News and Analysis (11/2/09)

Though unwilling to “to risk more lives for an election with only one candidate,” US officials press for Abdullah’s role in the government …

• Afghan President Appears to Win by Default; U.S. Pushes to Cancel Runoff Vote (LA Times)

… Meanwhile, the US mulls over strategies to back the politically weak Karzai:

• With Karzai, U.S. Faces Weak Partner in Time of War (NY Times)

With Netanyahu refusing the “green line” that marked the extent of Israeli expansion before the 1967 war as the border,

• Jordan Valley May Be Hurdle in Peace Talks (Washington Post)

As Secretary Clinton and Ahmadinejad continue to play politics…

• Iran’s Ahmadinejad Compares West to a ‘Mosquito’ (Christian Science Monitor)

… Iran affirms it has not rejected the U.N.-backed plan and will call a technical plan to review it:

• Iran Wants Review of Nuclear Plan (LA Times)

“Disclosures increasingly put the core of potentially criminal conduct relating to torture … with senior figures then at the Justice Department who were busily hushing everything up.”–Scot Horton:

• FBI Documents Reveal Secret CIA Prisoners ‘Manacled to the Ceiling’ (Rawstory)

Earthquake fears leave Iran to vote to abandon Tehran, the political, social, economic and cultural center since 1795:

• Tehran Set to Lose Status as Iran Capital (Guardian)

Imran

Minaret of Freedom Institute Program Assistant