0929-2007f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses from all around the world for informed debate’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - FPR Table - Subscribe to FPR

H1 From Prospect, Mission Accomplished – With most Sunni factions now seeking a deal, the big questions in Iraq have been resolved positively. The country remains one, it has embraced democracy and avoided all-out civil war. What violence remains is largely local and criminal. Bartle Bull

Washington Post Democrats May Keep Iraq Policy Party's presidential front-runners unlikely to rapidly alter Bush's vision for U.S. in region

Senate Dems' Chances to Alter Iraq Strategy Fading

Iraqi PM Al-Maliki Criticizes U.S. Senate Proposal

Security May Trump Ethnicity in Kirkuk By: Borzou Daragahi | Los Angeles Times

Russia, China delay new sanctions on Tehran Agree to consider further action in November

Prospect In search of British values 1 In July, Gordon Brown published a green paper called "The Governance of Britain." The final section said that we need to be clearer about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and what it means to be British. It proposed "to work with the public to develop a British statement of values." We asked 50 writers and intellectuals to give us their thoughts on this statement and what should inform it

Ha’aretz – Editorial: Should we come to terms with a nuclear Iran?

Perkovich: "ElBaradei and Iran have won this round"

Samore, Fitzpatrick on Iran [1] The audio for the event is online.

The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John J Mearsheimer and Stephen M Walt makes Geoffrey Wheatcroft wonder when an alliance becomes a liability

Time Why the Dollar Is a 98-lb. Weakling Does a falling greenback mean the end is near for the U.S.? No, but change is coming, and it won't be pretty

Inflating a Little Man The neoconservatives want you to think Ahmadinejad is another Hitler. That's dishonest, and plumps for war by Joe Klein

Asia Times A massive wrench in Putin's works Turkmenistan, the energy-rich gas powerhouse of Central Asia, was all but in Moscow's pocket, having agreed to allow Russia almost exclusive access to its vast reserves and exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin was poised to deal a death blow to Western plans to bring Turkmen gas to the European market bypassing Russian territory. Almost overnight, Turkmenistan appears to be responding to desperate US and European Union moves to recover lost ground. With Iran and China pulling in other directions, the great game has taken a dramatic twist. - M K Bhadrakumar

Strategic Studies Institute Turkmenistan and Central Asia after Niyazov by Dr. Stephen J. Blank Full Paper (PDF; 381 KB)

The Knowledge Matrix Approach to Intelligence Fusion Source: RAND Corporation Summary (PDF; 97 KB)
+ Full Document (PDF; 3.7 MB)

Financial Times Dollar sinks as gold hits 27-year highInvestors ignore inflation data

The war on error Even after Iraq, the US is unlikely to be cured of its taste for the Big Idea, says Gideon Rachman

SCOWCROFT: RISKS TO MIDEAST OIL MORE DANGEROUS THAN TERRORISM

Yedioth Ahronoth Basher Assad - The Lesser Evil - Guy Bechor

Columbia Journalism Review The Israel Lobby Doesn't Control the Media - Gal Beckerman

Yedioth Ahronoth Who really rules Israel? Jews' state controlled by four informal networks, not by government, Gabriel Sheffer writes

This new struggle for power: An interview with Martin Indyk on assessing American foreign policy in the Middle East.

Washington Institute Syria's Strategic Weapons Programs - Michael Eisenstadt

Can’t Win with ‘Em, Can’t Go To War without ‘Em: Private Military Contractors and Counterinsurgency
Source: The Brookings Institution Full Report (PDF: 304 KB)

Washington Institute Pushback or Progress? Arab Regimes Respond to Democracy's Challenge

American and Iranian Public Opinion: The Quest for Common Grounds Source: Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (via RAND Corporation) Full Document (PDF; 195 KB)

Blotter Exclusive: First Images of Controversial Blackwater Incident

Iraqis, Arabs, and a Norwegian all hate the Biden plan

Helena Cobban The fate of the Bushites' "demagogratization" project in the Middle East

'Why We're Winning Now in Iraq: Anbar's citizens needed protection before they would give their "hearts and minds,"' BY FREDERICK W. KAGAN, Wall Street Journal

An Interview With Bill Clinton - Al Hunt, Bloomberg TV

H2 Wall Street Journal COMMENTARY: THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW Iraq's Maliki calls for a united front against terrorism. Turkey's Erdogan is ambivalent about Ataturk's legacy.

Charlie Rose Show Comment On: A conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Recep ...

Holbrooke Beni Amerika anladı, Türkiye anlamadı

Turkey/Iraq: Counterterrorism Cooperation US Department of State

Bryza: Osmanlı ruhu canlandırılmalı

Anlaşma 'sıcak takip'siz

ANLAŞMANIN TAM METNİ İÇİN TIKLAYIN

Güvenlik anlaşması
Irak'la Türkiye'nin anlaşmasına Kürtler nasıl bakıyor?

Bush'tan çifte randevu

'Türkiye Uzlaştırıcı Rol Oynayabilir'

'Terörün Zemininde Din Değil Yoksulluk Var'

Terörizme karşı 'zoraki' işbirliği

Holbrooke: Türkiye’den daha önemli bir ülke yok

Dünyanın en iyi politikacısı

Turkey, Iraq Sign Deal on Kurdish Rebels The Associated Press

Turkey, Iraq sign deal to combat Turkish Kurd rebels AFP

Turkey-Iraq agree security pact BBC News

Azerbaijan to start building $4b refinery in Turkey in 2008 Tehran Times,

NYT Iraq and Turkey sign pact to combat Kurdish rebels

Former US defense secretaries also warn Pelosi

Mehmetçiğe Darfur yolu göründü

Matt Bryza'dan Osmanlı mesajları

BM Güvenlik Konseyi geçici üyeliği için destek istedi

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

[NEWS ANALYSIS] Turkey-Iraq deal forms legal basis to fight PKK

Ankara’da yoğun kayıp silah trafiği

Amerikalı müfettişler Blackwater'ı adres gösterdi

Turkey, Iraq sign terrorism deal but no hot pursuit clause

Erdoğan: PKK'nın elinde ABD malı tank var

Öcalan'ın kardeşi: PKK, Avrupa'da bitti

Alman Vakfı destekli 'Kürt Konferansı'

Güneri CIVAOĞLU PKK'nın tankları

PKK kampından ABD tankı çıktı

Abdülhamit Bilici Bölünmeye Iraklı nasıl bakıyor?

Beril Dedeoğlu Turkey-Israel: Again?

PKK'nın elinde ABD tankı var

ABD'nin tanktan haberi yok

Irak sınırında tank ve topçu tatbikatı

Turkey, Iraq Sign Counterterrorism Pact

Teröre 'Balyoz' darbesi

'Terörle anılmaktan rahatsızız bölgede güzel şeyler de oluyor'

Iraqi President Party's Official Says PKK Not Terrorist Organization

Al-Jazeera Program Discusses Iraqi-Turkish Security Agreement

Al-Jazeera Interviews Senior PUK Official on Iraq-Turkey Security Agreement

Iraqi Kurdish Islamic Union Local Leader Discusses Support, Media

TURKISH OFFICIALS ACCUSE BARZANI OF PREVENTING “HOT PURSUIT” BEING INCLUDED IN ANTI-PKK AGREEMENT

Iraqi Kurdish Official Discusses Obstacles to Settlement in Disputed Areas

Iraqi Kurdish Paper Discusses Use of Tribes to Fight Al-Qa'Idah

Iraqi Kurdistan President Briefs Parliament, Urges Iran, Turkey to Stop Shelling

Kürdistan bölgesi ekonomisini inşa çabasında

Security May Trump Ethnicity in Kirkuk By: Borzou Daragahi | Los Angeles Times
A staunch Arab nationalist, Ismail Hadidi once dreaded the possibility that his ethnically diverse city would be swallowed up by the neighboring semiautonomous Kurdish region and cut off from the Baghdad government. But the provincial councilman is also a practical man. And when he compares the chaos and violence in the Iraqi capital with the prosperity and peace next door in the three-province Kurdistan Regional Government area, teaming up with the Kurds doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

Türkiye-Irak anlaşmasına Kürtler tepkili

Tunceli'de gergin gün

PKK'nın tankı var!

Murat Çelik Sıcak takip yok ama...

Yusuf KANLI
So, we have an Iraq-Turkey deal

Diyarbakır umutsuz

'Türkiye'de Kürtler azınlık değil'

Kürtler bastırdı sıcak takip kaldı

Zebari: PKK'yı Irak'tan çıkarmam

DTP'den orduya hakaret

DTP'li Demirtaş, “9 gencin üzerine 10 bin kişilik orduyu Erdoğan’ın talimatıyla gönderiyorlar" dedi

Tunceli ve Şırnak'ta operasyon

Turkey warm on US using border for exit

Turkey Leader Says US Should Set Iraq Exit Timeline (Update1)

İlnur Çevik The inevitable is happening in Iraq

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

EU says has no position on headscarf debate in Turkey

AB, başörtüsü yasağını desteklemiyor

Clinton'dan övgü: Dünyanın en başarılı politikacısı

Erdoğan, BM Genel Kurulu'nda konuştu: Terör bir insanlık suçudur

Holbrooke, tartışmaları bitirdi: Türkiye, İran da değil Malezya da

'Yunan hükümeti itibar kaybetti'

Ermeni tasarısı bir kayıp verdi

Stoiber,Türkiye'nin üyeliğine karşı

Babacan'dan Rehn'e AB haritası sitemi

Düzeltme-Özel-AP Temas Grubu’nda görüş ayrılığı

Turkish Cypriot Official Expects More Active Stand From UK

At Atun Erdoğan’s visit to US: Start of a new era

Papadopoulos confident Syria will not recognize KKTC despite ferry row

Hrant Dink cinayetini polis de bekliyormuş!

Polisin her şeyi bildiğinin .

Erhan Tuncel, Dink cinayetinden yarım saat sonra polisle konuşmuş; işte dehşet ifadeler

Türbanlı okula Milli Eğitim soruşturması

İçişleri'nde 377 yeni atama

YÖK'e ikinci Doğramacı mı?

Cumhurbaşkanı Gül'den şehit ailelerine iftar yemeği

Rupert Murdoch ile ikinci görüşme

Yunanistan türban sorununu çözdü

RTÜK Başkanı’nın 3 yıl hapsi isteniyor

Can Dündar Yük Gemisi Partisi

Damarları tıkanan Çakıcı anjiyo olacak

'Kuran kursu' açılışına AKP'lilerden çıkarma

Polislerin 'bayrak davası' başladı

Gül kendisini seçenleri davet etti

Erdoğan’ın yolu yine Murdoch’la kesişti

Türkiye yeşile mi dönüyor? -

Alevilerin bilirkişi itirazı

Serdar Turgut
Kaybetmek üzerine

Susuzluk tehlikesi
İstanbul'dan Kürşat Akyol'un haberi için tıklayın

SPIEGEL Interview with Director Fatih Akin: From Istanbul to New York - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

FENERBAHÇE MARŞINI SÖYLEDİ!

Isn't Orhan Pamuk smart enough?
Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Celebrating Rumi's 800th Birthday

Village life one take on the Turkish dream - CNN.com

Bowing out
Turkish musical star Mercan Dede explains his decision to retire

H3 Polisin dehşet diyaloğu Dink cinayetinden iki saat kadar sonra polis M.Z., 'muhbir'i Erhan Tuncel'i arıyor. Tuncel'in 'Öldü mü' sorusuna polisin yanıtı: 'Tabii canım, tek fark (katil) kaçmayacaktı, bu kaçmış.' İşte o konuşma

Taha AKYOL Muhafazakâr liberal ittifak

Semih İDİZ ABD'nin baskısı Türkiye'yi zorlayabilir

Cengiz Çandar 'Sıcak takip' olmadı; 'kağıt üzerinde' anlaşma verelim

Anlaşmadan Türkiye kazançlı çıktı

Yalçın Doğan Sıcak takipte skandal yenilgi

ERDAL ŞAFAK Haydi canım sen de

Sadi Somuncuoğlu ABD bölücü terörle mücadele etmez... O halde?..

HAKAN ALBAYRAK Kürt Yönetimi'yle kucaklaşmak

Tuhaf bir görevden almaTMSF, Sabah gazetesinin Ankara temsilcisini görevden aldı. Aydıntaşbaş kararı iş arkadaşlarından öğrendi

Malezya değil, Dubai yakın!
Murat Yetkin

Fikret BİLA Sencer Hoca'ya göre Malezya değil, Dubai

M. Ali BİRAND Başörtülüler eskiden neredeydiler?

Ece TEMELKURAN Siyasal İslam adım adım gelirken biz uyuyorduk

Ege Cansen Bu kış şeriat gelebilir

Korkanların asıl korkusu Haluk Şahin

'Türkiye idare edilir'
İsmet Berkan

Hasan CEMAL Cehennem çukurunda politika!

Toptan 'Anayasa için uzlaşma yeri Meclis'

Özbudun: İki taslak aynı
'Bugün tartışılan anayasa taslağıyla TOBB'unki ruh ve temel yaklaşım bakımından aynı'

Anayasaya gözaltı!

Yargıtay'ın sivil anayasa için 4 kırmızı çizgisi var

Mensur Akgün Dış politikada ince ayar şart

Şamil Tayyar Ertuğrul Özkök’ün büyük yemini

Ruşen Çakır “Türkiye Hollanda olur mu?”

Vamık Volkan Türkiye’de kadınların özgürlüğü tehlikede!

Why are women frightened?
Gila BENMAYOR

The Islamic case for a secular state (I) Mustafa AKYOL

Ali Bulaç Farklı dinî hayatlar

Ahmet Taşgetiren “Türkiye'nin bu yanını ne yapmalı?”

[Yorum - Eser Karakaş] Anayasa, iktisat ve somut öneriler

Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ Başbuğ'un konuşması felsefi gaflarına karşın, büyük sermaye, hükümet ve liberal/muhafazakar aydınlarla yeni bir mutabakat arayışını dile getiriyor: Neo-liberal küreselleşmenin mantığına uygun bir restorasyon perspektifi!

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

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

Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700

VOA TSİ 06:30 Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

Taha Kıvanç Hangi 'mahalle baskısı' yahu!

Fehmi Koru Medyatik takımlar

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLUMahalle baskısı değil mahalle çetesi…

KÜRŞAT BUMİNTSK ve kavramlar dünyası

Yılmaz Polat Fethullah Gülen ve ılımlı islam

Ertuğrul Özkök 22 Temmuz'da kral mı seçtik

Ahmet Hakan

M Ali Birand

Cüneyt Ülsever

Enis Berberoğlu ABD gezisinin kenar süsleri

Oktay Ekşi Stratejik ortağımız

Mehmet Y Yılmaz Laik ülkenin lideri

Sular berraklaşırken M.Ali Kışlalı

Cemaat ve birey Murat Belge

Mehmet BARLAS Hep aynı şeyleri yazmak gerçekten bunaltıcı bir süreçtir

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

AB de endişeli

Serdar Turgut Muasır medeniyet

Can Ataklı AKP bu korkuyla nereye kadar?

Nuh Gönültaş Demokrasinin önündeki en büyük engel Hürriyet Gazetesi’dir -

ERGUN BABAHAN Kritik bir dönemeç

EMRE AKÖZ Aradığım cevabı nihayet buldum

İlter Türkmen Malezya’nın keşfi!

Hadi Uluengin Komutan’ın konuşması

Zeynep Göğüş Büyük mahalle

Umur Talu

Nabi Yağcı Cumhuriyet halktan nasıl kopartıldı

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN Yüz yıl önce yüz yıl sonra

NAZLI ILICAK Onlar "Mahşer'in 5 atlısı" değil

MAHMUT ÖVÜR CHP'de 'taşeron' siyasetçiler!

YAVUZ DONAT Yüzde 47 "güç" mü, yoksa "yük" mü?

Koç’un adaylığı yol ayrımıdır

Başörtüsü ve toplumsal cinsiyet ayrımcılığı

[Yorum - M. Naci Bostancı] Mardin hocadaki 'biz' (I)

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Ercan Kumcu

Erdal Sağlam Bankacılığın sorunu yönetici maaşı olamaz

Ne olacak bu doların hali Taner Berksoy

Yaman TÖRÜNER IMF artık açık oynuyor

Deniz Gökçe Bir kere daha faiz

Metin MÜNİR Petkim'de Kazaklara finansman şoku

Güven Sak Herkes Greenspan’i makrocu sanırken o aslınd...

Volkan Akı
“Markete hücum” nelerin habercisi?

US giant AES enters Turkey energy market

Two Different Accounts of Deadly Airstrike in Baghdad

Pakistan Court Clears Musharraf’s Path to Election Day

H5 Washington Post Democrats May Keep Iraq Policy Party's presidential front-runners unlikely to rapidly alter Bush's vision for U.S. in region

Senate Dems' Chances to Alter Iraq Strategy Fading

Iraqi PM Al-Maliki Criticizes U.S. Senate Proposal

Witnesses Insist Iraqis Did Not Fire on Guards Five observers of Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater USA claim its personnel shot at civilians and Iraqi police without provocation

State Dept. Agents Say Jobs Were Threatened: Investigators in IG Office Were Told Not to Cooperate With Probe of Their Boss, House Panel Alleges

Editorial Mr. Bush Gets Warmer

But the president still resists mandatory limits on global carbon emissions

Lessons From an Anbar Sheik

» Sterling Jensen | As a former interpreter for Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, a Sunni sheik recently killed by a car bomb in Ramadi, I am disturbed by the way some in Washington are misinterpreting his life and efforts. Read More

Mr. Bush Gets Warmer (Editorial

Editorial Right on Torture Hillary Clinton spells out the only acceptable policy -- and the president's responsibility.

The Saffron Olympics The slaughtered monks of Burma will haunt China.

H6 GuardianThanks a million, Ayn Rand, for setting the greedy free
Naomi Klein: The trickle-down theory beloved of Greenspan and his ilk is less a philosophy than a handy excuse for avarice.

Making Iraq an example

Matthew Yglesias Sep 28 07, 06:30pm: Saddam Hussain may have accepted an offer of exile in 2003, rather than clinging on. But President Bush was intent on war to intimidate other upstarts.

Europeans angry after Bush climate speech 'charade'

· US isolated as China and India refuse support · President claims he can lead world on emissions

Junta regains control Fewer protesters willing to brave regime's military crackdown.
Beijing reaps benefit of embrace

Nato chief says Taliban could regain territory
British troops warned that the Taliban could recapture previously won territory in southern Afghanistan.

Untransparent charity

Brian Beutler Sep 28 07, 09:30pm: Plenty of big names attended the Clinton Global Initiative this week. But I can't tell you what they talked about

Why 'Why democracy?'

Nick Fraser Sep 29 07, 09:00am: Why democracy? An imperfect system of government, but the best we've got? That, among other questions, is what our project tries to answer.

A 2007 election would be expedient, vain and immoral
Martin Kettle: If Gordon Brown is sincere about his wish to lead the country and not just his party, he must not call an early poll.

Sarkozy, the new Blair Soumaya Ghannoushi: The French president longs to play the newly vacant, thankless role of Washington's sidekick on the world stage.

H7 Washington Institute Syria's Strategic Weapons Programs - Michael Eisenstadt

From Prospect, with most Sunni factions now seeking a deal, the big questions in Iraq have been resolved positively. The country remains one, it has embraced democracy and avoided all-out civil war. What violence remains is largely local and criminal.

Syria: Challenges and Opportunities View the online edition

U.S. agrees to delay on new Iranian sanctions

Al Hayat The Bush Administration, Between Iranian Strike and Palestinian Autumn Raghida Dergham - Qatar played a role in establishing a back channel of contact between Syria and Israel. It gives advice to the Syrian leadership and relays impressions and messages from Israel and leading US figures. Many Syrian decisions take their headings from the Qatari compass.

Asia Times Unveiling men in the Arab worldWhile Islamic clerics debate minutiae such as breast-feeding, or whether actors portraying a wedded couple are really "married" or not under Islamic law, or vent their fury at Danish cartoons, they are ignoring larger, more meaningful issues such as the invisible veil of ignorance worn by men. The veil not only blinds them; more important, it also diminishes Islam in others' eyes. - Sami Moubayed

US frets over Iran's 'strategic dominance'The Bush administration believes the recent increase in rocket attacks by Shi'ite forces in Iraq represents an effort by Tehran to put pressure on the US to accept Iranian influence there, and that only by reducing Iranian influence through military action can the US avert Iranian "strategic dominance" in the region. - Gareth Porter

'Combat Outpost Shocker:' The base that could spark Iran conflict

Al Ahram Contemporary Islamist Movements Bound to a Mummified Past - Salah Eissa

Moment The Roadblock to Arab Democracy - Joshua Muravchik

A Kinder, Gentler Islam? - Zvi Bar'el (Ha'aretz)

NY Sun Israel Lobby's Pull Pales Next to Evil Saudi Input - Youssef Ibrahim

U.S.: The Financial Costs of Warfare By: Peter Buxbaum | ISN Security Watch
The war in Iraq alone has already cost the US more than the 1991 Gulf War and the Korean War, and will surpass the cost of the Vietnam War by the end of next year, while US$44 billion has been spent on private contractors in Iraq alone.

Chaos and Unity in a Fragmented Iraq By: Roger Owen | The Boston Globe
By arming and financing the Sunni tribes in Anbar Province as local militias, the American military is both recognizing the lack of central government control and helping to undermine it still further. But there is much more to it than that.

Eric Alterman The Coming 'Stab in the Back' Campaign

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

US Papers Sat: Few Iraq Options for Next Prez

Iraq Papers Sat: Kurds Support Senate Plan

Iraqi Establishment Rejects US Senate Resolution Al-Maliki: A Disaster for Iraq and the Region

Iraqi Premier Discusses Iran, Militias, Al-Qa'Idah in Interview

Baghdad rejects US Senate plant to carve up Iraq

BBC Monitoring Quotes From Middle East Arabic Press for 28 September 07

Mideast meeting plan big at U.N.

The Middle East meeting to be convened by the White House in November dominated U.N. discussions yesterday as tensions and hopes flamed anew.

Make It Happen: Visualize Peace By: Uri Dromi | Miami Herald
Because of the Middle East Peace Conference scheduled for November in Washington, D.C. Everybody keeps predicting that it is going to fail, and I'm afraid that unfortunately, this is exactly what is going to happen.

Mystery of the Season By: Trudy Rubin | Miami Herald
Is it a peace conference? Where will it be held, and what's its purpose? It's the biggest Mideast mystery of the season (beyond the buzz over the unknown Syrian target that Israel bombed Sept. 6).

The Politics of Assassination By: Ramzy Baroud | The Japan Times
The assassination of Lebanese politician Antoine Ghanem on Sept. 19 is likely to be used to further U.S. and Israeli interests in the region.

Time Access Denied (Commentary)
The U.S. has taken in few Iraqi refugees, and that's no accident. To do more means admitting the catastrophe By SAMANTHA POWER

The Threat of al-Qaeda and its Allies in Lebanon - Shaul Shay (BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University)

Iran Building Secret Underground Nuclear Facility (VOA News)

'Al-Qaeda figure' killed in Iraq

The US military says it has killed a senior al-Qaeda figure in an air strike in Iraq, naming him as Abu Osama al-Tunisi.

Radical Syrian cleric 'shot dead'

A Syrian cleric suspected of recruiting foreign militants to fight in Iraq is shot dead in Aleppo, his aides say.

BOOK : The Baloch and Their Neighbours: Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and Modern Times

H9 Ha’aretz – Editorial: Should we come to terms with a nuclear Iran?

Benn Proud to be a politician Olmert understands that his ability to advance diplomatic moves depends not on public opinion, but on a political majority.

Hamas: 50,000 gunmen are ready to fight IDF, defend Gaza Strip

Report: CIA stalls publication of records on use of ex-Nazi spies

Would Barghouti's release save Fatah?

Russian Neo-Nazis follow tactics of Al-Qaeda

Islamists Can Be Defeated - Moshe Ya'alon (Ynet News)

Basher Assad - The Lesser Evil - Guy Bechor

Columbia Journalism Review The Israel Lobby Doesn't Control the Media - Gal Beckerman

Yedioth Ahronoth Who really rules Israel? Jews' state controlled by four informal networks, not by government, Gabriel Sheffer writes

Jerusalem Post Security and Defense: Shooting for 'interoperability'
[ YAAKOV KATZ

Condoleezza Rice: Architect or implementer?
[ GLENN C. ALTSCHULER

Jibril: Israel will attack Syria soon
PFLP leader says in interview Iran, Hizbullah, Syrian Palestinians will fight any future Israeli aggression

Daily Alert.org – Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

FT Palestinians’ return scarred by Lebanese war

With instability going through Lebanon, officials emphasise the importance of preventing the emergence of new militant strongholds inside Palestinian refugee camps

From TLS, a review of Hannah Arendt’s The Jewish Writings; and should understanding necessitate forgiveness? A look back to the 1964 review of Arendt’s book on the Eichmann trial.

From Habitus, an interview with Emil Fackenheim on An Epitaph for German Judaism: From Halle to Jerusalem;

an interview with Gunther Grass and Imre Kertesz on parallel lives;

and an interview with Siona Benjamin on Jews, America, art and the transcultural revolution.

H10 Christian Science Monitor

This new struggle for power: An interview with Martin Indyk on assessing American foreign policy in the Middle East.

From Forward, Martin van Creveld on why the world can live with a nuclear Iran.

An interview with Seymour Hersh on Bush, Iran and the challenges to journalism.

Russia, China delay new sanctions on Tehran Agree to consider further action in November

BBC Iran sanctions decision delayed

A decision on imposing tougher UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme is delayed until November.

ASIA

Explaining China’s Low Consumption: The Neglected Role of Household Income
Source: IMF Working Paper (via SSRN)

Ft Editorial African scramble Like brides told too often that they are ugly, African countries are flattered by their new suitor – but they should beware China’s advances

Anthony Lake: CHINA'S 19TH CENTURY MERCANTILE POLICY TOWARD AFRICA SHOULD CHANGE

Boston Globe The junta's enablers in Beijing

BURMA'S MILITARY junta has been showing its true colors this week, firing automatic weapons at peaceful demonstrators and raiding monasteries to beat and kill Buddhist monks. But the junta's criminal disdain for human rights has also cast a harsh light on China, the principal commercial partner, strategic ally, and diplomatic protector of the junta.

Taiwan Plans to Produce Missiles Able to Hit China

H11 IHT What they're saying in Anbar By GARY LANGER Recent survey data indicates the weakness of George W.Bush's claims of success in Iraq; dissatisfaction and anti-Americanism are still rife in Iraq's Sunni heartland.

EUROPE European press review

Sarkozy, the New Blair By: Soumaya Ghannoushi | The Guardian
The French president longs to play the newly vacant, thankless role of Washington's sidekick on the world stage.

Sarkozy Is Pretty Much a Gaullist on the Middle East By: Eric Rouleau | The Daily Star
"An American with a French passport," "Bush's new poodle," "a populist neoconservative." Neither Nicolas Sarkozy's recent statements nor his behavior has substantiated these accusations hurled at him before his election as president of France.

Serbian and Kosovar Leaders Meet on Kosovo Future By: Elitsa Vucheva | EU Observer

FT Bosnia breakthrough on police reform

Rival Muslim and Serb leaders deal on police reform could open the way for a a pre-accession agreement with the European Union early next year

Sarkozy’s snubs irritate his PM

Four months after the new French president rewarded his loyal campaign manager with the office of prime minister tensions have emerged between the two men

Mardell's Euroblog
Is Belgium ready to split or will Brussels glue it together?

H12 RFE/RL

Strategic Studies Institute Turkmenistan and Central Asia after Niyazov Turkmenistan, a key natural gas producer in Central Asia is undergoing a transition from the sultanistic regime of President Sapirmurat Niyazov to some other form of rule. It also is being courted by all the major powers in Central Asian politics. This monograph examines the domestic dynamics of succession here and in Central Asia and the entwined international rivalry or great game for energy access and influence over regional security in Central Asia. by Dr. Stephen J. Blank

Asia Times A massive wrench in Putin's works Turkmenistan, the energy-rich gas powerhouse of Central Asia, was all but in Moscow's pocket, having agreed to allow Russia almost exclusive access to its vast reserves and exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin was poised to deal a death blow to Western plans to bring Turkmen gas to the European market bypassing Russian territory. Almost overnight, Turkmenistan appears to be responding to desperate US and European Union moves to recover lost ground. With Iran and China pulling in other directions, the great game has taken a dramatic twist. - M K Bhadrakumar

BBC Huge rally against Georgia leader

Thousands protest against the government in Georgia's capital - the country's largest such rally since 2003.

FT Arrest of Okruashvili sparks outrage in Georgia

Thousands protest in Tbilisi over the arrest of the former defence minister who has accused President Mikheil Saakashvili of corruption and plotting to murder an opponent

An Inside Track to Putin's Kremlin By: Max Delany | The Moscow Times
Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, the country's second-largest corporation, is being touted as a dark horse contender for the Kremlin thanks to a resume with KGB-like gaps, links to Vladimir Putin's most intimate St. Petersburg circle and a post in an influential Orthodox organization.

Russia Goes Out of Its Way to Shield Iran Again By: Sergey Strokan | Kommersant
A recent squabble between U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed these fears. The Russian foreign policy chief made it clear that Moscow would not support new punitive measures against Iran which has declared willingness to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Google News Azerbaijan

The Wrong Question By: Samuel Charap | International Herald Tribune
Many in the West believe that the Ukrainian election is merely a rerun of the Orange Revolution, when the Yushchenko-Timoshenko team prevailed against Yanukovich in what was seen as a bloodless coup against the old regime. But they are wrong.

Divided lives
How films could help heal the wounds of war in the Caucasus

H13 The Times Bush rejects mandatory limits on emissions

To the dismay of European representatives, President Bush said the world's polluters should cut emissions - voluntarily

Musharraf wins right to fight election Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that President Musharraf can stand for re-election without having to give up his military role

Don’t be fooled by sickly Mama Gordon

Brown is a crafty, unimaginative politician: a bully with a big ego, a yellow streak and nothing to say

Matthew Parris

Wall Street Journal THE WORLD ECONOMY may be able to cope with oil at $100 a barrel if prices rise gradually and inflation is moderate.

The Long Arm of Iran
The top mullahs have been complicit in terror attacks.
By DAN SENOR

White House Pushes Sea Treaty By: David R. Sands | The Washington Times
Top Bush administration officials yesterday pressed forcefully for quick Senate ratification of the long-stalled U.N. Law of the Sea treaty, telling a Senate panel that American commercial and military interests are increasingly at risk because the United States remains outside the 155-nation pact.

H14 Financial Times Dollar sinks as gold hits 27-year highInvestors ignore inflation data

Iran given new deadline on nuclear issue The world’s big powers have given Iran a new deadline of late November to rein back its nuclear programme or face heightened sanctions

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Iran to the rescue

Lunch with the FT: Naomi Klein ’The Shock Doctrine’ argues that capitalism plays on people’s fears

Nuclear fears fuel Iranian house boom

The US subprime mortgage crisis may be gripping world markets but in Iran it is a distant worry as property prices and rents have been rocketing

Believe it or not

Do not attribute to conspiracy what you can ascribe to cock-up. But then, as part of the liberal media so often accused of secret plotting, we would say that, wouldn’t we?

Strauss-Kahn vows to revive IMF

Appointment underlines continuing controversy

Venezuela and Iran re-affirm anti-US bond

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad’s third visit to Venezuela has sparked renewed doubts about the strengthening relationship between two of the US’s most savage critics

The French president’s impulsive new strategy may see him win America only to lose Europe, writes John Thornhill

The fast reaction time of modern-day activism is a source of its appeal and of considerable danger, writes Christopher Caldwell

H15 Los Angeles Times Editorial

The Bollinger/Ahmadinejad farce

Rosa Brooks

If the Columbia University president were to introduce Bush the way he did the Iranian president, that would be an act of free-speech bravery.

H16 American Politics

John McCain: Constitution Established a 'Christian Nation'

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note – US News Political Bulletin

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

BILL CLINTON SLAMS OBAMA: I WAS MORE EXPERIENCED

H17 Daily Telegraph

H18 Independent Fury as Musharraf clears way to stand for election

Revealed: Saddam 'ready to walk away for $1bn'

Huge protests in Tbilisi demand election after corruption claims

Talks on Kosovo's future are historic opportunity, say Serbs

Bush's voluntary targets for emissions fail to win support

Robert Fisk: Dinner in Beirut, and a lesson in courage

Leading Article: Peaceful defiance meets brute force in the duel for democracy in Burma

Eurozone lending rates hit 6-year high, despite ECB's best efforts

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

The Knowledge Matrix Approach to Intelligence Fusion
Source: RAND Corporation Summary (PDF; 97 KB)
+ Full Document (PDF; 3.7 MB) As the U.S. military transforms to an information-based force, it will need processes and methods to collect, combine, and utilize the intelligence that is generated by its assets. The process known as fusion will play an important role in determining whether this intelligence is used in the most beneficial manner. The process of fusion, combining pieces of information to produce higher-quality information, knowledge, and understanding, is often poorly represented in constructive models and simulations that are used to analyze intelligence issues. This report describes one approach to capturing the fusion process in a constructive simulation, providing detailed examples to aid in further development and instantiation. The sequential fusion method in intended to determine whether separate intelligence observations are close enough geographically, have consistently identified the same battlefield entity, and contain high-quality information, all of which must be considered before fusion of intelligence can occur. The fusion process described in this report is, for the most part, an implicit representation of the generation of battlefield intelligence and can be used in a constructive simulation or fusion model to better understand the dynamics of intelligence-gathering systems and their effect on intelligence metrics

Can’t Win with ‘Em, Can’t Go To War without ‘Em: Private Military Contractors and Counterinsurgency
Source: The Brookings Institution Full Report (PDF: 304 KB)

Pentagon OKs New Blackwater Contract

Pentagon Raises Bar of Intelligence-Sharing

IT'S A HIT! Missile Defense Test Successful...

CFR A Conversation with Robert S. Mueller III (Audio)

War outsourcing boom (Claude Salhani)

When WMD meets Office Space: A review of Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War by Bob Drogin. What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing. Soldiers for Rent: An article on the private contractors fighting America’s wars (and more). Making a killing: Who will mete out justice for America's merchants of death?

The Osprey: A Flying Shame (Cover Story / The Well)
$20 billion later, the V-22 Osprey arrives in Iraq to make its combat debut — lacking firepower and the ability to land safely

H20 Slate

From Democracy Now!, Alan Greenspan and Naomi Klein debate the Iraq war, Bush's tax cuts, economic populism, and crony capitalism. Klein reviews Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence. What drives Naomi Klein? He critique of "disaster capitalism" will echo around the world -– but its roots lie in a scandal close to her Canadian home. Every catastrophe is an opportunity: More and more and more and more and more and more and more and more on The Shock Doctrine. [The latest issue of Bookforum includes a review of The Shock Doctrine.] Does Klein oversimplify the connections between globalization and war? From the Brown Journal of World Affairs (registration required), an interview with Daron Acemoglu on globalization and inequality; and an interview with Kenneth Rogoff on adapting to globalization; and an interview with Michael Hardt on welcoming the Multitude.

Perspectives on U.S. Competitiveness in Science and Technology
Source: RAND Corporation Full Document (PDF; 1.1 MB)

White House Declares Science Priorities for FY 2009
Souce: Public Employees for Environmental Reponsibility

H21 The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness (PDF; 1.2 MB)
Source: University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Working Paper

From Harvard Magazine, getting it right on the rig: Manhood reconsidered

Where books rebuild lives

A mobile library serves as a source of inspiration for homeless people

Sarkozy's 'love letter' intrigues France

Are sunspots prime suspects in global warming?

Climate-change 'optimists' say complex natural cycles may be at the heart of global warming.

In praise of ... Philip Roth
Philip Roth is one of the great American novelists, and arguably one of the greatest novelists alive anywhere today.

Coppola robbed of 15 years of computer work
Director Francis Ford Coppola loses writings and family photographs in a robbery on his Argentine studios.

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