Viewed as a “constructive beginning”, does the quick start to negotiations indicate a major paradigm shift in American and/or Iranian foreign policy?
- Iran, Major Powers Reach Agreement On Series of Points (Washington Post)
While taking exception to the implications of moral equivalence between the occupation and resistance to it, prime ministerial adviser Ahmad Yousef’s explanation of Hamas’s response to accusations against it is in stark contrast to Netenyahu’s veto of any investigation …
… and has released the promised video documenting the condition of an Israeli prisoner of war:
… Meanwhile, the PLO has stalled its efforts pressing for a vote on Goldstone’s report under the implicit understanding such action would derail any peace negotiations with Israel …
- Vote on Gaza Report Deferred (Al Jazeera)
“The birth of the State of Law coalition ‘represents a historic milestone and development in establishing a modern Iraq built on peaceful, nationalist principles’” – Maliki
- Maliki Presents his Own Electoral Bloc (LA Times)
Despite McCrystal’s insistence that only a troop surge will provide victory, Obama seems to be leaning towards alternative strategies:
- White House Eyeing Narrower War Effort (Washington Post)
Although the authenticity of the video cannot be confirmed, the poorly trained and underfunded security forces have a history of accusations of abuse:
- Video Shows ‘Pakistan Army Abuse’ (Al Jazeera)
Maliki presents his own electoral bloc
The Iraqi prime minister introduces a coalition of religious, secular and tribal parties for parliamentary elections this winter. The move puts him at odds with Shiites who were once his allies.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki addresses members of his bloc at its Baghdad unveiling. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images / October 1, 2009) |
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Reporting from Baghdad – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Thursday unveiled a coalition of religious, secular and tribal parties that will run in parliamentary elections this winter, putting himself in competition with a faction of fellow Shiite Muslims who were once his allies.
The split between Maliki’s Islamic Dawa Party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC, was unthinkable four years ago. At that time, the country’s Shiite religious majority stood united in a bid to solidify its control of Iraq after years of suffering under the Sunni-dominated regime of the late dictator Saddam Hussein.
Both Maliki and his rivals in SIIC are seeking to portray their movements as nationalist and not defined by the sectarian politics that previously dragged the country to the brink of collapse.
The birth of the State of Law coalition “represents a historic milestone and development in establishing a modern Iraq built on peaceful, nationalist principles,” Maliki
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