December 14, 2004
During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Democrats tried making the status of programs designed to render Russian nuclear-weapon fuel harmless a major issue, accusing George Bush of ignoring this gaping vulnerability to terrorism. The Democrats failed to get much traction on this issue, and today's USA Today report explains why. The holdup on securing this dangerous material turns out to originate with arguments over verification techniques from the Russians and threats of liability lawsuits: U.S. programs to help Russia protect and destroy its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons are far behind schedule, despite President Bush's warning this fall that terrorists getting such weapons is "the biggest threat facing this country." A half-billion dollars set aside by Congress in the past two years to secure or scrap Russian weapons sits unspent, a USA TODAY review of figures provided by program managers finds. Federal audits released in the past 18 months show...
December 16, 2004
Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych gave a statement that sounds suspiciously like a warning of a potential military takeover of the nation if the rerun of the final election stage goes against him: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, facing a new election battle against a liberal challenger buoyed by vast street protests, said on Thursday Ukraine had been cast into a crisis which could turn to disaster after the new vote. ... Speaking at his headquarters, Yanukovich restated his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling that led to the new vote. "This is not a conflict between the opposition and the authorities. It is a crisis which is determining the future of Ukraine," he said, while declining to answer questions. "Moreover, a real danger exists that after Dec. 26, Ukraine may be on the brink of a full-scale crisis." At first blush, this statement comes across as either...
December 17, 2004
After having been insulted by the North Koreans over fraudulent remains of kidnapped Japanese citizens, Japan threatened economic sanctions if Kim Jpng-Il's regime did not answer for its intransigence. This led to a threat from Pyongyang that Japanese sanctions would amount to war and that the DPRK would respond in kind. This morning, Japan blinked, at least for the moment: Japan says it will give North Korea more time to resolve a dispute over kidnapped Japanese citizens before imposing sanctions. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made the pledge after talks with visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. The Japanese government is under pressure to impose sanctions over a row concerning kidnapped Japanese. Japan had a lot of company, with Roo's voice joining that of China and the US advising that Japan essentially do nothing but complain. Kim Jong-Il has won another minor battle in the multilateral talks without much of a...
The Council of Europe has recommended that its 46 member nations enact laws requiring Internet media outlets to allow governments the right to publish responses to articles correcting "false information" on their sites: The Council of Europe has called on its 46 member-states to introduce legislation on the right of reply to correct false information on online media. It said the Committee of (Foreign) Ministers, executive of the European human rights watchdog body, had adopted a recommendation on the right to reply for online Internet media. This recommended that members consider introducing legislation on the "right of reply or any other equivalent remedy, which allows a rapid correction of incorrect information in online or off-line media......" A statement said the recomendation "urges member-states to extend the right to reply which until now applied to the written press, radio and television, to online communication services providing information edited in a journalistic...
December 19, 2004
The dictatorship of Turkmenistan conducted a parliamentary election today, electing new members for its rubber-stamp partnership with the personality-cult strongman Saparmurat Niyazov. Unfortunately for Niyazov, his oppressive rule has made elections so superfluous that polling officials had to go door-to-door to get people to vote: Polling stations were nearly empty Sunday in elections for Turkmenistan's rubber-stamp parliament, forcing officials to carry ballot boxes door-to-door in this nation ruled by a former Soviet Communist boss who has been declared president-for-life. The 131 candidates contesting Parliament's 50 seats all represent the Central Asian country's only party, the Democratic Party led by President Saparmurat Niyazov. ... All the candidates officially support Niyazov's policies, and based their campaigns on promoting the ideas in his book, "Rukhnama," which sets moral and spiritual guidelines for the country's citizens. It is held as a sacred text. The act of boycotting the elections actually represents a remarkable protest...
December 20, 2004
In an ominous sign for the Saudis, the member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- an economic coalition of Arab states -- have rejected a call from the kingdom to negotiate with the West exclusively through the collective which the Saudis have long dominated: Saudi Arabia called Monday for Arab Gulf states to speak with one voice, implied criticism against countries making trade agreements with the United States, but Bahrain said it had no intention of abstaining from such deals. ... A Gulf official at the summit said the other five states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — would make their own arrangements with Washington whether the Saudis like it or not. The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity. The Saudis sent a lower-level minister to the GCC for the first time to register their dissatisfaction with the direction of the council, but the...
December 21, 2004
After a full month of openly backing the handpicked successor to Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, Vladimir Putin has suddenly reversed course and proclaimed his readiness to work with opposition candidate and frontrunner Viktor Yuschenko, the AP reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who openly backed Viktor Yushchenko's rival for president of the Ukraine, said Tuesday he could work with an administration headed by the pro-Western candidate. "We have worked with him already and the cooperation was not bad," Putin said during a visit to Germany. "If he wins, I don't see any problems." Just a couple of weeks ago, Putin warned of a civil war in Ukraine if Yushchenko won a new run-off election. His comments sparked talks of secession in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has significant influence and where PM Viktor Yanukovych enjoys his greatest support. In fact, the AP also reports that Yushchenko's campaign caravan was denied entry into...
December 23, 2004
Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych, whose run-off victory in November was annulled by the Ukrainian Supreme Court after massive vote fraud provoked a huge protest movement, has lost the support of his former patron and current president, Leonid Kuchma. As a result, Yanukovych has now decided to cast his candidacy -- which once enjoyed the backing of the current government, the state-influenced media, and the Russians -- as that of the crusading outsider: Viktor Yanukovych is trying to reinvent himself. A prime minister who was once considered the pro-government candidate, Yanukovych has, in the runup to Sunday's court-ordered election revote, put himself forward as an opposition figure - keeping at arm's length his own boss and former backer, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma. The reinvention came after he was abandoned not only by Kuchma, but also by his campaign manager and other key campaign advisers and supporters. Even the Kremlin, which...
December 26, 2004
Viktor Yushchenko has declared victory in the Ukrainian presidential run-off today, leading current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych by 16 points with 63% of all precincts reporting. The leader of the spontaneous and peaceful Orange Revolution will apparently complete the triumph of people power in Ukraine: "For 14 years we have been independent, but now we are free. This is a victory for the Ukrainian people, for the Ukrainian nation," the 50-year-old opposition leader and former prime minister said as his audience broke into applause and chants of "Yu-shchenk-ko! Yu-shchen-ko!" Yushchenko appeared in public as the central election commission reported that he held a 16-point lead over his pro-Russian opponent, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, with more than 63 percent of the country's precincts reporting results. The commission credited Yushchenko with 55.98 percent of the vote, compared to 40.2 percent for Yanukovich. Three independent exit polls published at the close of voting...
In a move that reminds one of the Reagan Era in American politics, the British Conservative Party has emphasized its mission to reduce the size of government in the United Kingdom. It plans on starting at the top: The Conservatives will cut the number of MPs, ministers and special advisers by a fifth within five years if they win the election. Proposals for a "smaller government" Bill, to be published this week, will also promise a referendum in Wales on whether to abolish its assembly. The Tories said yesterday that Labour's constitutional changes had made the country "over-governed, over-regulated and over-taxed". The rejection by referendum this year of Government plans for a regional assembly in the North East has encouraged the Tories to put plans for reducing the size and role of the state at the heart of their election manifesto. When the Republicans began their long, slow march to...
December 27, 2004
Today's Washington Post reports on the state of US-European relations through the prism of Europe's primary foreign-policy priority, settlement of the Palestinian question. Glenn Kessler writes that Europeans have a threshold of "cooperation" that they expect Bush to meet before dealing with him that closely resembles Democrat ideas of "bipartisanship" -- and promises to be just as successful: President Bush and his top aides have repeatedly said they want to improve relations with European allies in Bush's second term, beginning with a presidential visit in February. Bush has also said he believes the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has provided a new opportunity to pursue peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Yet those twin goals will be continually tested and at times may conflict in the coming year, administration and European officials say. Few issues separate the Bush administration from Europe as much as which course to pursue in the...
Viktor Yanukovych does not plan on going out with dignity in the Ukrainian presidential elections. Not only will he not concede, he asserted that the apparent President-elect Viktor Yushschenko should take care to avoid the entire eastern half of his own country: Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich refused to concede a historic rerun presidential vote Monday, and vowed to ask the supreme court to throw out official results which showed his rival Viktor Yushchenko won by a formidable margin. "I will never acknowledge such a defeat because the constitution and human rights were violated," he said in televised remarks. "We have lost nothing." "We intend to get the supreme court to review the outcome of the election and to cancel the results," he said. International observers -- 12,500 of them, more than double the last run-off -- agreed that the elections were not perfect. However, the head of OCSE, which...
The fallout from the collapse of Viktor Yanukovych and the ascendancy of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine took a dark twist this evening, as a minister who backed Yanukovych was found dead from a gunshot wound: Ukraine's Transport Minister Heorhiy Kyrpa has been found dead at his holiday home near the capital Kiev. The minister is reported to have gunshot wounds and officials said a gun was found near his body. Mr Kyrpa, 58, appointed in 2002, was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Local media in Ukraine reported Kyrpa's death as a suicide, apparently brought on by the Yanukovych loss in the presidential election. Americans may recall the various conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Vincent Foster a decade ago, whose body was also found with the gun that killed him. Despite several investigations concluding that Foster committed suicide, including one by Ken Starr, many still believe...
December 28, 2004
Viktor Yushchenko has called on his populist movement to blockade a cabinet meeting called by a defiant Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, refusing to accept defeat in Ukraine's presidential run-off. Meanwhile, the protests that Yanukovych presented to the election commission look suspiciously alike, according to officials: Viktor Yushchenko, fresh from his victory in Ukraine's disputed presidential race, called on his supporters Tuesday to blockade the Cabinet of Ministers building to prevent his opponent from holding a government session. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin favorite who has come under increasing pressure to concede defeat to Yushchenko, returned to work Tuesday after taking a vacation to campaign ahead of last Sunday's vote. Ukrainian prime ministers do not leave office until replaced by the President. So far, Leonid Kuchma has not released Yanukovych from his duties and shows no particular rush to do so. That allows Yanukovych to conduct government business despite his...
The Vatican embarrasses itself today in its newspaper, mistakenly scolding Israel for not offering aid to Sri Lanka when in fact the anti-Semites in the island nation refused entry to the Israeli aid delegation. In the language they used to issue their judgment on the only nation in Southwest Asia that allows Christians unfettered religious freedom, the Vatican revealed a bias that calls into question John Paul II's famous outreach to Jews: The Vatican newspaper has denounced what it called a decision by the IDF to deny emergency help to disaster victims in Sri Lanka. Calling for "a radical and dramatic change of perspective" among people "too often preoccupied with making war," L'Osservatore Romano singled out Israeli military leaders for declining a request for emergency medical help. Contrary to the Vatican report, an Israeli plane carrying 80 tons of food and medical supplies worth $100,000 was set to depart for...
December 29, 2004
After the foolish comment made by UN undersecretary Jan Egelend about Western "stinginess" towards disaster relief, we wondered exactly to whom Egeland could refer. After all, Americans give more private donations in both time and money than any other nation. More specifically, we asked ourselves exactly how much the Europeans pitched into the relief effort through official government channels. Thanks to Reuters Foundation AlertNet, those figures are now available to us (via Instapundit): Australia: $26M, plus five military transports and 50 specialists Austria: $1.36M Belgium: One military transport to deliver UNICEF aid Britain: 370K (pounds), $100K, plus $481K of materials to Sri Lanka Denmark: 45 tonnes of supplies, $1.82M EU: "Ready to release" 30M Euro, 3M Euro already released. France: 100K Euros ($140,000) Finland: 500K Euro. Germany: 2M Euro. Greece: 17 doctors and staff. Italy: 2 helicopters and crew. Netherlands: 2M Euros. Poland: $336K Spain: 1M Euros pledged, 19 volunteers...
December 30, 2004
The Ukrainian Supreme Court threw out three of current PM and election loser Viktor Yanukovych's challenges to the runoff on the basis that he filed them incorrectly: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's dogged bid to overturn his liberal rival's victory in Ukraine's presidential election faltered on Thursday after the Supreme Court said it had thrown out all but one of his complaints. ... Supreme Court spokeswoman Liana Shlyaposhnikova said judges had now rejected three of four complaints from Yanukovich's team concerning the organization of last Sunday's re-run of the rigged Nov. 21 poll. "Two complaints were not considered because the proper time frame for submitting them was not respected," Shlyaposhnikova said. "One was turned down because the demands submitted by the plaintiff were not clearly drawn up." This strictly legalistic approach from a Supreme Court once considered in the bag of Yanukovych -- when he had the favor of outgoing president...
January 1, 2005
Viktor Yanukovych vowed to fight on for the Ukrainian presidency despite his resignation as Prime Minister this week, claiming that although he doesn't have much hope of reversing the election, he won't stop trying: Viktor Yanukovych vowed to fight on for Ukraine's presidency, despite handing the opposition of this ex-Soviet Republic a begrudging victory by announcing his resignation as prime minister. ... The pro-Russian Yanukovych announced his resignation as prime minister on Friday in a televised address, his first significant concession since losing Sunday's vote, but said he will maintain his claim to the presidency. "I have made the decision to submit my formal resignation," Yanukovych told the nation. "We are still fighting, but I don't have much hope," he said. "I will act as an independent politician, as the rightful winner of the legitimate Nov. 21 election." Some speculate that the real reason Yanukovych resigned now is to avoid...
The United States has long opposed a second term as IAEA chief for Mohammed ElBaradei. The BBC now reports that the nomination period has completed, and only one candidate qualified for the post. Guess who? The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohammed ElBaradei has emerged as the only candidate for the post of the agency's next director general. Mr ElBaradei hopes to be re-elected for a third term, but the US does not want his mandate to be renewed. Privately, some US officials have complained that Mr ElBaradei - who has held the post since 1997 - has been too soft on both Iran and Iraq. The IAEA had inspectors in Iraq for years and yet did not ever resolve the issue of WMDs. For instance, Saddam managed to keep hidden all of the core research of his nuclear-weapons program from the IAEA and UN inspectors in the yard...
January 2, 2005
In a sign that George Bush had more in mind than just humbling the UN, Reuters analyzes the role India is playing in relief efforts for the massive tsunami damage and how that may transform India-US relations: Within hours of the tsunami, India geared up for its biggest-ever relief operation, but not just with its own devastated coasts in its sights. As New Delhi launched a relief effort along the eastern coast, ten warships -- backed by helicopters and transport aircraft and loaded with relief supplies -- also headed for Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Maldives, three neighbours badly hit in one of world's worst natural disasters. A country campaigning for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, India refused to portray itself as a helpless victim. "India has been trying to convey the image that it is a regional power, and a credible power in terms of having the...
January 5, 2005
The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof channels his inner Jan Egeland and scolds us for being stingy in our assistance to poorer nations. Using both public and private aid, he lambastes the US as a "Land of Penny Pinchers": The 150,000 or so fatalities from the tsunami are well within the margin of error for estimates of the number of deaths every year from malaria. Probably two million people die annually of malaria, most of them children and most in Africa, or maybe it's three million - we don't even know. But the bottom line is that this month and every month, more people will die of malaria (165,000 or more) and AIDS (240,000) than died in the tsunamis, and almost as many will die because of diarrhea (140,000). And that's where we're stingy. Kristof points out that America spends 15 cents per day per person on official development aid...
January 6, 2005
Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych keeps swinging and missing on his appeals to overturn the results of the last run-off election. The Ukrainian Supreme Court turned back another challenge by Yanukovych today, one considered an "intermediate" challenge while Ukraine certifies the results of the December 26th balloting: Ukraine's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected losing presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych's appeal of last month's repeat election, bringing the former Soviet republic a step closer to resolving its political crisis. Yanukovych has not exhausted all of his options, however. His campaign has said that his main appeal would be filed with the court only after the Central Election Commission announces the final results of the Dec. 26 vote. Preliminary results of the balloting showed opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko winning by a decisive margin. Yanukovych has only one last at-bat left. Apparently, he's determined to go down swinging -- and go down he will....
January 7, 2005
Ukrainians celebrated Orthodox Christmas today, hopeful that the Presidential Election That Wouldn't Die has finally been laid to rest. The Central Election Commission is now expected to officially declare the election for Viktor Yushchenko, giving Viktor Yanukovych one last appeal to the Supreme Court. However, that avenue looks rather bleak: The ruling cleared the way for the central election commission to publish the final, official results of their historic December 26 rematch election and officially declare Western-leaning Yushchenko the winner -- a declaration that the pro-Moscow Yanukovich has vowed to challenge. But the speed with which the court handed its ruling -- it deliberated for about an hour after a four-hour hearing -- has led to speculation that it may not even accept for consideration a second appeal from Yanukovich. That means that Yushchenko could be inaugurated as the third president of an independent Ukraine as early as next week,...
January 10, 2005
The Orange Revolution reaches its climax today when Ukraine's Central Election Commission certifies Viktor Yushchenko as its new president. The re-run Ukrainian election has survived all challenges from the outgoing "establishment" candidate and PM, Viktor Yanukovych, and the electorate impatiently awaits the transition to true democracy: The final certification would end more than two weeks of political limbo during which Yushchenko's Moscow-backed opponent, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, stalled with repeated, unsuccessful challenges to the outcome. Yushchenko said the challenges were "torturing the nation" and his supporters accused allies of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma of spinning out the transition to buy time to cover the tracks of shady deals. ... A tent city set up to protest against the election rigging has yet to be dismantled. Those living in it say they will stay until Yushchenko is inaugurated. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have been replaced by throngs of young...
January 23, 2005
In what should be seen as the first example of the new policies articulated in Bush's inaugural speech, Viktor Yushchenko assumed office as President of Ukraine today. As Yushchenko noted on his own inauguration, his presidency would not exist had it not been for countries like the United States dumping realpolitik to stand fast for democracy: Viktor Yushchenko became Ukraine's president Sunday and vowed to seek a full place in Europe for the people he led in a peaceful revolt against a rigged national election and pressure from Russia. Watched by Secretary of State Colin Powell, seven presidents of ex-communist states and relatively minor dignitaries from Moscow, Yushchenko took the oath of office in parliament to cap his two-month "Orange Revolution." ... "I want to assure you that you will continue to enjoy the full support of the American government and the American people as you move forward to undertake...
February 16, 2005
Rami Khouri attempts to make sense of the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in a massive carbombing on Monday. Unfortunately, as Khouri notes, the Byzantine nature of Lebanese politics after a generation of domination by the Syrians creates a number of possible suspects, most of whom will work overtime to frame one or more of the others: The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a massive bombing in central Beirut on Monday sends a loud and deadly message - but the nature, origin, destination and intent of the message all remain painfully unclear to many observers. What is crystal clear, though, is that this crime will send out important political ripples in at least three dimensions. The two most immediate dimensions are internal Lebanese politics and the Syrian-Lebanese relationship. The third dimension is the relationship between Syria and external powers - the U.S. and...
Whether or not Syria plotted the carbombing that killed Rafik Hariri, the popular former prime minister who became a uniting force for Lebanon, his murder has generated a fierce anger that has created nationalistic outrage directed at Lebanon's longtime occupier: Sunni marched with Shia, and Druze with Christian, as the factions that slaughtered each other in the 1975-1990 civil war paid their respects as one. West Beirut's alleyways echoed to the wailing of mourners as Mr Hariri's funeral cortege snaked through crowds, showered with rice thrown in tribute from balconies. Sheikhs and smart business executives, trendy teenagers and frail pensioners all massed together. Christian church bells rang out and muezzins called from mosques as the cortege approached Mr Hariri's last resting place - a grave outside the vast, new Mohammed al-Amin mosque which towers over Martyrs' Square. ... While anti-Syria slogans were chanted by thousands who blamed Damascus for the...
February 19, 2005
The terrorist group Hezbollah, or "political party" according to the French, warned their Lebanese countrymen to stop criticizing their Syrian partners or face another outbreak of civil war: Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Saturday that popular agitation against Syria's grip on Lebanon after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri could plunge the country back into civil war. ... "Today we are responsible for a nation that came out of the civil war ... but we face acute problems, especially this year and in the past few months," the black-turbaned cleric declared. "As Lebanese, we have no choice for remedying our crises and problems except to discuss and meet, even if we are angry and tense," he said. "We must not repeat the mistakes of the past." Hezbollah has reason to worry that any civil war sparked by anti-Syrian sentiment will necessarily wind up as Hezbollah vs. The Rest...
February 20, 2005
The Republic of Ireland has had enough of the IRA after its apparent involvement in a multimillion-pound armed robbery. Long averse to involving itself in the affairs of the IRA in Northern Ireland and undermining Sinn Fein's political power in the British-held Ulster province, the Republic's Justice Minister suddenly reversed decades of tradition and publicly named the leaders of the IRA. The leaders consist of the most powerful names in Northern Irish politics and the revelations will seriously damage Sinn Fein credibility in the peace process: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein leaders, were publicly named as members of the IRA's Army Council in an unprecedented move by the Irish government yesterday. The public naming will heap even greater damage on republicans after a week of allegations over IRA involvement in crime. ... Michael McDowell, the Irish justice minister, named Mr Adams, Mr McGuinness and Martin Ferris, the...
The London Telegraph reports that a "senior foreign bureaucrat" got drunk on a Virgin Airlines flight from Washington DC to London tonight, fondled women, and exposed himself to the crew and passengers: A senior foreign bureaucrat has been arrested for drunkenness and suspicion of sexual assault on a flight to London. The man was questioned by police after allegedly attempting to grope a female passenger and exposing himself to cabin crew. Other passengers claimed he had consumed "vast quantities" of duty-free alcohol. One female passenger had to be moved from her seat and upgraded to business class after she claimed the man attempted to fondle her. Passengers on the Virgin Atlantic flight, including a party of schoolchildren, watched as cabin crew were forced to grapple with the 55-year-old and escort him to the lavatory, where he is then alleged to have exposed himself. The Telegraph gets no more specific about...
February 21, 2005
In his expansive vision of democratization voiced in his inaugural speech, George Bush promised to stand with those who stand for freedom and liberty. The world got a taste of his sincerity today at the first event of his European trip, as he echoed the protestors in the streets of Beirut in demanding an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon after the murder of Rafik Hariri: He also had direct words for Syria, calling on leaders in Damascus to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. As Bush spoke, thousands of opposition supporters in Beirut shouted insults at Syria and demanded the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syrian government, marking a week since the assassination of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's most prominent politician. "The Lebanese people have the right to be free, and the United States and Europe share an interest in an independent, democratic Lebanon," he said, adding that if Syrians stay out...
Who knew that chief executives bandying unsubstantiated allegations of assassination strategies about would turn into a growth industry? The BBC reports that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez accused the Bush administration of planning his murder, echoing the same charge leveled by his friend Fidel Castro in the previous week: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he believes the US government is planning to assassinate him. "If they kill me, the name of the person responsible is [President] George Bush," Mr Chavez said. Mr Chavez - who offered no evidence to back his claim - said any attempt on his life would backfire and threatened to cut off oil supplies to America. Perhaps Chavez has hired Eason Jordan as a political consultant these days. It certainly appears that leveling accusations of assassinations has become the New Black of diplomacy and international debate. Oddly, however, the only people getting assassinated these days are...
Javier Solana refused to play along with the EU's enforced lovefest with George Bush this week, telling the International Herald-Tribune that the Iraqi elections meant little in terms of vindication for Bush's policies in the Middle East: The EU's foreign policy chief cast public doubt on the health of the transatlantic partnership yesterday, puncturing the euphoric claims by European and American officials that President George W Bush had opened a new era in relations. Javier Solana disputed the American view that last month's elections in Iraq had vindicated the US decision to invade and questioned whether the Bush administration's promises of a new era in relations with Europe meant anything. ... Mr Solana made his deeply pessimistic remarks in an interview with the International Herald Tribune. He disputed the American view that the Iraq elections vindicated the decision to invade. "Is this a vindication when you count how many billions...
February 22, 2005
Canada has always been a good friend to the US, and at times have been among the most stalwart of our allies. I for one will never forget the intrepidity and bravery of the Canadian embassy workers in Teheran that rescued six Americans who escaped the Islamist kidnappers in the 1979 hostage crisis. Those Canadians risked death at the hands of the madding Khomeini radicals by smuggling the Americans out of Iran by giving them falsified passports. Unfortunately, today's version of Canadians seem less than up to the intestinal fortitude of the past generation. Canadian leadership almost qualifies as an oxymoron as the current government plays word games regarding their common-defense policy with the US, trying to play aloof while acknowledging their support for missile defense: The man chosen by Prime Minister Paul Martin to be Canada's next ambassador to the U.S. has sparked a political firestorm, saying participation in...
February 23, 2005
European corporations seeking to do business in Turkmenistan, run for decades by the iron fist of Saparmurad Niyazov, have now taken to vanity publishing to nuzzle up to the man who calls himself Turkmenbashi the Great. Several companies that sell products to the tightly-controlled tyranny have translated Niyazov's "Book of Spirit", the Bible of Niyazov's regime and the book that has replaced almost all others in this Central Asian cult of personality: The various releases this month of the two-volume "Book of Spirit" -- "Ruhnama" in Turkmen -- are part of an international drive to boost the book's circulation as well as what the government-controlled Turkmen media call a "victorious march around the world" by the author-president, 65, also known in his country as Turkmenbashi the Great. The book contains Niyazov's moral code as well as his philosophical and historical musings. Its translation into 30 languages and publication outside Turkmenistan...
Nicholas Kristof writes powerfully on the genocide that the UN refuses to recognize underway in Darfur. He accurately depicts the intentional slaughter of tribal Africans by the Arab-dominated Sudanese government and their Janjaweed terrorist militia and rightly calls the world to action. Unfortunately, Kristof calls for the same kind of pointless actions that allowed Saddam Hussein to continue his genocides against the Marsh Arabs and Shi'a for a dozen years before the West acted to stop it. Let's start with what Kristof does right. He bucks the UN and Kofi Annan's miserable cowardice in playing word games in avoiding the term "genocide" by playing word games right back: The [African Union] archive also includes an extraordinary document seized from a janjaweed official that apparently outlines genocidal policies. Dated last August, the document calls for the "execution of all directives from the president of the republic" and is directed to regional...
One of the closely-watched aspects of George Bush's European diplomacy has been his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Prior to his latest trip to the continent, critics wondered if Bush would press Putin to return democracy to Russian politics, and were surprised when Bush publicly and pointedly did so. However, the London Telegraph reports tonight that Bush's advice may have come too late, as Putin faces new pressures at home that threaten to undermine his increasingly autocratic rule: Once known as the Teflon president for his deft handling of public opinion, he is increasingly seen as a ham-fisted leader who is out of touch with the needs of ordinary Russians. In the past two months hundreds of thousands have demonstrated throughout Russia to denounce the president's policies, the largest protests in the country for more than five years. His popularity in the army and police - formerly mainstays of...