Free Republic

President George W. Bush is fond of comparing himself to Ronald Reagan. But as he meets with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington this week, his policy regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program looks more like something out of Bill Clinton's or Jimmy Carter's playbook. In dealing with the Soviet Union on arms control, Reagan was famous for repeating the Russian phrase, "Doveryai, no proveryai" (trust, but verify). Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev reportedly once complained to Reagan, "You use that phrase every time we meet." To which Reagan smilingly replied, "That's because I like it so much." This administration...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the appointment of Washington's first-ever special envoy to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference will help to promote principles that Muslims and non-Muslims alike "hold dear," such as human rights, liberty and the rule of law. "These are not American values or Western values," she told OIC ambassadors in Washington on Monday. "They are universal values, values that are lived and practiced by the majority of Muslims in the world, many of whom are citizens of democracies."

I've seen a lot of Condi-bashing on FR, mostly around issues regarding Israel. Condi's a genius, and helped end the cold war. She would be a powerful addition to McCain's ticket, and would bring a lot of people enthusiastically on board to support him. Just thinking about the possibility, charges me up for the first time in weeks. It would be a devastatingly effective ticket, and she would be a perfect VP. Might even drive a GOP sweep. Imagine majorities again...

Gordon Brown today received a personal invitation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. The invitation to the games, which take place in August, came as Mr Brown and his wife Sarah visited the People's University on the outskirts of Beijing on the first day of his official visit to China. Mr Brown and Mr Wen joined a question and answer session with students and watched exhibition matches between young British table tennis hopefuls and their Chinese counterparts. During the session, Mr Brown was asked if he would attend the Beijing games - which London will host...

The Philippine government is drafting a constitutional amendment that would authorize the establishment of a federal homeland for Muslims in the south of the country. The proposed amendment is part of a complex peace process between the government and a major Muslim rebel group. Douglas Bakshian reports from Manila. Last November, an important agreement was reached between the Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The two sides agreed on the size of a proposed homeland for the country's Muslims in the south of the country. This definition of what is called "the territory" is part of...

John Burroughs is executive director of the New York-based Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy...What is needed is not another UN Security Council resolution strengthening existing sanctions. Rather the Bush administration should talk directly with Iran, and soon, because the U.S.-Iran confrontation is heating up dangerously...In a recent interview, Nobel Peace Prize winner ElBaradei said, "We are moving rapidly toward an abyss." It is not too late to step away.

LONDON (Reuters) - Six years after the September 11 attacks, a few cautious voices are beginning to suggest the unthinkable -- maybe it is time to consider talking to al Qaeda. The idea will revolt some people and raises obvious questions -- through what channels could such a dialogue take place and what would there be to negotiate? But proponents say al Qaeda has established itself as a de facto power, whether the West likes it or not, and history shows militant movements are best neutralized by negotiation, not war. "No insurgency or terrorism has been defeated by warfare or...

Baghdad | Talks between the United States and Iran this month will be an opportunity for Tehran to enter a "whole new era" in relations with Iraq, but first it has to stop aiding Iraqi insurgent groups, the U.S. envoy leading the discussions said Thursday. Both Iranian and American officials said Thursday that the talks, beginning May 28 in Baghdad, will be limited to the security situation in Baghdad and will not delve into the diplomatic deadlock between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program.

Edwards: Treaty With Iran Possible Candidate Talking About Nonaggressive Alternatives By TERRY MORAN Feb. 26, 2007 — - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a group of New Hampshire voters Saturday that he would consider pursuing a nonaggression pact between the United States and Iran. Edwards' statement came in answer to a voter's question at a house party in Nashua on Saturday morning. Asked about it later in an interview with ABC News, Edwards confirmed that he views such a treaty -- in which the United States would promise not to attack Iran -- as "a possibility down the road."...

The co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group were at the head of a long table, and James Baker scrunched over as he draped his right arm around Lee Hamilton to underscore a point he was making. The move was prompted by my question about the Bush administration policy of using talks with antagonistic nations to reward behavior, rather as diplomatic tools toward a goal. That means the Bush White House is not willing to engage in direct talks with Syria and Iran to get their help on Iraq. President Bush reaffirmed his position at Thursday's press conference with British Prime...

North Korea's second most powerful leader has said that whether further nuclear tests are carried out depends on US policy, Japanese media report. Kim Yong-nam said the decision depended on how the US treated North Korea, Japan's Kyodo news agency said. He said US policy was also the main factor in determining whether to return to stalled six-party talks. The comments were the first from a senior North Korean official since the country's claimed nuclear test.

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed an emerging Mideast cease-fire deal late Friday, after a day of dramatic day brinksmanship including a threat to expand the ground war in Lebanon. The agreement calls for the deployment of 30,000 Lebanese and U.N. troops along the Israel-Lebanon border. It falls short of some of Israel's demands, including a strong mandate for the U.N. forces to take on Hezbollah guerrillas. However, the draft is the best chance yet for peace after more than four weeks of war that has killed more than 800 people, destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure and inflamed tensions across...

Veteran CBS journalist Mike Wallace described current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an "impressive fellow" following their meeting Tuesday in Tehran. "You'll find him an interesting man," the 88-year-old Wallace said. "I expected more of a firebrand. I don't think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected."

A peace to end all peace Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 26, 2006 David Fromkin's excellent study of the World War I peace settlement's effect on the Middle East was titled A peace to end all peace. That title would be equally apt for a proposal put forth by Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and France for ending the current round of fighting in Lebanon. According to Haaretz, the proposal calls for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire, followed later by implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which mandates Hizbullah's disarmament and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Israel-Lebanon border....

Critics of Britain's involvement in Iraq urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down Saturday after a helicopter crash killed four British soldiers, bringing jubilant Iraqis to the area to celebrate. The ugly confrontation that followed between British troops and Shiite gunmen left five Iraqi civilians dead and was the latest bad news for Blair, whose government has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent weeks. On Thursday, Blair's Labour Party won 26 percent of the vote to the Tories' 40 percent in local council elections. ...[snip] In the latest poll on the war for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, 57...

Adults in the United States remain upset over their country’s involvement in the coalition effort, according to a poll by Hart/McInturff released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. 52 per cent of respondents think removing Saddam Hussein from power was not worth the number of U.S. military casualties and the financial cost of the war. ..[snip]When respondents are informed that the coalition effort has cost an estimated $170 billion U.S.—and reminded that approximately 2,400 American soldiers have died—the level of rejection to the war reaches 56 per cent.

Friday's lead story in America's largest newspaper must have made for sober reading at AEI and the Council on Foreign Relations, the twin dorms that house the Wilsonian wings of our national parties. Americans, it appears, have had a bellyful of interventionism and globaloney. Reporters Susan Page and David Jackson merit quoting at length: "In a USA Today/Gallup Poll, nearly half of those surveyed said the United States 'should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along as best they can on their own.' ... "The leave-us-alone mood is apparent not only in the proportion of Americans,...

An October Surprise? by Patrick J. Buchanan President Bush says Iranians are behind the more lethal IEDs, the roadside bombs killing our troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld warns the Iranian Revolutionary Guard may now be in Iraq. Cheney says Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. McCain says, “the military option is on the table.” And Israel is getting impatient. Writes Yaakov Katz in the March 10 Jerusalem Post, “The United States has until now not done enough to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, a senior Defense Ministry official has told the Jerusalem Post ...” Katz quotes...

EXCLUSIVE BBC Spooked by al-Qaeda MI5 drama ... Shaun Dingwall     By THOMAS WHITAKER and SARA NATHAN BBC bosses are ready to AXE a £1million episode of hit drama Spooks in which an al-Qaeda terrorist is shot dead — in case it upsets Muslims. Filming the assassination plot for the MI5 drama took four weeks. But actor Shaun Dingwall who plays a renegade Christian gunman, fears he could become a target for fundamentalists if the scene is aired. In the episode, due to be shown later this year, a religious nut played by Shaun, 35, guns down the fanatic...

The Region: Appeasement redux Barry Rubin, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 13, 2006 We have come full circle. Here is how the last great historical era began, the one we seem to be starting over afresh. It's January 30, 1933, and here's what the Cleveland Press reports from Washington under the headline, "US Unruffled by Hitler Rise." "High authorities here regard with complacence Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany... They [express] faith that Hitler would act with moderation... Experts based this belief on past events showing that so-called radical groups usually moderated, once in power." The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin stated...

Osama bin Laden's offer of a truce has sunk from sight without leaving a ripple, but it should have made waves. When the audiotaped proposal was made 10 days ago, the White House dismissed it out of hand. That was a politically logical move, given the need to appear tough on terror at all times. An image of strength and determination may be particularly important in the months ahead because Republican Party leaders have put security issues at the heart of their 2006 congressional election campaign strategy. But there are reasons why bin Laden's overture should be carefully weighed and...

Like many, I was tempted to write with outrage about the sellout called compromise by seven Republican senators on the judicial filibuster issue this week. But what the heck. We Republicans have a man in the White House who would do John Wayne and Gary Cooper proud. Most of our Representatives in the House don’t need bloodhounds to find their spines. And Arnold Schwarzenegger, God bless him, is governor of California. We send most of our girlie-men to the Senate - and there’s only seven left there. Time to give thanks for small blessings, I suppose. Here’s a little quiz:...

I would say that pretty much since the bloody and muddy stalemate of WWI, there has been a growing orthodoxy amongst Western opinion leaders that is contra Von Clausewitz. In a nutshell, the orthodox logic goes something like this: 1. The Flanders mud, and the horrors of stalemate trench battles, endless artillery bombardment and chemical warfare, taught us that modern, mass, mechanized, highly destructive warfare is so damaging to civilization that war of any serious magnitude must now be considered uncivilized. 2. The League of Nations was the right idea but the implementation was flawed. 3. The leaders who started...

[O]ne of country's leading military writers, Joseph Galloway, has made up his mind. In his latest column, Galloway, a Knight Ridder columnist formerly embedded in Iraq and many other war zones, sketched out the only three options the country now faces: double the number of forces on the ground to root out the insurgents (but "no one seems prepared to pursue" the major buildup); continue as we are, taking steady casualties as insurgents grow bolder; or "We get out." The path Galloway favors is easy to discern from what follows: "A suggestion in one of my recent columns that we...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE If Western Europeans Could Vote in U.S. Presidential Election, Kerry Would Lead Bush by 6-to-1 Majority: Less than 20 percent of adults in each of five largest countries support Bush Rochester, N.Y. and London – 14 September, 2004 – A new survey by HI Europe conducted in the five largest European countries finds that if Europeans could vote in the U.S. elections, they would currently prefer John Kerry over George W. Bush by a massive 6-to-1 majority. However, the survey also finds that many adults (27%) in these countries are undecided about whom they would vote for....

The Democratic Party has a theme for its 2004 nominating convention, which starts next Monday. It’s not, "From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs." Nor, despite the fact that Ted Kennedy is a featured speaker, is it, "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum." Believe it or not, the slogan with which the party of retreat will try to sell its internationalist nominee is "Stronger At Home, Respected In The World." John Forbes Kerry is going to make America Stronger At Home, Respected In The World? And will Bill Clinton lead a moral revival?...

Both CNN and MSNBC just reported that Dr. Rice will testify under oath in public in front of the 9-11 commission.

9 U.S. Soldiers Die in 7 Separate Incidents in Iraq American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2003 – Nine U.S. service members have died since Oct. 9 in seven separate incidents in Iraq, U.S. Central Command officials said. The incidents are unrelated, and three of the deaths were not combat-related. "It highlights the fact that Iraq remains a dangerous place to work and operate in," said Marine Maj. Pete Mitchell, a U.S. Central Command spokesman. "The significant progress that is being made each day does not come without sacrifice." In the most serious incident, two 1st Armored Division soldiers...

Pedal in Peace announces that SerbianYellowPages has become a upper tier sponsor for the Serbian Cycling Challenge for the Children of Serbia. The initial planning trip to Serbia and Republika Srpska this late spring will be used to scout the road conditions for the tentative course. Meeting some of the children being sponsored, who will be attending the summer camp for Nasa Srbija is to be the highlight for Smajo. Announcements with apprearances at major Serbian functions in the United States and Canada throughout the summer will appear on the official site of Pedal in Peace. Stay tuned for Smajo's...

While most are aware by now that President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will confer Sunday in the Azores, it seems just as many do not realize the weight of this meeting. This truly is a “war council”...

PEACE IN MIDDLE EARTH IN OUR TIME MINAS TIRITH (Gondor News Network) - Thousands of peace activists took to the streets of Minas Tirith and other cities of Middle Earth today to protest what they termed a rush to war with Mordor. "We need more time for diplomacy," said a key member of the Middle-Earth Security Council, Saruman the White. "I am not convinced by the evidence presented by my esteemed colleague, Gandalf the Grey, or that the Dark Lord Sauron presents an imminent danger to the peoples of the West." Many of the people protesting war in Mordor agreed...