0117-2007f - 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 New York Times Iraqi Death Toll Exceeded 34,000 in '06, U.N. Says

Botched Hangings in Iraq Speed Sectarianism

UN Report on Iraqi Deaths for 2006 [pdf]

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings

PBS Interview President Bush Defends Decision to Send More Troops to Iraq

Washington Post Editorial Lost in the Middle East The administration has divided the region into 'extremists' and 'moderates.' Guess which side the dictators are on.

The Right Bet in the Mideast By David Ignatius, The Bush administration's Iraq policy has long suffered from a misplaced gambler's instinct.

Independent Leading article: Israel and Syria: a deal that will have to be done

Ha’aretz – Chief of Staff Dan Halutz resigns

ANALYSIS: IDF needs a new commander to rehabilitate itself

Editorial Syria now Olmert's response to publication of the document that was agreed on in the secret talks creates the impression that Israel is frightened by the peace signals coming from Damascus and prefers to frighten the public with Syrian threats of war.

Uzi Benziman: Israel's refusal to give up the Golan will lead to war

U.S. officials: Cheney updated on secret Israel-Syria talks

Reactions to Revelations of Israeli-Syrian Unofficial Peace Negotiations

Washington Must Consider a Contact Group for Iraq By: Joseph S. Nye | The Daily Star The US cannot leave Iraq precipitously, but neither can it solve the problem on its own. Establishing a contact group of Iraq's neighbors to help set rules of the road for stabilization and containment will be an important step. Iraq is not susceptible to a military solution. Only more politics and diplomacy can salvage US policy.

Rhetoric and Reality: The View from Iran Stratfor

What is Ahmadinejad's agenda?
Gulf News - By Amir Taheri

Boston Globe Will Iraq's Army show up?

(By Graham Allison)

Washington Institute Iraq as a Militia War

Morgan Stanley United States
Implications of Lower Oil Prices

A Globalization Offensive - William Grieder, The Nation

Financial Times COMMENT: Evolution can provide a missing link to the modern economy The gap between how economists think and what economies are is evident. But hitherto nobody has matched rigorous theory with broad vision, writes Martin Wolf.

Rchard Haass COMMENT: America needs to rethink its portfolio

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: A uniform trend? How democracy worldwide is on the back foot In its annual survey of global liberty, Freedom House, a US advocacy group, says 2006 saw ‘freedom stagnation’ and a growing ‘pushback’ by authoritarian regimes.

Editorial Zapatero stumbles

WSJ A 'Great Game' Update Central Asia has come a long way since the days of the Soviet Union.
By HUGH POPE

Los Angeles Times 8 Mideast states back U.S. on Iraq

The case for the 'surge' Max Boot: Though Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq isn't foolproof, the potential benefits may be worth the risk

Neoconservatives Take Aim At Pentagon, Kristol Calls Gates Testimony ‘Pretty Pathetic’

CIA emphasizes flexibility in new strategy

Analysis: U.S. embassies face turf wars

Guardian Home and awayMartin Woollacott Iran's president appears to have lost the wider support he enjoyed across the country - just as the US piles on the pressure.

ASIA America's Low Profile in Asia Spells Trouble By: Philip Bowring | International Herald Tribune

What Will China Do With All That Money? By: Charles Horner

H2 FT COMMENT: The east's problem is internal, not a clash with the west by Abdullah Gül

Turkey's Future: EU Member or 'Islamist Rogue State'? DIIS
An 8-page Danish brief examining the eligibility of Turkey as an EU member state

The Battle for Kirkuk: How to Prevent a New Front in Iraq Washington Institute for Near East Policy By Soner Cagaptay and Daniel Fink

UN Warns of Looming Crisis in Kirkuk

TÜSİAD'in “Türkiye-Avrupa Birliği İlişkileri Bağlamında Uluslararası Göç Tartışmaları” Raporunun Özet Bulguları

Türkiye'de Siyasal Durum

MetroPoll Stratejik ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezi “Türkiye’nin Siyasal Durumu” raporunu yayınladı

Askerin tatbikat hassasiyeti Askere toplumsal olaylara el koyma yetkisi veren EMASYA Protokolü’ne göre İstanbul’daki 52. Tümen bünyesinde kurulan EMASYA birliği Çağlayan Meydanı’nda tatbikat yapmayı planlıyor. Komuta kademesi tanklı toplu görüntülerin medyaya yansımaması için hukukçulardan görüş alıyor.

IHT EU Parliament elects German conservative
By DAN BILEFSKY Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German social conservative deeply skeptical of Turkey's European Union candidacy.

Cengiz Çandar Filistin liderinden Türkiye ve TOBB’a “açık çek”...

AKP'nin Lübnan'da işi zor
SALİH LAFİ EL MUAYETA

Sami KOHEN Kaçırılan fırsat...

Suriye-İsrail

Gizli görüşmeleri basına kim sızdırdı? Kerim Balcı'ya sorduk

Türkiye'nin çabalarıyla İsrail-Suriye anlaşması

Gila Benmayor TOBB’a hem İsrail’den hem Filistin’den destek

'Irak'ta ilk kez gerçek bir barış planı'

Irak'ın petrolü bir daha çalınmayacak Kamİl Mehdİ

Sadr 'Kerkük'ü almaya kalkışan karşısında bizi bulur'

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

Petrol PKK’ya mı akacak?

Emre Aköz Atatürk ve Kürt sorunu

DTP’den ’yenilenmek’ için olağanüstü kongre

Öcalan, DTP yönetimini değiştiriyor

Hükümetten PKK terörüne sanal savaş

Öcalan'dan Meclis'e mektup

Öcalan Marka giy diye çürümüyorum

Milli Mücadele Yoluna Devam Ediyoruz

2007 Kerkük Paneli-video

Kerkük 2007 Harekatı

Lice'de çatışma: 1 astsubay şehit

Altemur KILIÇ
Türkmenler Türk’tür, Kerkük Türk’tür

İsrafil K. Kumbasar
Kerkük üzerinden tribünlere oynamak yerine, sahaya in

Ağar Askerî operasyona soğuk

Türkiye’nin dostluğunu kavrasınlar

A PUK leader and former minister given away public properties, local media

Bush’s new policy is not based in reality By Rauf Naqishbendi

It is time to plan for a peaceful division of Iraq By Dr Hussein Tahiri

Google News Greece - Cyprus

Avrupa Parlamentosu'nun başkanı değişti, AB'de Türkiye karşıtı cephe güçleniyor

Greece has no interest in blockings Turkey's EU bid CENGIZ AKTAR

Hasan ÜNAL Hani ne oldu Talat Bey??? Lokmacı’yı neden açamadın???

Özdemir İNCE Bulgaristan’da vaziyetin durumu

Rehn ’Türkiye’nin üyeliğini sorgulamayı bırakın’

EDM HUNGARY AND THE NABUCCO PROJECT: TIME TO END THE AMBIGUITY

Yalnızlığa itilen Ermenistan değil, Türkiye

Yalçın Küçük haber10'a konuştu!

Yanal, hem kendine hem bana hem de Milli Takım'a yazık etti

Ege Cansen Plaka sınırlaması

H3 ABD'nin yeni Irak stratejisi ve Türkiye ÖZDEM SANBERK

Mehmet Ali Birand Ankara’da plan var, ancak müdahele heyecanı yok

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Sorun PKK mı, Kerkük mü?

Kürt devleti ve Kerkük meselesi Avni Özgürel

Fikret BİLA Sonuç bildirgesi PKK çizgisine yakın

Ümit ÖZDAĞ Irak’a asker yollamak mı yoksa (2)

HASAN ÜNAL Kerkük neden sadece Irak’ın iç işi değildir?

Mehmet Tezkan Ankara, Kuzey Irak’a müdahale edebilir mi?

Cem Oğuz Bush's new course in Iraq and its implications for US-Turkish relations

MEHMET OCAKTAN Kerkük'te oldu bitti, ABD'nin de intiharı olabilir…

HAKAN ALBAYRAK Kürt ulusalcılığı ve yeni bir günün başlangıcı

Bilal Çetin ‘Zorlayıcı hareket tarzları’ gündemde mi?

FEHMİ KORU İ'lerin noktasını koyalım

Ahmet Kekeç Kerkük’ün hesabını ‘onlar’ versin...

Remarks by Ambassador Ross Wilson following his Meeting with Democratic Left Party (DSP) Leader Zeki Sezer, Ankara

“Türkiye’yi Irak’tan uzak tutmak”

Irak için Cumhurbaşkanlığı başkanlığında toplanalım

Hasan CEMAL Evet, şiddetle diyalog olmaz!

İlnur Çevik Politicians shouldn't play the Kirkuk card

ABD'de peşmerge rahatsızlığı

'Ermeni tasarısına Bush karşı çıkar' devamı

Rice'tan Gül'e randevu

Washington'da Ermeni tasarısı

'BM hakemlik yapsın'

Kanıma dokunuyor

Kerkük'e geri dönene para verilecek

Kerkük'e özel statü istenecek

Meclis, gizli oturumda Kerkük'ü tartışacak

BM de teyit etti: Kerkük'te kriz kapıda

Erdoğan'dan rest: Seyirci kalmayız

01:00 - ABD Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcüsü: Bush Türkiye ile işbirliğine hazır

Yalçın Doğan Gül’ün itirafı: Ermeni yasasını önlemek zor

Cüneyt Ülsever ’Irak’a asker gönderelim’ Yumurtaya can veren Allah’ım!

Taha AKYOL Irak'ta kâbus

Serdar Turgut Özal’ın vizyonu

Abdülhamit Bilici Biz Türk'üz, biz Kürt'üz Biz Sünni'yiz, biz Şii'yiz

TOBB'dan Çankaya için ince mesajlar Murat Yetkin

METEHAN DEMİR "Erdoğan Başbakan kalsın demek AKP'ye destek olur"

[Yorum - Prof. Dr. Ergun Özbudun] Cumhurbaşkanı seçimi ve Anayasa

TAHA KIVANÇ Ters dalga

İsmail Küçükkaya
AK Parti’nin karnesi...

AKP ve CHP'nin 'ABD çıkarması'

MİT uyarı ve analizi M.Ali Kışlalı

MUHARREM SARIKAYA Gizli görüşme zemini...

ERDAL ŞAFAK Son zamanlarda...

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

17 Ocak 2007 Basın Özeti

NAZLI ILICAK Gerilla ne demek?

Ömer Lütfi Mete

Osman ULAGAY Devletçi ekonomiye dönüş mü?

Kayıt dışılıkta ihbar Metin Ercan

Yabancı yatırımcı Köşk'e, biz genel seçime bakıyoruz

Deniz Gökçe Büyüme çok kötü olmayabilir!

Saruhan Özel Kurların yükselmesine ne gerek var?

Erken ödenen borçlar IMF'nin hesaplarını altüst etti

Enerjide dışa bağımlılığın tehlikeleri

H4 New York Times Iraqi Death Toll Exceeded 34,000 in '06, U.N. Says The figure represents a vivid measure of the failure of the Iraqi government and U.S. military to provide security. The U.N. Report (pdf)

Botched Hangings in Iraq Speed Sectarianism There are worries that Sunni-Shiite tensions in Iraq could start to balkanize the Middle East.

French Visit to Tehran, Seen as Diplomatic Faux Pas, Is Aborted

As Trial Begins, Cheney's Ex-Aide Is Still a Puzzle Paradox seems to define I. Lewis Libby Jr., who is charged with lying to a grand jury about his leaks to the news media in the battle over Iraq war intelligence.

Bruce Bartlett: The Right Stuff The American presence in Iraq is causing as much conflict as it is preventing. I think we should disengage as rapidly as possible.

MAUREEN DOWD Aux Barricades! It’s unnerving to be tutored by an educator in chief who is himself being tutored.

H5 Washington Post Editorial Lost in the Middle East The administration has divided the region into 'extremists' and 'moderates.' Guess which side the dictators are on.

The Right Bet in the Mideast By David Ignatius, The Bush administration's Iraq policy has long suffered from a misplaced gambler's instinct.

Purse Strings and Pragmatism By Melvin R. Laird, Democrats are positioned to offer a plan for Iraq, but cutting off funding is not a plan.

Like Nixon or Like Ike? By Harold Meyerson, For the Republicans, there are two ways out of Iraq; one is conciliatory, one is contentious.

Seven Tough Choices We Will Not MakeBy Robert J. Samuelson, Let's assume that Democrats and Republicans actually intended to address our dependence on foreign oil and our budget defecit. Here are seven proposals they won't choose.

Rice: Diplomacy Not About Making Deals

William Arkin Congress Goes Along in Iraq, Gates Says Not So Fast

President Says His Iraq Policy Was Failing

Senators to Introduce Resolution Opposing Bush's Iraq Policy

Arab Group Signals Iran To Avoid Meddling in Iraq

Bombings Kill 60 at University in Baghdad Spate of killings makes plain the difficulties facing U.S. and Iraqi troops poised for their latest effort to tamp down rampant violence.

Iraqi Refugee Crisis Seen Deepening

Help for Displaced Urged at Hearing Of Judiciary Panel

Gates Cites Rise in Afghan Border Attacks Defense secretary adds his voice to a chorus of U.S. and international officials who criticize Pakistan.

Israeli Head Of Military Quits After War Critique Leadership in Conflict With Hezbollah Faulted

Sarkozy's inner being comes to his political aid
Like all true French leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy has seen the need to boost his literary credentials.

A Not-So-Special Relationship By: Simon Tisdall As with domestic policy, Ms Royal has so far largely avoided getting into specifics about France's future role in the world. But it is clear that she is no Angela Merkel. Ms Royal seems disinclined to distance herself from President Jacques Chirac's anti-Americanism.

H7 Washington Must Consider a Contact Group for Iraq By: Joseph S. Nye | The Daily Star The US cannot leave Iraq precipitously, but neither can it solve the problem on its own. Establishing a contact group of Iraq's neighbors to help set rules of the road for stabilization and containment will be an important step. Iraq is not susceptible to a military solution. Only more politics and diplomacy can salvage US policy.

Rhetoric and Reality: The View from Iran Stratfor

What is Ahmadinejad's agenda?
Gulf News - By Amir Taheri

Commentary: Confronting Iran

Eye on Iraq: General may be right man, right place, but wrong time

Boston Globe Will Iraq's Army show up?

(By Graham Allison)

L'Iran, trois fois l'Iran, par Daniel Vernet

A Globalization Offensive - William Grieder, The Nation

Morgan Stanley United States
Implications of Lower Oil Prices

Ahmadinejad, Iran and America | Dariush Zahedi | Omid Memarian

A Military 'Surge' to a
Political Nowhere by Leon Hadar

FPIF Iran: Thinking the Unthinkable

Daily Star Can US Senator Joseph Biden live up to the legacy of Benjamin Franklin?

AP: Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale —

SSI Iraq, Women’s Empowerment and Public Policy

Chris Nelson Provides Reality Check on Iran's Nuke Capacity

Daniel Levy on "Draft Israeli-Syrian Peace Deal Revelation"

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

IraqSlogger US Papers Wednesday: Shocking Figures

Nir Rosen Sectarian Militias in New Tactic

President Bush Defends Decision to Send Additional Troops to Iraq (Online NewsHour)

Baghdad suffered its worst day of carnage in more than a month

Shi'ite Leader: Iraqi Govt Could Collapse if Security Plan Fails

Iran Says It Shot Down US Spy Drone

Despite Charges, No Evidence Iran Sending IEDs to Iraq

Saudi Arabia Says Not Mediating Between Iran and US

Troops add their voices to chorus calling for reversal of Iraq policy

U.N.: 34,452 Iraq civilians killed in '06

Pentagon Chief Says Iran Seeks To Exploit U.S. Exposure in Iraq

Arab dismay Neighbours fear the violence in Iraq is poisoning the region

Arab states raise doubts about al-Maliki

Western Oil Companies a Step Away from Iraq's 'Prize' AlterNet

Arab civil society thrives in moveable conferences
By Rami G. Khouri

Arab Companies in the 21st Century: Oil Revenues, Urbanisation and Emerging Economies (PDF; 1.08 MB)
Source: World Wildlife Fund

Democratic Congress Pushes Bush Administration to Engage Iran

H9 Ha’aretz – Chief of Staff Dan Halutz resigns

ANALYSIS: IDF needs a new commander to rehabilitate itself

Editorial Syria now Olmert's response to publication of the document that was agreed on in the secret talks creates the impression that Israel is frightened by the peace signals coming from Damascus and prefers to frighten the public with Syrian threats of war.

Uzi Benziman: Israel's refusal to give up the Golan will lead to war

U.S. officials: Cheney updated on secret Israel-Syria talks Officials in Washington received regular reports on secret talks, made contact with Syrian representatives.

How is it possible to learn Arabic from a Syrian?

Full text of Halutz's letter of resignation

Halutz resignation / Better late than never

'2006 didn't shake Israeli patriotism'
By AMIR MIZROCH
Survey: Israelis may be patriotic but their faith in government has been shaken.

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

Ynet presents: Halutz's letter of resignation

Who will replace Halutz?

Tentative deal would have returned Golan Heights to Syria

Israel's military chief resigns

Israel's chief of staff, Gen Dan Halutz, resigns over the handling of last year's conflict in southern Lebanon.

Rice Says New Mideast Talks Transcend Sequence of Road Map

CFR Cook: Israeli-Palestinian Talks Linked to Iraqi Problem

Helena Cobban Israel's political turmoil-- leading where?

The Syrian-Israeli back-channel, Part 2

Akiva Eldar's leak about Syrian-Israeli contacts

US Officials: Cheney Was Kept Abreast of Israel-Syria Talks

US, Saudi Arabia back Moussa's Lebanon plan

Analysis: Police to investigate Olmert

Beware of 'sectarianism' in Palestine By Akram Baker

Washington Institute Hizballah at War: A Military Assessment

Russia is back in the game

Standing With Israel, by Dr Gary Bauer

The End of Israeli Military Restraint: Out with the New, in with the Old

H10 Christian Science Monitor Peace framework for Israel, Syria?

Both nations deny Haaretz report that two years of secret discussions led to an 'understanding.'

Freedom's ring not reaching new ears After four decades of countries embracing civil liberties, a new report says the trend has stalled.

Democrats aim to exploit GOP split over war

The self-isolation of Venezuela and Iran

John Hughes: Never forget Hussein's cruelty

Opinion: Reject torture - redeem America's soul

Pakistan airstrike targets tribes

Recent attacks seem to contradict a peace deal signed with Taliban-linked militants in September of last year.

Why is Egypt airing insurgent TV?

Al Zawraa's broadcasting of Sunni attacks on American soldiers in Iraq highlights sectarian politics of the Middle East.

European Union proposes
a new door for immigration

Officials met this week to weigh an African guest- worker program promoting 'circular migration.'

ASIA America's Low Profile in Asia Spells Trouble By: Philip Bowring | International Herald Tribune

What Will China Do With All That Money? By: Charles Horner | The Washington Post Like the "mutual assured destruction" of nuclear deterrence which it resembles conceptually, "the balance of financial terror" between the United States and China is mathematically elegant and, from one perspective, perfectly reasonable. But, like its Cold War ancestor, its breakdown would be catastrophic.

IMF: Is Asia Prepared for an Aging Population?

Rumors of a split in China's elite Rumor has it that Vice President Zeng Qinghong is aiming to take the presidency from Hu Jintao. While it's likely to be hot air - of which there will be much in the lead-up to crucial Communist Party assemblies later this year - the rumor could signal that the Shanghai clique is fighting back after Hu's purges of 2006. In any event, such rumors confirm that politicking and horse-trading will be particularly acute in the months ahead. - David Fullbrook (

My new paper on "Why China Should Abandon Its Dollar Peg"

H11 IHT Chirac, on his own, reaches out to Iran By ELAINE SCIOLINO President Jacques Chirac has started an initiative to help resolve the crisis in Lebanon, despite opposition from his own foreign minister and some allies.

Europe creates attractive clean energy scene

When being green raises the heat The notion that we can save the planet just by planting trees is a dangerous illusion.

Globalist: Shades of a shambles as ETA terror fight splits Spain

EUROPE Merkel may ease diplomatic tension between Germany, U.S.

BBC German leader to outline EU plans Merkel prepares to outline her plans for Germany's presidency of the EU.

Analysis: Can Merkel fix the EU?

Q&A: EU constitution's future

New contributions
What do Bulgaria and Romania bring to the European Union?

Poisonous legacy
How a Romanian town became one of Europe's most polluted

Scotland ponders going its own way (Ben McConville)

European Union: National Patent Statistics
8 pages; PDF.

After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania: ending the contradiction between widening and deepening

New Austrian government plans Turkey referendum

H12 RFE/RLEU Commissioner Woos Region External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner warns that neglecting Central Asia could drive it toward Russia and China.

WSJ A 'Great Game' Update Central Asia has come a long way since the days of the Soviet Union.
By HUGH POPE

The Economist How migration is helping to reshape eastern Europe and Central Asia

Hudson Institute Hugging Russian Bear May Lead to a Mauling from EU

Back to the future?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave It's no longer politically incorrect to be skeptical about Vladimir Putin's Russia.

U.S. criticizes Russian sale of anti-missile systems to Iran

From The Moscow Times, a review of Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry and Georgia Diary: A Chronicle of War and Political Chaos in the Post-Soviet Caucasus.

Google News Azerbaijan

The Challenge of De-Mining Karabakh

EurasiaNet Drastic Price Hikes in Azerbaijan Fuel Tension

Russian amnesty program for Chechens comes to end

EDM HUNGARY AND THE NABUCCO PROJECT: TIME TO END THE AMBIGUITY

- NAZARBAYEV APPOINTS CIVILIAN DEFENSE MINISTER

- KREMLIN LETS ADYGEYA KEEP ITS VIRTUAL AUTONOMY

H13 The Times For Better, for Worse The political marriage between England and Scotland is well worth preserving

Israeli armed forces chief quits over Lebanon conflict failures

Could a country park bring peace to Middle East? Israel could withdraw from the Golan Heights but Israelis would be allowed access to a hotly contested area on the Sea of Galilee

Criminal inquiry for Olmert He faces a criminal investigation into his role in the privatisation of one of Israel's biggest financial institutions

Riyalpolitik Selling aircraft is never an excuse to sell out

India seeks out new alliances as the new science superpower Britain risks losing a “special relationship” with the world’s emerging science superpower, India, unless there is government investment

Wall Street Journal Hugo and Mahmoud What do Ahmadinejad and Chris Dodd have in common?

Petraeus Time For all its serious faults, Bush's new strategy is the first one to offer a chance to reverse the radicalization of Iraq.
By REUEL MARC GERECHT

France's Anti-Anti-Americans By: Matthew Kaminski In Sarko or Ségo, as they're widely known, France would get its first head of state born after World War II. More than a change of the generational guard looms on the horizon. Neither of the presumptive successors to Jacques Chirac sounds beholden to a Gaullist creed characterized by the prickly defense of the Fifth Republic's "grandeur" and a knee-jerk anti-Americanism.

H14 Financial Times COMMENT: Evolution can provide a missing link to the modern economy The gap between how economists think and what economies are is evident. But hitherto nobody has matched rigorous theory with broad vision, writes Martin Wolf.

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: A uniform trend? How democracy worldwide is on the back foot In its annual survey of global liberty, Freedom House, a US advocacy group, says 2006 saw ‘freedom stagnation’ and a growing ‘pushback’ by authoritarian regimes.

Editorial Zapatero stumbles

COMMENT: We must prepare for the march of China's giants

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA: PLEA TO STOP SCARE STORIES ON IRAN

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: China is entitled to protect key sectors from foreign predators

Stoiber crisis threatens Merkel’s coalition Edmund Stoiber, one of Germany’s political heavyweights, appeared to be on the verge of ending his career as conservative Bavarian premier in a political crisis that could influence Angela Merkel’s re-election chances as chancellor in 2009.

Putin reassures Belgrade over territorial integrity Russia will support a solution on the future of Kosovo, the breakaway province of Serbia, only if it is backed by Belgrade, senior officials in Moscow are making clear

Israeli military chief quits over Lebanon

Barack Obama joins White House race

Saudis give cautious backing to Bush plan

H15 Los Angeles Times 8 Mideast states back U.S. on Iraq

The case for the 'surge' Max Boot: Though Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq isn't foolproof, the potential benefits may be worth the risk.

Editorial Sliming the defense A Pentagon official's overboard criticism of Gitmo lawyers is consistent with one bad strain of White House thought.

U.S. military members make an anti-war plea

- Iraqis seek sanctuary within the U.S.

A parable for Scooter The good news -- and bad news -- for the vice president's former top aide.

Ban's first U.N. test -- Darfur

By Lee Feinstein How the new United Nations chief handles the crisis in Sudan will say much about his effectiveness.

Possible Libby jurors quizzed

General seeks Afghan combat tour extension

Sale of missiles to Iran confirmed

H16 American Politics

WP 2008 Presidential Race Heats Up Candidacies in which race and gender play central roles are setting up a historic, compelling contest

THE LEFT AND THE WAR....If anti-war liberals were right about the war ... (Kevin Drum/Political Animal)

Dems Sitting on Power to Curb 'Surge'

White House Says Congress Iraq Vote Could Signal Split to the World

Libby Trial, Day One: Can You Trust Cheney? by David Corn

Is Obama the Front-Runner? - Perry Bacon, Time

CSM Many questions over Barack Obama's bid

Losing Sleep Over the Trade Deficit? - John Stossel, RealClearPolitics

Seven Tough Choices We Will Not Make - Robert Samuelson, Newsweek

The President's Diminishing Returns - Charlie Cook, National Journa

CFR The 110th Congress—Democrats and Energy Security

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note - Early Bird GovExec

DC confidential
CIA leak case may reveal inner workings of the White House

From Vanity Fair, Blue is the New Red: One of the hoariest truisms—"What goes around comes around"—is about to get a real workout in Washington as the Democrats take the Hill.

H17 Daily Telegraph Scots destroyed the Union - so vote SNP We English bought into the Union completely, suggests Simon Heffer. However, once the Scots were made to be ruled by a radical Englishwoman, Margaret Thatcher, they seemed to decide that, after all, self-government might be better.

A review of The English National Character: The History of an Idea from Edmund Burke to Tony Blair

H18 Independent Leading article: Israel and Syria: a deal that will have to be done

Donald Macintyre: Glimpse of how breakthrough could transform whole region

The Doomsday Clock: Nuclear threat to world 'rising' For 60 years, it has depicted how close the world is to nuclear disaster. Today, scientists will move its hands forward to show we are facing the gravest threat in 20 years

Israel knew of secret peace talks with Syria, say officials

Deborah Orr: Give Scotland its economic independence and it will start to flourish like Ireland

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

CIA emphasizes flexibility in new strategy

AI: US: Five years on 'the dark side' – A look back at ‘war on terror’ detentions

NSA’s Terrorist Surveillance Program Various documents and transcripts from the USDOJ (December 16, 2005 to March 24, 2006)

What Would Military Security Look Like Through a Human Security Lens?
ORG This 15-page report of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop examines how far the needs of non-combatants are included in the decision-making about military intervention

Boston Globe Another Pentagon smear

WHEN THE shameful history of the Guantanamo detention center is finally written, one of the few reassuring chapters will be the way lawyers from many US law firms have given pro-bono representation to prisoners who have been denied their Geneva Convention rights. It is especially outrageous that the Pentagon official responsible for detainees has maligned these lawyers and encouraged corporations ...

What to do about torture? Manfred Nowak interviewed | Kanishk Tharoor

Gitmo's Good Work By: Gordon Cucullu | New York Post

The New Post-Conflict Strategy: Building Domestic Capacity for Reform CIPE A 10-page article arguing for approaching post-conflict reconstruction by building it around local groups

Calculating the Cost of Conflict: War on Terror More Expensive Than Vietnam

H20 Slate How Bush is Blowing Our Last Chance - Christopher Hitchens

Fred Kaplan

Nation’s Leading Physician Groups Join Together to Announce Principles for Reforming the U.S. Health Care System Source: American College of Physicians The Principles For Reform of the U.S. Health Care System released today call for the following actions:

Health care coverage for all is needed to ensure quality of care and to improve the health status of Americans.

The health care system in the U.S. must provide appropriate health care to all people within the U.S. borders, without unreasonable financial barriers to care.

Individuals and families must have catastrophic health coverage to provide protection from financial ruin.

Improvement of health care quality and safety must be the goal of all health interventions, so that we can assure optimal outcomes for the resources expended.

In reforming the health care system, we as a society must respect the ethical imperative of providing health care to individuals, responsible stewardship of community resources, and the importance of personal health responsibility.

Access to and financing for appropriate health services must be a shared public/private cooperative effort, and a system which will allow individuals/employers to purchase additional services or insurance.

Cost management by all stakeholders, consistent with achieving quality health care, is critical to attaining a workable, affordable and sustainable health care system.

Less complicated administrative systems are essential to reduce costs, create a more efficient health care system, and maximize funding for health care services.

Sufficient funds must be available for research (basic, clinical, translational and health services), medical education, and comprehensive health information technology infrastructure and implementation.

Sufficient funds must be available for public health and other essential medical services to include, but not be limited to, preventive services, trauma care and mental health services.

Comprehensive medical liability reform is essential to ensure access to quality health care.+ Full Document (PDF; 18 KB)

A new perspective on population aging
Source: Demographic Research
“In Sanderson and Scherbov (2005) we introduced a new forward-looking definition of age and argued that its use, along with the traditional backward-looking concept of age, provides a more informative basis upon which to discuss population aging. Age is a measure of how many years a person has already lived. In contrast, our new approach to measuring age is concerned about the future. In this paper, we first explore our new age measure in detail and show, using an analytic formulation, historical data, and forecasts, that it is, in most cases, insensitive to whether it is measured using period or cohort life tables. We, then, show, using new forward-looking definitions of median age and the old age dependency ratio, how combining the traditional age concept and our new one enhances our understanding of population aging.” + Full Paper (PDF; 256 KB)

Has U.S. Income Inequality Really Increased? Source: The Brookings Institution

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