President George W. Bush could choose military action over diplomacy and bomb Iran's nuclear facilities next year, political analysts in Washington agree.
"I think he is going to do it," John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a military issues think tank, told AFP.
"They are going to bomb WMD facilities next summer," he added, referring to nuclear facilities Iran says are for peaceful uses and Washington insists are really intended to make nuclear bombs, or weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Study: Nearly Half of U.S.
Abortions by Repeat Offenders NewsMax.com Wires, Wednesday, November
22, 2006
WASHINGTON -- About half of all U.S. women who had abortions
in 2002 had undergone at least one previous abortion, according to a study released
on Tuesday. Women who had repeat abortions tended to be over age 30 and to have
more children, and most were using contraception at the time, the report from the
nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute found. Chinese HIV cases jump nearly
30 percent so far in 2006 Associated Press, Wednesday, November
22, 2006
BEIJING - Two months before the end of 2006, China\�s
reported
number of HIV/AIDS cases already is nearly 30 percent higher than for all of last
year, with intravenous drug use as the biggest source of infection, the Health Ministry
said Wednesday. U.S. Says Attacks in Iraq Up 40 Percent NewsMax.com Wires Thrusday, July 20, 2006
Irag's top Shiite cleric urged his followers Thrusday to refrain from reprisal violence
against Sunnis, his strongest call yet for an end to increasing sectarian bloodshed.
The statement by Grand Ayatolla Ali Al-Sistani came as U.S. military officials reported
a 40 percent increase in daily average of attacks in the Baghdad area.
Bush, Putin butt heads over democracy The Washington Times, Published July 16, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, yesterday agreed in principle on contentious issues such as the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, but the leaders failed to clinch a key trade deal and clashed over democracy, with Mr. Putin declaring he does not want "the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq."
During a 30-minute press conference, notable for the chilly body language between the two presidents, the leaders acknowledged that they do not see eye to eye on a host of issues, but said they agreed that Iran should not acquire nuclear weapons and urged all sides in the escalating Middle East crisis to pull back from war.
"I can repeat, it is not in Russia's national interest to see a proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, especially in such an explosive region as the Middle East," said Mr. Putin, who remains steadfast in opposing U.N. sanctions against Iran for its unchecked nuclear ambitions.
History of U.S. sanctions shows most haven't worked SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER, Tuesday, May 11, 1999
WASHINGTON -- For more than two millenia, countries have been attempting to influence one another's behavior by imposing economic sanctions.
In 432 B.C., officials in Athens denied traders from the state of Megara access to Athens' harbor and its marketplace.
That first recorded use of economic sanctions didn't work, and instead helped precipitate the Peloponnesian War, a horrific and lengthy conflict that brought an end to the fledgling Greek democracy.
Nearly 2,500 years later the use of economic sanctions has become increasingly common -- and controversial.
Like the Athenians, the United States uses sanctions in an effort to dissuade nations from taking undesirable actions -- supporting terrorism, proliferating weapons of mass destruction, violating human rights, trafficking in drugs or despoiling the environment. (See map showing nations under sanction.)
But like the Megarians, many of the targets of U.S. sanctions -- countries such as Iraq, Iran and Cuba -- do not change their behavior in the face of sanctions, according to numerous studies.
Today, the United States' use of economic sanctions -- generally defined as restrictions on foreign commerce for purposes of foreign policy or national security -- is under fire. Lawmakers in Congress have introduced proposals that would make it harder to impose economic sanctions, and President Clinton has taken steps to exempt food and medicine from sanctions. His administration has pledged to support broader reform of sanctions policy.
U.S. threatened with more isolation
TOM RAUM
Associated Press, Posted on Fri, Jul. 21, 2006
WASHINGTON - President Bush's uncompromising support for Israel in its battle with Hezbollah, a stance now backed by Congress, is threatening to isolate the United States even further from the international community.
It is also putting the administration at odds with fragile democratic governments in the Middle East that it is simultaneously trying to prop up, and sowing increasing anger across the Arab world.
The democratically elected prime ministers of both Iraq and Lebanon have been among the most vocal critics of U.S. policy in the 10-day Israeli bombardment of Lebanon.
Some foreign policy analysts question whether Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can make much headway on her trip to the region early next week - especially given U.S. rejection of international calls for a cease-fire and refusal to talk to key players such as Hezbollah or its Iranian and Syrian sponsors.
"You don't just negotiate with your friends. Sometimes you negotiate with your enemies, or at least your adversaries," said Sandy Berger, former national security adviser in the Clinton White House. "We negotiated with the Soviet Union for 50 years."
Both the first President Bush and President Clinton met directly with then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in efforts to advance Mideast peace prospects.
But the current Bush administration is adamant in resisting any direct contact with Syrian President Bashar Assad, son of the former president, or with Hezbollah leaders.
"The track record stinks" in terms of what both former Presidents Bush and Clinton achieved in their meetings with Assad's father, White House press secretary Tony Snow said. And Rice told reporters on Friday, "Syria knows what it needs to do, and Hezbollah is the source of the problem."
Pressuring Hizbollah key in Mideast crisis: Bush Reuters Saturday, July 22, 2006; 10:19 AM
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - The United States will urge Middle East leaders to help boost pressure on Hizbollah as a means of solving the crisis in southern Lebanon, President George W. Bush said on Saturday.
Intense fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas has prompted growing international calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The Bush administration has rejected that approach and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who leaves on Sunday for a trip to the region, said she would focus instead on finding a sustainable end to the violence.
Previewing Rice's trip in his weekly radio address, Bush said she would "make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it."
Bush cited the role of Iran and Syria in providing help to Hizbollah.
"Their actions threaten the entire Middle East and stand in the way of resolving the current crisis and bringing lasting peace to this troubled region," said Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Crawford ranch.
Rice is to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories and join Arab officials, including some from Lebanon, at an international conference on the crisis in Rome.
Lebanon Seeks Help From Vatican By the NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story... Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:43 a.m. EDT
Lebanon turned Wednesday to the Vatican for help in pressing for a cease-fire in the Middle East, dispatching the son of assassinated premier Rafik Hariri to meet with the Holy See's secretary of state.
Vatican officials said Cardinal Angelo Sodano met Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon's parliament whose father's assassination last year led to massive protests that drove Syria out of Lebanon.
Hariri was scheduled to meet Italian Premier Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema on Thursday. Italy has been playing the role of what Prodi calls a "facilitator" in efforts to defuse the crisis.
The Vatican-affiliated news agency Asia News reported Wednesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora had telephoned Sodano a day earlier to seek the Vatican's help in pressing for a cease-fire.
Cardinal Exhorts U.N. to Make Peace in Middle East Zenit.org Date: 2006-07-18
ROME, JULY 18, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is calling on the United Nations to promote dialogue and peace in the Middle East.
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino urged the "international community, and the United Nations in particular," to "promote dialogue and peace" and affirm the state of law in the region.
Six days ago, the present crisis between Israel and Lebanon was added to the already complex situation in the Middle East.
International community
Cardinal Martino told Vatican Radio today that the Catholic Church is following closely the evolution of this spiral of violence. "As His Holiness Benedict XVI underlined in Sunday's Angelus," "the extension of the warlike actions in the Middle East cause great concern, in particular for the fate of the civilian population."
"The situation is complex and difficult to decipher, so much so as to threaten the peace and security not only of the region, but of the whole world," he said.
"At the same time, however, and with determination, in such a scenario of violence and cruel opposition, both the terrorist acts of some, as well as the military reprisals of others must be repudiated, given that both constitute a violation of law and of the most basic principles of justice."
Cardinal Martino, who was the Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations for more than 25 years, said that "without delay, and before the conflict degenerates assuming even more difficult dimensions to manage, the international community and the United Nations are called to promote dialogue and peace between the opposing parties and the affirmation of a state of law in the area."
Gingrich Says World War III Has Begun By the NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story...Sunday, July 16, 2006 3:56 p.m. EDT
World War III has begun, and the nation�s leadership is failing to deal with this reality, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich concludes.
Appearing on NBC�s "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert Sunday, Gingrich explained that "today is not the fifth day of the war, it�s the 58th year of the effort by those who want to destroy Israel. As Ahmadinejad, the head of Iran, says, he wants to defeat the Americans and eliminate Israel from the face of the earth. So we should not see this event in isolation. There is an . . . Iran/Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas alliance trying to destroy Israel.�
"The Israelis withdrew from Gaza to create the circumstance of peace. The Israelis withdrew from south Lebanon to create the circumstance of peace,� Gingrich continued. "They now have a thousand missiles fired from Gaza, they�ve had hundreds of missiles fired from south Lebanon. You clearly have Iranian involvement. There are at least 400 Iranian guards in south Lebanon. Apparently it was an Iranian missile fired by Iranians which hit an Israeli warship yesterday. The United States should be saying to Syria and Iran, 'South Lebanon is going to be cleared out. We are for Israel and the Lebanese government breaking the back of Hezbollah, getting rid of all 10,000 to 13,000 missiles, and we will decisively stop any effort by Syria and Iran to intervene.'�
Gingrich says the current crisis facing Israel is part of a larger world war that involved the United States.
