Just Foreign Policy News
May 9, 2011
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I) Actions and Featured Articles
*Action: Urge your Rep. to co-sponsor the McGovern-Jones bill
Reps. McGovern and Jones have introduced a bill – HR 1735, the "Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act" – requiring the President to: present Congress with a plan for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan; report quarterly on the implementation of the plan for military withdrawal and the costs of continuing the war; report on the savings to taxpayers of ending the war in 6 months vs. continuing it for 5 years.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/hr1735
Background: After OBL: McGovern/Jones Push for Real Withdrawal Plan
The bipartisan legislation is unique in that it carries with it the prospect of a roll call, in which every member of the House will have to choose a side: open-ended war in Afghanistan, or a clear plan for military withdrawal?
http://www.truthout.org/after-obl-mcgovernjones-push-real-withdrawal-plan/1304740859
This American Life: a conversation of Islamism & secularism in the new Egypt
The public radio program "This American Life" has a powerful piece this week by Nancy Updike about the meetings and conversations going on in Egypt about democracy.
"In Cairo, the conversation is not about bin Laden. It’s about something completely different. From the moment I got here I was hearing the same thing over and over. ‘I’d love to talk, but I’m on my way to a meeting.’ Or, ‘I’m in a meeting, can I call you back?’ These weren’t work meetings. They were the meetings of 82 million people deciding what their country will be. If Egypt had a national sound right now, it would be the sound of chairs scraping into a circle. Or maybe the sound right after that … arguing."
The climax of the piece is a meeting between secular intellectuals and leaders of the Islamist Gamaa Islamiya – which formerly targeted secular intellectuals, but has since renounced violence – about Islamism and secularism in the new Egypt.
Starts at 14:15, for about 10 minutes.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/434/this-week-0
Democracy For America Launches Afghanistan Withdrawal Campaign
DFA backs the Boxer bill establishing a timetable for withdrawal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/09/howard-dean-democracy-america-afghanistan-withdrawal_n_859320.html
Quinnipiac University Poll. May 2-3, 2011: "Do you think the U.S. is doing the right thing by using military force in Libya now, or should the U.S. not be involved in Libya now?"
Doing the
right thing Should not
be involved Unsure
% % %
5/2-3/11 39 48 12
4/26 – 5/1/11 37 53 10
3/22-28/11 41 47 12
http://www.pollingreport.com/libya.htm
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II) Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) Organizers said Monday an international aid flotilla will depart for Gaza in the third week of June, just over a year after a similar flotilla was raided by Israeli forces, leaving nine people dead on a Turkish boat, AP reports. The unfolding plans for the new flotilla set up a possible confrontation with Israel, which has vowed to stop any attempt to breach its sea blockade of Gaza, AP says.
IHH, an Islamic aid group in Turkey, has said it expects the convoy to be at least twice as big as the one that attempted to reach Gaza last year. This year’s convoy includes the Mavi Marmara, the same Turkish vessel operated by IHH on which the activists died in the raid, and an American vessel named "The Audacity of Hope," the title of a book by President Obama.
2) In Shiite villages across Bahrain, the Sunni Muslim government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on Shiite dissidents, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in its expansiveness, McClatchy reports. The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the destruction.
3) Japan and the US are to abandon a deadline of 2014 for relocating a US military base on Okinawa, AFP reports, citing Yomiuri Shimbun. The two governments concluded it would be extremely difficult to meet the deadline.
4) Israel’s former Mossad chief Meir Dagan has said that a strike on Iran’s nuclear installations would be "a stupid idea," adding that military action might not achieve all of its goals and could lead to a long war, the New York Times reports. Analysts said such a public stand by a respected figure like Dagan would complicate any plans the government might have to attack Iran.
Israel/Palestine
5) Palestinian President Abbas beseeched a group of visiting American Jews Sunday to urge Congress not to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid as a result of his recent unity agreement with Hamas, the New York Times reports. "We need your help with Congress," Abbas told the visitors from J Street. "The new government will comply with my policies, and I am against terror and violence."
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, said he would "bring back to Washington the message that this may be the last opportunity with a Palestinian leader willing to say yes to peace with Israel." He said he would urge the White House to offer a plan to create a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with agreed-upon land swaps and a request of Israel to pause West Bank settlement building for two to three months. Those are the two conditions under which Abbas told the group that he would return to peace negotiations with Israel.
6) Israeli Defense Minister Barak believes that a UN declaration of Palestinian statehood without a prior Israeli political initiative will paint Israel into a corner previously occupied by South Africa during the apartheid era, Haaretz reports. "There are people in the European Council that deal with export and import, and they are capable, without any government decision, of inflicting significant damage on the Israeli economy," Barak said, implying that the BDS movement would grow significantly in political influence and economic impact in the wake of a UN decision.
Egypt
7) The Obama administration has decided to provide about $1 billion in debt relief for Egypt, the Washington Post reports. Economic growth in Egypt and Tunisia is expected to plunge as much as four percentage points from last year, according to the IMF; tourism has collapsed. The squeeze comes as those nations’ interim governments are trying to create jobs to satisfy young protesters’ demands. Egyptian ministers visited Washington last month to seek forgiveness of the country’s $3.6 billion debt. Egypt pays about $350 million a year to service the debt, which it incurred buying US farm products under Mubarak.
Libya
8) Obama assured Congress action in Libya would take "days not weeks," and stood steadfastly against regime change, writes Gary Younge in the Guardian. Now here we are with a conflict that was supposed to last days and was not about regime change that has gone on for six weeks and won’t end until the regime has changed. War should not be the default position, Younge writes, because even when there are no good answers, some answers are worse than others.
Egypt
9) Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt said support for al-Qaeda in Egypt would continue to decline, CentralAsiaOnline reports. "Political participation will act as a strong barrier against extremism," one Brotherhood leader said.
Mexico
10) More than 65,000 people marched in Mexico demanding an end to the country’s drug war, CNN reports. Protesters demanded "an end to the strategy of war," and said authorities should budget as much money for education and youth programs as they do for security. Mexican authorities estimate that more than 34,600 people have been killed in drug-related violence since 2006.
Ecuador
11) A slow-moving vote count gave Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa a narrow lead Monday in some of the questions covered in a referendum last weekend, Reuters reports. The narrow margin in the count may reflect opposition strength in urban areas counted first, Reuters says; pre-election polls had suggested a wider margin. The National Electoral Court has 10 days to count the votes.
Contents:
U.S./Top News
1) Organizers of Gaza flotilla say they will sail in June, more than 1 year after deadly raid
Associated Press, Monday, May 9, 2:47 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/organizers-of-gaza-flotilla-say-they-will-sail-in-june-more-than-a-year-after-deadly-raid/2011/05/09/AFAAlNaG_story.html
Istanbul – An aid flotilla will depart for the Gaza Strip in the third week of June, just over a year after a similar flotilla was raided by Israeli forces, leaving nine people dead on a Turkish boat, activists said Monday.
A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups, most of them based in Europe, announced the date in a statement after a meeting in Paris. The unfolding plans for the new flotilla set up a possible confrontation with Israel, which has vowed to stop any attempt to breach its sea blockade of Gaza.
Activists had originally planned to depart on May 31, the anniversary of the botched Israeli commando raid. The delayed departure appears at least partly related to Turkey’s plans for parliamentary elections on June 12. Turkish activists, who are in contact with the government but say they operate independently, had said they wanted to leave after the vote for fear any controversy could disrupt the election debate.
Turkish officials, who have stepped up criticism of Israel since the three-week war in Gaza that ended in early 2009, have indicated that the Turkish activists are free to sail from home waters.
The "Freedom Flotilla" coalition said Marseille, France, was one of various European departure points for the convoy, and that it welcomed "the recent addition" of a Swiss-German boat. It did not say how many boats were participating, but IHH, an Islamic aid group in Turkey, has said it expects the convoy to be at least twice as big as the one that attempted to reach Gaza last year.
Six ships set sail last year. This year’s convoy includes the Mavi Marmara, the same Turkish vessel operated by IHH on which the activists died in the raid, and an American vessel named "The Audacity of Hope," the title of a book by President Obama.
The coalition said organizers will head to Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday to seek the support of European parliamentarians.
Eight Turks and one Turkish-American died in the raid last year. Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded. Each side accused the other of starting the violence. The incident drew world attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza and plunged ties between former allies Israel and Turkey to a new low.
Israel eased its land blockade of Gaza amid an international uproar over the raid. But it says its blockade policy prevents weapons from reaching Iran-backed Hamas militants who violently seized control of the territory in 2007.
Israeli military officials have confirmed that preparations are under way to stop any new flotilla while avoiding casualties, and that they would use different tactics this time around.
2) While Bahrain Demolishes Mosques, US Stays Silent
Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers, Sun, May. 08, 2011
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/08/113839/while-bahrain-demolishes-mosques.html
Manama, Bahrain – In the ancient Bahraini village of Aali, where some graves date to 2000 B.C., the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque had stood for more than 400 years – one of the handsomest Shiite Muslim mosques in this small island nation in the Persian Gulf.
Today, only bulldozer tracks remain.
In Nwaidrat, where anti-government protests began Feb. 14, the Mo’men mosque had long been a center for the town’s Shiite population – photos show it as a handsome, square building neatly painted in ochre, with white and green trim, and a short portico in dark gray forming the main entrance.
Today, only the portico remains.
"When I was a child, I used to go and pray with my grandfather," said a 52-year-old local resident, who asked to be called only "Abu Hadi. "The area used to be totally green, with tiers of sweet water wells."
"Why did they destroy this mosque?" Abu Hadi wailed. "Muslims have prayed there for decades."
In Shiite villages across this island kingdom of 1.2 million, the Sunni Muslim government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on Shiite dissidents, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in its expansiveness.
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers.
The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the destruction.
Bahrain – and its patron, Saudi Arabia – are longtime U.S. allies, and Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Members of the Shiite opposition assembled a list of 27 mosques and other religious structures demolished or damaged in the crackdown. A tour by McClatchy of several townships suggests the number of buildings destroyed is far greater.
The demolitions are carried out daily, Shiite leaders say, with work crews often arriving in the dead of night, accompanied by police and military escorts. In many cases, the workers have hauled away the rubble, leaving no trace, before townspeople awake.
Bahrain’s minister of justice and Islamic affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa, defended the demolitions in an interview, claiming that any mosque demolished had been built illegally, recently, and without permission. "These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings," he said.
That claim, however, is easily challenged. In Aali, for example, the government rerouted a planned highway some years back so as to preserve the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque, residents say.
McClatchy visited three other sites where "before" photos of the destroyed mosques showed they were well maintained, decades-old structures.
Some sites had a wistful air. At the Sheikh Aabed Mosque in the village of Sitra, once a ramshackle building that residents said was more than a century old, prayer rugs and other religious paraphernalia covered the ground.
On Wednesday, the State Department told McClatchy that it’s "concerned by the destruction of religious sites." The statement noted that the Bahraini government had international obligations to preserve the common cultural heritage.
In private, U.S. officials are harsher. One, who’s not in Bahrain, said that by bulldozing Shiite mosques and persecuting the political opposition, the government was treating its people like a "captive population."
Another U.S. official visiting the area described the Sunni leadership as "vindictive" and indicated the Obama administration was deeply worried about Bahrain’s rapid downward spiral. Both officials asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Shiites have long complained of bias and discrimination here, despite massively outnumbering the entrenched Khalifa dynasty, whose prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman al Khalifa, 75, has held the office for the past 40 years – a current world record.
In mid-March, the government, after a month of protests, abandoned dialogue with moderate Shiites and Sunnis and invited Saudi Arabia to dispatch some 1,500 troops to help quell the unrest. The government imposed a state of emergency and began a crackdown on dissent. Among the first government acts after Saudi troops arrived was the destruction of the iconic Pearl Square, the traffic circle where demonstrators had camped out for weeks.
The government even recalled the half-dinar coins that featured the roundabout.
Most ominous is that hate speech of the sort that preceded the 1994 Rwandan genocide is now allowed in public. The pro-government English language Gulf Daily News last Sunday gave prominence to a reader’s letter that compared Shiites to "termites" that should be exterminated.
"The moral is: to get rid of the white ants so they don’t come back . . . " said the letter, signed only, "Sana P S."
Bahrain television has carried the canard that the Shiite sect allows its followers to lie, implying that what they say can’t be trusted.
The crackdown also threatens to turn what had been an internal conflict into an international one.
Shiite led-Iran, which lies across the Gulf, is actively vying for influence in this predominantly Shiite state and has condemned the organized destruction of Shiite culture. The upheaval also has stirred passions in Shiite-ruled Iraq.
But Arab language television channels, including Al Jazeera, which is owned by the emir of Qatar, and Al Arabiya, which is Saudi owned, have been mostly silent about the wanton destruction.
[…]
3) Japan, US ‘to drop deadline for moving Okinawa base’
AFP, Sat May 7, 8:24 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110507/wl_asia_afp/japanusmilitarypoliticsokinawa_20110507122433
Tokyo – Japan and the United States are to abandon a deadline of 2014 for relocating a US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, a report said Saturday. The two governments concluded it would be extremely difficult to meet the deadline, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said, citing an unnamed Japanese government source.
Tokyo and Washington have squabbled since 2009 over the fate of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on the southern island, where locals have long complained of aircraft noise and the risk of accidents. The dispute helped to bring down a former prime minister who mused openly about moving the base off the island then backtracked to appease Washington, which says the base has crucial strategic value.
Current Prime Minister Naoto Kan has promised to relocate the base by 2014, as originally agreed with Washington in a 2006 pact, from a crowded urban area to a quieter rural part of Okinawa, despite strong local opposition.
The Yomiuri Shimbun said that Kan approved the abandonment of the deadline after meeting Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano on April 28. Tokyo and Washington will make a formal decision to give up the deadline during a "two-plus-two" meeting of their foreign and defence ministers to be held soon, it said.
4) Israeli Strike on Iran Would Be ‘Stupid,’ Ex-Spy Chief Says
Isabel Kershner, New York Times, May 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/world/middleeast/09israel.html
Jerusalem – Israel’s former intelligence chief has said that a strike on Iran’s nuclear installations would be "a stupid idea," adding that military action might not achieve all of its goals and could lead to a long war.
The intelligence official, Meir Dagan, who retired in early January after eight years as director of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, made the remarks at a conference here on Friday. His assessment contradicts the policy of the country’s political leaders, who have long argued in favor of a credible military option against Iran’s nuclear program.
[…] Independent analysts said that such a public stand by a respected figure like Mr. Dagan would complicate any plans the government might have to attack Iran.
Mr. Dagan, speaking for the first time in public since his retirement, was addressing a conference of senior public servants. His remarks were confirmed by a person who attended the conference, which was held at Belgium House, the faculty club of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Mr. Dagan is known to have long opposed military action against Iran, but he had never said so publicly. Mr. Dagan, who also said Friday that Iran must not be allowed to produce nuclear weapons, has advocated covert means of setting back the Iranian program.
[…] It is not the first time that Mr. Dagan has courted controversy where Iran is concerned since he left office. In January, he told a group of Israeli reporters that he believed Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon before 2015, a year or more later than other Israeli estimates.
His revised assessment was based on obstacles that Iran has faced, including technical difficulties and covert actions against its nuclear program by intelligence agencies, according to Israeli news reports.
Some Israeli officials reacted furiously, worried that Mr. Dagan’s comments could reduce pressure on Iran.
[…]
Israel/Palestine
5) Abbas Urges Continuation of U.S. Aid Despite Agreement With Hamas
Ethan Bronner, New York Times, May 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/world/middleeast/09palestinians.html
Ramallah, West Bank – President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority beseeched a group of visiting American Jews on Sunday to urge Congress not to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid as a result of his recent unity agreement with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.
"We need your help with Congress," Mr. Abbas told the visitors from J Street, a group that calls itself pro-Israel and pro-peace. "I hear rumors that Hamas will be in the West Bank, or that it will share authority here. This will not happen. The new government will comply with my policies, and I am against terror and violence."
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, said he would "bring back to Washington the message that this may be the last opportunity with a Palestinian leader willing to say yes to peace with Israel." He said he would urge the White House to offer a plan to create a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with agreed-upon land swaps and a request of Israel to pause West Bank settlement building for two to three months.
Those are the two conditions under which Mr. Abbas told the group that he would return to peace negotiations with Israel. "This is our first choice, negotiations," Mr. Abbas told the group at a lunch he hosted at his West Bank headquarters. "If we were to start now in negotiations, we would not pay any attention to September," he added, in reference to the Palestinians’ plan to ask the United Nations to recognize their state this year at its General Assembly meeting if no progress is made by then.
[…] Ten days ago, Mr. Abbas’s Fatah party, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas made a surprise announcement that after four years of bitter division, they had agreed to establish a unity government of technocrats aimed at holding elections within a year and rebuilding Gaza. Mr. Abbas said that without national unity, a deal with Israel would produce little.
But because Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the United States, some senators and representatives have expressed deep misgivings. On Friday, 27 senators sent Mr. Obama a letter urging him to halt aid to a unified Fatah-Hamas government unless all of its members renounce violence and recognize Israel. The administration has said it is waiting for more details before judging the new arrangement.
Mr. Abbas reiterated that the members of the new unity government would be affiliated with neither Fatah nor Hamas, that he would continue to set policy and that nothing in the West Bank would change regarding security and cooperation with Israel in the coming year leading up to the election. Israel has denounced the deal as bringing terrorists into the Palestinian government, and for that reason it has delayed handing over Palestinian tax receipts to the Palestinian Authority.
[…]
6) Ehud Barak acknowledges the impact of BDS
Joseph Dana, +972, Friday, May 6 2011
[Barak interview excerpt from Haaretz translated from Hebrew by Ofer Neiman] http://972mag.com/ehud-barak-acknowledges-the-impact-of-bds/
In an interview yesterday with the liberal daily Haaretz (Hebrew), Defense Minister Ehud Barak acknowledged the impact of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement on Israel and the unsustainable nature of Israeli Occupation.
<Barak believes that a UN declaration of Palestinian statehood without a prior Israeli political initiative will paint Israel into a corner previously occupied by South Africa during the apartheid era. His admonition is pungent and scathing: "There are elements in the world, quite powerful, in various countries, including friendly ones, in trade unions, [among] academics, consumers, green political parties", he warns, "and this impetus has culminated in a broad movement called BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) which is what was done with South Africa. This will not happen overnight. The day after September, people will say: ‘so now October has come, the sky hasn’t fallen, nothing has happened’. This is not true .
Q. Will this happen in December or January?
It will start coming at us like a glacier, from all corners. There are people in the European Council that deal with export and import, and they are capable, without any government decision, of inflicting significant damage on the Israeli economy. We will see this taking place in academia, we will see this taking place in dockworker unions, consumer groups, and this will seep into governments. This is unwise [apparently referring to Israeli policies which will bring about this outcome]. To me, this uncontrollable process looks more dangerous than what the [Israeli] public perceives at the moment. We have been ruling over another nation for 43 years, this is unprecedented. Perhaps China can allow itself to control some small nations in various corners of its empire, and perhaps Russia can [failing to discern that Tibetans and Chechens have citizenship]. We cannot, there is no chance that the world will accept this. The far right is exposing Israel to dangerous and unwarranted isolation.>
[…]
Egypt
7) Administration planning $1 billion debt relief for Egypt
Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, May 7
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/administration-planning-1-billion-debt-relief-for-egypt/2011/04/28/AF1m4FLG_story.html
The Obama administration has decided to provide about $1 billion in debt relief for Egypt, a senior official said Saturday, in the boldest U.S. effort yet to shore up a key Middle East ally as it attempts a democratic transition.
The aid would be part of a major economic aid package that also includes trade and investment incentives, officials said. It is intended to help stabilize Egypt after demonstrations forced out longtime President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11.
While the Obama administration has been preoccupied of late with the war in Libya and protests in Syria, it sees Egypt as even more critical for U.S. interests. Washington has long regarded Egypt as a moderating influence in the Middle East. With one-quarter of the world’s Arabs, Egypt could emerge as a democratic model in the region – or, if its revolution fails, a locus of instability or extremism.
Economic assistance for Egypt and Tunisia is "fundamental to our capacity to support their democratic transitions," a senior State Department official said on the condition of anonymity. He said that officials were in the midst of "intense policy formulation" but that the economic package wasn’t finished. Parts of it will need congressional approval.
The largely peaceful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have battered the countries’ economies. Tourism has collapsed; interest rates have jumped. Economic growth in the two countries is expected to plunge as much as four percentage points from last year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The squeeze comes as those nations’ interim governments are trying to create jobs to satisfy the young protesters’ demands.
"We are at a crossroads here," said an Egyptian official who has been involved in talks with Washington, and who spoke recently on the condition of anonymity. "If we go wrong, it will be too late [for the United States] to come later and say, ‘We’ll start helping now.’ "
The Egyptian finance and planning ministers visited Washington last month to seek forgiveness of the country’s $3.6 billion debt. Egypt pays about $350 million a year to service the debt, which it incurred buying American farm products.
In recent weeks, Egyptian officials have been frustrated by the lengthy U.S. interagency process to consider economic aid, and a cool reaction from a Congress ensnared in a budget-cutting battle. On Saturday, Ambassador Sameh Shoukry said through an aide that Egypt appreciated the U.S. efforts but would not react to news of the debt relief until his government was formally notified.
Robert Hormats, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs, is in Egypt to discuss what form the relief would take: outright debt forgiveness, loan guarantees or debt swaps, which would convert the loan into aid programs, the senior administration official said.
The administration has had "quiet consultations" with lawmakers who would need to approve the assistance, and is trying "to anticipate the questions and concerns in this budget climate," said the senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because the assistance has not been announced.
[…] "So far the amount of money contributed [by the West] has been peanuts," said one Western diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We need a big scheme for helping Egypt and Tunisia. If things don’t turn out the right way in the region, the results could be very bad for all of us."
A delegation from the Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce also traveled to Washington in March to discuss aid for their country’s transition. Tunisia’s finance minister, Jalloul Ayed, followed recently. "I found a lot of enthusiasm and readiness to help," Ayed said in an interview. Nonetheless, "that particular help has not yet been very clearly defined in financial terms."
Libya
8) There are no good answers in Libya. But war should never be the default
Libya shows again that successful regime change can be brought about only by ordinary people, not by foreign bombs
Gary Younge, Guardian, Sunday 8 May 2011 22.00 BST http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/08/no-good-answers-libya-war-never
[…] The trouble is that at each moment the goals of the intervention not only changes, but also contradict any justification given earlier. Shortly before the no-fly zone was imposed, Obama assured a bipartisan group in Congress that the action would take "days not weeks". More than a week after the bombing had started he told the nation the aim was limited to purely humanitarian ends. "I refuse to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action," he said.
He also stood steadfastly against regime change. "If we tried to overthrow Gaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter." Two weeks later, in a joint letter signed by David Cameron and Sarkozy, he brazenly conceded it is about regime change. "It is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power."
Assassination is now, apparently, the foreign policy du jour. On Sunday, the British defence secretary, Liam Fox, insisted: "Nato does not target individuals." Instead they go for families. Just over a week ago, they killed Gaddafi’s son and three of his grandchildren.
So here we are with a conflict that was supposed to last days and was not about regime change that has gone on for six weeks and won’t end until the regime has changed. Even as the west prepares to negotiate a truce with the Taliban, Gaddafi’s offer of a ceasefire has been rejected summarily. In the name of humanitarianism, the war must be prolonged.
[…] One of the more pathetic aspects of this misadventure is how it has exposed the discrepancy between their imperialist rhetoric and postcolonial decline. Obama hoped the US would play a "supporting role"; in reality it is centre stage. Indeed the show could not go on without Washington. However, even at this early stage, American domestic support for this war is fragile. Most believe the US should not be involved and that it does not have a clear strategy – and, in any case, they are not that interested. This is not a question of the ends justifying the means. As both Iraq and Afghanistan have shown, the west does not have the military or political means to achieve its ends even on its own terms.
[…] Sometimes there are no good answers. But that doesn’t mean war should be the default position. Because some answers are worse than others. And this is shaping up to be predictably bad.
As a US senator said in New Hampshire when asked whether he would leave troops in Iraq to prevent genocide: "Well, look, if that’s the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of US forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now, where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife, which we haven’t done. We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan which we haven’t done."
His name? Barack Obama.
Egypt
9) Egyptian Islamists denounce bin Laden’s jihadist ideas
Waleed Abu al-Khair, CentralAsiaOnline.com, 2011-05-05
http://centralasiaonline.com/cocoon/caii/xhtml/en_GB/features/caii/features/main/2011/05/05/feature-02
The death of al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, focused the attention on Egyptian Islamists, who are poised to play a bigger political role in post-revolution Egypt.
Following the news of bin Laden’s death in Pakistan, many Egyptian experts and Islamist leaders reiterated their rejection of al-Qaeda’s extremist ideas and the tactics of inflicting mass casualties. These tactics distort the image of Arabs and Muslims, they said.
Essam al-Arian, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, stressed that Islam is not a religion of violence and terror. He hoped the death of bin Laden would "turn the page of history that linked Islam with terrorism" and called for a more in-depth and neutral analysis of the ideas of Islamic political parties.
"The support al-Qaeda had in Egypt and some other Arab countries will weaken. Young Arabs, who provide the fuel for the revolutions, have become more aware and open to political ideas and democratic practices," he told Al-Shorfa.
Al-Arian noted that Islam "does not sanction murder and the destruction of people’s property unjustly. Al-Qaeda advocates these ideas in contrast with other Islamist groups. Al-Qaeda and its followers distorted religious teachings in the interests of their political parties and plans."
"Terrorism and democracy are incompatible, and those who demand democracy cannot and will not engage in the terrorist acts that al-Qaeda promotes," he said.
Al-Arian ruled out the possibility of a backlash in Egypt in response to Bin Laden’s death, pointing out that some groups may launch revenge attacks, but only in areas that are subject to al-Qaeda’s influence. "This is not the case in Egypt because al-Qaeda is weak on the Egyptian street," he said.
[…] Dr. Mahmoud Abdul Rasul, a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, said while the influence of al-Qaeda and extremist thinking grew in the past in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, it will decline significantly in the coming period.
He cited the political and social changes that occurred after the revolutions in several Arab countries as evidence. "This will greatly weaken the ability of extremist groups that seek to brainwash young Arabs and Muslims," Abdul Rasul said. "Now, a lot of ideas are presented publicly, including leftist and moderate Islamist ideas."
"Political participation will act as a strong barrier against extremism," he said.
Abdul Rasul pointed out that what is happening in the Arab world confirms that Muslim youth, even if they sympathised at one time with al-Qaeda in the absence of alternatives, reject Bin Laden’s teachings and extremist ideas.
He said extremist ideas did not find a place during the revolution or afterward. "This is the best evidence that Islam is a religion that condemns and rejects violence, especially since several Islamist parties in Egypt emerged publicly, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Group, and the Salafists, and we did not hear a call for armed extremism, or any call to strike foreign embassies or kidnap foreigners, or other acts that are normally promoted by al-Qaeda," Abdul Rasul said.
Mexico
10) Thousands join Mexican march against drug violence
CNN, May 8, 2011
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/08/mexico.peace.march/index.html
Mexico City — Thousands of demonstrators marched in silence toward Mexico City’s central square Sunday, carrying banners and signs that demanded an end to the country’s drug war.
Well-known Mexican poet Javier Sicilia led protesters on their 80-kilometer (50-mile) journey, which began Thursday in the central city of Cuernavaca.
More than 65,000 people participated in Sunday’s march, the state-run Notimex news agency reported, citing Mexico City police.
Speaking before a sea of demonstrators at the large plaza in the heart of the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon, activists read a list of demands that they said were part of a "national pact." They gave government officials a deadline of June 10 to sign on to the deal.
Their proposed agreement included "demanding an end to the strategy of war," the removal of corruption from all three levels of government in less than six months, and the quick solving of several notable high-profile cases — including the killing of Sicilia’s son.
Protesters also said that authorities should budget just as much money for education and youth programs as they do for security.
[…] As demonstrators set out Thursday, Sicilia criticized Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on cartels, which began in December 2006. Since then, Mexican authorities estimate that more than 34,600 people have been killed in drug-related violence.
[…]
Ecuador
11) Ongoing Ecuador Vote Count Gives Correa Tight Win
Alexandra Valencia, Reuters, May 9, 2011
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/9345259/ongoing-ecuador-vote-count-gives-correa-tight-win/
Quito – A slow-moving vote count gave Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa a tight win on Monday in some of the questions covered in a referendum last weekend, but he insisted he is headed for a solid victory.
Two polls and a quick count on Saturday gave Correa a wide lead in the 10-point referendum aimed at overhauling the justice system and outlawing several activities including bullfighting and gambling in casinos.
He declared victory soon after polling stations closed and major opposition leaders accepted defeat.
But, with 40 percent of ballots counted by Monday afternoon, the range of "Yes" votes for the 10 questions was 44 to 49 percent compared with 41 to 44 percent for "No".
For one key question about reforming the judiciary, the government’s lead was less than 1 percent, but experts predicted that margin will widen as the count continues.
The margin is still narrower than most had forecast but may reflect opposition strength in urban areas counted first. The final result could give the "Yes" vote a higher margin, since the rules say null and blank votes — about 10 percent so far — will not be counted.
"The argument is not about who won, it’s about by how much the ‘Yes’ vote (won)," Correa told reporters. "We forecast 53.5 percent vs 46.5 (percent) … a seven-point margin on average is still a victory and a clear lead."
The vote count by the National Electoral Council also showed a margin of less than 1 percent between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes for two thorny reforms.
One would empower Correa, who took office in 2007, to name one of three members of a panel charged with reforming the judiciary and appointing top judges. Allies would effectively choose the other two members.
The second reform with narrow support would allow the government to hold journalists "responsible" for stories — a move critics say threatens freedom of expression.
Following a public vote the National Electoral Court can take up to 10 days to count the votes.
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