Chris Gelken Reporter's Notebook

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Iraq - End of the American Dream?
2008-06-10 19:45:00
Watch out for the next edition of Middle East Today where we ask the the question: If we look at what the Western mainstream media thought was going to happen before Nouri Al-Maliki's visit to Iran, and what actually did happen - let?s get the first and obvious question out of the way before we go into details. Is Maliki setting himself up for a serious confrontation with the United States? Let's face it, Washington can?t be happy, especially with the defense cooperation agreement for example?Full story and links will be posted on Thursday, so please come back! Chris Gelken Reporter's Notebook http://chrisgelken.blogspot.com
More About: Iraq , The American Dream , American , Dream , American Dream

Foreign intervention in Middle East
2008-06-10 19:21:00
PressTV's Middle East Today takes a look at the effects of foreign mediation in Middle East disputes. Is it time for the West to bow out, and let the region sort out its own problems?Iraq?s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on his third official visit to Tehran since taking office ? and his second this year. High on the agenda in his meetings with foreign ministry officials, the president and leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyid Ali Khamanei, are the plans by Washington to forge a long term strategic relationship with Iraq ? a status of forces agreement ? or SOFA. Critics of the deal say it would reduce Iraq to the level of a vassal state of the US, and a base for US military adventures in the region. Maliki has assured his neighbor that Iraq will not become a base for threats against Tehran. But even if a watered down version of the SOFA security pact goes through ? and all indications are that it will - these are promises that Maliki is hardly in a po...
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Shock and awe at AIPAC
2008-06-08 15:24:00
PressTV's Middle East Today brings together a diverse range of guests to discuss the most pressing issues facing the region in particular, and the world as a whole.In this edition we are taking another look at the relationship between the United States and Israel ? one that comes in the light of the latest visit to Washington by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and an unexpectedly robust expression of support for Israel by presidential candidate, Barak Obama. Throughout his primary election campaign, Senator Barak Obama has constantly reinforced his message of change. A change from the tired, worn out and failed policies of the past. Most notable, perhaps, was his retort to Iraq military commander General David Petraeus that what was needed was a surge in diplomacy, not a surge in troops. At the time he was accused of appeasement. But his speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday sounded like something taken from the pages of the Project for...
More About: Shock , Shock and Awe

Iraq - Has Bush Lost The Plot?
2008-06-04 18:16:00
PressTV's Middle East Today takes a fresh look at one of the region's most perplexing areas of conflict. We are back in Iraq this week where the US coalition suffered another setback with the announced withdrawal of Australian forces. There were also widespread protests against the signing of any form of Status of Forces Agreement between Baghdad and Washington, with critics describing the pact as essentially reducing Iraq to the level of a vassal state. Washington, has been accused of trying to bribe Iraqi politicians to give their support for the pact, politicians that many Iraqis say either hide behind the fences of the Green Zone, or do not even have the courage to reside in the country. While a number of Iraqi politicians and other prominent figures have come out strongly against the SOFA deal, the general public is wary of a legislature that many believe has been tainted by corruption and perhaps is not acting in Iraq?s best interests. Meanwhile, Prime Mini...
More About: Bush , Lost , Plot

Sudan - A disaster in progress
2008-06-02 17:53:00
PressTV's Middle East Today delves into the complicated issues dividing Africa's largest nation, Sudan . It?s a country that is very rarely out of the news, but also a country that very few people actually understand. To many people, Sudan is synonymous with civil war, ethnic strife, poverty and hunger. A little known fact, however, is that despite all this, the country still managed to be the sixth fastest growing economy in the world in terms of GDP last year. Sudan also emerged as the world?s most unstable country on the Failed States Index, pushing Iraq into second place, probably not an achievement welcomed or accepted by the authorities in Khartoum . But while Sudan may appear as a solid block on the map, on the ground, several regions with their own distinct cultures and languages maintain a vigilant watch on their neighbors; over the gunsight of an assault rifle. Despite a ceasefire declared between the north and south in 2005 ? a ceasefire both sides accus...
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Back to Iraq - are you confused yet?
2008-05-28 17:50:00
PressTV takes another look at the latest developments in Iraq during a sometimes heated debate first broadcast on Tuesday, May 27th 2008. At least once a week, Middle East Today will turn its attention to the latest developments in Iraq . And given the chaos, confusion and uncertainty about the country?s future, there is always plenty of material. Unfortunately, there are so many conflicting views and opinions about what or what isn?t happening there, so many accusations and denials, groups changing sides and then changing sides again. It is actually quite fair to ask, are you confused yet? Among many issues to be addressed on this edition is the proposed Status of Forces Agreement that President George Bush hopes to seal with Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki ? an agreement that top Shia cleric Seyyid Ali Al-Sistani has vowed to oppose as long as he lives. We?ll also be looking at a major security operation against al-Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul , and asking if the gr...
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Iran in Iraq - Benign or Belligerent?
2008-05-21 18:42:00
PressTV's Middle East Today takes a look at the Iran ian presence in Iraq from both sides of the political divide. An attack by unidentified gunmen on a well-marked Iranian diplomatic vehicle in Baghdad last week again raised the question of security in the country?s capital. As one of the few foreign government?s to maintain a full diplomatic mission to the country ? Iran says its presence in Iraq is a positive one, aimed at helping restore law and order; rebuild the devastated infrastructure and economy; and serve as an example to Iraq?s Arab neighbors to take a more proactive role in promoting the country?s recovery. Washington, however, takes a very different view of Iran?s presence. Accusing Tehran of attempting to destabilize the country, of arming special groups to mount attacks on US and coalition interests, including the government of Nouri al-Maliki. Tehran, meanwhile, accuses the United States of manipulating the chaos in Iraq, using the confusion to hide its own ef...

Al-Nakba - Flip side of Israel's celebration coin
2008-05-18 23:30:00
As Israel celebrated its 60th anniversary on Wednesday May 14th - Palestinians marked the day as al-Nakba, or the "catasrophe."PressTV's Middle East Today took a look at the legacy of the al-Nakba, 60 years on. With high profile guests from around the world participating in the glittering and well choreographed Israeli celebrations, Palestinian Caretaker Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad bitterly asked "How can they celebrate while the Palestinian people are crying out in pain?" Israel announced its independence on 14th May 1948, three years after the end of World War II, and in line with a United Nations resolution calling for the end of the British Mandate in Palestine and the creation of two independent states ? one Jewish the other Palestinian Arab. Under the terms of the partition, the Jewish state would receive 56 percent of the land, with the Palestinians just 43 percent. Jerusalem was to be placed under international supervision. The deal was made by gentlemen in New York wi...
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Amazing Egypt
2008-05-18 22:49:00
Not much activity on the blog recently because we've been away on the most amazing trip to Egypt .Alexandria, Cairo/Giza, and Luxor.Mixed a little business with the leisure.Had the opportunity to meet with a raft of academics and political analysts and gained a broad insight into other aspects of the broader Middle East imbroglio.An educational and enjoyable trip on just about every level.Chris Gelken Reporter's Notebook http://chrisgelken.blogspot.com
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Ahmadinejad - Against All Odds?
2008-04-29 16:08:00
PressTV's Middle East Today takes an in depth look at the performance of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad .Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again reshuffled his cabinet, the ninth time since assuming the presidency back in the summer of 2005.With the latest round of dismissals, Mr. Ahmadinejad has removed 8 of the original 21 members of his cabinet, including 6 ministers, the head of the Management and Planning Organization and a Central Bank chief -- who both had seats in the cabinet. Another minister died while in office.President Ahmadinejad has just sacked the Economic Affairs & Finance Minister and the Interior Minister.Though no specific reason was given for the shake-up, but Ahmadinejad has said those who are not complying with his government’s economic policies should be removed.The dismissal of the economics minister in particular comes as Iran faces an inflation rate of around 20 percent.Speaking at his farewell ceremony, former economy minister Davood ...
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Israel Accused of Genocide
2008-04-27 23:35:00
US lawyer seeks Iran's help to sue over Gaza siegeTEHRAN -- In a dramatic plea made during a live broadcast of regional affairs debate program Middle East Today on international broadcaster PressTV, an American lawyer called on Tehran to support his bid to sue Israel for genocide against the Palestinians."I would like to propose here today on this program that President Mahmood Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei give me the authority to sue Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague for inflicting genocide against the Palestinian people," said panelist Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law.Read the entire article on Ohmynews International.Or watch the video on Middle East TodayArticle reproduced on: Palestinian Think Tank, Redtram International, American Chronicle,WorldPress, Solomonia, Reddiggulo, TechChee, Politikly, JBlog Forum, EIN News,Bester News,Chris Gelken Reporter's Notebook http://chrisgelken.blogspot.com
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Carter's Crusade for Peace
2008-04-27 22:17:00
Former president sows seeds of hope in Middle EastFormer US President Jimmy Carter is heading home after a hugely controversial nine-day tour of the Middle East that some have dubbed the Carter Peace Crusade .However noble Carter's intentions may have been, from day one he has been facing increasing criticism from Washington and Israel which view his intervention as unwelcome, untimely, and possibly even damaging."He is just wading into a situation that is contentious enough and something like this just complicates matters," Anthony T. Salvia, a former special advisor to the Undersecretary of State in the Reagan administration told PressTV's Middle East Today.Salvia said that while Carter's interference was unwelcome, it had to be admitted that US Middle East policy was at least in part responsible for the current stalemate in the overall peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.Read the rest of this article on Ohmynews InternationalReproduced on: WorldPress.org. Silobrea...

Bush 'Divorced From Reality'
2008-04-13 19:39:00
Former Senator blasts US occupation during lively television debate on IraqAnalysts and media op-ed writers have spent the past couple of days dissecting and digesting the Iraq War Report Card presented by the US military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and his State Department sidekick Ambassador Ryan Crocker.Perhaps the two most significant points that those who watched the testimony will remember are (1) no plans for a troop withdrawal for the time being, and (2) Iran is to blame for everything that has gone wrong.The testimony also contrasted sharply with earlier statements by President George W. Bush and General Petraeus about how "astonishingly normal things have become in Baghdad."One of course has to speculate on what benchmark of normalcy Washington is working to.At the time of writing, a correspondent colleague of mine had just described by MSN a mad dash out of the Sadr City district of Baghdad after a firefight exploded not 10 feet from where she and other journa...
More About: Reality

The Building Blocks of War
2008-04-10 19:51:00
The Petraeus report could be the tipping point. But can we really trust it?Just how much is Iran involved in, or indeed responsible for, the instability in Iraq? The answers to this question are often vague, ambiguous and frequently tainted by self-interest.Last week commander of US Forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, declared that the mortars and missiles fired on Baghdad's fortified Green Zone were of Iranian manufacture. He further asserted that they were supplied by Iran and fired by Iranian-trained insurgents.As for the provenance of the weapons, that is for a forensic ballistics expert to decide. Regarding the rest, well, it depends on who you trust, doesn't it?And next week, Petraeus is going to tell Congress that everything that has gone wrong in Iraq is Iran's fault.By contrast, many Iraq watchers are of the opinion that the recent Baghdad government assault on Basra and the subsequent nation-wide surge in violence was inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney during hi...
More About: Building , Blocks

Gaza: Israel?s Tough Love?
2008-03-26 01:37:00
Are Gaza Palestinians paying the price for Israel ?s idea of peace? This past week has seen some dramatic developments in the Middle East Peace Process, in particular where they relate to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. During his recent visit to the region, US Vice President Dick Cheney said that while peace between Israel and the Palestinians was long overdue, it would still need painful concessions from both sides if they were to achieve Washington?s deadline of a final agreement by the end of this year. Israel for its part, has consistently insisted it wants to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians, but is refusing to enter into any dialogue with the Hamas movement that controls Gaza. In its attempt to dislodge the democratically elected Hamas, Israel has imposed a months long siege on the strip, depriving the 1.5 million residents of most of the daily necessities of life. Israel argues that the siege is aimed at weakening Hamas to the point wh...
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It's the War, Stupid!
2008-03-19 18:05:00
US Economic Crisis: Bush blames sub-prime loans, experts blame the war Switzerland promptly gave the diplomatic finger to Washington following criticism over Bern's recently signed gas deal with Iran, saying it did not need US permission to make decisions about its foreign policy.Responding to accusations from the Bush administration and Israel that the US$42 billion agreement violated the spirit (but obviously not the substance) of the third round of United Nations sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said Switzerland was an independent country and quite capable of making its own strategic decisions."It was refreshing to hear somebody, particularly a European country, speak of their national sovereignty and right to act as an independent nation," legal affairs analyst Edward Spannaus told PressTV News."In this case," he said, "the Swiss Foreign Minister said they were successfully mixing diplomacy and business, and that thi...
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Did Washington Set Up Admiral Fallon?
2008-03-12 19:03:00
The sudden resignation of Washington 's top military officer in the Middle East is shrouded in claim, counter-claim and denial. Whatever the truth may be behind Admiral William Fallon's decision to step down as Central Commander, with responsibilities covering the entire Middle East, very few pundits are buying the official line.Since taking up the post about a year ago, Fallon has often been portrayed as being at odds with White House policy on how to conduct the war in Iraq, and of being firmly opposed to any military adventures against Iran. It is no secret that Fallon was in favor of diplomacy and engagement rather than confrontation in dealing with Tehran's nuclear issue. Once quoted as saying a war with Iran "would not happen on my watch," the former Navy fighter pilot earned the respect of his staff and the men and women in uniform he commanded, but according to Washington insiders, he also earned a bitter enemy in Vice President Dick Cheney.Matters came to a head last week...
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Gaza's Descent Into Darkness
2008-03-05 15:25:00
When did the shooting death of a two-week old baby stop being headline news? Imagine the absolute horror of seeing, of feeling your child die in your arms from an easily preventable disease. The necessary drugs are just a few kilometers away, but for all that, they might as well be on the moon. Alternatively, make a mental detachment from your comfortable reality and transport yourself to a grubby hospital waiting room. As you lie there on the floor clutching the bloodied and broken body of your wife or husband, you are being told by doctors, "Sorry, we have no beds. We have no equipment, we have no drugs." And with grim finality, "There is nothing we can do." Hold that mental image and wait for your loved one to die. Imagine being the doctor, who day after day has to tell mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters the news they had been dreading. Day after grinding day. Many would run. Many of Iraq's doctors did. But for whatever reason best known to themselves, many don't hang up the...
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Is peace even on the agenda?
2008-03-03 19:56:00
Washington seeks confrontation not reconciliation with IranIran?s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has returned to Tehran after his landmark two-day visit to Iraq. Feted and warmly welcomed with military bands and honor guards on his arrival in Baghdad, it?s hard to believe such a reception would be laid on for the man that Washington accuses of being largely responsible for destabilizing Iraq.?Well obviously the ruling party in Washington must be seething,? author and political analyst Ian Williams told PressTV News, ?This has got to raise serious questions for the American public.?How is it, Williams asked, that after 160,000 troops and 4,000 dead, Western leaders have to sneak in and out of Iraq under cover of secrecy, ?while Iran, the other part of the alleged Axis of Evil, can send its president along a flower strewn route in a motorcade through the streets of Baghdad, and be greeting by the government that the US troops have supposedly put in power??Contrasting Ahmadinejad?s colo...
More About: Peace , Article , Agenda

Torturer-in-Chief to veto bill on waterboarding
2008-02-15 01:13:00
Legal expert says Democrats don't have the guts to do their constitutional duty President George Bush is certainly earning his nickname of ?Torturer-in- Chief ? with announced plans to veto a bill that would expressly forbid the intelligence agencies from engaging in extreme forms of interrogation, including waterboarding. Bush claims it would prevent the lawful interrogation of terror suspects. Bush hasn?t ruled out the possibility that waterboarding will be used again in the future. Shortly after I published the opinion piece, Guantanamo is not Nuremburg, I had the opportunity to speak with Ed Spannaus and asked him if George Bush wants to be impeached, or is he just so confident that the Democrats haven?t got the stomach for an impeachment battle in an election year. ?I think you put your finger on it,? Spannaus said, ?It?s the latter. He is quite confident at this point, both Bush and Vice President Cheney that the House will not go through with impeachment, eve...
More About: Bill , Veto , Waterboarding

Guantanamo is not Nuremburg
2008-02-13 23:23:00
US cites Nazi war crimes trials to justify death penalty at GitmoAs the movement for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for war crimes grows on an almost daily basis, how bitterly ironic is it that the White House would instruct its diplomats overseas to compare the military kangaroo court process at Guantanamo to the Nuremburg War Trials.A four-page memo has been sent to all United States diplomatic missions instructing them to make the Nuremburg comparison in the event they were questioned about the legality of the death penalty requested by the prosecution in connection with the trials of the so-called Guantanamo Six.There is no comparison. The Guantanamo trials will be held behind closed doors. The public will be denied the right to hear the evidence, or how that evidence was obtained. No television camera will record the examination and cross-examination of witnesses for the evening news.A verdict will be announced, a sentenced passed -- and the wo...

CIA veteran calls for Bush's impeachment
2008-02-08 23:08:00
Former CIA analyst rips into Bush over torture, Iraq and IranAfter 27-years as an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, Ray McGovern is now one of the most vocal critics of the government he once served. A founder member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, McGovern is highly critical of the way the Bush administration manipulated or fabricated intelligence to justify its war on Iraq.McGovern spoke to PressTV on a range of issues, including the recent scandal over waterboarding.CG: You are on record as saying you had no desire to be associated, however remotely, with an organization that engaged in torture. You say the agency bowed to political pressure, who was responsible in the administration and the agency for giving the go-ahead for torture?RM: Well that's really no secret. If you look at Richard Clarke for example, the head of the counter terrorism operation at the White House. He wrote that on the very evening of 9/11 the President convened his ...
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An interview with Ed Spannaus
2008-02-08 03:02:00
Washington admits to torture, legal expert calls for impeachmentThe director of the Central Intelligence Agency has revealed to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee that waterboarding was legal in the U.S. in 2002 and 2003, and was officially prohibited from interrogations in 2006.Michael Hayden said that under current U.S. laws, waterboarding would NOT be considered illegal. Hayden, added that consequently the use of waterboarding on three al-Qaeda suspects in 2003 was deemed to be lawful.Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey told a separate House hearing that he would not investigate whether CIA interrogators broke the law when waterboarding accused terrorist suspects.Mukasey said whatever was done as a part of a CIA program at the time had been approved by the Justice Department and that he could not investigate or prosecute people for actions it earlier had authorized.The White House has defended the use of waterboarding, saying it still could be legal ...
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Lies, half truths and failures
2008-02-07 01:41:00
The United States admits to torture, and Rice lies over progress in AfghanistanAfter months of half truths, mendacity and outright falsehoods, it is finally out in the open: the United States has endorsed the practice of waterboarding.The Central Intelligence Agency has confirmed that it waterboarded three al-Qaeda suspects at its Guantanamo Bay detention center some five years ago, but has since not engaged in the practice.Could these three be the subjects of the video tapes that were mysteriously destroyed - despite a very specific court order banning the destruction of any evidence obtained in the interrogations of terror suspects at the Gitmo facility? Interesting times ahead.Amnesty International has demanded a criminal investigation, describing the method that simulates drowning as torture, pure and simple.The United Nations has urged the U.S. government to give up its now very hollow defense of waterboarding, calling the practice "absolutely unacceptable" under international...
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U.S. allows Gaza humanitarian crisis to worsen
2008-02-06 21:49:00
PressTV discusses the human cost of Israel's collective punishment"The 92nd patient [in the last three weeks] died today as an outcome of this siege. One of our patients, a child 9 years old suffering from cancer, died today while trying to cross the border at the Erez Checkpoint for treatment in the West Bank." Mona El-Farra, doctor and human rights advocate, speaking to PressTV's Middle East Today on Saturday.Life in the Gaza Strip has never been easy, but in recent weeks the situation has worsened with a stepped up blockade by Israel.The situation is so bad, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement describing Gaza as the "largest prison on the face of the Earth" with Gaza residents being imprisoned and traumatized in their own land.United Nations agencies operating in the Gaza have warned of a humanitarian crisis and have appealed for a relaxation in the siege to allow desperately needed supplies to be delivered, in particular to hospitals and schools.The United...
More About: Humanitarian , Crisis

Mukasey ducks waterboarding issue
2008-02-01 03:19:00
Attorney General Protects Dick Cheney from possible charge of war crimesAmerica's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Michael Mukasey , on Wednesday appeared uncomfortable and evasive under a barrage of tough questions from a US Senate committee investigating charges that the United States has committed, and continues to commit war crimes in its war on terror.Grilled on the question of whether the interrogation technique of waterboarding was considered to be torture under US law, Mukasey offered only vague and ambiguous answers."I thought it was really disgraceful," Ed Spannaus, Legal Affairs Editor of Executive Intelligence Review told PressTV in an interview. "Every military lawyer in the United States knows that waterboarding is torture, there's no question about it. They know that this is illegal under US law; this is illegal under international law. So for the Attorney General to be unable to give a clear statement of waterboarding as illegal was really quite astoun...
More About: Waterboarding , Issue

Is Bush Losing Control Of The Military?
2008-01-11 06:42:00
U.S. Navy report undermines Bush 's drive to isolate IranTEHRAN: The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet has released a statement saying it cannot say with any certainty that threats to blow up its vessels actually came from Iranian Navy speedboats in Sunday's Straits of Hormuz incident.The revelation tacitly supports the Iranian version of events, in that it was a normal challenge by Iranian naval officials for the American vessels to identify themselves, and at no time was there any serious danger of an escalation or any hostile action.According to the commander of the Iranian naval forces, the patrol boats were on a regular patrol when they challenged the three American vessels to identify themselves and declare any helicopter activity in the area.The U.S. quickly released a video showing Iranian speedboats in close proximity to the warships, with audio that the Iranians claimed was fake.On Thursday the Iranian Navy released its own footage, taken on board one of the speedboats, showing a ...
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Bush has nothing new to offer Middle East
2008-01-10 03:48:00
Lame duck President seeking last minute foreign policy successTEHRAN: Since President George W. Bush arrived in Israel he has offered little more than rhetoric in his effort to jump-start the long stalled Middle East peace process. No new initiatives have been introduced, just empty platitudes of "time to seize this historic opportunity" and "both sides have the willingness to move forward."In an interview with PressTV, Washington-based author and political analyst, Atef Jawad gives his take Bush's last gasp attempt to leave a foreign policy "legacy."Bush describes Israel as Jewish StatePressTV: Has the President brought anything new to the table to give new life to the peace process? Jawad: No, I don't think so. The President may have the best of intentions, but he doesn't have enough time to get anything done, and he is also undercutting his own efforts.Let me just talk about three points briefly to illustrate how he is undermining his own peace plan.Lets talk about his referen...
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No U.S. ties for now: Iran
2008-01-06 09:52:00
Progress in Iraq security talks is key to future relationship, say analystsTEHRAN, Iran : As U.S. President George W. Bush declared a primary goal of his upcoming tour of the Middle East was to drum up support for further isolating Iran, the country?s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyid Ali Khamenei said that restoring diplomatic ties with Washington at this time would be ?detrimental to Iran?s interests.?Speaking to a gathering in the central Iranian city of Yazd on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei said, ?Severing diplomatic ties with the United States was one of Iran?s original principle policies, but Tehran has never said that it would pursue this policy forever.?While the comments appear to open the door to a possible rapprochement between the two bitter enemies, political analysts agree that key to any future thaw would be progress in the Iraq security talks, one of the few occasions where the two sides actually sit down face-to-face.?I think it all depends on what comes out of the neg...

Mukasey orders torture tape investigation
2008-01-03 10:08:00
Mob-busting investigator to quiz CIA over al-Qaeda interrogation tapesAmerica?s top lawman has announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the CIA?s destruction of videotapes allegedly showing the violent interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects being held at a secret prison.Attorney General Michael Mukasey has appointed a modern day ?Untouchable? to head up the investigation. But will mob-buster John Durham be tough enough to take on the Central Intelligence Agency and possibly even the White House??He?s a very solid guy,? New York journalist Lucy Komisar told PressTV in a satellite interview, ?In fact one of his big successes was putting away a Republican governor for corruption. He?s also gone up against the FBI in Boston that was using mob informants in a way that ended up having some people killed that the FBI should have been protecting. So he doesn?t have a problem going after the agencies of government, powerful agencies at that.?Durham will be investigating whether the...
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