USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Direct link to this article: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/newsroom/johnbrown_detail/2638/

Published: DEC 5, 2007 - 11:54AM PST

John Brown's Public Diplomacy Review
John Brown aggregates all the most recent public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW, DECEMBER 4-5, 2007
 by John H. Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW, DECEMBER 4-5

“Call it public diplomacy, or public affairs, or psychological warfare, or—if you really want to be blunt—propaganda. But whatever it is called, defining what this war is really about in the minds of the 1 billion Muslims in the world will be of decisive and historic importance. ... How can a man in a cave outcommunicate the world’s leading communications society?”

--Former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, October 28, 2001
http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp01.cfm?outfit=pmt&folder=10&paper=919

“As one foreign diplomat asked a couple of years ago, ‘How has one man in a cave managed to out-communicate the world’s greatest communication society?’”

--Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, November 26, 2007
http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1199

SITE OF INTEREST

Concerned Foreign Service Officers, “a group of current and former employees of the U.S. Department of State who are concerned about recent abuses of the security clearance process in the Department of State.”
http://www.worldcrafters.com/

NOTE

The link cited in PDPBR December 1-3, “Dead Men Working,” was temporarily inoperative but is now accessible at
http://deadmenworking.blogspot.com/2007/11/integrity-we-dont-need-no-stinkin.html

NEW BOOK

“Dissent: Voices of Conscience,” co-authored by Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright and Susan Dixon
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2007/12/04/voices_of_the_iraq_war_dissenters_ring_o

A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY (1-19)

1. ENCOURAGING INTERFAITH DIALOGUES - KAREN P. HUGHES (YEMEN OBSERVER, YEMEN, DECEMBER 4): America wants to be a partner in interfaith dialogues. We are working to highlight the many voices speaking out against terrorist violence and for greater interfaith understanding. We are encouraging conversations among cultures. In a new program called “Citizen Dialogue,” we’ve sent Muslim American citizens across the world to engage with citizens in Muslim communities. We’ve sponsored summer programs for young people, teaching respect for diversity. We’ve sent out musicians to promote tolerance and to show that differences can enrich rather than divide.
http://www.yobserver.com/opinions/10013380.html

2. U.S.-PALESTINIAN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP HOLDS INAUGURAL SESSION - MEDIA NOTE (OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DECEMBER 4): President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice officially launched Monday, December 3, the U.S.-Palestinian Public Private Partnership, a new initiative creating economic opportunity for the Palestinian people, with a special focus on providing opportunities for Palestinian youth. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen P. Hughes participated in the inaugural meeting Monday at the Aspen Institute to set priorities and plans for the initiative. SEE ALSO ITEM 18.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/dec/96214.htm

3. LOSING THE WAR OF IDEAS? – ROBERT REILLY (CLAREMONT INSTITUTE, DECEMBER 4): Karen Hughes has frequently suggested that Iraq is the source of U.S. unpopularity, since “we are engaged in a war that much of the world disagrees with.” However, the deeper reason is that we have failed to address the larger issue of moral legitimacy—our own and the enemy’s—which is the real nub of the conflict, which began well before Iraq. The problem is that Hughes seemed to concede the very point of moral legitimacy—without even realizing she had done so. We do not bother to demonstrate that there is an indispensable moral meaning to freedom. In fact, we often unintentionally do the opposite.
http://www.claremont.org/publications/pubid.741/pub_detail.asp

4. BETWEEN THE BLACK AND WHITE – THE BACKYARD (DECEMBER 4): Former US secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has called for a reorganisation of the U.S. public diplomacy apparatus, in order to counter pervasive anti-American myths and present the world with “the truth.” It is perhaps, however, American claims to a universal truth alongside some of its choices of friends in the “with us or against us” construction that make anti-Americanism so enduring.
http://thebackyardblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/between-black-and-white.html

5. GATES AND RUMSFELD: BLAME THE PROPAGANDA, NOT THE PENTAGON - JOHN BROWN (PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW, DECEMBER 3): Give Rumsfeld (and especially Gates) credit for pointing out that the Pentagon is not all-powerful and that, if a war must be fought, it is more than just about killing people. But they should face up to the fact that it is the misguided Pentagon-supported Bush foreign policy—and not just the administration’s impropaganda, misdirected by the hapless Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs—that has led us into the mess we are in overseas.
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/newsroom/johnbrown_detail/071203_gates_and_rumsfeld_blame_the_propaganda_not_the_pentagon/

6. THE KAREN HUGHES BLUES – (EMILY KRICE’S JOURNAL, DECEMBER 4): “I knew that I would find some criticism of Hughes because it’s impossible to be in politics and not have many enemies. However, I was very disappointed to learn about her efforts at what she called ‘public diplomacy.’”
http://emilykrice.livejournal.com/2049.html

7. OBSOLETE RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY HURT U.S. OUTREACH AND STRATEGY - JULIANA G PILON (HERITAGE FOUNDATION, BACKGROUNDER #2089, DECEMBER 3): Section 501 of the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Smith-Mundt Act) is the legislation underlying America’s overseas informational and cultural programs. While the act is rightly hailed for establishing the programming mandate that still serves as the foundation for U.S. outreach, it has one serious drawback: It prohibits domestic dissemination of information designed for foreign consumption, ostensibly so as to ban “domestic propaganda.” Yet in this age of instant and global communication, expecting to prevent such public information from reaching Americans is unrealistic and technologically impossible.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg2089.cfm
SEE ALSO
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=4457
http://a517dogg.blogspot.com/2007/12/collateral-damage-from-information.html

8. THE NIE REPORT: LOSERS (ISRAEL) AND WINNERS (CHINA, IRAN) - JOHN MCCREARY (NIGHTWATCH, DECEMBER 3; POSTED AT INTELFUSION, DECEMBER 4): The National Intelligence Estimate is declassified, not leaked. The US government decided to put the Key Judgments in the public information domain. By doing so, the administration is continuing the public diplomacy and signaling to Iran a conciliatory message. The burden of going forward has now shifted to Iran —to send a reply that it understands the US message. SEE ALSO ITEMS 9, 22-41.
http://idolator.typepad.com/intelfusion/2007/12/john-mccreary-r.html

9. THE EVER-HELPFUL VOA – AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): Payvand Iran News, an Iranian Web site, carried a down-the-middle report of the new nukes assessment: “A new U.S. intelligence estimate says it is not clear that Iran is determined to produce nuclear weapons. The estimate says Iran stopped nuclear weapons development four years ago, but adds that Tehran is keeping its options open.” Its source? The Voice of America.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120402048_pf.html

10. (KIM ANDREW ELLIOTT DISCUSSING INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, latest edition)
http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/

11. THE WAR OVER THE WAR - KAREN DEYOUNG (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 4): A reader from MCClean, VA: “The complete Statecraft budget for the U.S. government for all its diplomatic, intelligence and military activities is close to $1 trillion a year—about one fourteenth of the U.S. GDP. If we use the same accounting standards on the U.S. military expenditures that we do when we account for Chinese military costs—adding in nuke weapons, space lift and vet benefits—the U.S. military accounts for about 93 percent, intelligence 6 percent and all diplomatic actions—including foreign aid, international organizations and public diplomacy—only 1 percent.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/11/30/DI2007113002044.html

12. GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS - RAJ PUROHIT (PARTNERSHIP FOR A SECURE AMERICA, DECEMBER 4): “Citizens for Global Solutions strongly urges Secretary Rice to reconsider her decision to appoint Paul Wolfowitz to the chairmanship of the State Department International Security Advisory Board. ... The Board is designed to provide the Secretary of State with important independent insight and advice on all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy. Mr. Wolfowitz has shown that his analysis on weapons of mass destruction and related security matters cannot be trusted; therefore he is an inappropriate choice for this position.”
http://blog.psaonline.org/2007/12/04/good-news-and-bad-news/
SEE ALSO
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5389

13. “ART FROM LIFE, AND LIFE FROM ART?” – MEAGAN BRIDGES (TA3BEER: MEDITATIONS ON MEDIATION—TA3BEER ("EXPRESSION") IS A CONSORTIUM OF ARAB MEDIA SCHOLARS, PRACTITIONERS, DELIBERATORS AND ENTHUSIASTS WITH INTERESTS IN ISSUES OF MODERNITY, IDENTITY, DEVELOPMENT, DIPLOMACY, CIVIL SOCIETY AND GLOBALIZATION. DECEMBER 4): “Well, maybe it won’t be that obvious, but certainly this ‘original comic book series’[AK comics] is an articulation of the growing interest of the American government in what it calls public diplomacy, since propaganda has acquired a much too negative connotation. By involving an ‘indigenous’ media producer, AK comics, the US is attempting to avoid more acrid accusations such as ‘directional media’ or ‘penetration.’ AK’s mission, after all is ‘to fill the cultural and social gap that was created over the years between the West and East, by providing essentially needed role models—in our case, Middle Eastern superheroes. Ultimately, we are presenting to the entire world a strong and optimistic vision for a futuristic Middle East, void of war, violence and turmoil.’”
http://ta3beer.blogspot.com/2007/12/art-from-life-and-life-from-art.html

14.  BACKGROUND NOTE: ANGOLA, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS (STATE DEPARTMENT WATCHER, DECEMBER 4): As part of its public diplomacy program, the US Embassy in Angola provided nearly $434,000 in English language training, educational exchanges and fellowships, and information resource services.
http://statedepartmentwatcher.blogspot.com/2007/12/angola-1207.html

15. CANADA IS ALL TALK – (TAR SANDS WATCH, DECEMBER 4): In a trillion-dollar economy awash in money, Canada continues to cry poor. We still don’t have a military worthy of a country of our history and geography. We cut the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and monitor the liquor consumption of ambassadors as if they were crooks. Worse, while France, Japan, Germany and other countries strut their stuff in the world, celebrating their artists, actors and writers, we abandon public diplomacy altogether. Too expensive, we say.
http://www.tarsandswatch.org/canada-all-talk

16. CONVERSATIONS IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: JEAN-FRANCOIS LISÉE – (USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION):  December 12, Social Science Building B40, 3 p.m. Join students and faculty for a presentation by Jean-Francois Lisée, executive director of CÉRIUM at the University of Montreal. His topic: “The UNESCO Instrument on Cultural Diversity, and the Role of Canada, Quebec and France.” Lisée is a Quebecois political analyst, journalist, author, intellectual and well-known sovereigntist thinker.
http://annenberg.usc.edu/Home/Events/071212cpd.aspx

17. PAKISTAN’S PUBLIC DIPLOMACY - (CAPITAL CITIES OF THE WORLD, DECEMBER 3): a radio broadcast on the topic.
http://capitalsitiesblg.com/?p=3299

18. KAREN “KICK ASS” HUGHES SNEAKS BACK FOR A QUICKIE - (PRINCESS SPARKLE PONY’S PHOTO BLOG: I KEEP TRACK OF PRINCESS CONDOLEEZZA’S HAIRDO SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO, DECEMBER 3): PHOTO: President Bush, second from right, makes a statement to reporters after a meeting regarding the U.S.-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership, Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. From left to right are: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley; Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes; White House Communications Director Kevin Sullivan; former Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Sandy Weill; businessman Walter Isaacson; the president; and Palestinian Minister for Youth and Sports Tahani Abu Daqqa. COMMENT: “Wait a minute, are you seeing what I’m seeing? Yes! It is! I knew she wouldn’t really leave: Karen Hughes. Yes! Yes! Yes! I wonder why Secretary of State Laura Bush was absent?”
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/2007/12/karen-kick-ass-hughes-sneaks-back-for.html

19. CONDI GAINS POINTY, SERRATED HALO - (PRINCESS SPARKLE PONY’S PHOTO BLOG: I KEEP TRACK OF PRINCESS CONDOLEEZZA’S HAIRDO SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO, DECEMBER 4): “I’m sure it’s a hectic Condicising day in preparation for her big African Adventure tomorrow. Cross your fingers for good photo-ops! We’ve seriously been getting too many matching armchairs and dueling podiums lately. You know what I’d like to see this trip, and I think we will? I want to see the surrounding yourself with a protective cloud of adorable children photo-op. You remember, Karen Hughes’ old favorite!”
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/2007/12/condi-gains-pointy-serrated-halo.html
SEE ALSO
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/2007/12/why-am-i-here.html

B) RELATED ITEMS (American students in Florence, 20; U.S. self-righteousness, 30; Iran, 22-41; Iraq, 42-48; Middle East, 49-50; Venezuela, 51; global warming, 52; war on terror, 53; U.S. in world, 54-55; gays at State Department, 56; Rice, 57)

20. JUNIOR FEAR ABROAD - SOPHIE EGAN (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 5): American college students already have to live down a stereotype of their own making. Hordes of them drunkenly parade—or literally pub crawl—past Renaissance masterpieces on the streets of Florence at 4 a.m., shouting clichés like “Ciao, bella!” and “La vita è bella!” Add in our often laughable pronunciation of Dante’s beautiful language and our sinfully casual dress—the North Face fleece college uniform sharing the streets with Dolce & Gabbana-strutting Italian babes—and you can see why it’s an uphill struggle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/opinion/05egan.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

21.  SAVE AMERICA FROM THE MOSH PIT: GOOD MANNERS AND DECENCY MATTER TO A NATION’S FUTURE - PAMELA MICHAELS (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, DECEMBER 5): In this current political and cultural climate, in which Americans are pretty self-righteous about sharing the exalted virtues of democratization with the world at all costs, perhaps we should clean up our act a bit.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p09s02-coop.htm

22. AN ASSESSMENT JARS A FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE ABOUT IRAN - STEVEN LEE MYERS (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 4): An administration that had cited Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons as the rationale for an aggressive foreign policy—as an attempt to head off World War III, as President Bush himself put it only weeks ago—now has in its hands a classified document that undercuts much of the foundation for that approach. The impact of the National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion—that Iran had halted a military program in 2003, though it continues to enrich uranium, ostensibly for peaceful uses—will be felt in endless ways at home and abroad.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/washington/04assess.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
NIE REPORT AT
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/nie_iran_120307.pdf

23. SEVEN DAYS IN DECEMBER? - MAUREEN DOWD (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 4): After getting Iraq wrong and Iran wrong in 2005 and almost every other big thing wrong since the nation began spending billions every year on intelligence, the burned spooks may not have wanted to play the patsy again while W., Cheney and the neocons beat the drums for an Iran invasion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/opinion/05dowd.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

24. FACT-BASED INTELLIGENCE PREVAILS ON NUKES AND IRAN – RAY MCGOVERN (COMMON DREAMS, DECEMBER 3): Apparently, intelligence community analysts are no longer required to produce the faith-based intelligence that brought us the Oct. 1, 2002 NIE “Iraq’s Continuing Program for Weapons of Mass Destruction”—the worst in the history of U.S. intelligence.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/03/5590/

25. A BLOW TO BUSH’S TEHRAN POLICY - PETER BAKER AND ROBIN WRIGHT (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 4): President Bush got the world’s attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120302210_pf.html

26. IT TURNS OUT AHMADINEJAD WAS THE TRUTHFUL ONE - ROBERT SCHEER (TRUTHDIG, DECEMBER 4): In October, Bush charged that Iran’s nuclear weapons program was bringing the world to the precipice of World War III, even though the White House had been informed at least a month earlier that Iran had no such program and had stopped efforts to develop one back in 2003.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071204_it_turns_out_ahmadinejad_is_honest/

27. NECK-SNAPPING SPIN FROM THE PRESIDENT - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, DECEMBER 4): By concluding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago, the national intelligence estimate released yesterday undermined a key element of President Bush’s foreign policy. It raised questions about whether the president and vice president knowingly misled the public about the danger posed by Iran. And it added to Bush’s profound credibility problems with the American people and the international community.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/12/04/BL2007120401026_pf.html

28. IRAN NIE VALIDATES 2003 EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY - GARETH PORTER (ANTIWAR.COM, DECEMBER 5): Despite the White House spin that the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) supports its policy of increasing pressure on Iran, the estimate not only directly contradicts the George W. Bush administration’s line on Iranian intentions regarding nuclear weapons, but points to a link between Tehran’s 2003 decision to halt research on weaponization and its decision to negotiate with European foreign ministers on both nuclear and Iranian security concerns.
http://www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=12007

29. THE NEW INTELLIGENCE ON IRAN – EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, DECEMBER 5): The latest National Intelligence Estimate of Iran’s nuclear program is a welcome turnabout. A declassified summary of the estimate released Monday said that Iran ceased pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003. Regardless of the spin President Bush and others may try to give this new assessment, there can be no doubt that it undercuts the argument for an urgent military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/12/05/the_new_intelligence_on_iran?mode=PF

30. IRAN’S NONEXISTENT NUCLEAR PROGRAM: SCORE ONE FOR DETERRENCE—AND THE RUSSIANS – EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, DECEMBER 5): A nuclear-armed Iran should be deterred. The tragedy for U.S. security and global peace is that Bush has squandered his chances to lead that vital effort.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-iran5dec05,0,3196343.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail

31. THE MYTH OF THE MAD MULLAHS - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): For the past several years, U.S. intelligence analysts have doubted hawkish U.S. and Israeli rhetoric that Iran is dominated by “mad mullahs”—clerics whose fanatical religious views might lead to irrational decisions. In the new NIE, the analysts forcefully posit an alternative view of an Iran that is rational, susceptible to diplomatic pressure and, in that sense, can be “deterred.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401669_pf.html

32. GOOD AND BAD NEWS ABOUT IRAN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 5): Bush has yet to make a serious offer of comprehensive talks and real rewards if Iran is willing to give up its fuel program and cooperate fully with inspectors. He is going to have to send someone a lot higher ranking than the American ambassador in Baghdad to deliver the message. We suggest Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the job.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/opinion/05wed1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

33. INTELLIGENCE ON IRAN: THE NEW U.S. ASSESSMENT HAS SOME GOOD NEWS—BUT THE REACTION TO IT COULD BE BAD – EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): Before the United States attempts to negotiate directly with Iran about its nuclear program, the administration should have some indication that the Iranian regime is prepared to comply with binding U.N. resolutions and seriously address other U.S. concerns. A report by U.S. intelligence agencies is an unsatisfying substitute for a signal that has yet to come from Tehran.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401772_pf.html

34. TIME TO TALK TO IRAN – ROBERT KAGAN (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): There is a good case for negotiations. Many around the world and in the United States have imagined that the obstacle to improved Iranian behavior has been America’s unwillingness to talk. This is a myth, but it will hamper American efforts now and for years to come. Eventually, the United States will have to take the plunge, as it has with so many adversaries throughout its history.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401146_pf.html

35. THE VIEW FROM IRAN - KAVEH L. AFRASIABI AND KAYHAN BARZEGAR (BOSTON GLOBE, DECEMBER 5): The intelligence report gives the United States the opportunity to set US-Iran relations on a more constructive track, and US leaders should avoid steps that would close that window.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/05/the_view_from_iran?mode=PF

36. SCOTT RITTER ON THE NIE REPORT AND WAR WITH IRAN - JAMES HARRIS (TRUTHDIG, DECEMBER 4): Ritter, the Truthdig columnist (and WMD expert), warns that war with Iran could be inevitable, despite the National Intelligence Estimate report that says Iran dismantled its nuclear program in 2003. Bush, Ritter argues, doesn’t let facts get in the way of what he wants.
http://www.truthdig.com/podcast/item/20071204_scott_ritter_on_the_nie_report_and_war_with_iran/

37. NO IRAN ATTACK? DON’T BE SO SURE… NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE NEOCONS – JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM, DECEMBER 5): The nuclear issue has never been the primary thrust of the neocons’ case for war with Iran: far more important has been the accusation that we are already at war with Iran because they’re supposedly funding, harboring, and directing “terrorist” activities against U.S. troops in Iraq.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12005

38. BE INTELLIGENT – EDITORS (NATIONAL REVIEW, DECEMBER 5): We can’t know for sure whether the claims in the NIE are correct. What we do know is this: The Islamic Republic is killing Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has exported terror around the globe. It has powerful strategic reasons to want an atomic bomb: to counterbalance American influence, and to become a hegemon in the Middle East.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDA2OWMzNjEyMzg5Y2Q4ZjRhOWU4OWY1MTA2NmRhM2Q=

39. ‘HIGH CONFIDENCE’ GAMES – REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, DECEMBER 5): Over the course of a decade, our intelligence services badly underestimated Saddam’s nuclear ambitions, then overestimated them. Now they have done a 180-degree turn on Iran, and in such a way that will contribute to a complacency that will make it easier for Iran to build a weapon.http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB119682320187314033.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

40. IRAN AND ITS DEMOCRATIC FRIENDS – EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, DECEMBER 5): If anything is clear from the new National Intelligence Estimate, it’s that the U.S. intelligence agencies have no clear idea of what’s going on in Iran.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/EDITORIAL/112050013/1013&template=printart

41. THE GULF STATES AND IRAN - MAX BOOT (WALL STREET JOURNAL, DECEMBER 5):  What particularly concerns Gulf Arabs is the possibility that Iran could go nuclear—a concern unlikely to be erased by the ambiguous findings of the new NIE.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB119682417350614074.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

42. KEY FIGURES ABOUT IRAQ – AP (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 3): Note: Current Baghdad megawatt figures are no longer reported by the US State Department’s Iraq Weekly Status Report.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iraq-By-The-Numbers.html

43. US ADMITTING FEWER IRAQI REFUGEES - ASSOCIATED PRESS (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 3): The United States admitted only 362 Iraqi refugees in November, almost 100 fewer than in October, and far less than half the number it needs per month to meet a goal of 12,000 by the end of this budget year, according to State Department statistics.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Iraq-Refugees.html?pagewanted=print

44. A MICROSCOPIC INSURGENT - MARK D. DRAPEAU (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 4): Cholera is a grave threat for the American project in Iraq, but also an opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of the population. The average Iraqi will feel truly secure only when the vicious disease-poverty-insurgent feedback loop is snapped. As we plan the post-surge phase of American operations, our leaders must bear in mind that healthy people make healthy decisions that serve as the bedrock for healthy societies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/opinion/04drapeau.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

45. A CALMER IRAQ: FRAGILE, AND POSSIBLY FLEETING - ALISSA J. RUBIN (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 5): The reduced violence in Iraq in recent months stems from three significant developments, but the clock is running on all of them, Iraqi officials and analysts warn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/world/middleeast/05surge.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

46. WHY BUSH’S TROOP SURGE WON’T SAVE IRAQ: THE INFLUX OF U.S. TROOPS BROUGHT A RELATIVE LULL IN VIOLENCE—BUT THE FAILING STATE REMAINS IN POLITICAL CHAOS AND IS HEADED FOR COLLAPSE - JUAN COLE (SALON, DECEMBER 4)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/12/04/iraq/print.html

47. NOW AND FOREVER - BOB HERBERT (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 4): Youngsters who were just starting high school when the U.S. invaded Iraq are in college now. Their children, yet unborn, will be called on to fork over tax money to continue paying for the war. Seriously. How long do we want this madness to last?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/opinion/04herbert.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

48. IRAQ’S LOVELY THIS TIME OF YEAR – AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): The opportunity of a lifetime! The government is paying up to $144,000 for a “business development/tourism” expert to “work with private sector businesses and local governments in fostering business development with a particular focus on tourism and related services.” The 13-month job also offers a 35 percent “danger pay” premium and other bonuses because it’s based in Baghdad.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120402048_pf.html

49. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED WHEN? - CAL THOMAS (WASHINGTON TIMES, DECEMBER 5): President Bush has made an enormous gamble—in Iraq and with the push for a Palestinian state. If he’s right, future historians will regard him as one of this country’s greatest presidents. If he’s wrong, the United States and the world will be paying the price for his misjudgment for much longer than 50 years.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/COMMENTARY09/112050022/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

50.  UNEXPECTED FRUIT FROM ANNAPOLIS - CLAUDE SALHANI (WASHINGTON TIMES, DECEMBER 5): Moscow and Riyadh, much like Washington, London, Paris, Madrid, Istanbul and other countless cities that have experienced firsthand devastating attacks by Islamist terrorists, also agree on a fundamental focus point of the Middle East conflict: Until the Palestinians have their own state, the continued unrest in the Middle East will provide extremist Islamists a perfect recruiting poster for their cause.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/COMMENTARY/112050025/1012&template=printart

51. VENEZUELANS RAIN ON HUGO – REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, DECEMBER 4): The stunning defeat Sunday of President Hugo Chávez’s constitutional reform agenda is more than a setback for Venezuela’s messianic strongman. It is a victory for the ideal of liberty across Latin America. What an affirmation of that ideal it would be if the US Congress now did its part to keep it alive by voting to liberalize trade with Venezuela’s neighbors.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119673434649212675.html?mod=todays_us_opinion
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

52. THE CLIMATE IN BALI AND WASHINGTON - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 3): It will be much easier to get China, India and others to adopt aggressive policies regarding global warming if the United States is also on board.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/opinion/03mon1.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials&pagewanted=print

53. THE U.S. RESPONSE TO TERRORISM: A FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED STRATEGY – HAVILLAND SMITH (AMERICAN DIPLOMACY, NOVEMBER 13): The puerile braggadocio with which we alternately dehumanize and belittle the Muslims may make some of us feel better, but is directly counterproductive to our goals for dealing with terrorism. Equating all Muslims with terrorism is not only inaccurate, but also demeaning and infuriating for mainstream, moderate Muslims.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2007/1012/smit/smith_response.html

54. THE POLITICS OF CHICKEN LITTLEISM - BENJAMIN FRIEDMAN (WASHINGTON POST, DECEMBER 5): Why do we conjure up so many possible monsters to destroy, and then overspend to confront them? One answer is that our defense policies are made by politicians and organizations that benefit from precautionary policies. In American politics today, there are no powerful doves.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401928.html

55. THE MYSTERIES OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE - FRED HALLIDAY (OPENDEMOCRACY, DECEMBER 3): That one day the U.S.’s dominance over the world will lessen is indisputable; but that another power will emerge in the foreseeable future that can rival it (as the Soviet Union did from a position of overall weakness) is less clear.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/globalisation/mysteries_us_empire

56. UNEQUAL TREATMENT AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT – EDITORIAL BOARD (NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 3): When Michael Guest, a former ambassador to Romania, closed out his quarter-century career recently he did what few people do—displayed uncommon courage and threw a rhetorical hand-grenade into his own party. Before friends, colleagues and top officials in the State Department Treaty Room, Mr. Guest took Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was not present) to task for failing to treat the partners of gay and lesbian foreign service officers the same as the spouses of heterosexual officers. And he revealed—with eloquent sadness, not anger—that this was the reason for his departure.
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/unequal-treatment-at-the-state-department/
SEE ALSO
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401801_pf.html

57. “GOD RAYS” AWAIT CONDI IN ETHIOPIA - (PRINCESS SPARKLE PONY’S PHOTO BLOG: I KEEP TRACK OF PRINCESS CONDOLEEZZA’S HAIRDO SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO, DECEMBER 3): “But, ha ha, the headline for the story says it all: low expectations as Rice heads to Ethiopia to defuse African conflicts. There’s that low expectations thing again! It’s exciting that she’s going to Africa, though. Will there be some fun photo-ops? Will colorful fabrics be involved? Stay tuned!”
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/2007/12/god-rays-await-condi-in-ethiopia.html

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