Russian nuclear compromise with Iran stalls

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

February 21, 2006

MOSCOW – A Russian effort to forge a compromise over Iran's nuclear program stalled yesterday after five hours of talks in the Kremlin ended inconclusively. Negotiators for both countries agreed to hold new talks but did not announce when or where.

The discussions, already delayed several days, focused on Russia's offer to set up a joint venture to enrich uranium in Russia for Iran's nuclear fuel.

Officials played down the prospects of agreement before a March 6 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency about whether Iran's nuclear program should be forwarded to the U.N. Security Council for possible punitive action.

In Brussels, Belgium, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told European officials that regardless of Russia's proposal, Iran would continue its nuclear research, which many suspect is intended to develop nuclear weapons.

OK, some one is going to point out that the Dept. of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard will still be handling security. But there are three layers here, and one is going to be managed by a foreign company directly owned by a foreign government. It was bad enough they previously gave a foreign private company the contract, my question is, why didn't they give it to an American company. This whole thing smells of more Bush rotten fish.

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February 21, 2006

"Imposter"

The most puzzling aspect of President Bush's support is that many fiscal conservatives seem to overlook his oversight of the federal budget.

Now, in a scathing book, one of his earliest supporters says Bush betrayed the Reagan legacy while bankrupting the country.

"Imposter" by Bruce Bartlett is probably worth a read if only for the fact that he worked in both the Reagan and Bush White Houses and helped formulate the current President Bush's tax cuts in 2001.
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From a Publisher's Weekly review: "Bartlett's attack boils down to one key premise: Bush is a shallow opportunist who has cast aside the principles of the 'Reagan Revolution' for short-term political gains that may wind up hurting the American economy as badly as, if not worse than, Nixon's did."

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Cry Wolf....... (....or cry veto)

Yesterday, in defending his port deal with the United Arab Emirates, the president was unequivocal.


"They ought to listen to what I have to say about this. They ought to look at the facts, and understand the consequences of what they're going to do. But if they pass a law, I'll deal with it, with a veto."

Later, in the same press briefing, Bush said, in a matter-of-fact way, that the veto is just "one of the tools the President has to indicate to the legislative branch his intentions."

He added, "I say veto, by the way, quite frequently in messages to Congress."

And therein lies the problem, it's worth remembering that Bush does throw the V-word around "quite frequently," but never shows any follow through. Bush is already the first president in 176 years to serve a full term without exercising this power, and he's on track to be the first since Thomas Jefferson to serve two full terms without vetoing a single thing.

There have been an overabundance of veto threats, but since the president doesn't appear to stand behind his ultimatums, no one seems to take the threats seriously.

Last fall, for example, Bush said, in no uncertain terms, that he'd veto a defense appropriations bill that prohibited prisoner abuse. Immediately thereafter, the Senate voted 90-9 to do it anyway, calling Bush's bluff. It worked — Bush backed down.

(Though he later issued a signing statement indicating he reserves the right to ignore Congress on the issue. ----ignore Congress?----It's the dictator thing, stupid....)

It's become something of a pattern — Bush makes a veto threat, Congress ignores him.

In the 2000 campaign, Bush pledged to veto a McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill. Congress passed it anyway and the president signed it. More recently, Bush said he'd veto any highway bill that exceeded $256 billion. Congressional Republicans passed a $286 billion bill and Bush effectively said, "Close enough, and signed it.

And now that Congress is threatening to pass legislation to block the port deal with the UAE, Bush is once again vowing a veto.

A few things to consider:

Congress sees which way the winds are blowing and recognizes public concerns about the deal. The chances of lawmakers backing down now, in an election year, are slim.

Does Bush really want his first-ever veto to be about foreign management of key domestic ports?

At this point, based on public comments, there will probably be more than enough votes to override Bush's veto, if it comes to that. It would be humiliating for the White House and make the "lame duck" label hard to avoid

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Iran-Russia talks on uranium falter

THE WASHINGTON POST

February 22, 2006

MOSCOW – Iran continued yesterday to parry a Russian proposal to enrich uranium on Russian soil for Iran's nuclear energy program, putting off any move to finalize a deal because Tehran has no real incentive to bend yet, diplomats and Russian analysts said.

Instead, Iranian negotiators are probing for divisions within the informal coalition of Russia, China, the United States and the European Union. The coalition is opposed to Iran developing an energy program that could be used to produce nuclear weapons, the analysts said.

The Iranian delegation left Moscow yesterday after two days of inconclusive talks at the Kremlin. The head of the delegation, Ali Hosseinitash, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, described the discussions as “positive and constructive.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised remarks, “I think it is too early to speak of either failure or success.” The talks are scheduled to continue this week in Tehran.

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nyah nyah nyah NYAH nyah!!

Not six ports, ......it's 21 ports.....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A United Arab Emirates government-owned company is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported.



The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved the deal on January 17.

The same day, the White House appointed a DP World executive to be the administrator for the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation.

Feelin' safer with each passing day........

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The U.S. holds about 490 'secret' prisoners at Guantanamo on 'suspicion'.

That's illegal.........

Despite US law, the military has continually refused to identify those not charged.

All but 10 of those 490 prisoners have been held without charges, most since the detention center opened four years ago.

The military has never officially released the names of any detainees except the 10 who have been charged.

......

A federal judge ordered the Pentagon on Thursday to release the identities.

The Defense Department said it would obey the judge's order.

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Americans polled say Iran worst U.S. enemy

By George Gedda
ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 25, 2006

WASHINGTON – Iran has become the country Americans consider to be their greatest enemy, according to a Gallup Poll.

Almost nine in 10 viewed Canada as “very favorable” or “mostly favorable,” with Great Britain getting about the same rating.

Almost eight in 10 felt that way about Japan and Germany; almost seven in 10 felt that way about Israel, Taiwan, the Philippines, India and Mexico. France rebounded to a 54 percent favorable rating compared with 34 percent in 2003, when it challenged President Bush's Iraq policy.

Thirty-one percent of Americans gave the nod to Iran as the worst enemy in polling of 1,002 adults between Feb. 6-9. This represented an increase from 14 percent last year, and appeared to reflect U.S. concern over the potential for the Islamic republic to acquire nuclear weapons.

Twenty-two percent listed Iraq as the worst enemy, the same total as a year ago. Although Iraq has a U.S.-backed government, anti-Americanism in the country is widespread, demonstrated by insurgent attacks against U.S. troops.

Fifteen percent said North Korea was the United States' greatest enemy.

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