Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Europe

World powers meet on Iran nuclear program

2007-12-01

OFFICIALS from six world powers held talks in Paris about Iran's nuclear program, a day after an 18-month EU effort to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium collapsed.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns joined representatives from the foreign ministries of Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany for the closed-door talks at the French Foreign Ministry.

The meeting, involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, was expected to focus on a new push to find common language for a third set of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.

EU envoy Javier Solana held meetings with Saeed Jalili, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, in London.

Afterward, Solana said he was disappointed and suggested no more meetings were planned.

The London meeting had been considered a last chance for Iran to give in to UN pressure and freeze its enrichment program before an European Union report on Iran's nuclear program that will be used in the discussion of new sanctions.

The United States, France and Britain are urging quick and tough new sanctions, but statements by Russia and China have suggested they are sceptical.

Jalili said Iran was not worried about the prospect of new penalties and noted advances in enrichment technology since the earlier sanctions were imposed.

Iran has set up and is running 3,000 enriching machines, or centrifuges, in the space of a year.
The Security Council imposed sanctions in December 2006 and March this year.

The current set bans Iranian arms exports and freezes the assets of 28 people and groups involved in its nuclear and missile programs.

While Iran insists it has a right to peaceful use of enrichment to generate power, Washington and others fear the activity could be misused to create the fissile core of nuclear warheads

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Europe

Turkey seethes, recalls US ambassador for talks

2007-10-11

I guess we all saw this coming.

Turkey ordered its ambassador in Washington to return to Turkey for consultations over a U.S. House panel's approval of a bill describing the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The ambassador would stay in Turkey for about a week or 10 days for discussions about the measure, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman. "We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to Turkey for some consultations," he said. "The ambassador was given instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience."

State Department spokesman Tom Casey, said he was unaware of Turkey's decision, but said the United States wants to continue to have good relations with Turkey. "I'll let the Turkish government speak for itself," he said. "I think that the Turkish government has telegraphed for a long time, has been very vocal and very public about its concerns about this and has said that they did intend to act in very forceful way if this happens."

Private NTV television said Turkey's naval commander had canceled a planned trip to the United States over the bill.

Earlier, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was invited to the Foreign Ministry, where Turkish officials conveyed their "unease" over the bill and asked that the Bush administration do all in its power to stop the bill from passing in the full House, a Foreign Ministry official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make press statements.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill Wednesday despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and opposition from President Bush. The vote was a triumph for well-organized Armenian-American interest groups who have lobbied Congress for decades to pass a resolution. The administration will now try to pressure Democratic leaders in Congress not to schedule a vote, although it is expected to pass.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates reiterated his opposition to the resolution Thursday, saying the measure could hurt relations at a time when U.S. forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkish permission to use their airspace for U.S. air cargo flights.

Relations are already strained by accusations that the U.S. is unwilling to help Turkey fight Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies by land from Turkish truckers who cross into the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest. "It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which was never committed by the Turkish nation," the Turkish government said Thursday. "It is blatantly obvious that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs does not have a task or function to rewrite history by distorting a matter which specifically concerns the common history of Turks and Armenians."

Armenian President Robert Kocharian welcomed the vote, saying: "We hope this process will lead to a full recognition by the United States of America ... of the genocide." Speaking to reporters Thursday after meeting European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Kocharian also appealed to Turkey to join talks on restoring bilateral relations.

Turkey is under no pressure from the EU to call the Armenian killings genocide. The European Commission criticized France last year when that country's lower house voted to make it a crime to deny the killings were genocide. The upper house did not take up the bill, so it never became law.

Turkey has warned that relations with the United States will suffer if the bill passes, but has not specified possible repercussions. U.S. diplomats have been quietly preparing Turkish officials for weeks for the likelihood that the resolution would pass, asking for a muted response. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the Turks "have not been threatening anything specific" in response to the vote, and that he hopes the "disappointment can be limited to statements."

Turkey ended its military ties with France over its bill last year. But a decision to cut far more expansive military ties with the United States could have serious consequences for Turkey's standing as a reliable ally of the West.

"I don't think that Turkey will go so far as to put in doubt its whole network of allied relations with the United States," said Ruben Safrastian, director of the Institute of Eastern Studies of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. "In the end, not only is the United States interested in Turkey, but Turkey is interested in the United States."

Adding to tensions, Turkey is considering launching a military offensive into Iraq against the Kurdish rebels a move the United States strongly opposes because it could destabilize one of the few relatively peaceful areas in Iraq. Iraq's Kurdish region is heavily dependent on trade with Turkey, which provides the region with electricity and oil products. Annual trade at Habur gate, the main border crossing, is more than $10 billion.

In a recent letter, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned there would be "serious troubles" if Congress adopted the measure. He reacted quickly Wednesday, saying "some politicians in the United States have once again sacrificed important matters to petty domestic politics despite all calls to common sense."

Turkish newspapers denounced the decision. "27 foolish Americans," the daily Vatan said on its front-page headline, in reference to legislators who voted for the bill.

Hurriyet called the resolution: "Bill of hatred."

The U.S. Embassy urged Americans in Turkey to be alert for violent repercussions. Wilson said he regretted the committee's decision and said he hoped it would not be passed by the House.

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India-Pakistan

US says cannot renegotiate India nuclear deal

2007-08-18

NEW DELHI - The United States cannot renegotiate a historic nuclear energy deal with India which has drawn strong criticism from politicians in New Delhi, the main US negotiator said in remarks published on Friday.

The comments by US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns come amid a growing chorus of demands from communist allies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs government to scrap the historic pact they say is unfair and imposes American supremacy.

We cant renegotiate it because the agreement is done, a statement from Indias Outlook magazine quoted Burns as saying in an interview. Neither government wishes it to be renegotiated because it is now complete. The interview is published in the latest issue of the magazine, due to hit the stands on Saturday.

Burns said he did not want to respond to criticism from Indias left parties as that would amount to getting involved in Indian politics, the statement said. So I dont have any particular message for them except to say that in the 21st century we have seen the global balance of forces shifting, he said. That it is in the common interest of India and the US to be partners, certainly on the effort to bring peace and stability in south and east Asia.

Washingtons refusal to consider renegotiating the agreement came as communist parties, whose support is crucial for the survival of Singhs coalition government, began a two-day meeting on Friday to decide their strategy on the deal. Singh has strongly defended the deal, saying it is crucial for Indias development and would not impact New Delhis foreign or security policies. Last week, he refused to budge and dared the communists to withdraw support.

While tough words have since been exchanged between the two sides and triggered fears that the coalition could be destabilised, the top communist leader indicated on Friday a compromise may be possible. The honeymoon may be over but the marriage can go on, Prakash Karat, general-secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest of the four left parties in parliament, told reporters ahead of the party meeting.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

US signs $30 billion defence pact with Israel

2007-08-17

JERUSALEM - The United States sealed a deal on Thursday to provide Israel with $30 billion in defence grants over the next decade, a 25 percent boost that Washington describes as strengthening a bulwark against Iran. At a signing ceremony in Jerusalem, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the United States would help Israel maintain a military advantage over foes ranging from Iran and Syria to their proxies in Lebanon and Palestinian territories.

There is no question that, from an American point of view, the Middle East is a more dangerous region now even than it was 10 or 20 years ago and that Israel is facing a growing threat. Its immediate and its also long-term, Burns told reporters. The United States faces many of the same threats from the same organisations and countries as Israel does, and so we felt this was the right level of assistance.

Burns said the new aid to Israel, which currently receives $2.4 billion in annual military grants, would not be conditioned on diplomatic progress or concessions though one of the major priorities for our government ... will be to help push forward a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States, Burns said, considers this $30 billion in assistance to Israel to be an investment in peace, in long-term peace -- peace cannot be made without strength.

Burns and Fischer said the sides had not finalised details on what weaponry would be supplied to Israel under the new deal.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

NIE final draft: Iran Is a Lair of Al Qaeda

2007-07-17

One of two known Al Qaeda leadership councils meets regularly in eastern Iran, where the American intelligence community believes dozens of senior Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted a good part of the terror conglomerate's senior leadership structure.

Comes as a surprise, huh?

That is a consensus judgment from a final working draft of a new National Intelligence Estimate, titled "The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland," on the organization that attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The estimate, which represents the opinion of America's intelligence agencies, is now finished, and unclassified conclusions will be shared today with the public.

The classified document includes four main sections, examining how Al Qaeda in recent years has increased its capacity to stage another attack on American soil; how the organization has replenished the ranks of its top leaders; nations where Al Qaeda operates, and the status of its training camps and physical infrastructure.

The judgment that Iran has hosted Al Qaeda's senior leadership council is likely to draw some criticism from those outside the government

The judgment that Iran has hosted Al Qaeda's senior leadership council is likely to draw some criticism from those outside the government who doubt Iran plays a significant role in bolstering Sunni jihadist terrorism.

And from lots inside the government, mostly those who know least about the subject.

Iran's Shiite Muslims are considered infidels by the Salafi sect of Sunnis that comprise Al Qaeda.

I think there's a distinct ideological line between al-Qaeda, which is fairly pragmatic, and the takfiri organizations like al-Tawhid.

While there is little disagreement that a branch of Al Qaeda's leadership operates in Iran, the intelligence community diverges on the extent to which the hosting of the senior leaders represents a policy of the regime in Tehran or the rogue actions of Iran's Quds Force, the terrorist support units that report directly to Iran's supreme leader.

I guess it all depends on who you think is in charge in Iran. My opinion is that it's the IRGC and the government, such as it is, is the face the actual regime presents to the world.

In the estimate's chapter on Al Qaeda's replenished senior leadership, three American intelligence sources said, there is a discussion of the eastern Iran-based Shura Majlis, a kind of consensus-building organization of top Al Qaeda figures that meets regularly to make policy and plan attacks. The New York Sun first reported in October that one of the Shura Majlis for Al Qaeda meets in the federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan, one of the areas the Pakistani army this week re-engaged after a yearlong cease-fire. Both Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, participate in those meetings. The other Shura Majlis is believed to meet in eastern Iran in the network established after Al Qaeda was driven from Afghanistan in 2001.

I'm not at all sure which of the two is the reserve command post. My tentative opinion is that it's Iran, if only because Qaeda controls Bajaur and I don't think they control any of Iran.

Following that battle, a military planner trained in the Egyptian special forces, Saif al-Adel, fled to Iran. Mr. Zawahri then arranged with the then commander of Iran's Quds Force, Ahmad Vahidi, for safe harbor for senior leaders.

Iran also sheltered Hekmatyar until the Taliban were tossed from Afghanistan.

The three main Al Qaeda leaders in Iran include Mr. Adel; the organization's minister of propaganda, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, and the man who some analysts believe is the heir apparent to Mr. bin Laden one of his sons, Saad bin Laden. The locations of the senior leaders include a military base near Tehran called Lavizan; a northern suburb of Tehran, Chalous; an important holy city, Mashod, and a border town near Afghanistan, Zabul, the draft intelligence estimate says.

In 2003, Iran offered a swap of the senior leaders in exchange for members of an Iranian opposition group on America's list of foreign terrorist organizations, the People's Mujahadin. That deal was scuttled after signal intercepts proved, according to American intelligence officials, that Mr. Adel was in contact with an Al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia. In the aftermath of the failed deal, Al Qaeda's Iran branch has worked closely in helping to establish the group in Iraq. The late founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had multiple meetings with Mr. Adel after 2001. In the past year, the multinational Iraq command force has intercepted at least 10 couriers with instructions from the Iran-based Shura Majlis. In addition, two senior leaders of Al Qaeda captured in 2006 have shared details of the Shura Majlis in Iran. "We know that there were two Al Qaeda centers of gravity. After the Taliban fell, one went to Pakistan, the other fled to Iran," Roger Cressey, a former deputy to a counterterrorism tsar, Richard Clarke, said in an interview yesterday. "The question for several years has been: What type of operational capability did each of these centers have?"

A senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Iran expert, Vali Nasr, said he did not know that the Shura Majlis had reconstituted in eastern Iran, but he did say his Iranian contacts had confirmed recent NATO intelligence that Iran had begun shipping arms to Al Qaeda's old Afghan hosts, the Taliban in Afghanistan. Mr. Nasr, however, said Iran's recent entente with Al Qaeda could be simply a matter of statecraft. "Iran and Al Qaeda do not have to like one another," he said. "They can hate each other, they can kill each other, their ultimate goals may be against one another, but for the short term Iran can unleash Al Qaeda on the United States."

Mr. Cressey said the Iranian regime's relationship with Al Qaeda is one of tolerance as opposed to command and control. "I think the Iranians are giving these guys enough latitude to operate to give them another chit in the game of U.S.-Iranian relations," he said.

It is just impossible to believe that what the Quds Force does with Al Qaeda does not represent a decision of the government

An intelligence official sympathetic to the view that it is a matter of Iranian policy to cooperate with Al Qaeda disputed the CIA and State Department view that the Quds Force is operating as a rogue force. "It is just impossible to believe that what the Quds Force does with Al Qaeda does not represent a decision of the government," the official, who asked not to be identified, said. "It's a bit like saying the directorate of operations for the CIA is not really carrying out U.S. policy."

Some intelligence reporting suggests, the source said, that the current chief of the Quds Force, General Qassem Sulamani, has met with Saad bin Laden, Mr. Adel, and Mr. Abu Ghaith.

The link between Iran and Al Qaeda is not new, in some cases. The bipartisan September 11 commission report, for example, concluded: "There is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of Al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers." According to the commission, a senior Al Qaeda coordinator, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, said eight of the September 11 hijackers went through Iran on their way to and from Afghanistan. In 2005, both Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and the then ambassador at large for counterterrorism, Cofer Black, disclosed that America believes that senior Al Qaeda leaders reside in Iran.

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India-Pakistan

US-India nuclear deal talks fail

2007-06-03

The US and India have failed to resolve differences over a proposed landmark deal on nuclear co-operation after three days of negotiations in Delhi.

Indian Foreign Minister Shiv Shankar Menon said the two sides had made considerable progress, but that there were still gaps to be covered. Under the deal, India would get access to US civilian nuclear technology if it opens its facilities to inspection. Critics say the accord will encourage India to develop its nuclear arsenal. They also say it sends the wrong message to countries like Iran, whose nuclear ambitions Washington opposes. India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

After the intensive talks with US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Mr Menon said the two sides had made "considerable progress" towards completing the proposed deal.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA
India has 14 reactors in commercial operation and nine under construction. Nuclear power supplies about 3% of India's electricity. By 2050, nuclear power is expected to provide 25% of the country's electricity. India has limited coal and uranium reserves. Its huge thorium reserves - about 25% of the world's total - are expected to fuel its nuclear power programme long-term
Source: Uranium Information Center

"There are still issues where there are gaps," he said, but refused to give any specific details. "We are optimistic that we will make the deal." Mr Burns said the representatives had "useful discussions". "While there has been good co-operation, more work remains to be done," he said. "We look forward to a final agreement as it is indisputably in the interest of both governments."

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the key sticking points were the issue of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and carrying out more nuclear tests. Washington is opposed to allowing India to undertake either, but the Indian government has said any restriction would be an infringement on its sovereignty.

India also wants the United States to guarantee its supply of nuclear fuel, our correspondent says. The leaders of both countries are under considerable domestic pressure not to compromise, and with the US election approaching and the Indian government in the second half of its five-year term, time is running out for both administrations, our correspondent adds.

It is not clear when the next meeting will be held, although the leaders of both countries will have an opportunity to discuss the issue at next week's G8 summit.

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Europe

Kosovo to become independent by end of month

2007-05-12

Kosovo could be granted independence from Serbia by the end of the month, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said here on Friday. We will be circulating today with our European allies a resolution in the Security Council that we believe will lead to the independence of Kosovo by the end of this month, Burns told journalists in the Croatian capital Zagreb. The United States is strongly supporting the independence of Kosovo.

The UN Security Council is set to begin debate soon on two competing texts -one Western and one Russian -that will form the basis of a draft resolution on Kosovos future status. Burns, speaking after meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, also warned against Serbian ultra-nationalists entering a new government. As Kosovo becomes independent we Americans want to remain friend with Serbia and we want to have good relationship with Serbia hopefully without the presence of the Radical party in the Serbian government and Serbian parliament, he stressed.

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Iraq

Rice arrives in Egypt, ready for Iran

2007-05-03

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she could address any question from Iran during meetings in Egypt and sought to tone down expectations about talks to stabilize Iraq. Speaking en route to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort for meetings that include Iran, Iraq's other neighbors and world powers, Rice ruled out "full-scale negotiations" with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki but said she would not avoid an exchange.

"If we encounter each other then I am certainly planning to be polite and see what that encounter brings," said Rice, who attended a meeting with Mottaki about Iraq last September at the United Nations but did not have any contact with him.

Rice said talks with Iran, which could be the most substantive high-level U.S. meeting with Tehran in nearly three decades, would focus on Iraq but she would not cut off a conversation if it turned to Tehran's nuclear program. "I think I can handle any question that is asked of me. If we encounter each other and wander to other subjects I am prepared to address them at least in terms of American policy," added Rice before a refuelling stop in Ireland.

In London, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the talks in Egypt "will be important because Secretary Rice will be seated around the table with the Syrian foreign minister and we hope and think with the Iranian foreign minister, although the Iranians have been a little bit ambivalent."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says ready to talk over nuclear issue without preconditions

2007-03-05

(Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Sunday that Iran was ready to hold talks with five UN Security Council members plus Germany on its nuclear issue with no preconditions. Hosseini made the remarks when answering a question at his weekly press conference on whether an upcoming security meeting in Baghdad would open doors to negotiations, the official IRNA news agency reported. "The venue is not the question that we lay emphasis on Baghdad meeting," he said, adding that "we are ready to negotiate with ...the permanent members of the UN Security Council including China, Russia, France, Britain, the U.S. plus Germany without any preconditions."

Iraq will host neighboring countries and other world powers on March 10 for a meeting meant to enlist support for Iraqi government efforts at stabilizing the country. In response to a question on whether he had any recommendations to the Monday meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors, the spokesman said, "The solution to this case is negotiations and anything else will make the case more complicated."

A senior U.S. official said in Washington on Saturday that major powers failed to settle all their differences over a second UN sanctions resolution against Iran for its nuclear activities. "There is still some work to be done on a few outstanding issues, but all parties remain committed to a second resolution in the near future," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in a statement after U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and his counterparts from China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany held discussions by phone. "They had a good discussion in keeping with the positive atmosphere of their conversations" in recent days, Cooper said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says it's installing centrifuges

2007-01-27

Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant, an Iranian lawmaker said Saturday, a day after a senior U.S. diplomat warned that the country's plans to accelerate its nuclear program "would be a major miscalculation."

The Iranian lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the installation "stabilizes Iran's capability in the field of nuclear technology," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "We are right now installing 3,000 centrifuges," Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Large scale use of centrifuges is necessary to enrich enough uranium for use in a nuclear reactor. Highly enriched uranium is required to make nuclear weapons. Iranian officials had said recently that the country was moving toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material.

Boroujerdi's comments came a day after U.N. officials said Iran plans to begin work next month on an underground uranium enrichment facility, as part of a plan to create a network of tens of thousands of machines to enrich uranium.

A senior State Department official warned Friday that the move would be a "major miscalculation" by Iran. "If Iran takes this step, it is going to confront universal international opposition," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken."

Iranian officials have said repeatedly that work would start soon on the uranium enrichment facility at its Natanz underground plant. There had been speculation the leadership might launch the project next month to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought the clerical leadership to power.

But the timing of the work may in part be a gesture of defiance. The Security Council's 60-day deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment runs out next month, paving the way for further sanctions in addition to those imposed by a resolution in December. Iran ultimately plans to expand its program to 54,000 centrifuges, a large operation more enriching uranium within a shorter period.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Geranium lawmaker: We are installing 3,000 centrifuges.

2007-01-28

You can embed a link but not fill in the source box? Put the URL there instead of 'AP Yahoo'. Thx. AoS.

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Iraq

Baker wants Israel excluded from regional conference

2006-12-07

The White House has been examining a proposal by James Baker to launch a Middle East peace effort without Israel.

The peace effort would begin with a U.S.-organized conference, dubbed Madrid-2, and contain such U.S. adversaries as Iran and Syria. Officials said Madrid-2 would be promoted as a forum to discuss Iraq's future, but actually focus on Arab demands for Israel to withdraw from territories captured in the 1967 war. They said Israel would not be invited to the conference.

As Baker sees this, the conference would provide a unique opportunity for the United States to strike a deal without Jewish pressure, an official said. This has become the most hottest proposal examined by the foreign policy people over the last month.
Because it's just Jewish pressure that keeps us from kittens and fluffy bunnies in the Middle East. Always has been. Those pesky Joooz insist on not being murdered.
Officials said Mr. Baker's proposal, reflected in the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, has been supported by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte. The most controversial element in the proposal, they said, was Mr. Baker's recommendation for the United States to woo Iran and Syria.

Here is Syria, which is clearly putting pressure on the Lebanese democracy, is a supporter of terror, is both provisioning and supporting Hezbollah and facilitating Iran in its efforts to support Hezbollah, is supporting the activities of Hamas," National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told a briefing last week. "This is not a Syria that is on an agenda to bring peace and stability to the region."
Mr. Hadley reads Rantburg; Sec. Rice clearly does not. How in the world would anyone, anyone expect Syria to have a positive role in either Iraq or with Israel? They're presently engulfing Lebanon -- again -- and murdering political opponents there. They're destabilizing Iraq. They're meddling with Jordan. They're in a lip-lock with Iran. Baby Assad is the offspring of Daddy Assad who whacked many ten thousands of his own citizens, and Baby maintains the totalitarian police state because if he doesn't, he'll be swinging from a lamppost ala Mussolini (an apt comparison). Just exactly how does one see him and Syria as a 'partner in peace'?
Officials said the Baker proposal to exclude Israel from a Middle East peace conference garnered support in the wake of Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 25. They said Mr. Cheney spent most of his meetings listening to Saudi warnings that Israel, rather than Iran, is the leading cause of instability in the Middle East.
Yup, it's the evil Jooooz who keep trying to defend themselves rather than an aggressive Iran that's enriching uranium, building missiles and exporting terrorism.
He [Cheney] didn't even get the opportunity to seriously discuss the purpose of his visitthat the Saudis help the Iraqi government and persuade the Sunnis to stop their attacks, another official familiar with Mr. Cheneys visit said. Instead, the Saudis kept saying that they wanted a U.S. initiative to stop the Israelis attack in Gaza and Cheney just agreed.
Because all the attacks on Gaza are unprovoked, e'one knows that. Other than those Qazzam rockets. And the hard boyz slipping across the border to cut throats. And the splodydopes.
Under the Baker proposal, the Bush administration would arrange a Middle East conference that would discuss the future of Iraq and other Middle East issues. Officials said the conference would seek to win Arab support on Iraq in exchange for a U.S. pledge to renew efforts to press Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Golan Heights.
And that in turn means we have to order the Israelis, on pain of their $3 billion military aid a year, to move out of those areas even if it makes no sense whatsoever.
Baker sees his plan as containing something for everybody, except perhaps the Israelis, the official said. The Syrians would get back the Golan, the Iranians would get U.S. recognition and the Saudis would regain their influence, particularly with the Palestinians.
And who cares about the Israelis anyway?
Officials said Mr. Baker's influence within the administration and the Republican Partys leadership stems from support by the president's father as well as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Throughout the current Bush administration, such senior officials as Mr. Hadley and Ms. Rice were said to have been consulting with Brent Scowcroft, the former president's national security advisor, regarded as close to Mr. Baker. Everybody has fallen in line, the official said. Bush is not in the daily loop. He is shocked by the elections and he's hoping for a miracle on Iraq.
I doubt that seriously -- Bush is not shocked. He's a superb politican; he saw what was coming even as he worked to head it off. And while a miracle would be nice, he's not going to give away the store to get one.
For his part, Mr. Bush has expressed unease in negotiating with Iran. At a Nov. 30 news conference in Amman, Jordan, the president cited Iran's interference in the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. We respect their heritage, we respect their history, we respect their traditions, Mr. Bush said. I just have a problem with a government that is isolating its people, denying its people benefits that could be had from engagement with the world.
That was the polite way of saying it. The impolite way is to note that the Mad Mullahs are everything we've said they are here on the Burg.
Mr. Baker's recommendation to woo Iran and Syria has also received support from some in the conservative wing of the GOP. Over the last week, former and current Republican leaders in Congressconvinced of the need for a U.S. withdrawal before the 2008 presidential electionshave called for Iranian and Syrian participation in an effort to stabilize Iraq. I would look at an entirely new strategy, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said. We have clearly failed in the last three years to achieve the kind of outcome we want.
It's too bad that Newt the visionary has become Newt the political schemer. He'd sacrifice the essence of the Bush policy -- that 'stability' is a failed model and what's essential is to remove the thugs and provide hope for people -- in return for an election.
In contrast, Defense Department officials have warned against granting a role to Iran and Syria at Israel's expense. They said such a strategy would also end up undermining Arab allies of the United States such as Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.
Because they'll see quickly that, if we sacrifice Iraq and Israel -- especially Israel -- that we won't stand by them in any emergency.

The regional strategy is a euphemism for throwing Free Iraq to the wolves in its neighborhood: Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, said the Center for Security Policy, regarded as being close to the Pentagon. If the Baker regional strategy is adopted, we will prove to all the world that it is better to be America's enemy than its friend. Jim Baker's hostility towards the Jews is a matter of record and has endeared him to Israel's foes in the region.
There's a clear understanding.
But Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates, a former colleague of Mr. Baker on the Iraq Study Group, has expressed support for U.S. negotiations with Iran and Syria. In response to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee, which begins confirmation hearings this week, Mr. Gates compared the two U.S. adversaries to the Soviet Union.

Even in the worst days of the Cold War, the U.S. maintained a dialogue with the Soviet Union and China, and I believe those channels of communication helped us manage many potentially difficult situations, Mr. Gates said. Our engagement with Syria need not be unilateral. It could, for instance, take the form of Syrian participation in a regional conference.
We never got anywhere rewarding the old Soviet Union for their bad behavior. Reagan didn't reward them; he challenged them and they collapsed. We won't get anywhere rewarding Syria or Iran for their bad behavior. We need the Reagan approach. That's the lessson.

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