The Financial Times is reporting that the North Korean government has invited Eric Clapton to perform. The invitation comes on the heels of a historic visit by the New York Philharmonic to the Hermit Kingdom.
Judging by the New York Times' account of the intensely emotional concert, we can't even begin to imagine how "Slowhand" will be received. That is, by those North Koreans who have actually been permitted to listen to the British guitar icon's music.
FT reports that Clapton agreed to a concert "in principle," although his reps have yet to confirm it. Rock and pop are banned in North Korea. Some will have fun imagining Kim Jong Il rocking out to "Cocaine" -- but AP reports that his son, Kim Jong Chol, is the family's Clapton fan.
Canada's Conservative government proposed a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 2011 at the open of parliamentary debate on the future of the Canadian mission there.
"It is the opinion of the House that Canada should continue a military presence in Kandahar beyond February 2009 to July 2011 in a manner fully consistent with the U.N. mandate on Afghanistan," said Royal Galipeau, the Conservative deputy chair of Committees of the Whole House.
The Canadian House of Commons is debating that country's lead role in the Afghanistan mission. Support for the ongoing mission has dwindled among Canadians, who have seen a disproportionately large number of casualties in the Afghan conflict.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has bristled at what it sees as reluctance among the other large NATO members to contribute resources and manpower to the fight against the resurgent Taliban. The patchwork-style NATO mission -- with Canadians, Britons, Dutchmen and Americans doing the lion's share of security and reconstruction work -- is facing Taliban fighters who have adopted tactics used by al-Qaida and insurgents in Iraq (e.g., suicide bombings) and a rampant opium trade that Afghan farmers are reluctant to abandon.
Ahead of a contentious NATO meeting in Lithuania early this month, Harper's government threatened to bring the Canadian mission to an end if other NATO countries did not increase their contributions. That threat still holds as the Canadian parliament hammers out its Afghanistan timeline.
Pervez Musharraf, who seized power illegally and whose unpopularity now prompts rioting in Pakistan's streets, isn't going anywhere.
Not if he can help it, anyway. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal(subscription), Musharraf stubbornly insisted on his relevance to Pakistani politics and said he would help shepherd in the newly elected government.
But the leaders of the two parties that won big in Monday's parliamentary election -- former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Party and Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party -- called on Musharraf to step down. The two are meeting today to discuss, in all likelihood, forming a broad-based coalition government that does not include Musharraf.
"He used to say that when people expressed no confidence in him that he would leave. Now the people have announced their decision," said Sharif, who was tossed out of office in the military coup led by the former general in 1999.
Military Poll: Armed Forces -- And U.S. -- Highly Vulnerable
Is the military broken?
That is a question the Pentagon and Washington have been asking since late 2003, when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeldinadvertently signaled that the country was in for a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers themselves have been generally more positive about their mission than American civilians are. A new survey of military officers shows that while most maintain that the military is not broken, it cannot persevere under present conditions for long.
Just 42 percent of respondents described the military as broken, compared with 56 percent who disagreed. But 60 percent said the military was weaker. Just 25 percent said the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had helped the military grow stronger.
The results are largely in line with other surveys of military officers, such as those conducted by the Military Times publishing group. But as warnings from the military about its own health have intensified over the years, the strain placed on active-duty troops has only grown. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the new 15/12 deployment schedule last April, and there are no indications that those rotations will be eased this year, even as troop levels are brought back down to pre-surge levels. If anything, the Pentagon appears to be hinting that they will not.
When asked whether the war in Iraq had stretched the military "dangerously thin," a whopping 88 percent of respondents said yes. More gravely, the officers said, the military is currently ill-prepared to respond to other major conflicts. More than 80 percent said it was unreasonable to expect the military to engage in another war today. And on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning completely ready, the officers gave America's readiness to go to war with Iran a 4.5.
That may be because many see the current mission in Iraq as untenable: Nearly three-quarters said the goals set for the military by civilian leadership after the fall of Saddam Hussein were unreasonable.
Two men being held in the Dec. 27 assassination of Benazir Bhutto have confessed to participating in the suicide bombing plot that killed the former Pakistani prime minister and more than a dozen others.
Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat, who goes by one name, told Pakistani authorities they provided the suicide bomber with shelter, "a suicide jacket and a pistol," the lead police investigator said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the small Southeast Asian island nation, one day after an assassination attempt on two of its top leaders. President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao were attacked in a failed coup.
Ramos-Horta remains on life support in an Australian military hospital with gunshot wounds in the chest, back and stomach. Gusmao escaped uninjured.
The state of emergency suspends large public gatherings and imposes an 8 p.m. curfew, according to the deputy prime minister.
Australian security forces have been called into the country to help enforce the state of emergency, and an op-ed this morning in the Boston Globe stresses the need for international intervention. The U.N. has maintained a presence in the country since Indonesia withdrew its control in 1999; East Timor won its independence in 2002.
See the CNN and Washington Post stories for more on East Timor's history and the current conflict.
AP is reporting that two U.S. fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers flying too close to the USS Nimitz over the weekend.
According to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, a Russian Tupolev 95 swooped to a low altitude close to the Nimitz, while another "circled about 50 nautical miles out."
The incident coincides with another confrontation involving Japanese naval vessels. Japan lodged a protest against Moscow, claiming a Russian bomber violated the island nation's airspace. According to AFP, Japanese officials said a Tupolev 95 flew over "Sofugan, 650 kilometres (406 miles) south of Tokyo, for about three minutes" early Saturday morning.
Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., has been charged with passing on classified information he obtained as a Pentagon employee to two Chinese spies.
According to the Justice Department, Bergersen traded secret documents on the U.S. space program and military sales with Taiwan, an enemy of China, to Tai Shen Kuo and Yu Xin Kang both of New Orleans. The Washington Postreports that the trio met at various times in "Northern Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina and Las Vegas."
Bergersen, a weapons policy analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, faces up to 10 years in prison.
After being called in several weeks ago to probe the death of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Scotland Yard investigators have concluded that a suicide bomb -- not a gunshot -- killed the former prime minister.
The report confirms that a gunman fired shots in Bhutto's direction just before the Dec. 27 blast, as previously reported, but that he missed and she was actually killed by the force of the explosion which caused her head to slam against her car. It also states that the gunman himself set off the bomb.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied that her surprise visit to Kandahar today was Washington's way of sticking it to NATO allies not doing their fair share in Afghanistan.
"It's just the rationale of being able to get outside of Kabul and see one of the areas that's been very active," Rice said before touching down, according to Reuters. "I don't think there's any message there to anyone."
Poignantly -- or not, if Rice's statement is taken at face value -- she and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband were touring Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold in the country's south. Most trips by top foreign dignitaries are confined to the much safer capital city of Kabul. Kandahar remains dangerous, but it is also a prime example of the effectiveness of NATO forces in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
And in what has over the years become a ritual, Afghan President Hamid Karzai denied there were tensions between his government and its Western allies.
More than a year after a coup removed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai citizens chose one of his close allies for his old job in today's round of elections. Samak Sundaravej, a 72-year-old right-wing politician, was elected with a substantial majority in parliament, in a step largely seen as a move back toward democracy following a big shake-up in the country after the September 2006 coup.
But the New York Times is predicting trouble ahead for the new leader: "Samak is disliked by the Thai press and intelligentsia and is deeply resented by civil rights groups for his support of deadly crackdowns on peaceful protesters in the 1970s and 1990s." See the full story for more.
If 2007 seemed like a bad year for democracy, that's because it was, according to new data from Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization that monitors and promotes freedom around the world. The group recently released its report on 2007, citing a "notable setback for global freedom" for the second consecutive year.
Freedom House uses its own set of criteria to divide nations into three categories: "free," "partly free" and "not free." In 2007, one-fifth of the world's nations experienced a decline in freedom, the group says. Although the number of countries in the "not free" category did not grow over the last year, "there were many changes within these broad categories" that demonstrate an alarming trend, a press release announcing the report claims. These reversals were seen in countries across the globe -- from sub-Saharan Africa to the former Soviet Union.
Nearly four times as many countries saw declines in levels of freedom as showed improvement. Dishearteningly, several countries that had been experiencing progress toward democracy in recent years, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Kenya, took steps backward in 2007. Two former Soviet countries that underwent "color revolutions" fairly recently -- Kyrgyzstan and Georgia -- also reversed track last year, Freedom House reports.
President Bush sought to assure investors and consumers that a relief package was on the way, though he made no promises about when.
"I believe we can find common ground to get something done," he said, flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. They were joined by Bush's economic team at the White House for a briefing on Bush's recent trip to the Middle East as well as a discussion of the $150 billion stimulus package the president proposed on Friday.
"The economy is inherently strong, but it needs to get a boost. We need to make sure this uncertainty doesn't translate into more economic woes for our workers and businesspeople," Bush said.
Bush was discussing the nation's economy with opposition leaders in Congress on a day of dizzying volatility in the U.S. and global markets. This morning, the Federal Reserve Board made its first emergency rate cut since shortly after the 9/11 attacks, voting to slash its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 3.5 percent. The move was meant to provide immediate relief for debtors in an economy seized by a two-fer liquidity and credit drought.
The surprise announcement came one week before the Fed's regularly scheduled meeting, at which it was expected to further nick at rates by 50 basis points. The move did nothing, initially, to mitigate fears that the U.S. economic slowdown is having a tsunami effect on global markets. The Dow plummeted more than 460 points soon after the opening bell.
But the emergency cut was also a signal that the Fed stands at the ready to react aggressively to the economy's downturn. By noon the sell-off had slowed, and the Dow mostly recovered to close down 128 points, or 1.1 percent.
At least six people were killed and six more injured when a suicide bomber exploded and militants opened fire on a luxury hotel in Kabul earlier today, according to U.S. officials and a Taliban spokesman.
State Department officials told AP that at least one American died in the attack, which was aimed at Western civilians staying at the Serena Hotel. A Norwegian journalist was also reportedly killed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the militants were targeting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, who was in the hotel basement at the time and survived unhurt.
According to the New York Times, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, "calling it a coordinated assault by four men armed with guns and suicide belts." The attack was "one of the most brazen assaults by the Taliban in the heavily protected heart of the Afghan capital," the Times reports.
Musharraf 'Not Fully Satisfied' With Handling Of Bhutto's Death
In a press conference one week after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today forcefully denied claims that his government had any involvement in the slain former prime minister's death, and he offered his request for an inquiry by Scotland Yard as proof.
"We don't mind going to any extent, as nobody is involved from the government or agency side," he said. Musharraf also denied accusations that Bhutto's security detail was inadequate and suggested that she was partly responsible for her own death. "Who is to be blamed for her coming out (of) her vehicle?" he asked. The president expressed hope that British investigators will be able to come up with answers.
Despite his denial of any government role in Bhutto's death, Musharraf indicated that he was unsatisfied with the way Pakistan handled the aftermath.
In case you missed it, and there's pretty much no chance you have, the Iowa caucuses are tomorrow, Jan. 3, more than eight months (!) before the first party nominating convention will be held. The ground in both fields has shifted dramatically this month alone, which indicates that what the tiny percentage of Iowans who caucus tomorrow have to say will probably not hold.
Nonetheless, there are more media outlets on the ground in Iowa today than ever before, and coverage is wall-to-wall. We've explained before why Iowa polls are unreliable. The new Register surveys, which show Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee in the lead, were conducted Dec. 27-30, when enough Iowans to skew the results were probably traveling and therefore were unable to pick up the phone. There are also questions about whether Iowans, who by some accounts are receiving more than one campaign-related phone call a night, are still picking up their phones at all. (Think about it: Would you?)
Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal -- a new National Journal Group colleague (welcome!) -- has some must-readexplanations of Iowa polling.
Moreover, there are long-lingering questions about the actual significance of the Iowa caucuses. Democratic caucus-goers tend to be more liberal than primary voters elsewhere, and GOP caucus-goers more conservative. Fewer than 10 percent of Iowans, who are overwhelmingly white, participate, but the outsized media coverage arguably has a king-making effect. Those candidates who don't place in the top five might be considered road kill by Friday morning, which could doom them in other states where they are faring better.
Georgetown's Christopher Hull crunches the numbers in his new book, "Grassroots Rules" (seriously, there are charts and graphs). If you want to understand Iowa's effect on party nominations, read this book. His ultimate conclusion is that Iowa is important. But: "Controlling for New Hampshire results and measures of exhibition season performance, Iowa is not a statistically significant predictor of overall primary performance."
Before the Christmas break, we wrote that Americans' dwindling interest in the Iraq war might be perilous to the national interest, as Alasdair Roberts recently contended in Foreign Policy. Now the war on terrorism -- which even critics of President Bush must admit now includes Iraq -- is back in the headlines, thanks to yesterday's tragic events.
The view from Washington is that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a serious kneecap blow to U.S. foreign policy. To quickly review: President Pervez Musharraf, an ally by necessity, is increasingly unpopular at home and for good reason. (People who live under military dictatorships generally do not enjoy the experience.) Meanwhile, there's a virulent strain of anti-Western, Islamic fanaticism seeping through Pakistan at the moment, which means this White House's usually cherished principles of liberty and democracy do not apply.
The Bhutto-Musharraf power-sharing compromise was seen as the most feasible shot at calming Pakistan's restive populace. In Bhutto, Washington saw a more reliable and transparent ally in the war against extremism, in part because of her shady ethical past. She had something to prove.
Now that she's gone, we're back to where we were, and less than two weeks before Pakistan's elections no less. No doubt there is panic in the Beltway today, if only for the dearth of available options now.
A roundup of how editorial boards and pundits reacted to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:
"Bhutto was a flawed and undeniably courageous leader. Her return to Pakistan two months ago raised hopes that her country might find its way toward democracy and stability. Her assassination on Thursday is yet one more horrifying reminder of how far Pakistan is from both -- and how close it is to the brink." -- New York Times
"Ms. Bhutto was the most powerful advocate of secular democracy in her country; she had the courage to confront both Islamic militants and the autocratic government of President Pervez Musharraf.... Her tragic death may open the way to violence and political chaos that could be exploited by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, unless Mr. Musharraf and the country's surviving moderate forces act quickly and wisely." -- Washington Post
Bhutto Assassination: U.S. Policy Unchanged... But For How Long?
UPDATED.
Officials in the Bush administration said that current White House policy toward Pakistan hadn't immediately changed in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, despite questions about whether President Pervez Musharraf had a role in today's attack.
"U.S. policy has always been based on promoting a... peaceful, moderate country" in Pakistan, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "Our efforts have not been focused on any individuals, but on achieving that goal."
President Bush and Musharraf are to speak by phone today. Administration officials are being careful not to go beyond expressing condolences and general condemnations of terrorism as they monitor the delicate political crisis in Pakistan. Fires broke out as Bhutto supporters rioted in the streets. Islamabad declared a "red alert," meaning police were on guard against violent outbreaks related to her death, but stopped short of imposing martial law.
(For our report on Bhutto's assassination and the initial reaction, click here.)
Administration officials said they would offer whatever help Pakistan needed but that they had not been asked to assist in a pending investigation into the attack. If the White House is questioning whether Musharraf could have provided greater security for Bhutto, as it requested, officials aren't saying. Pakistan's military and intelligence services are riddled with Islamic extremists. Whether that is a result of Musharraf's ineptitude or relish for political expediency is another question observers are asking, but that the White House is not -- out loud, anyway.
"We are going to continue working with President Musharraf," Casey said. "We are going to continue working with the PPP [Bhutto's opposition Pakistan People's Party] and other moderate democratic elements in Pakistan to try to bring us all together to achieve those goals."
Casey continued, "We intend to move forward with current policy."
Outraged supporters of Benazir Bhutto have taken to the streets following confirmation that the Pakistani opposition leader was assassinated today, with at least one province placed on emergency alert.
Bhutto had just spoken at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, and had gotten into a car when a gunman opened fire. The apparent assassin then blew himself up. There are conflictingreports on how she was killed. Some witnesses said she had been shot in the neck and chest, while a doctor at the hospital that treated her told the New York Times she had shrapnel wounds but would not confirm she had been directly shot.
At least 15 other people were also killed in the attack, according to various news reports. "Police in Sindh have been put on red alert," a police official told Reuters, referring to Bhutto's home province. "We have increased deployment and are patrolling in all the towns and cities, as there is trouble almost everywhere."
Television footage is showing mobs of people setting fires and destroying property in the streets.
At least 50 people were killed in Pakistan today when a bomb exploded inside a mosque during the celebration of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Worshippers inside the Islamabad mosque were observing the holiday with Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Pakistan's former interior minister, whose political party has been targeted before. Sherpao and his family were not injured in today's bombing, but he was also targeted in an April suicide attack near Islamabad that killed nearly 30 people.
"It was a massacre," Sherpao told the New York Times. "I can tell you that." Sherpao is running in the parliamentary elections set for mid-January, which will likely change the balance of power in Pakistan. (BBC News has a profile of Sherpao.)
So, Russia has just delivered the first shipment of 80 tons of uranium fuel rods to Iran's disputed Bushehr nuclear reactor. Now what?
Wait-and-see time, apparently. It is not clear how close the Bushehr facility is to full production capacity. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Agency said that Bushehr was 95-percent finished, according to the Los Angeles Times, but Iran has walked a tricky line between simultaneously exaggerating and denying its nuclear capacity for years.
Taking a question on Iran during a speech on the economy this morning, President Bush seemed to welcome news of the arrangement, but with a caveat.
"Interestingly enough, today Russia sent some enriched, or is in the process of sending enriched uranium to Iran to help on their civilian nuclear reactor. If that's the case, if the Russians are willing to do that -- which I support -- then the Iranians do not need to learn how to enrich," Bush said. "If the Iranians accept that uranium for a civilian nuclear power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich," he repeated.
Memo To Congress: Maybe Try Doing Things Another Way
Just a year after voting for a partisan makeover, Americans think Congress is the pits. The main reason: that body's seeming inability to get anything done.
Considering all those lengthy floor debates and filibusters don't seem to get bickering lawmakers much closer to compromise, perhaps the ladies and gentlemen of the House and Senate ought to try settling their differences the old-fashioned way.
Flanked by the vice president and the rest of his Cabinet-level officials, President Bush cheerfully reminded Congress of the mountain of legislative work they must tackle before departing for the holidays.
"I thank the Senate and congratulate the Senate for passing a good energy bill," Bush said at a press conference on the White House lawn. "Now the House must act."
Bush emerged to speak with reporters this morning following his weekly Cabinet meeting. He scored a victory yesterday when the Senate overwhelmingly passed an energy package minus a Democratic-sponsored $21.8 billion provision that would have reduced tax breaks for oil companies. The overall bill remains tough on automakers, however, and is expected to make it through the House next Tuesday with relative ease.
Even in the blogosphere, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets a little tetchy.
From a post dated 11/18/07: "Since my last post on the blog, a few months have passed. But this doesn't mean that I have not been keeping my promise of spending fifteen minutes per week on it. As a matter of fact, I have spent more than the allocated time on the blog."
Hear that, world? Now back off. Ahmadinejad's most recent post is dated 12/1, so it looks as if the president's a little busy these days. If you'd like to send him a little note -- what's Persian for "wassup?" -- there's a comments section. The blog is available in Persian, Arabic, English and French. (Hat tip: IHT)
Now on to North Korea. A fewdevelopments here, but if you are keen to know what life is like inside the Hermit Kingdom, NPR producer Madhulika Sikkadescribed her recent visit on "Morning Edition" today.
Bali Summit Rattled By Earthquake & Dubious Progress
The 10,000 attendees of the U.N.'s two-week climate change conference got a reminder of the Earth's fragility today, when an earthquake hit 150 miles southwest of Bali, Indonesia.
The quake wasn't strong enough to cause damage or injury -- just 5.4 on the Richter scale -- but the walls and floors in the complex hosting the conference shook for about 10 seconds. Attendees from 190 countries are working on striking a deal to address global warming and other international environmental concerns.
Organizers of the conference may have been struck another kind of blow, as well: A U.N. official said today that it's unlikely the U.S. will agree to any binding deal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Climate Change, said the discussion started "very enthusiastically," but several developing nations along with the U.S. will probably reject the standards and the international community has failed to agree on an approach to global warming.
In an unusually personal move, President Bush sent North Korean leader Kim Jong Il a letter, according to a Pyongyang news agency.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill reportedly handed over the letter yesterday during a meeting with North Korean diplomats. Hill was in China to give a briefing on his three-day visit to the region to discuss Pyongyang's continued uranium enrichment and a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. After inspecting the reactor complex yesterday, Hill told reporters that its dismantling is on track. U.S. inspectors have been overseeing work on the plant, which North Korea agreed to shut down earlier this year.
Contents of the letter were not disclosed, but Korea expert Noriyuki Suzuki speculated in Reuters reports that it "was aimed at backing what Christopher Hill had been telling to the North Koreans in the past negotiations... The letter must contain the basic U.S. stance that Washington is ready to drop North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, improve relations and normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea on condition that the North disable and abandon its nuclear weapons programs."
...where officials might learn a thing or 10 from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and even Macao(!). The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released the results of its 2006 testing of 15-year-olds' math and reading skills from around the globe; the Financial Times and Washington Post have writeups.
"The US, the world's largest economy, is below the OECD average in science and maths, and fails even to make the tables in reading because a misprint in the test confused too many students and invalidated the results," FT reports. Ouch.
Just as an increasingly third-world epidemic threatened to shatter China's move toward superpower status, changing public attitudes and determined prevention efforts appear to be pulling the Asian giant back from the brink. Shanghaiist has a roundup of recent optimistic headlines on AIDS in China, while noting Beijing still has a ways to go. The Atlantic's James Fallows gets a shout-out here, for noticing on Sunday a rare photo of President Hu Jintao shaking hands with (i.e., touching) an AIDS patient.
State-run Xinhua news agency reported earlier this week on a celeb-studded AIDS-awareness march along the Great Wall. The main obstacle in China's fight against HIV/AIDS is its rapid spread in impoverished and remote regions of that country. The U.N. recently estimated that between 30 and 50 million people in China are at risk of contracting the disease, GayWired reported last week.
Schwab Hails China's Decision To Halt Contested Subsidies
China yesterday agreed to end subsidies challenged by the United States as a violation of world trade rules, a move touted by the Bush administration as proof that its policy of engagement is working. "I think this announcement makes clear that the administration's policy of serious dialogue and resolute enforcement is delivering real results," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. "It clearly shows the wisdom of this approach over some legislative approaches that would simply impose retaliatory tariffs."
Schwab said the subsidies, which were the subject of a World Trade Organization case the United States filed in February, had provided significant benefits to China-based exporters across a range of industries, including steel, wood products and information technology. A U.S. official said the United States had made no concessions. China has agreed to terminate the subsidies by the end of the year.
Thanks to the New York Times, we know more about the extent to which Washington has been secretly aiding Pakistan's military. It's doubtful, though, that this new information is making anyone feel better about the situation.
The bright line here is between Taliban sympathizers/al-Qaida and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Everyone agrees that crossing that line would be disastrous beyond imagination. So, we aren't too surprised that Michael O'Hanlon and Frederick Kagan, of the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute, respectively, agree that the U.S. needs to consider military intervention.
"The task of stabilizing a collapsed Pakistan is beyond the means of the United States and its allies," they wrote in an op-ed published in yesterday's Times. "Thus, if we have any hope of success, we would have to act before a complete government collapse, and we would need the cooperation of moderate Pakistani forces."
Musharraf Remains Defiant Amid Calls To End Emergency Rule
As U.S. envoy John Negroponte prepares to visit South Asia later this week to try and smooth over the political rift between Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the two leaders continue to spar, blaming each other for the chaos that has been brewing ever since Musharraf threw out the constitution and instituted emergency rule there.
In an interview with AP, Musharraf rebuffed Bhutto's call for his resignation and accused her of stoking the flames of unrest. Although he acknowledged an "acute trust deficit" between him and the former prime minister, he said he would still be open to working with her. "If she does become the prime minister, we will see.... It depends on her if she wants to be on a confrontational course or a conciliatory one," he said. Bhutto, however, closed the door on a possible power-sharing agreement with Musharraf in comments made yesterday.
In her boldest challenge yet to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told reporters today that she wants Musharraf to step down as both head of state and army chief.
"It is over with Musharraf," she told Agence France-Presse from her residence in Lahore, where she has once again been placed on house arrest. "General Musharraf must quit.... I call on the international community to stop backing him -- to stop backing the man whose dictatorship threatens to engulf this nuclear-armed state in chaos."
She also vowed never to serve with him or under him, sounding what appears to be the final death knell for a power-sharing deal that the U.S. and other Western allies had hoped would help head off a political crisis. "I would not serve as prime minister under a man who has repeatedly broken his promises, who is a dictator," Bhutto told AFP.
Bhutto also told reporters today that she expects her Pakistan People's Party to boycott the January parliamentary elections that Musharraf promised earlier this week.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf opened another chapter in the saga of growing unrest in his country today, ordering military police to cordon off the Islamabad home of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to prevent her from traveling to a protest set for this afternoon.
The New York Times reports that police turned her house "into a fortress, placing concrete barriers and barbed wire at the entrance road." Another leader from Bhutto's party, the Pakistan People's Party, said she had been served a formal detention order but refused to accept it.
Up to 5,000 of Bhutto's supporters have been arrested in recent days, according to her own estimate, and more were being taken into police custody at the site of the canceled rally in Rawalpindi.
NPR and the Times have more on today's story, and The Gate has morebackground on the situation.
The House could vote as early as tomorrow on a measure providing a $50 billion bridge fund to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for about four months, on the condition that troops be withdrawn from combat zones in Iraq by Christmas 2008.
"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.
The measure's target date of Dec. 15, 2008, is nonbinding, meaning it could lose support from die-hard Iraq war opponents in the House. It also faces a steep hurdle in clearing the Senate, where the measure would be open to amendment and would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
"I think we should take it a step at a time," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said the Senate probably would take up the bill next week. He declined to comment on whether he expected more support from Republicans.
"I have in the past thought that we would have more Republicans than... we did. I hope so," Reid said.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced today that parliamentary elections would be held by mid-February -- a month later than originally scheduled. The move goes against a request President Bush made in a phone call to Musharraf yesterday, asking him to keep the elections in January and resign from his post as the head of the army.
"My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform," Bush told reporters yesterday. "You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time, so I had a very frank discussion with him."
Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto expressed similar sentiments and called on Musharraf to abandon his military post within the week.
None of the new developments are likely to be looked upon favorably in the U.S., where officials have been struggling to figure out how to deal with the crisis. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters were arrested last night in a fresh crackdown on opposition forces just hours after Bush and Musharraf spoke. At least 3,000 people -- some of whom face death sentences after being charged with treason -- have been imprisoned since Musharraf declared emergency rule this weekend.
In defiance of the rules against large gatherings of people, which went into effect when Musharraf suspended the constitution, Bhutto's party is planning a huge rally in the city of Rawalpindi tomorrow and threatening to hold a "long march" next Tuesday.
Husain Haqqani, who has served as an adviser to Bhutto, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning, and The Gate has a longer analysis of the crisis in Pakistan.
As tensions mount between the Pakistani government and the lawyers, students and activists demonstrating against President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule late last week, U.S. officials are assessing their options for handling the crisis.
The Hill reported yesterday that Musharraf's actions could boost Sen. Carl Levin's (D) proposal to cut military funding for Pakistan in the 2008 defense bill "unless the president certifies quarterly to the defense committees that Pakistan is making substantial efforts to eliminate safe havens for the Taliban, al Qaeda and other extremists in areas under its sovereign control."
Lawmakers aren't the only ones considering using the power of the purse to coax Musharraf to end the state of emergency. State Department spokesman Sean McCormackindicated yesterday that administration officials were reviewing the matter to determine whether Pakistan had taken any actions that would justify the suspension of aid. "People started work on it," he told reporters at a State Department briefing.
Pakistan: When The Devil You Know Loses His Marbles
UPDATED.
For reasons we've outlined before, what's happening now in Pakistan is both extraordinary and utterly unsurprising. In the unlikely event you missed it, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has suspended the constitution, declared emergency rule, canned most of the Supreme Court's judges, blacked out independent media and ordered troops to round up dissenters right and left.
Quite the busy weekend for the autocrat Washington warily calls friend and ally.
As many as 3,500 people have been arrested since Saturday, AP reports. Among them is Asma Jahangir of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who has been placed under house arrest after years of railing against Musharraf's regime and escaping a couple of apparent government-sponsored assassination attempts. Writing in an e-mail to the Economist, Jahangir lamented that Musharraf had finally "lost his marbles."
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint near Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's army home in Rawalpindi today. At least seven people were killed near the army headquarters, but Musharraf was in his office a mile away at the time of the attack and was not injured.
Another high-ranking Pakistani official, joint chiefs of staff chairman Gen. Tariq Majid, also has a residence near the blast, but he is newly appointed to the post and had not yet moved in.
The city police chief said three passersby and three policemen were among the seven people killed. Eleven were injured. Rawalpindi has been the site of two other deadly suicide bombings -- part of a spate of attacks in Pakistan blamed on radical Islamic militants -- in the last two months.
On the same day that Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader met with an official from the ruling military junta, the government released at least 70 prisoners arrested during the recent wave of demonstrations.
The prisoners were held at Insein Prison in Rangoon, and hundreds more are said to still be detained there. U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari told reporters that the meeting between the Myanmar official and Aung San Suu Kyi, herself under house arrest for nearly 20 years, was a first step in the diplomatic process that "should lead to the early resumption of dialogue that will lead to very concrete and tangible results."
The U.S. Navy is revamping its global posture for the first time in a quarter of a century through new collaboration with the Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Calling the maritime services "a unifying force and a willing partner for global prosperity and peace," the Navy unveiled its new strategy last week at the International Seapower Symposium in Rhode Island. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead (who formally replaced now-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen less than a month ago) said earlier this month, "We must be prepared for many future paths, many dangers and many potential threats. And that requires, above all, a long-term perspective and a long-term commitment to building a Navy capable of meeting 21st-century challenges."
The U.S. maritime focus will continue to be on support operations for the other armed forces and combat readiness, but the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will also look past the current conflicts in the Middle East to the waters around China, Africa and South America. Humanitarian missions and sea commerce will also be of primary importance for the maritime services.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader, met for more than an hour today with a government official in the first sign that the military junta that has ruled the country since 1962 might be loosening its grip on power.
The latest protests in Myanmar and the ensuing military crackdown have caused outrage worldwide and have prompted foreign governments to consider punitive actions. President Bushannounced last week that the U.S. would impose tougher economic conditions on the country if its leaders did not stop the brutal repression of its citizens; he expressed hope that other nations would take similar steps. However, China, Russia and India have refused to implement such sanctions, and their opposition to retaliatory measures has prevented the United Nations from taking more than symbolic action.
U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari traveled to the country in early October to pressure government leaders to broker peace with Suu Kyi. In response, the Myanmar government appointed a "minister for relations," who is in charge of managing Suu Kyi's interaction with the government and the U.N. Aung Kyi, a retired major general with a reputation of being more open and available than many of Myanmar's other officials, held the talks with Suu Kyi today.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen is getting an earful from soldiers who are stressed by the 15/12 deployment schedule for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"That year we're back, it's just not good enough," an Army captain told Mullen during a stop on a two-day tour of bases.
Army Times reports that the press withheld the soldiers' names so that they could speak freely in the Q&A session at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The resounding message was that the military has to restore the 1:3 or 1:4 deployment schedule to give soldiers sufficient time to train and be with their families.
Less than a week after the deadly terrorist attack on the day of her homecoming, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto continues to insist her country is on the edge of democracy. But has her return destabilized the region even further?
In an interview that aired on the "Today Show" this morning, Bhutto told Ann Curry that she knew people would be put at risk by her choice to return to Pakistan. When pressed as to why she chose to arrive in an open-air motorcade rather than by helicopter, which could have prevented the deaths of 139 people, Bhutto said she found the question "uncomfortable." She finally responded that if she had taken a helicopter, it "means that terrorists can dictate the agenda. It means that terrorists, by threatening violence, can take over nations and destroy the quality of life of their people."
Seeking to head off a fight that hasn't yet begun, President Bush warned Democratic lawmakers not to resist new emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as he tacked on $46 billion to the $150.5 billion the White House had already requested for the new fiscal year.
Recalling recent reports on progress in Iraq, Bush said that the extra funding was "crucial to maintaining this policy of success." General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared on Capitol Hill in September to tell lawmakers that the "surge" strategy was making headway in Iraq, and that as a result troops could be safely drawn down back to pre-surge levels.
New quarterly earnings reports show that GM remains the world's No. 1 automaker, following a scare earlier this year when Japanese automaker Toyota briefly overtook the American stalwart in sales.
According to its third-quarter filings, Toyota sold 2.34 million vehicles, slightly fewer than the 2.38 million units moved by GM in the same period. GM also beat out its Japanese rival in sales for the year by about 10,000 vehicles.
GM has reason to celebrate after a bruising year that included a strike by the United Auto Workers, but long-term concerns remain. As the American market as a whole grapples with rising manufacturing and labor costs, analysts believe that Japanese automakers will eventually overtake GM if conditions in the U.S. don't improve.
President Bush said the U.S. government would take tougher measures on Myanmar in order to pressure its leaders to abandon a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy activists.
"The Burmese authorities claim they desire reconciliation. Well, they need to match those words with actions," Bush said in a White House press conference.
Among the new measures is a tightening of export control regulations on the southeast Asian country. Myanmar is a significant timber exporter and does a healthy energy trade in the region.
Bush called on Myanmar's military dictatorship to permit officials with the International Committee of the Red Cross access to political prisoners. He also demanded that the regime release all political prisoners "immediately."
"We will consider additional measures if the Burmese government does not end the brutal repression of the people," Bush added. "Business as usual is unacceptable."
Al-Qaida, Pakistani Government Fingered For Karachi Bombing
The death toll in last night's bombing in Pakistan has hit 139 and, with more than 500 wounded, is expected to climb. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the assumed target of the attack, was riding in a convoy through throngs of supporters upon her return after eight years of self-imposed exile.
Government officials immediately pointed to al-Qaida, saying the attack bore all the hallmarks of a particular pro-Taliban warlord who operates on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Baitullah Mehsud, authorities said, threatened suicide attacks against Bhutto last month. (Mehsud said today he was not involved in the attacks.)
Fighting Islamic terrorism has been a focus for Bhutto, and she frequently offered it as part of the justification for joining forces with General Pervez Musharraf, the sitting president of Pakistan, to create a stronger secular government.
But Bhutto's husband is placing blame on a different target. Fasi Zaka, a Pakistani columnist, told NPR this morning that Bhutto's husband and her party, the PPP, believe the Pakistani government itself "masterminded" the blast.
Benazir Bhutto escaped an apparent terrorist attack in Karachi, marring what was to have been the former prime minister's triumphant return to Pakistan and to power. Officials later revised an already grim death toll to 126, with 240 wounded in the two explosions near her convoy.
Television footage showed vehicles on fire and bodies on the ground. Officials said Bhutto had been escorted to safety.
Bhutto had been living in exile since 1999 on what she contends are trumped-up corruption charges. She remains the leader of Pakistan's largest political party, and was greeted with wild enthusiasm from tens of thousands of supporters upon her return today.
DOD Opposes Afghan Reconstruction Oversight Measure
The Pentagon is urging House-Senate conferees on the FY08 defense authorization bill to drop a provision in the House measure that would create a special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. The office would be modeled largely on the independent investigator examining rebuilding efforts in Iraq, where billions of dollars of contract waste and fraud have been uncovered.
In May, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., called the proposal one of his bill's most significant provisions, and stressed that the inspector general in Afghanistan would "ensure even greater accountability" of efforts there. But in a package of appeals on the authorization measure sent last week to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, DOD officials said they viewed the appointment of an Afghanistan investigator as a redundant move that would deplete the Pentagon's inspector general, who already is tasked with oversight there, of necessary personnel.
The Senate version of the bill also created the Afghanistan inspector general, but the Pentagon did not address that provision.
Once again, the Bush administration is reminded that while it would be preferable to have the world at its back as it attempts to stabilize the Middle East, it simply does not. Iran and Russia have sealed an agreement among the Caspian Sea nations that "under no circumstances will they allow [the use of their] territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states." Doesn't take a genius to figure out which third country might top that list.
This declaration accomplishes several things, none of which bode well for Washington's push for Iran to come clean on its nuclear program.
Yesterday, the U.S. Congress angered Turkey. Today, the White House confirmed that President Bush is about to do the same to China.
Press secretary Dana Perino confirmed that the president will meet once again with the Dalai Lama. Bush has met with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader before, much to China's chagrin, but next week will mark the first time the two will appear together publicly.
The Dalai Lama will be a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. Perino said Bush had already informed Chinese President Hu Jintao that he would be attending the Oct. 17 award ceremony, but Perino confirmed for the first time today that there will also be a one-on-one meeting on Oct. 16.
China has already expressed displeasure with Bush's plan to attend the ceremony. Earlier this week, an official said the Nobel Peace Prize recipient was "a political exile who undertakes secessionist activities abroad."
Reuters and AFP have more on next week's ceremony.
The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are reporting that the U.S. Marines Corps is requesting redeployment from Iraq to Afghanistan, where Taliban fighting has increased considerably. The reasons are not officially explicated, but there are a few obvious possibilities.
Now that Anbar province is relatively calm, the Marines sent there to wrest back control from Sunni insurgents seem mostly to be serving in an overwatch and training capacity, a role better suited for the Army. The LAT obtained an e-mail from one officer there, Lt. Col. Beau Higgins, noting the dramatic drop in attacks on U.S. forces. Higgins concluded, "It's critical that we stay here to continue to assist... but our role as fire fighters in the zone moving from hot spot to hot spot has truly gone."
The hallmarks of the USMC are rapid readiness and targeted strikes, not occupation. In 2004, for instance, the Marines were sent to calm the spiraling-out situation in Fallujah. The LAT reports that the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment returned from Anbar on Monday after a seven-month deployment without having lost one of their number; in an earlier deployment, the unit suffered 15 deaths.
The current military mission in Iraq is to replicate the successes of Anbar elsewhere. It's not clear what the mission now is in Afghanistan, mostly because it isn't talked about as much.
Court Ruling Keeps Musharraf's Power Hanging In The Balance
Pakistan's highest court delivered some good news and some bad news to President Pervez Musharraf today: The vote to re-elect him is allowed to take place tomorrow as scheduled. But a winner will not be declared until legal challenges to Musharraf's bid is resolved. Two opponents have charged that Musharraf should not be able to run for the civilian post while retaining his title as head of the army.
The New York Times reports that "both supporters of General Musharraf and opposition politicians claimed victory from the surprise court decision."
Myanmar Unrest Sets Stage For Another U.N. Face-Off
As the U.S. and its allies lay the groundwork for possible U.N. action against the military dictatorship that rules Myanmar, China and Russia are forming an axis of opposition to the endeavor.
China is one of Myanmar's most generous benefactors, and in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, warned members not to interfere in the junta's crackdown on an army of monks.
"It is quite understandable for the outside world to express concern and expectation regarding the situation on the ground, however, pressure would not serve any purpose or would lead to confrontation or even the loss of dialogue and cooperation between Myanmar and the international community, including the United Nations," said the Chinese ambassador, Wang Guangya. "If the situation in Myanmar takes a worse turn because of external intervention, it would be the people of Myanmar who will bear the brunt."
According to the New York Times, Russia and China are arguing that "the crisis does not constitute the kind of threat to international peace and security that calls for the involvement of the Council."
It's a banner week for Korean diplomacy. The yearslong six-party negotiations have at last resulted in a promise by North Korea to disable all of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. And in separate talks, the two Koreas agreed to stop pointing weapons at each other (figuratively, though, not literally).
One can't blame the Wall Street Journal for optimistically comparing this week's events(subscription) to the thaw between the West and Libya, which voluntarily gave up its nukes and made sufficient amends to be taken off Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism. As the Journal notes, the world needs a bit of this kind of good news, considering the gathering storm over Iran.
But there may be a cynical devil lurking over many a Korea-watcher's shoulder. And his name is former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
Not far from the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea are gigantic signs facing the north, beckoning the oppressed citizenry there to come to the other side, "where life is happy."
If the Bush administration is frustrated at Seoul's seeming dearth of anger toward its northern neighbor, this is why: The north-south divide between the Koreans, one of the world's most homogenous people, is to this day a gaping hole in the national psyche. Some South Koreans are haunted by long-lost relatives who wound up stuck on the wrong side of the 38th parallel. Others, particularly those too young to remember the war, are sick of what they increasingly view as American paternalism and want the Koreas to sort out their affairs for themselves.
That's among the reasons lame-duck South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has embarked on his first-ever visit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the object of so much scorn and ridicule elsewhere in the world. A little paunchier and with fewer curls in that famous coiffure, Kim was on hand to greet Roh in Pyongyang today, despite previous announcements he wouldn't meet with his visitor until later.
Buoyed by the North's softening on its nuclear program, Roh seems intent on coming away with results, whether it's a step toward officially ending the 1950-1953 war or another guarantee Pyongyang is dropping its nuclear program. But the time for a "sunshine policy" toward the north, a bane of both the Bush and Clinton State Departments, may be coming to an end.
In his testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Blackwater USA chief Erik Prince defended his employees as patriotic veterans tasked with protecting Americans in hostile zones.
"Blackwater personnel supporting our overseas missions are all military and law enforcement veterans, many of whom have recent military deployments," said Prince, who founded Blackwater and is himself a former Navy SEAL. "No individual ever protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured. There is no better evidence of the skill and dedication of these men."
The Democrats on the panel cited various reports in their portrayal of Blackwater as a lawless army whose hired guns have killed innocent civilians without repercussions. Indeed, Blackwater, which has a contract with the State Department, is not beholden to either Iraqi law or U.S. military law. And that's because Congress either forgot or did not bother to make it so.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not go out of her way to hide her disappointment at the latest setback in U.S. efforts to clamp down further on Iran.
"The international community has to have a greater sense of urgency about some of these issues," she said, speaking to reporters at the U.N. this afternoon. "We have two unanimous Security Council resolutions in place on Iran. We're working on a third, and using that track to try to invigorate the negotiations track." Rice conceded that there was already a "certain level of cooperation in Iran."
Monasteries Raided In Second Day Of Myanmar Crackdown
Myanmar's ruling military government raided at least two monasteries yesterday, the New York Times reports, beating and arresting dozens of Buddhist monks that have been trying to push the junta toward democracy in recent weeks.
Frustrated by the robe-clad monks, who have stayed at the helm of vocal protests for more than a month, the junta seems to have lost its patience. The military dictatorship's response to the pro-democracy movement had initially been more muted than the harsh responses to similar protests in the past. But over the last two days, the military has fired into crowds, sprayed temples with tear gas and beaten monks and other protesters as it tries to rein in the demonstrations.
Today, the military police sparred with a huge crowd at a temple in Yangon, the country's largest city, before issuing an ultimatum warning of "extreme action" that cleared the streets.
By granting somanyinterviews to curious American journalists and agreeing to take questions from college students at Columbia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made sure that this year's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly would revolve around him. It helps that his BFF in these parts, Venezuelan firebrand Hugo Chavez, sat this one out, which means Ahmadinejad's "no gays in Iran" statement remains the craziest (and most sinister) thing said all week.
Ahmadinejad put on his "serious" face (no smiling) yesterday when he delivered his U.S.-centric speech before the General Assembly. The American delegation didn't bother to stick around for its entirety, such was its predictability. If this scenario reminds you of last year's meeting at the U.N., it should. The bottom line for the Security Council has been no nuclear material for Iran, period. Yesterday, Ahmadinejad ensured that the U.N. will act to shut him down, one way or another.
President Bush called on the U.N. General Assembly to renew its focus on human rights, as he reminded increasingly distant member nations of America's outsized role in humanitarian work around the globe.
Placing the spotlight on the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bush told the audience, "The nations in this chamber have our differences. Yet there are some areas where we can all agree."
The president ticked off a laundry list of ills, some of them ancient, still plaguing the globe, from malaria to HIV/AIDS, starvation to closed markets, impositions on the freedom of speech and assembly, and "tyranny and violence."
The Universal Declaration is not being upheld, Bush said, "when innocent people are trapped in a life of murder and fear" or "when millions of children starve to death or die from a mosquito bite."
"Changing these underlying conditions is what the declaration calls the work of underlying freedom," he said.
Bush then turned his attention to the representatives of Myanmar.
After the abrupt resignation of Shinzo Abe earlier this month, Japan's Parliament yesterday confirmed the new leader of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, Yasuo Fukuda, as the country's prime minister.
At 71, Fukuda is Japan's oldest prime minister in over a decade -- in contrast to Abe, who at 52 was the youngest ever to hold the office. Fukuda is also part of a dynasty: His father, Takeo Fukuda, served as prime minister from 1976 to 1978.
ICYMI: Another Potentially Crazy World Leader At Columbia
According to Columbia's campus newspaper's special Ahmadineblog, the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, was also speaking on campus today. Berdymukhammedov was the practically appointed successor of Saparmurat Niyazov, whose photo you will find in the dictionary under "delusional megalomaniac."
Niyazov, who preferred to be known as Turkmenbashi, or Leader of All Turkmen, ruled his impoverished underlings with an iron fist. The tiny, energy-rich Eurasian nation is littered with giant portraits and extravagant statues of Turkmenbashi. According to an unforgettable profile in the New Yorker last year, doctors take the Hippocratic oath in the name of Turkmenbashi, and the month of January was renamed Turkmenbashi. Turkmenbashi's image appears on the currency as well as on the national vodka. His book, "Ruhnama," or "Book of the Soul," was required daily reading for children and adults alike.
The cult of fear this president for life instituted is so pervasive, visiting reporters describe the country as a kind of deranged Disneyland. Human rights are practically nonexistent, and citizens live in constant fear of the authorities.
North Korea was connected to a suspected nuclear facility in Syria that the Israeli military bombed earlier this month, and the Israeli government alerted President Bush before the strike, according to a story in the Washington Post this morning.
U.S. officials were "deeply troubled" by the idea that the North Koreans were helping a country affiliated with Iran, a potential nuclear threat, the Post continues, but "the White House opted against an immediate response because of concerns it would undermine long-running negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear program."
"Ultimately, however, the United States is believed to have provided Israel with some corroboration of the original intelligence before Israel proceeded with the raid, which hit the Syrian facility in the dead of night to minimize possible casualties," sources told the Post.
Osama bin Laden, the elusive leader of al-Qaida who has come out of the woodwork in recent weeks, reportedly urges Pakistanis to rebel against their leader, President Pervez Musharraf, in a new recording released today.
Bin Laden's appeal for Musharraf's removal is in response to the killing of a rebel cleric during a government raid on his mosque in Islamabad last July.
The storming of the Red Mosque "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims ... and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory,'' bin Laden said in the message.
Meanwhile, the al-Qaida terrorist organization has also released a new video message "in which bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, boasted that the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts" and "promised more fighting in Afghanistan, North Africa and Sudan's Darfur region." AP has details of the video.
Musharraf To Leave Military Regardless Of Election Outcome
A senior member of Pervez Musharraf's ruling party has clarified that the Pakistani leader will be leaving his post as head of the military regardless of whether he is re-elected president this fall. Earlier this week, a lawyer for Musharraf said the president would only relinquish his military role if he won re-election, a statement that was met with swift and harsh protest from Musharraf's political and legal opponents.
"There's no going back for General Musharraf. Irrespective of whatever happens in his elections, he has decided to retire from the military," Mushahid Hussain, secretary-general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League -- Quaid-e-Azam, said today. "There are no two ways about this.”
The clarification is considered a concession to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, with whom Musharraf has reportedly been working on a power-sharing deal. Today, the Economist parses the uncertainties of that deal amid Pakistan's ongoing political turmoil.
... we're going to war with Iran. France is on board, too. (With us, not Iran.)
What?
The surreality of global relations this week is enough to make us wonder if we're trapped inside one of John Bolton's fevered dreams. Let's untangle this web of crazy carefully, lest all our heads collectively explode.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is now seeking to assure allies that his country will "negotiate, negotiate, negotiate" before resorting to the option of war with Iran. On Sunday, the socialist ignited a firestorm when he told an interviewer, "We must prepare for the worst," adding, "The worst, sir, is war."
Kouchner said that France was "preparing" itself for the prospect of war in the event efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear program were unsuccessful.
En route to a meeting with his counterpart in Moscow today, Kouchner sought to dial back his earlier remarks. "I do not want it said that I'm a warmonger. My message was one of peace, serious and determined," he told traveling reporters. Later, he blamed the media for running wild with what he'd said on Sunday. "As usual with journalists, they take one phrase and you don't know what came after," he said on a Russian radio talk show.
That's fair. Then again, maybe France picked a really bad time to propose Germany dump its historical baggage and dive into the nukes business.
A lawyer for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told that country's Supreme Court yesterday that the military leader will leave his post as army chief if he is re-elected president when his current term expires this fall. The move could pave the way for a power-sharing agreement with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose Pakistan People's Party has stipulated that Musharraf step down from his military role as part of the deal.
But the announcement from Musharraf's lawyer, Sharfuddin Pirzada, has already drawn sharp criticism from Musharraf's opposition in Parliament. Bhutto "called the proposal unconstitutional and undemocratic, and threatened a mass resignation of its MPs unless the government took more steps towards national reconciliation," the London Guardian reports.
The opposition party's negative reaction to Musharraf's apparent concession stems from its belief that he should wait to seek re-election by Parliament after next year's legislative elections. Opponents are still contesting the 2002 elections that yielded the current crop of lawmakers that will be tasked with re-electing Musharraf if he seeks a vote next month.
Report: Germany Wavers, U.S. Revives Iran Planning
About a month ago, we wondered why White House officials were leaking word that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was to be designated a terrorist organization. Looks like we may have an answer.
Reuters reports that the leak may have been a hawkish attempt to goad the State Department into taking a tougher line on Tehran. The White House alleges Iran is arming and funding Shiite insurgents in Iraq, compounding existing frustration over Iran's nuclear ambitions. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has mostly laughed off U.N. economic sanctions aimed at his uranium enrichment program.
Now, there are indications the sanctions process may have hit a roadblock.
After only a year in office, Shinzo Abe abruptly announced his resignation as Japan's prime minister yesterday.
"Senior officials said health was a factor in the decision but Abe said a new prime minister would be better placed to resolve a deadlock over extending a controversial mission to support U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan," Reuters reports.
At 52, Abe was the youngest prime minister in Japan's recent history-- and the first one born after World War II. His year in office was beset by political scandals and turmoil; his party is set to choose a new prime minister next week.
Climate Negotiations Continue At APEC Summit Among Security Concerns
The 19 leaders participating in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney reached a preliminary agreement today on a pact designed to combat global warming.
Australian President John Howard and President Bush vowed to make climate change the focus of this year's APEC summit. However, an agreement between the widely variant nations has been hard to come by, as industrialized and developing countries have squabbled over who should foot the bill for cleaning up the planet.
But several days of negotiation have yielded a bill that all are hoping will prove acceptable. After so much build up, if Bush leaves Australia with nothing signed, it will be viewed as a big defeat.
One day after President Bush's "friendly" meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao amid growing tensions between China and the U.S., Bush found himself in an awkward exchange with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in front of reporters covering their meeting in Sydney.
CNN reports this morning that the two leaders' press conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit began on a sunny note, with Roh characterizing their talks about the six-party negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program as "positive" and "meaningful."
But the tone shifted when Roh began pressing Bush on a 54-year-old issue: the Korean War.
President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Thursday to discuss a range of contentious topics on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney, Australia. The leaders reported a "friendly atmosphere" during the bilateral talks, but Bush admitted Wednesday that "our relationship with China is complex." If anything, it has become even more so in recent months, as China has come under intense international criticism for its failure to implement promised changes ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing.
Australian President John Howard has made climate change the focus on this year's APEC summit, and on Thursday Bush and Hu expressed their shared view that global warming has the potential to affect the entire world community.
The Bush administration refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the most significant international climate change agreement to date, in part because the treaty did not hold developing countries China and India to the same standards as the U.S. and European nations. President Bush has expressed willingness in Sydney to move forward on an APEC pact that would reduce fossil fuel emissions, but only if China is ready to do its part as well. Hu told reporters that "this issue should be ... tackled through a stronger international cooperation."
The Taliban released four more South Korean hostages and is expected to release the remaining three sometime today, ending a six-week crisis. Twelve captives were released on Tuesday.
The Taliban originally kidnapped 23 Christian missionaries on July 19 as they were traveling from Kabul to the Ghazni province, a Taliban stronghold. Two male hostages were shot and killed when Taliban demands for a prisoner exchange were not met. In mid-August, two female hostages were released as a show of goodwill.
The 12 hostages freed on Tuesday were released in three separate groups in scattered locations after South Korean diplomats reached an agreement with Taliban representatives. It is reported that no money exchanged hands, but that the South Korean government reiterated previously agreed upon plans to withdraw 200 non-combat troops from Afghanistan, as well as to halt missionary work in the Muslim country.
As part of a power-sharing agreement with his primary political rival, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will step down from his position as the country's military leader. Several days of talks in London led up to the announcement.
Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto told CNN today that Gen. "Musharraf recognizes that it is very difficult to move to a transition towards democracy when there's a chief of army staff ruling the country.... I think he wants to make the right decision, so I expect he's going to take the uniform off."
Musharraf also agreed to drop the pending corruption charges against Bhutto and other government officials, a move that will allow her to re-enter the country after living as an exile in London and Dubai. Bhutto, a former prime minister, previously said that she would return to her position if Musharraf left his military post.
Over a month after the Taliban abducted a group of South Korean aid workers in central Afghanistan, the militants agreed to release the 19 remaining hostages in captivity.
The South Korean government reported today that the Taliban had agreed to let the Christian aid workers go after face-to-face talks mediated by the Red Cross in the Afghan city of Ghazni. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi confirmed the deal to the Associated Press but declined to give specifics on the date or location of the hostages' release.
Bloomberg cited a negotiator and tribal elder who told the Agence France-Presse that the South Koreans "will be freed in three or four days," and Thomson Financial reports that the hostages are expected to be transferred to Kabul.
In exchange, South Korea promised to withdraw its 200 troops stationed in Afghanistan by the end of the year -- which had already been scheduled -- and end missionary activities in the country.
Twenty-three hostages were originally captured. The group's leader was killed a few days after the July 19 kidnapping, and a second was killed in late July after the Afghan government failed to appease the kidnappers. Two female hostages were released a few weeks ago in a sign that negotiations were progressing.
Opium production in Afghanistan has reached "frightening" new levels, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime announced today. The opium business there is up 17% from last year, and now comprises 93% of the drug's worldwide output.
"No other country in the world has ever had such a large amount of farmland used for illegal activity, besides China 100 years ago," UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costatold AP.
The report did note one positive development: The drug trade in Afghanistan's northern provinces has significantly declined. The opium boom has taken place almost entirely in the troubled Helmand province in the south, where the presence of Taliban and other insurgent fighters is strongest.
Costa blamed not only insurgents in Helmand for the crisis but also the Hamid Karzai government's "benign tolerance of corruption."
See the full UNODC report here [PDF]. Reuters has a fact sheet on the Afghan poppy trade, and the New York Times reports on firefights in Helmand province over the weekend.
Survey: Foreign Policy Wonks Not So Keen On The Surge
The roller coaster ride that is the public debate over the Iraq troop surge just got a bit bumpier. In recent weeks, a growing number of military experts, former skeptics and even some high-profile Democratic lawmakers seemed to be coming around to President Bush's controversial decision to raise U.S. troop levels in certain areas of Iraq this year. And the apparent growing body of evidence showing that the surge was, in fact, helping to quell the violence there seemed to be giving hope to the American public, with opinion polls showing small bumps in confidence on the security front.
But a new survey shows the nation's top foreign policy experts singing another tune. The third Terrorism Index compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress reveals deep concerns within the expert community about the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and the larger war on terrorism thus far.
In June 2006, President Bush signed into law Congress' response to the Sago disaster in West Virginia, which claimed the lives of 12 miners. The MINER Act [PDF], Bush promised, would "enhance mine safety training... improve safety and communications technology for miners and provide more emergency supplies of breathable air along escape routes." The law was designed to provide the nation's 350,000 mine workers with as many safeguards as possible in one of the world's most dangerous industries.
Flanked by bipartisan supporters of the bill, Bush also announced he was nominating Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA. The president touted Stickler's record as one-time head of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, but did not mention that the nominee had spent more time as a coal company executive.
Thank NPR's Louisa Lim for putting a name to this phenomenon. Frantic parents who've disavowed toys made in China have reason to think twice, though: Seventy percent of the world's toys come from the Middle Empire.
Yesterday, ABC News assessed the domestic options for American parents. Expect a lot of crying this Christmas.
Off-the-record sources in the Bush administration informed two of the nation's most widely read papers that the U.S. will soon label Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Why?
There's nothing in either account in the Washington Post or New York Times that indicates the topic is highly controversial within the administration. Heated internal debates have fueled quite a few leaks to the press from individuals alarmed by one executive action or the other.
So, why leak the news when both papers report the unprecedented decision is all but a done deal? (This isn't a rhetorical question, by the way -- we're genuinely curious. Send theories.)
The Chinaphobia train grew a little more powerful today, but there are various ways to view our emerging supercompetitor to the East.
One is the What, Us Worry? approach. The repetition of product recalls and bans this year exposed a large, ugly gash in the exports machine China's become. Sure, they can turn out commodities faster and cheaper, but where's the quality control? For nations including the U.S. and Germany, which lead China in exports but not for long, this is potentially good news. Those fearing China's economic reach will soon envelop the world have good reason to suspect the communist giant can't logistically handle the task after all.
The other, darker vision of what's ahead: China, as both manufacturer and investor, is simply too wealthy and ambitious to ignore. The relationships China has developed with countries like Iran and Russia have given rise to an alternative axis of world powers that has successfully stymied the agendas of the U.S. and EU. China is rising, and no amount of crowing about its lax human rights record and alarming income gap will change that.
More than three weeks after taking 23 South Korean church volunteers hostage in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan, Taliban captors have released two female hostages in what they said was a show of goodwill. The two women, identified as Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Ji-na, were delivered to a Red Cross convoy on a deserted road this morning.
South Korean officials began talks with the militants on Friday. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said releasing the two hostages today was a gesture "for the sake of good relations between the Korean people and the Taliban," but reiterated earlier demands for the release of Taliban prisoners by Afghan and U.S. forces. The Afghan government, for its part, has taken any prisoner swap off the table.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's intervention this morning may have averted a worsening of the political crisis in Pakistan, but that nation's troubles, which in many ways are linked to the U.S.'s, are far from over.
According to Financial Times sources, it's likely Rice "underlined the negative impact of declaring an emergency and how this would affect Gen. [Pervez] Musharraf's image in the US Congress." Impatience with Pakistan's ineffectiveness at quelling the Taliban and al-Qaida insurgencies along its border is palpable in Congress, and taking a star turn in the presidential campaigns as well.
The death knell for Musharraf's rule is only getting louder, and serves as a useful reminder of President Bush's conveniently flexible definitions of freedom and democracy, two of the mainstays of his presidency.
Today marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of Bejing’s 2008 Olympic Games, an event the communist superpower hopes will draw positive attention from the international community. However, the Chinese government has faced harsh criticisms on a range of issues, from food safety to human rights abuses to complicity in the genocide in Darfur, leaving many to wonder: Is China ready to open itself up to the world?
Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the Beijing Olympic Action Plan, a series of principles and objectives for developing not only the venues for the games, but also an environment conducive to hosting delegations from across the world. One provision was that China would clean up its human rights record and expand press freedoms for domestic and international journalists before the games.
Shortly after yesterday's Republican presidential candidates debate in Iowa kicked off, this Gater found herself applauding. Was it for Mitt Romney? Tom Tancredo? Ron Paul?
None of the above. The Gate was clapping for ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, who dug out a few of those negative campaign tactics voters so despise and forced offending candidates to explain themselves.
First on the dock: Sam Brownback, a hero of pro-life conservatives who can't seem to get a leg up in the crowded race for the GOP nod. In an effort to claw upward in the polls, he's zeroed in on Romney, who's positioned himself as the only true social conservative in the upper tier of candidates. Stephanopoulos played Brownback's campaign robo-call to Iowans attacking Romney for his prior pro-choice stance.
Bush, Karzai Upbeat On Afghanistan Despite Setbacks
President Bush today got an earful of two words he hasn't heard much lately: Thank you.
That effusive gratitude came courtesy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom Bush is hosting at Camp David.
"I'm here to once again thank you and the American people for all that you've done for Afghanistan," Karzai said during a joint press conference at the presidential compound. He went on to repeatedly thank Bush and the American public "for our liberation first and then for our stability and prosperity," adding that Afghanistan has "come a long way."
Karzai went on to say that since U.S. and NATO forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, the infant and child mortality rates had greatly improved. "Afghanistan would not have 85,000 children living today had you not been there to help us," he told the president.
Still, there are signs that progress in Afghanistan may be hitting a wall.
The Taliban killed another hostage from the group of 23 South Korean Christians kidnapped in Afghanistan on July 19. The body of Shim Sung-Min was found riddled with bullets soon after the Taliban announced yesterday that the Afghan government had missed a late-afternoon deadline for their demands.
South Korean officials reacted angrily to the news. A government statement reiterated that the country "strongly condemns and urges an immediate end to these heinous acts of killing innocent people in order to press for demands that it can't meet." The kidnappers have demanded that the Afghan government release 23 Taliban prisoners in return for the hostages.
A Taliban spokesman claimed the other hostages were safe but any rescue attempt would endanger their lives.
There are conflicting reports about the location of the body. The New York Times places it in a province in central Afghanistan, the Warzu area of the Andar district. AFX News reports that it was found in the southern province of Ghazni -- the same place as the body of the first hostage, who was killed last week.
Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Habib Bank Limited of Karachi. The suit accuses the bank of offering financial services to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
"I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record," Mariane Pearl wrote in a statement. "This process allows us to delve deeper into the investigation, and to bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture and murder."
Several other defendants are named in the suit, including captured al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The bank, in which the Pakistani government holds a 49-percent stake, denies the allegations. "As an institution, we have never been involved in supporting any terrorist organisation," one official told Reuters.
Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in January 2002. He was murdered soon after, and a video released by his kidnappers showed him being beheaded. Pakistan convicted four men of his murder in July 2002.
Nuclear Inspectors Find New Leak At Japanese Plant
Twelve hours after a deadly earthquake shook northwestern Japan Monday, authorities confirmed that a nuclear power plant, now suspected to be sitting on a major fault line, had sustained significant damage. A fire blazed at the plant for two hours after a transformer was damaged, and a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Company revealed that some radioactive water leaked out of the plant. A few days later, TEPCO revised the radioactivity level upwards and confirmed that radiation particles had been detected in a plant water filter.
Today, the Kyodo News agency reported that officials from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency discovered radioactive iodine leaking from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The new leak, separate from the one revealed Tuesday, is coming from an exhaust pipe.
Japanese officials insist there is no health risk to the public, however, and nuclear inspectors are continuing to examine the plant. It could be shut down for over a year -- triggering fears about power shortages during the summer months.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is practicing restraint. Analysts were prepared for a final, decisive assault on Islamabad's Red Mosque, where a small group of militants are still entrenched and resisting surrender. The standoff at the historic mosque has stretched into its third day, but no definitive siege has come.
The mosque siege is the focal point for the escalating tension between Pakistan's military government and radical clerics trying to push the capital -- and eventually the whole country -- toward sharia, or orthodox Islamic law. The seeds of the movement were sown in 2001, when Islamic parties rejected the president's stated support for U.S. anti-terrorism operations.
Musharraf is earning praise for withholding military force, letting slide a deadline of 11 a.m. Wednesday for all students to evacuate the mosque. The government also allowed frantic parents to approach the security barriers surrounding the mosque to try to persuade their children to leave.
Tensions flared between militant students and government forces at Pakistan's Red Mosque today, resulting in clashes that have killed at least nine people and injured many more.
Students at the mosque, some of them heavily armed and wearing gas masks, fought back against police trying to erect a barbed wire fence and sandbags to surround the mosque. The police fired on the crowd with tear gas, and a gun battle ensued. A man reportedly issued a call for suicide bombers over the mosque's sound system, saying, "They have attacked our mosque, the time for sacrifice has come."
A cease-fire was declared at sundown, but students are still occupying the mosque's library. An official said the government was "considering all options" to disperse the students.
Civilian Death Toll In Afghanistan Continues To Mount
Officials announced today that 25 civilians, including nine women and three young children from one family, were killed in a NATO airstrike aimed at Taliban insurgents in a small village in southern Afghanistan last night. A NATO spokesman said the strike, which also killed 20 fighters, was in response to an insurgent attack earlier in the evening.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Smith of NATO expressed regret for the casualties but insisted that "it was insurgents who initiated this attack, and in choosing to conduct such attacks in this location and at the time, the risk to civilians was probably deliberate.”
A U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan also killed seven children on Sunday, just as human rights groups were issuing reports blaming both coalition and insurgent forces for a huge spike in civilian deaths in 2006. Afghan President Hamid Karzaidiscussed the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Kabul earlier this month.
Before the historic World War II battle, the tiny Pacific Island south of the Japanese mainland was known as Iwo To. On nautical maps, however, it was listed as Iwo Jima -- "jima" and "to" both mean "sulfur" and are represented by the same character, but they sound different.
The name became recognizable to Americans because of an Associated Press photographer's work in capturing soldiers raising a flag on the island's mountaintop. The emblematic photo cemented "Iwo Jima" in the minds of English speakers.
But the tiny population of the island (only about a thousand people lived there before the war) never accepted the name change. They recently requested that the Japanese government change it back, and the government agreed. A new map with "Iwo To" -- pronounced "ee-woh-toh" -- will be published this fall.
AP has reaction from U.S. and Japanese soldiers, many of whom aren't pleased with the change.
More than $20 million was transferred into North Korean accounts Tuesday, as the United States freed up assets it had previously frozen because of fraud allegations. The transfer was part of a newly struck agreement under which Pyongyang would shut down its lone nuclear reactor.
A team of IAEA inspectors is set to visit the reactor site next week. For the second day in a row, the United States pushed for a fast pace on the negotiations.
"I think this is the time when everyone needs to kind of quicken the pace and work very hard" toward disarmament, said U.S. envoy Christopher Hill, speaking to reporters in Tokyo. He added that he hoped the shutdown could take place "within weeks, not months."
Yesterday, North Korea test-fired a missile in the direction of Japanese waters, but officials said the launch was just routine and wouldn't have an impact on new negotiations.
North Korea took half a step back today, after its one step forward this past weekend.
A Saturday announcement from North Korean officials that the International Atomic Energy Agency would be invited to supervise the shutdown of a nuclear reactor prompted hope in the international community that quick progress could be made. The United States jumped on the announcement, urging U.N. inspectors to shut the reactor down as part of their first visit next week.
But new reports came in today of North Korea firing a short-range missile toward waters near Japan. It's the second launch of its kind in two weeks.
Pakistan and Iran are protesting vociferously after the announcement over the weekend that controversial novelist Salman Rushdie was to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
The lower house of the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution today condemning the knighthood, calling it an insult to Muslims worldwide. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, who introduced the resolution, referred to Rushdie as a "blasphemer." Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq was initially quoted as saying the knighthood would justify terror attacks against the West, but he later insisted his statement had been mistranslated.
In the city of Multan, protesters took to the streets and burned effigies of both Rushdie and the queen.
Twenty-five people were killed and 32 were wounded today at popular restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan. Police suspect the attack was a suicide bombing.
Customers were eating lunch at Marhaba restaurant when the explosion occurred. It is Pakistan's second attack in three weeks; riots also broke out in Karachi a few days ago.
Bloomberg News reports that the government blames the recent violence on rivalries between Sunni and Shiites, as well as Islamic militants protesting President Pervez Musharraf's support for U.S. actions against terrorism.
Eric Damfreville, a French aid worker kidnapped by Taliban fighters over a month ago, was released today to tribal elders in Kandahar. The Red Cross confirmed Damfreville's release and said its workers have him in their custody.
The Taliban credited the action to recent comments from France's new president-elect, Nicolas Sarkozy, who said on April 26 -- before his election -- that he would consider pulling his country's troops out of the NATO force in Afghanistan and that France could not remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters that the Taliban's leadership council "decided to free him for the newly elected French president" who "had said in his utterances that France will deliberate over withdrawing French troops from Afghanistan."
The top U.S. commander in Iraq suggested that a "redoubling of our education efforts" in the military was called for following a survey of service members that found many would not report the killing or wounding of an innocent civilian by someone in their unit.
“We can never sink to the level of the enemy,” Gen. David Petraeus said via video link at the Associated Press' annual meeting. "We have done that at times in theater and it has cost us enormously."
It's a little odd that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waited eight months after assuming office to pay a visit to the United States, Japan's staunchest ally and military guardian. But this week's meeting between Abe and George W. Bush underscores a truth that might be easy to forget, particularly after last night: Bush hasn't left office yet.
Speaking to reporters today after a series of meetings, the two leaders, both deeply unpopular at home, reaffirmed their commitment to working out the North Korean nuclear crisis and seeing Iraq through to stability.
"We feel proud as an ally of the United States," Abe said, speaking in Japanese.
Testifying before Congress today, Kevin Tillman, the brother Pat Tillman, and Mary Tillman, their mother, accused the U.S. government of engaging in "deliberate and calculated lies" in covering up what they called the intentional killing of the late Army Ranger by his fellow soldiers.
Pat Tillman, a former player for the Arizona Cardinals, famously gave up a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to sign up with the Army after the 9/11 attacks. After he was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, he was hailed by the government and media as the epitome of the all-American hero. Later, it was revealed that Tillman's fellow soldiers and superiors knew he had actually been killled in a friendly-fire incident but allowed the hero "narrative," as his brother put it, to come out in the media. Moreover, Tillman's family wasn't told the truth for weeks.
The North Korean delegation to the six-party talks over its country's nuclear program has walked away from the latest round of negotiations. The sticking point this time around was money.
The Bush administration arranged for about $25 million in cash frozen in a Macau bank to be released to Pyongyang. But South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that "the money transfer was being delayed because Macau authorities were having difficulty confirming the ownership of 50 North Korean accounts, most of which are under the names of the heads of Zokwang Trading Co., a North Korean-run firm in Macau that U.S. officials have long suspected of being involved in money-laundering," according to AP.
The six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula have been extended to tomorrow, after hitting a roadblock on the matter of cash, the Washington Post reports.
Incidence of the disease remains low, but the New York Times reports that some experts say Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to an AIDS epidemic because of its proximity to countries like India and Russia, where the disease is spreading fast, the growing number of intravenous heroin/opium users, the pending return of more than 2 million refugees and weak health care infrastructure.
Japan's nationalist prime minister, Shinzo Abe, announced today that lawmakers from the ruling party would conduct an investigation into the Japanese military's use of sex camps in World War II, AP reports. Japan has been taking heat from its neighbors and other nations, including several American lawmakers, over remarks in which Abe denied what is considered by most historians as fact: the mass kidnapping, enslavement and rape of foreign girls and women during the war.
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The Financial Times is reporting that the North Korean government has invited Eric Clapton to perform. The invitation comes on the heels of a historic visit by the New York Philharmonic to the Hermit Kingdom.
Canada's Conservative government proposed a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 2011 at the open of parliamentary debate on the future of the Canadian mission there.
Pervez Musharraf, who seized power illegally and whose unpopularity now prompts rioting in Pakistan's streets, isn't going anywhere.
That is a question the Pentagon and Washington have been asking since late 2003, when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld 
Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., has been charged with passing on classified information he obtained as a Pentagon employee to two Chinese spies.
After being called in 
"It's just the rationale of being able to get outside of Kabul and see one of the areas that's been very active," Rice said before touching down, according to 
If 2007 seemed like a bad year for democracy, that's because it was, according to new data from Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization that monitors and promotes freedom around the world. The group recently released its report on 2007, citing a "notable setback for global freedom" for the second consecutive year.
UPDATED.
In case you missed it, and there's pretty much no chance you have, the Iowa caucuses are tomorrow, Jan. 3, more than eight months (!) before the first party nominating convention will be held. The ground in both fields has shifted dramatically this month alone, which indicates that what the tiny percentage of Iowans who caucus tomorrow have to say will probably not hold.
UPDATED.
Flanked by the vice president and the rest of his Cabinet-level officials, President Bush cheerfully reminded Congress of the mountain of legislative work they must tackle before departing for the holidays.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill reportedly 
Thanks to the 
"It is over with Musharraf," she told 
"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.
For 
The latest protests in Myanmar and the ensuing 
"That year we're back, it's just not good enough," an Army captain told Mullen during a stop on a two-day tour of bases. 
Seeking to head off a fight that hasn't yet begun, President Bush warned Democratic lawmakers not to resist new emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as he tacked on $46 billion to the $150.5 billion the White House had already requested for the new fiscal year.
New quarterly earnings reports show that GM remains the world's No. 1 automaker, following a scare earlier this year when Japanese automaker Toyota briefly overtook the American stalwart in sales. 
UPDATED.
In May, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., called the proposal one of his bill's most significant provisions, and stressed that the inspector general in Afghanistan would "ensure even greater accountability" of efforts there. But in a package of appeals on the authorization measure sent last week to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, DOD officials said they viewed the appointment of an Afghanistan investigator as a redundant move that would deplete the Pentagon's inspector general, who already is tasked with oversight there, of necessary personnel. 
Once again, the Bush administration is reminded that while it would be preferable to have the world at its back as it attempts to stabilize the Middle East, it simply does not. Iran and Russia have 
Press secretary Dana Perino confirmed that the president will meet once again with the Dalai Lama. Bush has met with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader 
Now that Anbar province is relatively calm, the Marines sent there to wrest back control from Sunni insurgents seem mostly to be serving in an overwatch and training capacity, a role better suited for the Army. The LAT obtained an e-mail from one officer there, Lt. Col. Beau Higgins, noting the dramatic drop in attacks on U.S. forces. Higgins concluded, "It's critical that we stay here to continue to assist... but our role as fire fighters in the zone moving from hot spot to hot spot has truly gone."
China is one of Myanmar's most generous benefactors, and in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, warned members not to interfere in the junta's crackdown on an army of monks.
It's a banner week for Korean diplomacy. The yearslong six-party negotiations have 
If the Bush administration is frustrated at Seoul's seeming dearth of anger toward its northern neighbor, this is why: The north-south divide between the Koreans, one of the world's most homogenous people, is to this day a gaping hole in the national psyche. Some South Koreans are haunted by long-lost relatives who wound up stuck on the wrong side of the 38th parallel. Others, particularly those too young to remember the war, are sick of what they increasingly view as American paternalism and want the Koreas to sort out their affairs for themselves.
"Blackwater personnel supporting our overseas missions are all military and law enforcement veterans, many of whom have recent military deployments," said Prince, who founded Blackwater and is himself a former Navy SEAL. "No individual ever protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured. There is no better evidence of the skill and dedication of these men."
By granting 
Placing the spotlight on the U.N.'s 
After the abrupt resignation of Shinzo Abe earlier this month, Japan's Parliament yesterday confirmed the new leader of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, Yasuo Fukuda, as the country's prime minister.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is now 
But the announcement from Musharraf's lawyer, Sharfuddin Pirzada, has already drawn sharp criticism from Musharraf's opposition in Parliament. Bhutto "called the proposal unconstitutional and undemocratic, and threatened a mass resignation of its MPs unless the government took more steps towards national reconciliation," the 
After only a year in office, Shinzo Abe abruptly announced his resignation as Japan's prime minister yesterday. 
Australian President John Howard has made climate change the focus on this year's APEC summit, and on Thursday Bush and Hu expressed their shared view that global warming has the potential to affect the entire world community. 
Flanked by bipartisan supporters of the bill, Bush 
There's nothing in either account in the 
The other, darker vision of what's ahead: China, as both manufacturer and investor, is simply too wealthy and ambitious to ignore. The relationships China has developed with countries like Iran and Russia have given rise to an alternative axis of world powers that has successfully stymied the agendas of the U.S. and EU. China is rising, and no amount of crowing about its lax human rights record and alarming income gap will change that.
According to 
Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the 
"I'm here to once again thank you and the American people for all that you've done for Afghanistan," Karzai said during a joint press conference at the presidential compound. He went on to repeatedly thank Bush and the American public "for our liberation first and then for our stability and prosperity," adding that Afghanistan has "come a long way."
"I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record," Mariane Pearl wrote in a statement. "This process allows us to delve deeper into the investigation, and to bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture and murder."
The mosque siege is the focal point for the escalating tension between Pakistan's military government and radical clerics trying to push the capital -- and eventually the whole country -- toward sharia, or orthodox Islamic law. The seeds of the movement were sown in 2001, when Islamic parties 
