1228-2006f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses from all around the world’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - FPR Table - Subscribe to FPR

H1 Guardian Reality strikes back, but let's not have too much realism Timothy Garton Ash: In the coming year, we should not abandon all idealism along with the dangerous illusions of the Bush era.

The trials of occupation Burhan al-Chalabi: Executing Saddam will not bring peace to Iraq. That can only come when US forces leave.

Washington Post Bush and Security Advisers to Meet Today on Iraq Strategy Troop Increase Appears More Likely

Hayden's Hands-On Style Changes Tone at CIA Director Seeks to Improve Flow of Information, Restore Agency's Sense of Confidence and Mission

Annan and the U.N.'s Limits By William Shawcross, Kofi Annan deserves a good sendoff. For 10 years he has persevered with unfailing grace in what really is "a job from hell."

Close Adviser to Sadr Dies in U.S.-Iraqi Raid Killing sparks protests from Sadr's followers and complicates an already tense relationship with the powerful anti-American leader.

Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

NYT Iran’s Strong Ties With Syria Complicate U.S. Overtures

Sectarian Ties Weaken Duty’s Call for Iraq Forces U.S. forces are struggling with the task of trying to build up Iraqi security forces that are being used as proxies in a spreading sectarian war

Saudis Bark, Wait for America to Bite - Youssef Ibrahim (New York Sun)

Analysis: The House of Saud revealed Arabian Medicis

Winning In Iraq Requires Radical Shift - Ralph Peters, New York Post

Tensions Boil in Najaf After GI Kills Sadr Aide

IHT The Hamas factor
ROBERT MALLEY AND HENRY SIEGMAN The latest American and European bid to revive the long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process is fundamentally flawed in its denial of Hamas as a necessary partner

JCPA The Hamas Government: Between Tactical Pragmatism and Al-Qaeda Jihadism - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi

The Times Leader Bomb and Bombast Iran is more vulnerable to external pressure than outsiders tend to suppose

Financial Times COMMENT: The shape of things to come The US asks China to buy more dollars to prop up the sinking currency and offers the Seventh Fleet as collateral, says Guy de Jonquières, in FT’s light-hearted scenario of imaginary events in Asia in the year ahead.

EUROPE: A coming of age for the European currency

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Mystery man from South Korea ready to take office at the UN

Gazprom price row threat to European gas

Wall Street Journal Ford Aides Shape Bush Tenure President Ford's aides remain powerful figures in the Bush White House, and many have used their years in office to restore executive powers they felt were lost after Watergate.

Ha’aretz – Egypt transfers arms to Fatah with Israeli approval

Ari Shavit: Israel owes U.S., but not at price of peace with Syria

Israel Harel An agenda for talks with Assad

Shmuel Rosner: Ford - the leader who saved Israel from Nixon Was Ford a good President for Israel?

SOCOM strategic planning document. See "Capstone Concept for Special Operations 2006" (pdf)

Der Spiegel Germany Prepares to Take Helm of EU and G8 2007 will be a big year for Germany: As president of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to reenergize a flagging European project. And as chair of the G8, she will have to resolve some of the most burning issues facing the world's industrialized nations. Is the chancellor up to the job?

H2 Who Owns Kirkuk? The Kurdish Case Middle East Forum by Nouri Talabany

Foreign Policy Seven Questions: Will Turkey join the EU... or go nuclear? ...

Japan Times Opinions: Turkey's gaze is shifting East

Lockheed Martin Gets $635M Contract To Upgrade Turk F-16s DefenseNews.com

Ankara, Ermeni tasarısı konusunda ABD'yi uyardı

2006 Söyleşileri
Edward lutwak'la BBC için gazeteci Yasemin Çongar görüştü

2006 Söyleşileri
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu Alper Ballı'nın sorularını yanıtladı

Güler confirms no gas deal with Georgia

ERDAL ŞAFAK Bulgaristan ve Romanya AB'ye giriyorlar

Yeni Çağ 11 askerimizin başına çuval geçiren ABD’ye nota verilmesini isteyenleri, “Ne notası veriyorsun, müzik notası mı?”diye tersleyen Erdoğan, sıra Azerbaycan’a gelince böyle demedi...

Amerika ile dev F-16 anlaşması

Koordinatör isyanı

Ümit ÖZDAĞ Ortadoğu’da çatışan strateji mi?

ASLI AYDINTAŞBAŞNoel gecesi baskını

Rehn: Tren kazası önlendi

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

Mehmet Tezkan PKK meselesini çözeceğim diyen partiye oy mu verirler, ceza mı..

DTP lideri Türk: Üniter devleti tartışmıyoruz

Apo’dan Roj TV’ye baharda terör sinyali

Lawsuit filed against Masrour Barzani [Michael Rubin]
National Review Online Blogs

MAHMUT ÖVÜR 'Barış için bir şeyler yapılmalı'

Tan: Irak Türkiye'yi ilgilendirir

Hasan Cemal Acının, umudun, siyasetin dili!

Meral TAMER / Türk ve Kürt annelerin ortak dili

Arslan BULUT Erdoğan, GAP’ı da Yahudi sermayesine teslim edecek!

Kürt bayrağı ve marşı DEĞİŞMEYECEK

Ergun Babahan Bir insanlık sorunu

Google News Greece - Cyprus

Deniz Ülke Arıboğan
Enerji oyunları

MGK gündemi AB ve terör

Erdoğan’dan yılın ilk ziyareti Lübnan’a

İlgi ve destek için ’teşekkür kokteyli’

Mumcu Ülkenin gerçek sorunu başörtüsü değil açlıktır

Şahin Alpay Gazeteciliğin meslek ilkeleri de vardır

AGİT'ten Azerbaycan'a Eleştiri

13 Turkish Villagers Acquitted in Attack on US Troops

Iran Predictions in 2007
The Conservative Voice

Kurds threaten to 'annex' Kirkuk if referendum not held in 2007

Looking to the East KurdishMedia.com - By Mizgin Yilmaz Washington rejects a political solution to the Kurdish situation in North Kurdistan for the business interests of its own defense industry.

Türkiye ve Suriye'de Kürtçe Kitap Yayımcılığının Dünü ve Bugünü

CFR Ford’s Impact on Foreign Policy

H3 Tempo MİT'İN GİZLİ KERKÜK RAPORU!

Semih İDİZ / Washington, Erdoğan'ın Çankaya'ya çıkmasına sıcak bakmıyor

F-16 ihalesi PKK Koordinatörü'ne

Büyük hedefler (2) Gündüz Aktan

Kandil'e operasyon hakkımız saklı

Ruşen Çakır Yine İran, hep İran

SOLİ ÖZEL Kısmi bilanço

Did Lampedusa prophesy Sicily - or Turkey? Burak Bekdil

Cengiz Çandar Saddam’ın idamı, Irak’ın şiddet kültürü

[Yorum - Doç. Dr. İbrahim Kalın] Vekalet savaşları ve Ortadoğu'nun geleceği

[Yorum - Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan] Saddam'ın idamı ABD'yi kurtarmaz

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri - Dış Basında Güncel Türkiye Bülteni

Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700

Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

BBC 28 Aralık 2006 Basın Özeti

Sami KOHEN / Bir çatışma noktası daha...

Cengiz Çandar Bugün yazıları

Birand Bütün mesele mayın haritası mı?

Ertuğrul Özkök Asker buna gerçekten kızar mı

İşte Cumhurbaşkanlığı kavgasının gerçek sebebi

CHP lideri Baykal: Erdoğan'ın adaylığı çürüyor Murat Yetkin

Hukuku zorlamayın İsmet Berkan

Bilal Çetin Bakan Çiçek’ten Kanadoğlu yorumuna sert yanıt: “Militanca ve siparişe uygun postmodern bir çaba”

[Haber Analiz] Daha önce 'üçte iki çoğunluk' şartı aranmadı

Hükümetten Kanadoğlu'na cevap: Postmodern ve hukukî olmayan bir yorum

Yusuf KANLI Will he, won't he?

Demirel Cumhurbaşkanını halk seçsin

Demirel: AKP'nin yasal engeli yok

Ahmet Hakan Baykal’ın 6 günahı

Güler Kömürcü Tehlikeli kararlar

Cüneyt Ülsever Milletler layık oldukları idarelere kavuşurlar

Şükrü Küçükşahin AKP’nin Baykal’a biçmek istediği misyon

İrtica bahane, iktidar şahane Hasan Celal Güzel

Yetişkinler eğitimi Tarhan Erdem

Dışişleri ve içişleri Turgut Tarhanlı

Taha Kıvanç

Fehmi Koru

NAZLI ILICAK Vatanı bize armağan edenler

Ömer Lütfi Mete Köşk’e dair ne var, ne YÖK

TUİK Yoksulluk Çalışması

Seyfettin Gürsel Gelir eşitsizliği azalıyor

Ercan Kumcu Çelişen öncelikler

Gelir dağılımı ve yoksulluk Mahfi Eğilmez

Deniz Gökçe Meğer yoksulluk da azalıyormuş!

Şirket borcu-patron borcu Korkmaz İlkorur

Halk Bankası ne kadar eder? Yiğit Bulut

Sermaye kontrolleri? Fatih Özatay

Fikret BİLA / Milli gelir ve asgari ücret düzeyi

Hurşit GÜNEŞ / Yoksulluk azalıyor, gelir dağılımı iyileşiyor!

Güngör URAS / 15 milyon yoksulumuz var

Ciner, Koç'tan Şahenk'ten zengin mi?

Gazi Erçel Bütçe gerginlik kıskacında

Atilla Yeşilada 2007’de ekonomi

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM Borsanın yaşgününü unutmak neyin göstergesi?

FATİH ALTAYLI Yalan mıymış?

H4 New York Times nytcolumns

BOB HERBERT Lessons Never Learned We could have learned something when James Brown was on the charts and Gerald Ford was in the White House.

After Ford's Death, Tributes Are Set for Capital

Islamists Seem to Give Up Grip on Somali City

H5 Washington Post Bush and Security Advisers to Meet Today on Iraq Strategy

Troop Increase Appears More Likely

Hayden's Hands-On Style Changes Tone at CIA

Director Seeks to Improve Flow of Information, Restore Agency's Sense of Confidence and Mission

Annan and the U.N.'s Limits By William Shawcross, Kofi Annan deserves a good sendoff. For 10 years he has persevered with unfailing grace in what really is "a job from hell."

Close Adviser to Sadr Dies in U.S.-Iraqi Raid

Killing sparks protests from Sadr's followers and complicates an already tense relationship with the powerful anti-American leader.

Letter in Hussein's Name Urges Iraqis 'Not to Hate'

Russians Open New Probe of Oil BaronFormer Yukos Head Faces Allegation of Money-Laundering

Ethiopian Troops Take Key Town In Somalia orces Advance To Just 18 Miles From the Capital

38th President Leaves A Legacy of Healing

Editorial Gerald R. Ford An unlikely president who restored trust in the office

Profile in Decency When the country needed healing, reconciliation and restoration of confidence, Gerald Ford provided it.

How Ford's Legacy Still Serves By David S. Broder

A Soother's Missteps By Robert D. Novak

Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

Moral Leadership By Ron Nessen

The Nixon Pardon Closing the Chapter on Watergate Wasn't Done Lightly y Bob Woodward,

H6 Guardian Reality strikes back, but let's not have too much realism
Timothy Garton Ash: In the coming year, we should not abandon all idealism along with the dangerous illusions of the Bush era.

The trials of occupation Burhan al-Chalabi: Executing Saddam will not bring peace to Iraq. That can only come when US forces leave.

Pope asked to let Muslims pray in cathedral · Córdoba's former mosque 'must be open to all faiths'
· Letter follows Islamic anger over papal remarks

H7 Coalition General Calls 2007 a “Year of Transition” in Iraq

Winning In Iraq Requires Radical Shift - Ralph Peters, New York Post

Bush Digging in Heels on Iraq Course Change

Bush Staff Bristles at Troop Level Criticism

Washington Times U.S. war policy (Harlan Ullman)

To win in Iraq By Fred Gedrich and Paul E. Vallely Changes in tactics essential

Boston Globe A reason to keep Saddam alive

A moment of truth in the Middle East By Nadav Tamir)

Daily Star Mubarak promises a lot, but Egyptians have heard most of it before

In praise of Lebanese sectarianism By Michael Young

American blunders have led to Middle Eastern chaos By Ghassan Atiyyah

Fouad Ajami, or the dangers of the foreigner's gift By Rami G. Khouri

Kuwait: Is the beginning of real politics taking place? By Nathan J. Brown

The delusion of a dialogue with Syria
By Ammar Abdulhamid

What Bush Can Learn From Ford - Michael Hirsh, Newsweek

The Egyptian Origins of Al-Qaeda - Austin Bay, RealClearPolitics

Hit Iran Where It Hurts - Dick Morris & Eileen McGann, NY Post

H8 Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq

Saudis Bark, Wait for America to Bite - Youssef Ibrahim (New York Sun)

Analysis: The House of Saud revealed Arabian Medicis

Tensions Boil in Najaf After GI Kills Sadr Aide

Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq" Urges Immediate Support for Somali Islamists

U.A.E. to sell dollars for euros

Iraq Prepares for Rapid Saddam Execution

Ba'ath Party Threatens to Hit US Targets if Saddam Executed

US Soldiers Divided Over Saddam Execution Order

Saddam Letter: Key Excerpts

Iraqi Govt: Saddam Execution Might Not Need President's Approval

Iran: Expert Says UN Sanctions Leading To Lose-Lose Situation

Conspiracy Theories Bloom In Arab and Iranian Press
New York Sun

UPI Outside View: What happened to the Arabs?

Al hayat The French Presidency in 2007 Randa Takieddin

Al Awsat 2006, 2007: What Happened and What Will Happen to the Arabs : Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban

Dec 27 IA# 311 - Debate over the Status of Shi'ites in Egypt

As Iraq degenerates enter the Saudis
Middle East Times

Time A Dark Deja Vu in Somalia

H9 Ha’aretz – Egypt transfers arms to Fatah with Israeli approval

Aluf Benn: PM, Peretz don't care about life for the Palestinians

Ari Shavit: Israel owes U.S., but not at price of peace with Syria

Israel Harel An agenda for talks with Assad

Eldar Assad's French nightmare

Shmuel Rosner: Ford - the leader who saved Israel from Nixon Was Ford a good President for Israel?

PM: Opposition to Syria talks not the result of U.S. pressure

Jerusalem Post Exclusive: Hizbullah paying terrorists for Kassam attacks

How the West could lose
[ DANIEL PIPES

Daily Alert.org - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel –

The Hamas Government: Between Tactical Pragmatism and Al-Qaeda Jihadism - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi

67% of polled youth: Israel 'deteriorating' Half at conference would give Israel's leadership a 'failing grade.

LA Times Deputy in Mel Gibson arrest claims harassment Six months after the Malibu DUI stop, an L.A. County Sheriff's deputy says he's been unfairly singled out for scrutiny by his supervisors.

H10 Christian Science Monitor

REMEMBERING TWO GIANTS OF ECONOMICS Milton Friedman: Objective scientist first

John Kenneth Galbraith knew capitalism as lived

Pro-government forces close on Islamist-held Somali capital Ethiopia says Somali and Ethiopian troops are 'halfway' to defeating Islamic Courts militias.

In Japan, new nationalism takes hold The country's post-World War II pacificism is being challenged by a more assertive, patriotic attitude.

Pakistan proposes fence to rein in Taliban

ASIA The Sankei Article on Japanese Nukes [2]

H11 IHT The Hamas factor
ROBERT MALLEY AND HENRY SIEGMAN
The latest American and European bid to revive the long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process is fundamentally flawed in its denial of Hamas as a necessary partner.

Bush's losing team H.D.S. GREENWAY / The Boston Globe
For six years the Bush administration's national security team has been a dysfunctional family soap opera.

Problems without borders ANNA HUSARSKA
While the tragedy of Darfur in western Sudan captures the world's attention, the fragile peace in southern Sudan goes almost unnoticed.

EUROPE CSM Why cops in Sofia don't want your bribe EU pressure has helped reformers crack down on corruption ahead of Bulgaria and Romania's Jan. 1 accession.

Der Spiegel Germany Prepares to Take Helm of EU and G8 2007 will be a big year for Germany: As president of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to reenergize a flagging European project. And as chair of the G8, she will have to resolve some of the most burning issues facing the world's industrialized nations. Is the chancellor up to the job?

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

Kasparov makes Putin play defense In his 20 years at the top of the professional chess world, Garry Kasparov was known as a risk-taker, a relentless aggressor who loved to throw his opponents off balance.

Russia Links Israeli Businessman to Murder of Ex-Spy Litvinenko

South Ossetia's Vladikavkaz Connection
A EURASIANET PHOTO COMMENTARY BY DANIEL J. GERSTLE
The Russian Duma's December 6 resolution calling for recognition of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia sparked outrage within Georgia, and some degree of befuddlement abroad. Outsiders may wonder why Russian lawmakers, who oppose secessionists at home, voted to support independence for the territory. Ossetian national ideology and the Ossetian people's historic ties with Russia provide the key to understanding this relationship.

Der Spiegel Belarus Threatens to Shut Off Gas Pipelines to Western Europe

H13 The Times Leader Bomb and Bombast Iran is more vulnerable to external pressure than outsiders tend to suppose

Hundreds apply to be Saddam's hangman

Victor's justice will deepen rifts that threaten Iraqi unity The rapid confirmation of the death sentence against Saddam Hussein is a long step backwards for Iraq

Winter gas supplies face new threat The Russian gas giant Gazprom has given warning supplies to Western Europe would be interrupted unless a dispute with Belarus is settled

Iran fury at Blair 'tirade of allegations'

Wall Street Journal Ford Aides Shape Bush Tenure President Ford's aides remain powerful figures in the Bush White House, and many have used their years in office to restore executive powers they felt were lost after Watergate.

President Ford History dealt him a weak hand; he played it well.

Persian . . . or Iranian? A referendum on a nation's identity. By ROYA HAKAKIAN

H14 Financial Times COMMENT: The shape of things to come The US asks China to buy more dollars to prop up the sinking currency and offers the Seventh Fleet as collateral, says Guy de Jonquières, in FT’s light-hearted scenario of imaginary events in Asia in the year ahead.

EUROPE: A coming of age for the European currency

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Mystery man from South Korea ready to take office at the UN

Gazprom price row threat to European gas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Hit Iran where it hurts or accept the inevitable

Gulf Arab states ride the petrodollar boom The past year will be remembered in the Middle East for Iraq's tragic slide into sectarian conflict and Israel's misguided war in Lebanon. Less noticed, though no less...

Iraqis split over death penalty for Saddam

US manufacturers step up pressure on trade

COMMENT: America's year of normality - despite Borat and MySpaceAmerican exceptionalism appeals to both America-lovers and haters, to foreigners fascinated by the ‘otherness’ of the world’s lone superpower and to natives who rejoice in their own distinctiveness, writes Christia Freeland.

A coming of age for the European currency...

COMMENT: Behold Marx's twitchWhat does it take to kill an idea whose time has passed? It seems Karl Marx’s lips are beginning to twitch again in Europe as fresh attempts are made to reanimate his ideas, writes John Thornhill.

H15 Los Angeles Times Rough justice for Saddam Editorial: The prospect of Saddam Hussein's hanging may focus Iraqis' minds on what kind of nation they want.

Basra raid sends message

The British-led move against rogue forces challenges Iraqis to get a grip on security.

The Jerry Ford magic Jonah Goldberg: For good reason, Ford's presidency never galvanized partisans the way others' did.

Iran parliament votes to reconsider ties with IAEA

Hezbollah rises from ruins of its Beirut home

FT COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Introspection on the incidents of infamy

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Concern for polar bear could signal shift in US policy on global warming

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Past lives, current issues: how Japan's top daily is forcing a war reappraisal Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman and editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri newspaper, may have discovered that, although nationalists have become more vociferous in recent years, Japanese public opinion is still implacably moderate.

H16 American Politics GOP corporate allies in Congress's cross hairs

Pharmaceutical companies and Big Oil look to be Democrats' first targets after the party takes control of Capitol Hill in January.

In the latest Evans-Novak Political Report, conservative columnist Robert Novak suggests that Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) "aggressive" push for a U.S. troop expansion - or "surge" - in Iraq may be costing the top 2008 GOP contender in the polls, especially when matched against another presumed front-runner, Sen. Hillary Clinton

Edwards faces new hurdles as he launches White House bid

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note - Early Bird GovExec

FBI Says Files in Leak Cases Are 'Missing'

Edwards Theme: U.S. Poverty

The 2008 race is shaping up as the most crowded in some time, with no incumbent or sitting vice president. Edwards is trying again.

H17 Daily Telegraph Misplaced fears of a Balkan invasion

Bulgaria's capital is not the loveliest of cities, writes Alex Spillius, and on first impressions, it is somewhere people might well want to leave.

H18 Independent Saddam sends messages to his supporters as he prepares to die

Leading article: President Bush to the rescue?

Adrian Hamilton: The meaningless execution of a tyrant

The Big Question: Has Jacques Chirac's presidency been a complete disaster for France?

Belarus threatens retaliation over strong arm tactics by Gazprom

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

Al Qaeda in 2007: The Continuing Devolution
Stratfor

Boston Globe Editorial No mercenaries in US uniforms

Heritage Grow America's Ground Forces and Don't Forget the Reserve Component

Outside View: Building a bigger U.S. Army

Human Resource Management and Army Recruiting: Analyses of Policy Options Source: RAND Corporation

SOCOM strategic planning document. See "Capstone Concept for Special Operations 2006" (pdf)

"Special Operations Forces (SOF) and CIA Paramilitary Operations: Issues for Congress," Congressional Research Service

Christopher Hitchens

"Nuclear Arms Control: The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty," updated October 12, 2006.

H21 What's next in tech? MySpace in 2004. YouTube in 2006. Tech experts look ahead to the innovations that will change our lives in 2007.

WSJ.com's Best Read of 2006

What interested WSJ Online readers most in 2006?

Salon Editor's picks 2006: Books

Hitting the big time with that air guitar So, you noticed the huge success this year of YouTube, MySpace and all the other websites that rely on the videos, photos, blogs and assorted ramblings of ordinary...

Google News / Slate Today's Papers / memeorandum / antiwar.com - political theory Arts & Letters Daily / Media Roundup / University Channel / DocuTicker / Arts & Letters Daily/ PolicyPointers / cursor / realclearpolitics / Drudge Report| raw story | truthout / Dayan Current Contents / Blogometer - Wikipedia technorati / Slate's Today's Blogs Stratfor

Juan Cole - Kevin Drum - Belgravia Dispatch - washington realist - Tom Barnett - democracy arsenal - - Josh Marshall - Daniel Drezner - Laura Rozen - the washington note - David Corn - SyriaComment - William Arkin - Phil Carter - Helena Cobban - MatthewYglesias - Oxblog - Brad DeLong - coming anarchy / Wonkette William Arkin Tom Hayden - IraqSlogger

PostGlobal - AmericaAbroad -The Corner - Passport - huffingtonpost / Pajamas Media / Open University / nytcolumns CounterterrorismBlog Today in Iraq / OutSide the Beltway - InstaPundit - winds of change Kausfiles - Becker Posner-andrewsullivan.com - Registan - armscontrolwonk - IsraPundit Regime Change Iran