one or two weapons before Clinton came into office - during the administration of Bush's father - but "no more material was created on his watch." When Clinton left office, officials saw signs that North Korea may have been attempting to create a clandestine uranium enrichment program, but nothing was definitive. Such a program would violate the Agreed Framework. When the Bush administration decided it had conclusive proof of that enrichment in July 2002, it confronted North Korea and terminated fuel oil deliveries promised under the Agreed Framework. In response, North Korea evicted the inspectors, restarted the reactor and retrieved weapons-grade plutonium from 8,000 fuel rods that had been kept in a cooling pond. Intelligence analysts now think that, before Monday's apparent nuclear test, North Korea had enough plutonium for as many as a dozen weapons. While the Bush administration accused Pyongyang, North Koreans complained bitterly that the US was the chief violator of the pact because the reactors were years behind in construction and because promises to end hostile relations and normalize ties were not fulfilled. 8) U.S. pushes for Friday U.N. vote on N. Korea sanctions Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, Thursday, October 12, 2006; 8:40 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200320.html The US wants a vote on North Korea by Friday despite opposition from China to some of the economic and weapons sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its reported nuclear weapons test. A new draft resolution is expected to be formally introduced to the U.N. Security Council Thursday by the U.S., leaving members the usual minimum of 24 hours to consult before a vote. China has agreed to some punitive measures against its ally. But the new U.S.-drafted resolution changes few provisions China opposed earlier, possibly delaying the U.N. timetable for a vote without further revisions. The resolution would impose an arms embargo, a ban on any transfer or development of weapons of mass destruction and a ban on the sale of luxury goods to North Korea. It would freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. And it adds a proposal by Japan that would allow, but not require, nations to bar the entry of individuals and their families connected to or supporting the North's policies on weapons of mass destruction. [This seems an odd provision for democracies to adopt. If your crazy uncle writes a letter in support of North Korea's nuclear program, you can be stopped at the border - JFP.] One controversial provision not changed in the new draft is authorization for international inspections of cargo moving in and out of North Korea to detect weapons-related material. Diplomats said China had rejected this earlier. [Without safeguards such a provision could be used to harass shipping of non-military goods -JFP.] Iran 9) U.N. Disagrees on Sanctions Against Iran Associated Press, October 11, 2006, Filed at 10:08 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html The permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Wednesday to start working on U.N. sanctions against Iran next week, but failed to bridge differences on how harsh the penalties should be, diplomats and officials said. They told AP that while the U.S. called for broad sanctions to punish Iran's defiance in pursuing its nuclear program, Russian and Chinese representatives at a top-level Vienna meeting favored less severe measures. One of the diplomats said that while the US had urged broad sanctions - such as a total ban on missile and nuclear technology sales - the Russians and Chinese backed prohibitions of selected items as a first step.He also said the Chinese and Russian envoys called for renewed negotiations with the Iranians in parallel to working on sanctions. Iran, OPEC's No. 2 producer of crude, is apparently ready to face the threat of sanctions because it is confident they will be more symbolic than damaging because of international concerns any tough penalties could prompt Tehran to retaliate by cutting off oil exports. Restating his country's defiance, President Ahmadinejad was quoted by state television Wednesday as saying ''the day sanctions are imposed on Iran by its enemies would be a day of national celebration for the Iranian nation.'' Iraq 10) In Victory for Shiite Leader, Iraqi Parliament Approves Creating Autonomous Regions Kirk Semple, New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/middleeast/12iraq.html Iraq's Shiite-dominated Parliament approved a law on Wednesday enabling provinces to unite to form autonomous regions, in spite of vehement opposition by Sunni Arab leaders who said it could splinter the republic and disadvantage the minority Sunni population. The vote was a victory for Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the dominant Shiite bloc, who wants to form an autonomous state from nine predominantly Shiite provinces of southern Iraq, a region that includes much of the nation's oil and other natural resources. The right to form semi-independent regions was guaranteed in the Iraqi Constitution, which voters approved a year ago. The law passed Wednesday defined the mechanisms of the process. The law allows provinces to hold referendums on whether to merge into larger states, but it imposes an 18-month moratorium on the process. Consent by a third of a province's governing council or a tenth of its electorate can prompt a referendum, which would then require approval by a majority of voters to pass. The Sunni Arab blocs and some Shiite and secular legislators, who had united last month to block the legislation, boycotted the session on Wednesday in an unsuccessful effort to prevent a quorum. But 140 of the 275 members attended and voted unanimously for the bill, AP reported. Sunni Arab leaders fear any plan to divide Iraq into regions would eventually shift control of its oil wealth to the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the south, leaving them with the relatively barren central and western regions. "We had our objections, and when they were disregarded, we found that the best way to deal with that was to boycott the session," said Salman al-Jumaili, a legislator from the Iraqi Consensus Front, the largest Sunni bloc. "We believe that implementing this law in its present form will be a prescription for dividing Iraq." In the governing Shiite coalition, which remains divided on the issue, legislators loyal to Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr have demanded that any discussion of federalism proceed only after American forces have left Iraq. Members of the Fadhila Party, a Shiite group wary of Hakim's power, had opposed the law because it did not include clauses to prevent the formation of one huge federation across southern Iraq. [Juan Cole notes in his blog: "Sunni Arabs only agreed to run for office and participate in last December's elections because they were promised an effective voice on this sort of issue, over which they had rejected the new constitution in all three provinces they dominate. This parliamentary maneuver has left the Sunni Arabs looking like fools and has left Iraq looking as though it has a tyranny of the Shiite majority. Expect more Sunni Arab violence as a result." http://www.juancole.com/ -JFP] 11) Top U.S. Officer in Iraq Sees Spike in Violence David S. Cloud, New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/middleeast/12military.html The senior American commander in Iraq said Wednesday violence in Baghdad had reached its highest levels in recent weeks, despite the assignment of thousands more American and Iraqi troops to the capital in August. The comments, by Gen. George Casey, came as President Bush said he was open to modifying strategy in Iraq if military commanders determined that a new approach was required. Bush was responding to questions about comments from, among others, Senator Warner, chair of the Armed Services Committee, and James Baker, co-chair of a panel reviewing Iraq policy, both of whom have said some new approach may be needed. General Casey said that the redeployment of troops to Baghdad in August had initially reduced the number of killings and bombings but that attacks had gone back up recently. "The levels of violence over the last few weeks are as high as they have been," he said. Israel 12) New pro-Israel lobby as alternative to AIPAC Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, 02:28 12/10/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/773520.html Dovish pro-Israel members of the American Jewish community are planning to set up a pro-Israel alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported yesterday. Among figures behind the initiative are philanthropist George Soros, who has not been involved with Israeli issues until now, philanthropists Edgar and Charles Bronfman and Mel Levine, a former Democratic congressman. Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin commended the establishment of the new lobby. Beilin told Haaretz the lobby would portray another facet of American Jewry. "It's important for both the administration and congress to know that AIPAC is a right- wing organization that represents only part of the Jewish community in the US," Beilin said. After meeting the lobby's other founders, Soros said he would take part in its founding ceremony on October 26 in New York. The founders have been discussing ways to persuade the Bush administration to increase its involvement in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The initiative for the lobby is spearheaded by David Elcott, executive director of the Israel Policy Forum (IPF), an advocacy think tank founded to counter AIPAC's objection to the Oslo Accords. Lebanon 13) Overflights by Israel Said to Violate Truce Anthony Shadid, Washington Post, Thursday, October 12, 2006; A24 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101101633.html Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora warned Wednesday Israeli military flights over Lebanon were endangering the truce that ended this summer's war. Siniora said the overflights were occurring daily. The UN, which considers them a violation of the truce, said it recorded 10 overflights of warplanes and surveillance drones from Oct. 3 to midnight Oct. 9. "I am willing to accept whatever any other sovereign country would accept for itself. Would they allow it?" Siniora asked. "I mean, would the US allow flyovers of Russian planes? If they would allow it, I accept it." Israel has said it will continue overflights of Lebanese territory until U.N. Resolution 1701 is, in its view, implemented fully. It says that would require the return of the two soldiers that Hezbollah captured on July 12 and an inspection mechanism to ensure that no weapons cross the Syrian border into Lebanon to resupply Hezbollah guerrillas. The overflights pose a delicate issue for Siniora, whose government has come under pressure from Hezbollah and followers of a powerful Christian politician, Michel Aoun, to resign in favor of a government they deem more representative. Since 2000, Hezbollah had represented the main armed presence in south Lebanon and had contended that the Lebanese army, vastly outgunned by its Israeli equivalent, was too weak to protect the border. After the August cease-fire, the Lebanese army was deployed to the south for the first time in a generation, a move Siniora hailed as one of his government's greatest achievements. Hezbollah has warned, however, it might act if Israeli violations of the truce continue and the Lebanese army and a newly strengthened U.N. force in the area do nothing to end them. Siniora said that, in time, the army might have to respond to Israel's actions. "It is the duty of our army to defend the country," he said. But he acknowledged the dispute would probably have to be resolved diplomatically. "Now we are exhausting all diplomatic channels and means, and this is how it should be done," he said. He noted that when Hezbollah was effectively guarding the border from 2000 to 2006, Israeli overflights were routine but the Shiite militia was largely powerless to stop them. Siniora's government, backed by the US and EU countries, is at the center of a growing polarization in Lebanese politics. The tension, often most pronounced between the country's Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities, has left many here gloomy about what lies ahead. Aoun and, to a lesser extent, Hezbollah have demanded Siniora's cabinet resign in favor of a "national unity government" that would give them more power. Corruption, rife in Lebanese public life, is one of their biggest complaints. So is what they view as the government's ineffectiveness. Turkey 14) Turkish Writer Orhan Pamuk Wins Nobel Matt Moore & Karl Ritter, Associated Press, Thursday, October 12, 2006; 11:38 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200164.html Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, whose lyrical gifts and uncompromising politics have brought him acclaim worldwide and prosecution at home, won the Nobel literature prize Thursday for his works dealing with the symbols of clashing cultures. The selection of Pamuk, whose trial for "insulting Turkishness" raised concerns about free speech in Turkey, continues a trend among Nobel judges of picking writers in conflict with their own governments. British playwright Harold Pinter, a strong opponent of his country's involvement in the Iraq war, won last year. Pamuk, currently visiting professor at Columbia, told AP he was overjoyed by the award, saying remarks he made earlier referring to the Nobel literature prize as "nonsense" were a mistranslation. He told AP he accepted the prize as not "just a personal honor, but as an honor bestowed upon the Turkish literature and culture I represent." Pamuk, whose novels include "Snow" and "My Name is Red," was charged last year for telling a Swiss newspaper Turkey was unwilling to deal with two of the most painful episodes in recent Turkish history: the massacre of Armenians during World War I, which Turkey insists was not a planned genocide, and recent guerrilla fighting in Turkey's overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast. "Thirty-thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it," he told the newspaper. The controversy came at a sensitive time. Turkey had recently begun membership talks with the EU, which harshly criticized the trial. The charges against Pamuk were dropped in January. In Turkey, fellow novelists, poets and publishers were among the first to congratulate Pamuk, but nationalists who regard the novelist as a traitor accused the Swedish Academy of rewarding the author because he had belittled Turks. Turkey's Foreign Ministry congratulated Pamuk, wishing him continued success and saying the prize would help give Turkish literature a wider audience abroad. Prominent Armenian writers also hailed the decision to award a Nobel to Pamuk. Egypt 15) Remarks Land Sadat Nephew in Military Court Michael Slackman, New York Times, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/africa/12sadat.html 25 years after President Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated, his nephew Talaat was brought before a military court Wednesday, charged with defaming the army for saying on television his uncle had died because of military negligence. Sadat's case has attracted wide attention in Egypt, because it has reopened a historical wound and because it echoes other recent efforts to silence criticism of the nation's leadership, political analysts and opposition Parliament members said. Sadat, a member of Parliament, has a long history of sparring with powerful people in the governing National Democratic Party. The government moved fast and hard against Sadat after he criticized the military for failing to protect his uncle and suggested there was a broader conspiracy that had not been revealed. The next day, the speaker of Parliament stripped Sadat of his parliamentary immunity, allowing him to be brought before a military court, where he will be tried in secret with no right to appeal. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison. "They want to get rid of me," Sadat said. "This is an act directed at distancing me from political life." North Korea 16) N. Korea's No. 2 Official Warns of Further Tests Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, Thursday, October 12, 2006; A22 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101100346.html North Korea's second most powerful political figure, Kim Yong Nam, indicated Wednesday North Korea would carry out further nuclear tests if the US did not change what he called its "hostile attitude." Kim dismissed the impact that economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council would have on his impoverished country. "Even as economic sanctions increase by day, our economy in general has entered a rising trend," he was quoted as saying. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, declaring that his country is "in gravest danger," moved Wednesday to ban imports from North Korea and stop North Korean ships and citizens from coming to Japan. Kim's remarks were the first public comment from a high-ranking North Korean official since the government announced a nuclear test Monday. He added that North Korea would refuse to return to stalled six-party talks aimed at its nuclear disarmament unless the US dropped sanctions imposed in September 2005 that target North Korea's alleged counterfeiting and other illegal businesses. Analysts have said the explosion detected in North Korea's barren northeast on Monday was small enough to suggest that the test partially failed or was not in fact nuclear. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso told a parliamentary panel that Japan had unconfirmed information that another test might be coming. Colombia 17) Less Aid for Colombian States Rich in Coca Associated Press, October 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/americas/12Colombia.html A $4 billion battle to wean Colombian farmers off the cocaine trade through a combination of military might and American aid is quietly being cut back in a region where cocaine production is surging. In an internal memo, the US Agency for International Development cites unacceptable security risks for its workers and a lack of private investment partners for its pullout from Caquetá State. Six years and more than $4 billion in American tax dollars after Plan Colombia began in Caquetá, coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine, is still the region's No. 1 cash crop. But the programs meant to provide farmers with a profitable alternative to growing coca are vanishing. Washington spends $70 million annually on development projects in drug-producing areas of Colombia. But under AID's new five-year, $350 million plan for development projects, Caquetá and four other Amazonian states where coca production is rising will not receive a penny. "Instead of investing generously to eliminate dependency on the illegal drug trade, we're being shunned," said Luis Fernando Almario, a congressman from Caquetá. An official at the US Embassy in Bogotá said resources from Caquetá would be redirected to areas with a greater likelihood of sustaining development. -------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming U.S. foreign policy so that it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.
