0112-2007f - 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 Washington Post Five Flaws in the President's Plan By Zbigniew Brzezinski,

New York Times Bush’s Iraq Plan, Between the Lines By ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN Taken as a whole, President Bush’s speech raised more questions than it answered about his new strategy for the war in Iraq.

CHECKLIST Anthony Cordesman - A checklist for judging President Bush's speech on Iraq.

CFR Haass: Bush’s Speech Marks ‘Re-Americanization’ of Iraq Policy

FT Editorial Editorial Surge towards debacle in Iraq and MidEast Right now, George W. Bush has the support of no more than one in four Americans for this so-called surge of extra troops. Very soon, as Iraq is pulled bloodily to pieces, he will have none

The Economist Israel and the Jews Second thoughts about the Promised Land Jews all around the world are gradually ceasing to regard Israel as a focal point. As a result, many are re-examining what it means to be Jewish

The Chinese Century - Michael Elliott, Time

PBS Plan to Increase Troop Numbers Comes Under Broad Scrutiny Brzezinski and Mead

WP Editorial Fight and Talk President Bush is taking chances with U.S. troops; why not with his diplomats?

Bush's Iraq Plan Meets Skepticism on the Hill Ferocity of congressional condemnation dismays White House

An Opening for the Democrats By David Ignatius, This is Bush's war, and as it splinters the structure of GOP power, Democrats are waiting to pick up the pieces.

Thinking War-War Again By Eugene Robinson, Before finishing the job in Afghanistan, the Decider decided to invade Iraq. Now, with Iraq mired in bloody chaos, he seems to be changing the subject yet again -- to Iran.

Bush’s Plan for Iraq Runs Into Opposition in Congress

The Times US has ignored seven clear pointers to failure
Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing The Iraq Prime Minister is not quite the well-meaning but ineffective figure portrayed in Bush's plan

IraqSlogger US Papers Fri.: Speech Reax Negative

The Economist America in Iraq

The president's last throw

Asia Times Surging toward the holy oil grail If a new oil law friendly to Western business is passed in Iraq, the chances of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army joining the Sunni resistance will increase dramatically. Hence the preemptive, two-pronged escalation by President George W Bush on the war front - against both Muqtada and nationalist Sunnis. - Pepe Escobar

Wilson Quarterly (winter 2007) “One Iraq or Three?” Raider Visser “Other People’s Maps”

Lines in the Sand by F. S. Naiden

The End of Deterrence By: S. Enders Wimbush | The Weekly Standard

IHT Mr. President, this war is over NIKOLAS GVOSDEV AND RAY TAKEYH In Iraq, the United States has been defeated in a war — not in military terms, but in its inability to shape political outcomes.

Senators Fear Iraq War May Spill to Iran, Syria

Know When to Fold ‘Em By: Ret. Lt. Gen. William Odom | New York Daily News - The military theorist Carl von Clausewitz said that war is always a gamble. President Bush stepped up to the Iraqi poker table in the spring of 2003 and won a couple of big hands. Flush with the cash and a cry that, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," he failed to pick up his chips and go home.

Wall Street Journal The Iraqis Must Step Up to the Plate By: L. Paul Bremer As in Germany a half-century ago, the American experience in Iraq has proven more difficult than anticipated. Mistakes were made -- including my own. Denying government positions to officials in the top 1% of Saddam's Baath party was correct. But it was a mistake to turn implementation over to Iraqi politicians rather than to judges. And in requesting American money to help rebuild Iraq's economy, I put too much emphasis on large-scale projects when smaller ones would have shown quicker results to the average Iraqi.

Josh Marshall “I'm getting some hints that this raid on the Iranian consulate in northern Iraq may be part of something much bigger. Is there a classified presidential directive to the CIA and DOD to take down Syrian and Iranian operations inside Iraq, even so far as operations into Iranian and Syrian territory? And is the aim here to provoke a conflict with one or the other of these states? To provoke an attack from Iran perhaps? The plan from the neocons was always to build the chaos outwards. Never too late, I guess. Watch this. Something's up. Steve Clemons has more. ”

Samsonites and Samson: Tehran's Limited Options : Amir Taheri

WSJ Getting Iraq to Work
New York City's successes have lessons for Baghdad.
By RUDY GIULIANI AND NEWT GINGRICH

H2 Morgan Stanley Turkey
Remembering Milton Friedman

FT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Turkey faces threat of radical nationalism

The Economist Turkey's religious sects Sheikhs, lies and videotape

Reuters Turkey tensions rise as PM eyes presidency

İnsan Hakları İhlalleri Sürüyor İnsan Hakları Gözlem Türkiye Ülke Özeti

[Yorum - Dr.Murat Yılmaz] Özgür toplum için güvenlik reformu(2)

Re-reading Bush's speech: Staying the course by changing tactics
Cengiz ÇANDAR

Ideas matter, so do the opinion pages of TDN MUSTAFA AKYOL

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

Kürtlerin Yeşil’i Pilot Necati

İşte Kerkük’te Kürt yerleşimi

Para ile göç ettirildiler

Devletin çeşitli birimlerine sunulan istihbarat raporuna göre, Irak'ın kuzeyinden Kerkük'e 600 bin Kürt yerleştirildi. Rapora göre, 227 bin Kürt seçmenin kaydı yapıldı, okul, nüfus ve tapu müdürlükleri de Kürtlerin eline geçti.

Kürt Konferansı'nın açılış konuşmacısı Yaşar Kemal

LA Times Iraqi Kurds condemn detention of Iranian diplomats

Official statement: US raid on consulate of Iran Kurdistan Regional Government

Ankara yeni Irak stratejisine sıcak

US Forces Storm Iranian Consulate in Irbil The US... By Juan Cole

Kerkük hiç kimseye eğilmeyecek

Talabani’s briefing strongly criticised in his party’s plenum

'Kerkük bomba gibi'

Google News Greece - Cyprus

"Ankara-Atina ilişkisinde iyileşme var"

BBC Blast rocks US embassy in Athens Police seal the area around the US embassy in the Greek capital, Athens, after an explosion in the compound.

Başbakanlık MİT’in kod adını açıkladı : KOD ADI F-02

Can Ataklı Kıbrıs’ta askeri mi test ettiler?

Soykırım iddialarına karşı girişim

Lübnan'ın ilacı Türkiye
MUHAMMED NUREDDİN

Negroponte Statement for the Record - Annual Threat Assesment

Brookings An Examination of the New Iraq Policy

Securing, Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight GAO This 120-page US report includes a series of issue papers to assist Congress to analyze the President's revised Iraq strategy

Guardian There is no military solution for Iraq, only a political one Jonathan Steele

Is it too late to win the war? Lawrence Korb and Reuel Marc Gerecht debate.

Is Bush planning an expansion of the war across Iraq's borders, a la Nixon's invasion of Cambodia?

Still One More Card to Play
by Patrick Buchanan

Obama: 'We're not going to baby sit a civil war'...

Intel Chief: Hezbollah May Be Next US Threat

Escaping the Trap: Why the US Must Leave Iraq by Ted Galen Carpenter

Overdue Beginning of the Counterinsurgency - Daniel Henninger, WSJ

Looking For The Restart Button - Mike Allen, Time

Noble Effort is Our Only Alternative - John Podhoretz, New York Post

Bush's Not-So-New Way Forward - Richard Wolffe, Newsweek

President's Plan Deserves Support - Ralph Peters, New York Post

Christian Science Monitor Bush's plan for Iraq: Will it be enough?

Doubts rise over the impact of a modest increase in US troops and whether the Iraqi government is up to the task.

Opinion: Why Bush's war plan can work

Independent Patrick Cockburn: 'Surge' reinforces fears that Americans will never leave

Leading article: Mr Bush's masterplan: to spread the blame

FT COMMENT: Bush refuses to confront the war that he is losing in Iraq My inclination is to believe the worst: Mr Bush is still fighting a war of the imagination in which victory is the only option if the US is not to surrender the future to extremists, writes Philip Stephens.

THE AMERICAS: Legislators warn Bush against widening war to Iran and Syria

H3 Birand ABD, Türkiye'ye Irak'ta rol vermiyor

Ruşen Çakır Kerkük’e neden atıf yok?

Cengiz Çandar Bağdat'ta 'tırmanma taktiği', Ankara'da 'hayal kırıklığı stratejisi'

Erdoğan NTV’ye konuştu

Suikastta yeni iz SABANCI CİNAYETİ SANIĞI AKKOL'UN YUNANİSTAN'DA OLDUĞU KESİNLEŞTİ

Erdoğan'dan sert çıkış: ABD'nin Irak'ta işi ne?

FATİH ALTAYLI Gül Türkiye için en büyük tehdit Irak

Hasan CEMAL Sopa politikası!

Ruşen Çakır Kerkük’e girmişken bari Bağdat’ı da alın

Sami KOHEN / Bu mu "yeni strateji"?

Felaket senaryosunda Türkiye paniği

Ankara, ABD'ye yeni stratejisindeki Kerkük eksiğini hatırlattı

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Bölgesel savaş stratejisi

KORAY DÜZGÖREN Irak ateşi harlanırken kendi bahçemize bakmak

Başer şikayetçi
PKK ile mücadele koordinatörü Başer 'katedilen mesafeden memnun değil'

Kürt sorunu
Mustafa Karaalioğlu'na göre 'adım atılmazsa bölünme tehlikesi var'

Güler Kömürcü Ankara’da önemli bir toplantı...

Burns Ankara’ya geliyor

Başer, ABD'ye net mesaj verdi

"ABD PKK tehdidini anlıyor"

İsrafil K. Kumbasar
MİT Müsteşarı’nın sözleri ve AKP’nin Kerkük senaryosu

Taha AKYOL Irak'ta kördüğüm

ERDAL ŞAFAK Poker oyuncusu

[Yorum - Prof.Dr.Beril Dedeoğlu] Bush'un yeni rotası: İran'ı sıkıştırmak

Rice ağzındaki baklayı çıkardı: Irak'ta başarısız olursak Kürtler Türkiye ile problem yaşar

Fikret BİLA İran'ın Ankara Büyükelçisi Bagheri:ABD'ye yardımcı oluruz

Paşalardan 4 yıldızlı AB mesajı

AB'deki Türk nüfusu 5 milyona yükseldi

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

Bilal Çetin
26 Nisan saat 23:59’da ne olacak?

FEHMİ KORU
Cumhurbaşkanlığı ve CHP

Muharrem Sarıkaya/'Boşuna götürmeyelim, olmazmış...'

AKP ve MHP Alevi oyları için atakta MHP, Orta Anadolu kırsalıyla Ege-Akdeniz Alevileri içinde güçleniyor. Örgütlü Aleviler CHP'yi zorlamaya başladı. İktidar partisi, 'Kapımız açık' mesajı veriyor

Prof. Dr. AYDIN AYAYDIN Genç-Saadet-BBP seçim birlikteliğine doğru gidiyor

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Bir Türk için siyasetin anlamı...

Şakir Süter Kararsız oyların analizi

Etyen Mahçupyan Cumhurbaşkanlığı yolu döşeniyor

TAHA KIVANÇ Allah eksik etmesin

MEHMET OCAKTAN AB için Ankara'nın yeni stratejisi, hız kesmemek

MİT müsteşarı Murat Belge

Bilal Çetin Bürokrasiye AB uyarısı: Atalete kapılmayın...

AB reformları kesintiye uğramayacak

Proaktif dış politika nasıl olur?

Mine G. Kırıkkanat Ya ABD kazanıyorsa?

NAZLI ILICAK ABD, İran'a karşı

Yalım Eralp Bush'un Bağdat Planı

BBC 12 Ocak 2007 Basın Özeti

ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ - Akıl mı, kovboyluk mu?

Mehmet TezkanMaalesef Bush’u desteklemek zorundayız..

Ümit ÖZDAĞ Rusya’nın yeni stratejisi ve Türkiye (2)

Savaş SÜZAL Bush’un yeni planı, Erdoğan’ın açığı

Taylor alleges 'horse trading' between Ankara, Washington prior to Iraq War

Hurşit GÜNEŞ Faizlerin bu denli yüksek olması gerekli mi?

Asaf Savaş Akat 2007’nin riskleri (3)

Başbakan özelleştirmeyi neden erteledi?
SÜLEYMAN YAŞAR

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM Dövize 6 ayda 15 milyar dolar yatırım

Güngör URAS / Cari açığı MB Başkanı önemsemiyor

Metin MÜNİR / Akbank - Citi ortaklığını kâra çevirme planları

Deniz Gökçe Kimler net döviz kazanmıyor?

Saruhan Özel Bir sıkıntı var ama ne ?

Bush’s Plan for Iraq Runs Into Opposition in Congress Democrats and moderate Republicans expressed profound skepticism about President Bush’s call to increase the U.S. military commitment in Iraq.

Explosion Hits U.S. Embassy in Athens The explosion, reportedly caused by a rocket, was called “an act of terrorism.” Police officers closed a street outside the embassy.

G.I.’s in Iraq Raid Iranians’ Offices U.S. troops raided an Iranian diplomatic office and detained as many as six of the Iranians working inside.

H5 Washington Post Bush's Iraq Plan Meets Skepticism on the Hill
Ferocity of congressional condemnation dismays White House, which hopes to build consensus around proposal to send 21,500 more troops.

Five Flaws in the President's Plan By Zbigniew Brzezinski,

Editorial Fight and Talk President Bush is taking chances with U.S. troops; why not with his diplomats?

An Opening for the Democrats By David Ignatius,

This is Bush's war, and as it splinters the structure of GOP power, Democrats are waiting to pick up the pieces.

Thinking War-War Again By Eugene Robinson,

Before finishing the job in Afghanistan, the Decider decided to invade Iraq. Now, with Iraq mired in bloody chaos, he seems to be changing the subject yet again -- to Iran.

Intelligence Chiefs Provide Bleak Assessment

• At Fort Benning, a Quiet Response to Bush Visit

• Defense Chief Urges Increase in Army, Marines

• Sketch: Uniter of Divided | Rice Seeks Backing

William Arkin Secretary Rice on the Threat to Iran

Is That All There Is?

Iraq Unit Sees Strategy's Flaws
Mission into the cauldron of Baghdad underscores challenges, frustrations confronting U.S. troops.

Military Personnel Enter Somalia No top targets confirmed dead by U.S. troops after survey of site where suspected al-Qaeda attacked.

Editorial Unveiled Threats A Bush appointee's crude gambit on detainees' legal rights

Stem Cell Miracle? An Advance This Side Of Bush's Moral LineBy Charles Krauthammer,

President Bush did the country a favor in forcing the U.S. to at least ponder the moral cost of turning one potential human being into replacement parts for another.

H6 Guardian Isolated Bush faces rebellion President's new strategy for Iraq met with public and political opposition.
New policy fails to dispel doubts
Democrats threaten to deny funding
Experts give their views on the plan

The new plan: fight the Mahdi army toe to toe, hope Iraqi army holds

There is no military solution for Iraq, only a political one Jonathan Steele: Shia and Sunni leaders could still reach a national consensus - and they alone can end the violence.

Leader The tension mounts
Finding a means of expressing a constructive policy is daily getting more difficult for moderate voices in Tehran. If the US goal is to start a war with Iran, it may well achieve it.

President's back-up plan: blame Iran The aim now is to roll back Iranian influence wherever possible - despite the probably negative reaction that might produce among Iraq's majority Shia population, says Simon Tisdall

Russia risks losing EU contracts for energy supply · Stern warning for Moscow on future disruptions
· Renewables could replace dependence on oil and gas

This is a US torture camp
Vikram Dodd: Evidence of prisoner abuse at Guantánamo is overwhelming - and it hasn't made anyone safer.

Somalia air strike fails to kill top al-Qaida targets US air strike on Somalia fails to kill any of three top al-Qaida members accused of terror attacks in east Africa.

Bangladeshi poll postponed after interim leader resigns
Bangladesh plunged into political chaos as elections delayed and president steps down after declaring state of emergency.

H7 Is it too late to win the war? Lawrence Korb and Reuel Marc Gerecht debate.

Is Bush planning an expansion of the war across Iraq's borders, a la Nixon's invasion of Cambodia?

Still One More Card to Play
by Patrick Buchanan

Obama: 'We're not going to baby sit a civil war'...

Intel Chief: Hezbollah May Be Next US Threat

Can more troops beat the insurgents? Lawrence Kaplan investigates.

Bush's announced "surge" is one of the more outrageous media deceptions in the history of an Iraq war that has been rife with them.

Bush's general hypocrisy: The White House fired generals who wanted more troops. Now it's calling for more itself -- too late, say military experts.

Analysis: Plan has flaws Newsday BY TIMOTHY M. PHELPS

Negotiating with Iran and Syria over Iraq. Authored by Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.

On to Iran? A deflated commander in chief tries to rally the nation behind one last push in Iraq -- and maybe beyond. By Walter Shapiro

Trapped at Guantanamo By: Melissa Hoffer | The Boston Globe

Analysis: Bush ups ante in Iraq By CLAUDE SALHANI

BLAIR: Bush's new Iraq strategy 'makes sense'...

Al Qaeda threat seen looming if government fails Somalia and its neighbors in the Horn of Africa risk falling under the sway of al Qaeda and violent Islamist movements if the United States and its allies fail to back the transitional government in Mogadishu.

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

Terrorism strikes U.S. Embassy in Athens; no injuries Rocket fired at embassy, striking front of building; police say blast is terror, perpetrators unknown.

BBC Al-Qaeda 'rebuilding' in Pakistan US intelligence chief John Negroponte says al-Qaeda leaders have found a secure hideout in Pakistan.

Afghan warlord 'aided Bin Laden'

Who's who in al-Qaeda

Pakistan and 'key al-Qaeda' man

US Iraq raid draws Iranian anger

US forces seize six people said to be Iranians in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil, prompting a diplomatic incident.

Al Awsat Bush’s Plan Will Not Succeed : Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Oil Prices Fall Below $52 a Barrel

US Says Iran Able to Weather Economic Shocks

Iran nuclear program stalled?
Washington Times

Rice Appoints Assistance Coordinator as Part of U.S. Iraq Plan

A Long Lebanese Movie, or Just a Dud? By: Michael Young | The Daily Star Michel Aoun has described the second phase in the opposition's effort to topple the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora as a "long Lebanese movie." I don't mean to be unkind, but judging from most of our country's celluloid creations, that means it will be tedious, disjointed, and that the audience will bolt before the final credits.

Al Hayat Syria and Iran in Lebanon Randa Takieddin -

Bush's surge, Iraq's insurgency | Paul Rogers

Islamism and expediency in Bangladesh | Delwar Hussain

Time for the US to Recognize Iraq's Humanitarian Crisis

H9 The Economist Israel and the Jews Second thoughts about the Promised Land Jews all around the world are gradually ceasing to regard Israel as a focal point. As a result, many are re-examining what it means to be Jewish

Ha’aretz - Poll: Support for Kadima plummets under Olmert Haaretz poll: PM's Kadima would get 12 seats if elections were held today, Likud would get 29 seats.

Marcus - Welcome to the real world Israel must fend off nuclear threats while paving the way for peace, operate an efficient government while squabbling over seats, fight the "wars of the Jews" while stamping out corruption, and never forget, throughout it all, that we've got a country here to think of.

Schiff A tiny, but important, problem Something seems to be unraveling in the decision-making process of the top levels of Israeli security and government.

On the road to Damascus Like the talks with the Palestinians in the previous decade, the negotiations with Syria could collapse. However, if the Israeli government embarks on this dialogue with sufficient determination, and on the assumption that there really is a partner on the other side, the prospects of success exceed the risk.

Bush: We won't let Iran control the region

Federalism, from the river to the sea

Daniel Ayalon: It is realistic to think of a million Jews immigrating to Israel by 2020.

Our man in Beijing

Trhe Economist Israel and Iran

How imminent or real a threat?

Obituary Teddy Kollek

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

Rightwing fury at first Arab in Israeli cabinet
Amir Peretz, Israeli defence minister and leader of Labour party, accused of dealing 'lethal blow to Zionism'.

Rice set to propose 'new ideas' to PA chairman

Double Standard Watch: The new blood libel By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ In Poland today, as in years past, there are some who insist on blaming the Jews for everything bad.

A review of Why the Jews Rejected Jesus: The Turning Point in Western History by David Klinghoffer.

H10 Christian Science Monitor Bush's plan for Iraq: Will it be enough? Doubts rise over the impact of a modest increase in US troops and whether the Iraqi government is up to the task.

Opinion: Why Bush's war plan can work

US troops: new duties, more danger

A new offensive in Baghdad will require house-to-house warfare – the most perilous kind.

US moves to face Iran, Syria Both nations aid the 'flow of support' to 'terrorists' in Iraq, President Bush says.

THE MONITOR'S VIEW The new 'if' in Iraq

Attacks heat up Afghan border

NATO troops killed up to 150 Taliban as they entered Afghanistan from Pakistan Thursday

Shaffer: Reconciliation is easier said than done Every society has to figure it out in their own cultural and historical context – including Iraq after Hussein

The Thorn in the Horn of Africa By: John K. Cooley The next few weeks should reveal whether the US, Ethiopia, and other African allies face an Iraqi-type and Al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgency in Somalia - or the gradual stabilization, however imperfect, of a state and society whose people have known little peace or well-being for generations.

ASIA The Economist Chinese foreign policy A quintet, anyone?

Manufacturing in Asia The problem with Made in China

Take India-US strategic ties beyond mutual interests: expert

H11 IHT Mr. President, this war is over NIKOLAS GVOSDEV AND RAY TAKEYH In Iraq, the United States has been defeated in a war — not in military terms, but in its inability to shape political outcomes.

Merkel emerges as a force in Europe When Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany's first female chancellor, she scarcely seemed up to the moment. Now, with Britain and France both in political flux she has emerged as the go-to person in Europe for Washington.

German official condemns burka Wolfgang Schäuble said the body-covering garment worn by some religious Muslims impeded communication and obstructed integration.

Britain declines to follow U.S. lead in raising Iraq troop levels

Gazprom's bold moves lay bare EU's disarray

EUROPEGermany growth strongest since 2000

Rights Report Cites Diminishing U.S. Credibility Human Rights Watch argues that the European Union must "fill the leadership void on human rights" left by the United States.

The Economist French politics Sarkozy's goal

Catholic Poland's anguish | Neal Ascherson

H12 RFE/RL Utilities Price Hike Sparks Anger People in Azerbaijan have been enraged by a series of price rises for gasoline and public transportation, as well as natural gas, water, and electricity.

The Economist Russia and Belarus

Loveless brothers

Google News Azerbaijan

EurasiaNet An Uzbek Air Base: Russia’s Newest Achievement in Central Asia BY STEPHEN BLANK

EDM BELARUS PRESIDENT YIELDS TO RUSSIA ON THE OIL TRANSIT TERMS

- NEW GOVERNMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN HERALDS NO RADICAL CHANGES

- UKRAINE’S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN PROSPECTS FOR 2007

Fifteen years after he was forced to stand down as the last president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Mikhail Gorbachev is to make a return to the international arena as a journalist.

A look at how Vladimir Putin could bring Europe to its knees

UPI Commentary: Russia revised

Outside View: Sanctions may backfire on US Russia may hit back hard against U.S. sanctions imposed on several of its companies exporting miitary technology.

The Russians Are Coming -- at 40 Knots

With the building of the largest privately owned yacht in the world, Roman Abramovich is helping to solidify the reputation of the Russians as the new world leaders of global conspicuous consumption.

H13 The Times US has ignored seven clear pointers to failure
Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing The Iraq Prime Minister is not quite the well-meaning but ineffective figure portrayed in Bush's plan

We will send them home in body bags: insurgents respond to the Bush 'surge' The Bush/Maliki plan is widely regarded by Sunni residents north of Baghdad as evidence of US complicity with their Shia enemies

Britain could cut its troops in Iraq by end of the year

Gerard Baker
His critics excoriate Mr Blair for a decision made in the most excruciating of circumstances

Wall Street Journal The Iraqis Must Step Up to the Plate By: L. Paul Bremer As in Germany a half-century ago, the American experience in Iraq has proven more difficult than anticipated. Mistakes were made -- including my own. Denying government positions to officials in the top 1% of Saddam's Baath party was correct. But it was a mistake to turn implementation over to Iraqi politicians rather than to judges. And in requesting American money to help rebuild Iraq's economy, I put too much emphasis on large-scale projects when smaller ones would have shown quicker results to the average Iraqi.

Getting Iraq to Work
New York City's successes have lessons for Baghdad.
By RUDY GIULIANI AND NEWT GINGRICH

Squeezing Iran
Bush puts Tehran -- and Damascus -- on notice.

'Unity of Effort'
Gen. David Petraeus wrote the book on the latest Iraq strategy.
By DANIEL HENNINGER

H14 Financial Times Bush stands alone with ‘new way forward’ President George W. Bush cut an increasingly lonely and embattled figure as opposition Democrats and fellow Republicans greeted his “new way forward” in Iraq with a barrage of denunciation.

Editorial Surge towards debacle in Iraq and MidEast Right now, George W. Bush has the support of no more than one in four Americans for this so-called surge of extra troops. Very soon, as Iraq is pulled bloodily to pieces, he will have none.

COMMENT: Bush refuses to confront the war that he is losing in Iraq My inclination is to believe the worst: Mr Bush is still fighting a war of the imagination in which victory is the only option if the US is not to surrender the future to extremists, writes Philip Stephens.

THE AMERICAS: Legislators warn Bush against widening war to Iran and Syria

THE AMERICAS: US pins hopes on Iraqi government action

COMMENT: A semi-hard landing faces AmericaThe likely forecast of what happens next to the US economy may not amount to a recession in the popular definition but would still be pretty nasty, writes Samuel Brittan

COMMENT: Europe must pull its weight on human rightsThe sad truth is that the European Union is performing well below its capacity around the world, writes Kennth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch.

Gates seeks early crackdown on sectarian violence The new Pentagon chief said the US would soon know whether Iraqi security forces were living up to the commitment by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to crack down on sectarian violence in Baghdad.

THE AMERICAS: Gates expects surge in troops to last 'matter of months'

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: The Atlantic duo are no longer the centre of the world

COMMENT: How a French-led force could salvage Somalia Only an outside force under European Union and UN authority will be able to provide effective security as the Ethiopians withdraw, writes Robert Rotberg of Harvard University.

Germans critical of US pressure The US was criticised for pressing German companies to cut business ties with Iran yesterday after Commerzbank decided to end dollar transactions with Tehran...

Somalia strike ‘missed al-Qaeda targets’

China's trade surplus spells trouble ahead China should be concerned, not just because of the threat of worsening trade conflict with the US, but because the ballooning surplus is causing problems for its own economy

H15 Los Angeles Times Pentagon reverses policy on Army National Guard Confronted with the demands of the Iraq war, officials plan to recall guardsmen that have already fought in Iraq to serve second tours.

ANALYSIS: Plan's success depends on Iraqis

- Public weighs Bush's Iraq strategy

- Democrats united against plan; GOP split

In Mideast, U.S. approach falls short To many in Arab world, Bush's speech speaks volumes of disconnect between promises and reality.

- Diyala sweep finds no evidence of insurgents

- Iraqis condemn detention of 6 Iranians

Editorial

At Least Bush Wants to Win By: Jonah Goldberg

H16 American Politics

Asia Times Bush faces Republican revolt over Iraq Bush's political position at home grows ever weaker. Having ignored the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's recommendations, Bush's plan for a "surge" is coming under intensifying fire from senior Republicans and even some neo-conservatives. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel put it bluntly: Bush's new Middle East strategy is "the most dangerous foreign-policy blunder in this country since Vietnam - if it's carried out". - Jim Lobe

US senators attack Bush Iraq plan

Top GOP senator 'will filibuster any Democratic attempt to decrease funding for Bush's new Iraq plan

Newsweek:
Bush's Best Democratic Buddy

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note - Early Bird GovExec

A article on the US, socialism, and Seymour Martin Lipset

Eric Alterman / The Nation:
Iraq and the Sin of Good Judgment

H17 Daily Telegraph Semi-detached in Iraq To watch Des Browne and Margaret Beckett before the Defence and Foreign Affairs Select Committees yesterday confirmed the impression that America and Britain now view Iraq through widely divergent lenses.

US threatens Iran as troops plan attacked America declared that it would not "stand idly by" if Teheran continued to arm Iraq's insurgents.

Sadr's Shia militia is the next headache

H18 Independent Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was described as a "declaration of war".

Patrick Cockburn: 'Surge' reinforces fears that Americans will never leave

Leading article: Mr Bush's masterplan: to spread the blame

Dominic Lawson: Go nuclear - or gamble national security on the benevolence of Russia's President

Matthew Norman: While Blair burns, Brown plays his fiddle

The Big Question: Has Germany at last come to terms with the legacy of Adolf Hitler?

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

The Economist Restructuring intelligence A bad job

BBC Blast rocks US embassy in Athens Police seal the area around the US embassy in the Greek capital, Athens, after an explosion in the compound.

Washington Times Expanding and funding the military

Challenging Transformation's Clichés. Authored by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.

Evangelical conservative William Boykin is set to be bounced from his Pentagon gig as a senior intelligence official, Newsweek reports.

"Embassies as Command Posts in the Anti-Terror Campaign," Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report, December 15, 2006.

"Catching Terrorists: The British System versus the U.S. System"

"Maritime Security: Potential Terrorist Attacks and Protection Priorities," January 9, 2007.

The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent: An Assessment of Decision Factors
CCC

Britain's Nuclear Dilemma By: David Howell | The Japan Times
The issue of an independent nuclear deterrent has now once again become a prime topic of debate in Britain. Of course, the question of whether Britain should retain nuclear weapons has been a subject of fierce political argument all along since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. But somehow the outcome has always been a foregone conclusion.

Pentagon abandons active-duty time limit

Albanian asylum
The Guantanamo Uighurs who were sent to eastern Europe

Terrorism and U.S. Counter-Terrorism Policies in Africa: An Overview CCC

Hekmatyar: 'We Aided bin Laden Escape'

H20 Slate

CEO of News Corp. Rupert Murdoch has been injecting his personal views into the press and promoting provocative entertainment for nearly four decades. But the tycoon is no tyrant. He’s less powerful than you think and not the evil genius you fear.

From The New Criterion, a symposium on the nation state, including an introduction on utopia vs. nationhood; an essay on Islam, civilization & the nation state; an article on the nation & the intellectual Left; and is the nation state threatened?

From Médecins Sans Frontières, a look at the Top 10 Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2006.

An interview with Jean-Marie Guehenno, undersecretary for peacekeeping, about the world's short attention span, finding troops for UN missions, and what might be done in Darfur.

Michael E. O'Hanlon on a new army to stop genocides of the future.

Violence, terrorism and the Islamists' growing influence pose a threat to Christianity in the Middle East. In some countries, members of an unpopular Christian minority are already fighting for their survival -- or fleeing for their lives.

Global Integrity Index 2006
Source: Global Integrity

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2007 After a solid and broad-based growth for three consecutive years, the world economy is expected to decelerate in 2007, mainly dragged by a slowdown of the United States. Growth in Europe and Japan, meanwhile, will not be sufficient for these economies to act as locomotives of global growth. The outlook remains mostly positive for developing countries, but a degree of moderation is also expected. Sustained high growth in China, India and a few other major emerging economies seems to have engendered synergy among developing countries so that growth in this group is more endogenous. However, a large number of developing countries remain highly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of commodity prices and the volatility of international financial markets. The report highlights the need for greater employment growth, which has not kept pace with output growth. The global economic outlook also encompasses a number of important downside risks: bursts in the housing bubbles in a number of countries, uncertainties in oil prices and mounting global imbalances. The report calls for international macroeconomic policy coordination in order to facilitate an orderly adjustment of global imbalances. Executive Summary (PDF) ||| Full Text (PDF) United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Economics focus

What the World Bank knows

H21 When Gore Vidal writes as his own Boswell, celebrity names are dropped at a rate unknown outside the pages of People magazine... more»

From Psychology Today, the ideological animal: We think our political stance is the product of reason, but we're easily manipulated and surprisingly malleable. Our essential political self is more a stew of childhood temperament, education, and fear of death.

Newspapers may be dinosaurs in the age of new media, but they have enough life to guide--and even define--our politics.

From CJR, though journalists worry about how the Web threatens the way they distribute their product, they are slower to see how it threatens the product itself. And revisiting the early net: A slate of predictions made for 1995 reveal what has and hasn't changed

The Great Man Theory: Is President Bush a student of Hegel? Scott McLemee doubts it, but considers the evidence.

A review of Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge by Cass Sunstein

Spies use coins with hidden tracking in US Spy gadgets worthy of a James Bond film have been planted by foreign agents on high-level US arms contractors, the Pentagon revealed

Lexington

An odd bunch

Seymour Martin Lipset devoted his life to explaining why America is different

World first: In 2008, most will live in cities

Tom Stoppard's three- part search for 'Utopia'

New Classification Engines Provide Alternative Web Search (RedNova)

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