Beijing | November 6

Al Jazeera - China has described as protectionist new US anti-dumping duties on steel pipes and demanded Washington's recognition that it is a market economy.

The reaction came a day after the US imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties ranging up to 99 per cent on $2.63bn in Chinese-made pipes used in the oil and gas industry.

Nov 5

BBC - Colombian opposition groups have reacted angrily after details of a controversial military deal with the US were made public.

Under the 10-year deal, the US military will not only have access to military bases, but also be able to use major international civilian airports.

US personnel and defence contractors will also enjoy diplomatic immunity.

President Alvaro Uribe says the agreement will help rid Colombia of drugs gangs and left-wing rebel groups.

But leading opposition senator Gustavo Petro, of the left-wing PDA party, said the deal amounted to a virtual US occupation of Colombia.

The accord was signed last Friday but full details were only made public on Tuesday.

Milan | Nov 4

Reuters - An Italian judge sentenced 23 former CIA agents to up to eight years in prison on Wednesday for the abduction of a Muslim cleric in a landmark ruling against the "rendition" flights used by the former U.S. government.

Judge Oscar Magi dropped the case against another three American defendants and the ex-head of the Italy's Sismi military intelligence service, Nicolo Pollari, as well as his former deputy.

Seoul | Nov 4

AFP - The United States and North Korea have agreed to hold two rounds of bilateral meetings before the North returns to multilateral nuclear disarmament talks, a US news report said.

The agreement was reached at last month's meetings in New York and San Diego between officials from the two sides, Foreign Policy magazine said on its website, in a report seen Wednesday.

The communist state, putting further pressure on the United States to start direct talks, announced Tuesday it has completed reprocessing spent fuel rods to produce more plutonium for its atomic weapons programme.

The US State Department responded that the plutonium production "runs counter" to the North's disarmament commitments and violates UN Security Council resolutions.

It said it has not decided when and where to hold bilateral talks involving the US special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth.

Tehran | Nov 4

AFP - Thousands of Iranians staged a noisy anti-US rally in central Tehran Wednesday to mark the storming of the American embassy by students 30 years ago, as police and opposition supporters clashed violently nearby.

US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, said in a statement marking the anniversary of the event that sparked decades of hostility between America and Iran that the Islamic republic "must choose" now whether to open the door to opportunity and prosperity.

Huge crowds from early morning descended on the former US embassy complex in central Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Spies", chanting slogans such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," witnesses said.

They also smashed up posters they had brought with them of the American "Uncle Sam" symbol and chanted "The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader" – a reference to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

_{** Unfaded memories: 444 days of captivity
** Iran's anti-government protesters clash with security forces
** Iran's anti-US protests could turn on Ahmadinejad
** Obama notes 30th anniversary of US Embassy takeover in Tehran, asks Iran to move beyond it}

Last week the Washington Post printed two letters from different sources who had spent time on the ground in Afghanistan that came to very different conclusions about the American presence there.

First, there is the letter from Matthew Hoh, the former Marine captain who had fought in Iraq and had recently taken a temporary foreign service assignment in Zabul province. One State department official referred to this area as, “one of the five or six provinces always vying for the most difficult and neglected.” Hoh had developed great misgivings about the war and had become so disillusioned that he chose to resign. Hoh wote in his resignation letter,

Nov 3

BBC - Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and deputy Scot Marciel hope to hold talks with the ruling junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr Campbell, the top US diplomat for East Asia, is the highest ranking US official to visit Burma since 1995.

The visit is being seen as the latest move by President Barack Obama's administration to find ways to engage with the military regime.

The US diplomats are unlikely to see the reclusive chief of the junta, Than Shwe, but will instead meet Prime Minister Thein Sein in the remote jungle capital of Naypyidaw on Tuesday, according to Burmese officials.

They will then travel to Rangoon on Wednesday to meet Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was extended by 18 months this year, provoking international outrage.

Ottawa | Nov 2

AFP - Canadians are no more loving of the United States under its current leadership than during George W. Bush's presidency, suggested a poll published Monday.

But they do like President Barack Obama a whole lot more than his predecessor, said the Historica Dominion Institute survey of 1,018 Canadians.

Obama was viewed favorably by 86 percent of respondents, compared to only 21 percent for Bush in 2005.

"What's striking about these findings is how Canadians have detached their personal view of Barack Obama, whom they quite like and respect, from the United States, which they still view with skepticism, even distrust," said Andrew Cohen, president of the institute.

Compared to results of a similar poll taken four years ago, Canadians have a marginally improved view of Americans as individual people, with 71 percent expressing a favorable view in 2009 versus 68 percent in 2005.

Canadians were split as to whether the United States is now "a force for good in the world." Forty-four percent agreed while 46 percent disagreed. This question was not asked in 2005.

THE DEPROLIFERATOR -- Sometimes it seems as if neither the United States nor Russia got the message that the Cold War ended almost two decades ago. Last week I wrote about the Dooomsday Device, a back-up defense system that Russia developed in the 80s. In the aftermath of a nuclear attack, it ensures that, even if no civilian and military leaders are still around to issue the command, a retaliatory nuclear attack will still be launched. Depending on your point of view, it's either the ultimate in deterrence or the most senseless act of revenge ever.

Karen DeYoung and Howard Schneider | Jerusalem | Nov 1

WaPo - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had offered "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction in an effort to restart peace talks, a departure from the administration's earlier criticism of Israel and a possible signal of impatience with the refusal of Palestinian leaders to join negotiations.

At the start of a day of diplomacy that stretched from Abu Dhabi to Jerusalem, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel's latest offer, relayed by Clinton, to curb most West Bank construction.

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the plan would have excluded about 3,000 Israeli housing units under construction and would not have applied to East Jerusalem -- thus falling well short of what has become a firm Palestinian demand for resuming direct talks with Israel.

"The U.S. said that is the best they can get" from Netanyahu, even though the Obama administration considers settlements 'illegal and illegitimate,' " Erekat said. The Palestinians will not accept a resumption of talks on that basis, he said.

Unprecedented would be Clinton expecting and demanding Israel to follow UN resolutions. The best they can get? I bet cutting defense aid might turn some heads. And this should go over real well:

AFP - Israel's premier savoured a victory on Sunday after Washington hailed his "unprecedented" position on settlements and backed his call for peace talks to resume without the construction freeze sought by the Palestinians.

"There is no question that the United States are our staunchest friends and that Israel's firm stance on its positions pays off," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon happily told public radio on Sunday.

Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting, Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz proclaimed: "The US administration understands what we have always said -- that the real obstacle to negotiations are the Palestinians."

This is not good:

Palestinians expressed deep disappointment and frustration at Clinton's words, which signaled a departure from past U.S. calls for a complete freeze on settlement activity.

"If America cannot get Israel to implement a settlement freeze, what chance do Palestinians have of reaching agreement with Israel on permanent status issues?" Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

Similar sentiments were voiced by Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab countries to have peace agreements with Israel. The two countries said most of the blame lay with Israel, but signaled their unhappiness with the American shift.

Jordan's King Abdullah II traveled to Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After the meeting, a royal palace statement released in Jordan said both leaders "insisted on the need for an immediate halt of all Israeli unilateral actions, which undermine the chances of achieving peace, especially the settlement construction."

Nov 2/Reuters - The Arab League chief said Arab states shared the Palestinian position that resuming negotiations was futile without a freeze on settlement expansion.

"I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed ... with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done," Moussa(Arab League Secretary-General) told reporters.

** Abbas spokesman: Netanyahu has more influence in US than in Israel
** Palestinians accuse Clinton of hurting peace talks
** Clinton: Mideast Talks Should Resume Without Preconditions
** Bibi to Palestinians: ‘Get a grip’

Garance Franke-Ruta | Washington | October 30

WaPo - President Obama called the 22-year ban on travel and immigration by HIV-positive individuals a decision "rooted in fear rather than fact" and announced the end of the rule-making process lifting the ban.

The president signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 at the White House Friday and also spoke of the new rules, which have been under development more more than a year. "We are finishing the job," the president said.

The regulations are the final procedural step in ending the ban, and will be published Monday in the Federal Register, to be followed by the standard 60-day waiting period prior to implementation.

Washington | Oct 27/Updated

DPA - Colombia and the United States are planning to sign 'at the end of the week' a controversial military deal, Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said Tuesday in Washington.

The deal whereby Colombia is set to allow the United States use of seven military bases on Colombian soil was announced this summer, although it has yet to be signed by Washington and Bogota.

The US-Colombian plan has drawn sharp criticism from Latin American leaders who worry that the US presence could threaten the sovereignty of neighbouring countries and promote meddling in internal affairs.

Bogota and Washington have insisted that the bases will be used only to combat drug-trafficking and terrorism within Colombia's borders

** Colombia counters critics over U.S. bases row ~ UPI
** A Summer Fling in South America: US Bases and a Weapons Race?(PDF) ~ISN
** Colombian Government Irked Judicial Opinion on Base Deal Was Leaked ~ Latin American herald Tribune
** Colombia: Trusted American Ally? ~ DCProgressive
** U.S. Aid Must Leverage Reforms, Rights Groups Urge ~ IPS

UPDATE OCT 30: Colombia, U.S. sign military base deal: U.S. official

Ilene R. Prusher | Jerusalem | Oct 29

CSM - J Street challenges the dominant role AIPAC has played in defining how US Jews see Israel. Why is a prominent Israeli politician not attending J Street's national conference in Washington this week?.

Since the 1950s the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been the mainstream voice of the Jewish-American community and its efforts to strengthen support for Israel in Washington.

Along comes J Street, a young upstart founded last year, in part as an answer to AIPAC – perceived by many progressive American Jews to have a clear right-wing tilt, and hardly representative of those want to see a much more aggressive push towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

J Street, in the thick of its first national conference in Washington that began Sunday and concludes Wednesday, has attracted 1,500 attendees – above and beyond what its organizers expected. Perhaps more interestingly, it has attracted the attention of the highest levels of government and diplomacy, and has the blogosphere buzzing about what it all means for the future of US-Israel relations.

National Security Adviser General James Jones, one of the most senior US officials to address the conference, told J Street participants Tuesday that the Obama administration believes that "Israeli security and peace are inseparable." But what's been particularly noticeable is who among beltway powerbrokers is not making his way over to the conference at the Grand Hyatt. Missing is Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the US appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Robin Forestier-Walker | Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | Oct 28

CSM -

Turkmenistan has prevented dozens of students from travelling abroad to study at a US-sponsored university, and has harassed some that have come home.

The United States has in recent months sought to improve relations with Turkmenistan, the secretive former Soviet possession that is home to rich oil and gas deposits and straddles a strategically vital central Asian location, sharing borders with both Iran and Afghanistan.

But those efforts are being complicated by a government campaign against students seeking to study at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Some students have been barred from travelling abroad to the school and others have been subject to surveillance and harassment when they come home.

Frances Robles | Oct 29

Miami Herald - U.N. again condemns U.S. embargo of Cuba - The vote was 187-3, with two abstentions, as the United Nations once again denounced the U.S. embargo of Cuba.

The United States found itself up against virtually the entire world Wednesday as country after country at the United Nations denounced the nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, which the island government says is as strong as ever under President Barack Obama.

It was the 18th time the U.N. General Assembly voted to condemn the embargo, and the first time since Obama took office in January. In a near unanimous vote -- 187 to 3 -- the only nations to side with the United States were Israel and Palau, a country of 21,000 people in the Pacific.

Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.

``Regrettably, the government of Cuba has not yet reciprocated these important steps taken by my government,'' she said, adding that Washington has the sovereign right to conduct economic relationships how it ``sees fit.'' - (Ambassador Susan Rice)

Lifting the embargo would require an act of Congress, but Obama has the right to issue licenses that would chip away at it.

``The United States is standing on principle,'' said the University of Miami's Jaime Suchlicki. ``We cannot have a policy that stands for democracy, human rights and elections and then suddenly lift the embargo and get friendly with Cuba. It would be a major contradiction.''

* Document: Cuban government's report to the United Nations about the effects of the embargo

Hmm democracy, human rights and elections? Lets talk Colombia sanctions!

Trey Treviño | Oct 29 | smudailycampus.com

I was browsing through Google News when I came across an article about how the United States is sending three officials to Honduras to facilitate negotiations with the recently ousted president, Manuel Zelaya-who still has a significant portion of public support-and the new leader, Roberto Micheletti.

Apparently, tensions are reaching a fever pitch, and Honduras has been temporarily suspended from the Organization of American States until the crisis is under control.

The first thing that popped into my head when I read this story was: Why the hell are we wasting manpower on Honduras of all places?

Unlike the Middle East, Honduras has no oil, so why should our government actually care what's going on over there? A genuine desire to help impoverished nations, you say? To which I respond: There have been many impoverished nations and many countries which have suffered greater problems than Honduras (Rwanda, Uganda, Europe before Pearl Harbor). We didn't so much as lift a finger for them for the simple reason that they had absolutely nothing of value to offer us.

I'm not necessarily saying that we are an incredibly selfish and self-centered country. We are, however, certainly a pragmatic one. We, as a country, have established a long and cultured tradition of never rendering assistance unless it benefits us in some way.

There are countless dictators all over the world towards whom we turn a blind eye. Do we really care about making the world a better place? Well, what would the point of that be if there was no monetary gain? Perhaps we want other countries to like us? Nah; we have Israel on our side, so we're good.

So there I was, reading the news, wondering what the gain of intervention could possibly be, when I stumbled upon a little factoid: Honduras is the second largest producer of coffee in all of Central America.

Suddenly, it was clear: We did have something to gain, for until this "crisis" is resolved, we lose easy access to a ready supply of coffee, that special concoction that a majority of the population depends upon to function. And that's why we're sending help.

But coffee still isn't as important as oil, so we're only sending three officials, and not the entire god damn army.

With the possible exception of Georgia-US-Russia, no US relationship in the former Soviet region is more fraught today than the US-Russia-Ukraine triangle. At a time when Washington and Moscow have variously committed to a relationship reset, a new operating system, and a rerun of the Clinton-Yeltsin strategic partnership, it is disappointing how little substance has followed rhetoric. Meanwhile, Central and Eastern Europe are still reeling from the US Administration’s abrupt and ill-timed reversal on missile defense deployment, and Team Obama is eager for opportunities to demonstrate its commitment to the new Europe, which received no shortage of love from the Bush Administration.

If you start a war, we may die but the rockets will fly automatically.

Thus spake the man who was profiled in William Taubman's masterwork Khrushchev: The Man and His Era. The Russian premier was addressing U.S. diplomat Averell Harriman, who sought to prepare the way for the Russian premier to make his contentious 1959 visit to the United States. What exactly did Khrushchev mean by "automatically"? After all, computers were still in their infancy.

Ever hear of the Doomsday Machine? The godfather of nuclear strategy, Herman Kahn, provided an example of one in his book On Thermonuclear War:

The device is. . . connected to a computer which is in turn connected. . . to hundreds of sensory devices all over the United States. The computer would then be programmed so that if, say, five nuclear bombs exploded over the United States, the device would be triggered [by the sensory devices] and the earth destroyed. [It] would seem to be the "ideal" Type I Deterrent.

By adding quotes to "ideal," at least Kahn acknowledged the absurdity of what he suggested. "If Khrushchev should order an attack," he added, "both Khrushchev and the Soviet population would be automatically and efficiently annihilated."

Robert Barnes | Washington | October 21

WaPo - Justices to consider whether judges can release them into U.S.

The Supreme Court set aside the objections of the Obama administration and said Tuesday that it will consider whether judges have the power to release Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States if they have been deemed not to be "enemy combatants."

The case, involving a group of Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, again thrusts the court into the jangle of policy decisions and constitutional principles involving the approximately 220 men still held at the base in Cuba. And the court's decision to hear it could further complicate plans to close the military prison in January, a deadline the Obama administration recently said it might be unable to meet.

Last year, the court ruled 5 to 4 that a Guantanamo detainee had the right to prove to a federal judge that he was being unlawfully held as an enemy combatant. The current case is a logical next step, determining what powers a judge has to release such a person, especially when sending him back to his home country is not an option.

David Ljunggren | Ottawa | October 20

Reuters - The splits inside NATO over the Afghan war have turned the alliance into a rotting corpse that will be virtually impossible to revive, says the former head of Canada's armed forces.

General Rick Hillier also said the 28-member alliance was "dominated by jealousies and small, vicious political battles" and bemoaned its "lack of cohesion, clarity and professionalism" at the start of the Afghan mission.

Hillier made the angry comments in a new book called "A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War", which was purchased by Reuters on Tuesday ahead of its scheduled publication date next week. Hiller stepped down as chief of the defense staff last year.

Former Canadian Chief of the Defense Staff has this to say in his forthcoming book, "A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War:"

Afghanistan has revealed that NATO has reached the stage where it is a corpse decomposing and somebody's going to have to perform a Frankenstein-like life-giving act by breathing some lifesaving air through those rotten lips into those putrescent lungs or the alliance will be done.

Now, I'm not surprised to hear someone say this. I've been saying for years now--at least six--that the defensive alliance part of NATO has long been dead. There are a lot of reasons for this, but it's been clear for quite some time that NATO has become just like the Concert of Europe, by inviting too many members into the club, it was watered down in post-Napoleonic Europe and NATO has duplicated the same process. A new order isn't really in the offing as of yet and the current state of affairs will continue, as the collapse of Concert of Europe did, for a great deal of time. What arises in its aftermath is anyone's guess.

One last note: the idea that the Ukraine or Georgia will ever be a part of an effective defensive alliance with the US is laughable as well.

Martin Mittelstaedt | Oct 18

Globe and Mail - Embassy in Washington asks agency to alter plan that would force lake freighters to stop burning dirty bunker fuel

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tough new measures to reduce the health toll from air pollution around the Great Lakes by forcing lake freighters to stop burning dirty bunker fuel.

But the plan has an unusual opponent: The Canadian embassy in Washington has quietly asked the EPA to weaken the measures, arguing that they could harm trade. It wants ships to be allowed to continue using the high-polluting fuel and to instead install smokestack scrubbers that would clean up their emissions. The Canadian recommendation, if accepted, could delay the clean-air measure for years, because the technology for the scrubbers does not yet exist.

The embassy asked the EPA to make the changes in a letter last month, marking a rare instance in which Canada has lobbied the United States to weaken air-pollution controls designed to reduce health problems linked to breathing dirty air. Because winds carry contaminants back and forth across both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, the EPA proposal would also lead to air-quality improvements in Canada.

The Canadian position is supported by the Great Lakes shipping industry, which is warning that the costs of complying with the proposed environmental regulations are so high that they will force companies to scrap some of the iconic steamers that now ply the lakes carrying everything from salt to iron ore.

Nathan Hodge | Washington | October 13

Wired - For several years, the U.S. military has been working on a 30,000-pound superbomb that can penetrate and destroy what the military calls “hardened targets“: Command bunkers or WMD facilities shielded by concrete and buried deep underground.

Now it looks as if the Pentagon is speeding delivery of the bomb, formally known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP. The Associated Press’ Anne Gearan reports today that the Defense Department awarded a contract worth around $52 million to speed up integration of the bomb aboard the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. According to the story, the MOP could be ready for B-2 delivery as early as next summer.

Gareth Jones | Warsaw | Oct 16

Reuters - A senior U.S. official told Poland on Friday it could be one of the sites for interceptors envisaged under President Barack Obama's revised plans for missile defence in Europe.

Poland and the Czech Republic are still smarting from Obama's decision to shelve a Bush-era plan to install elements of a missile shield on their territory to protect against possible long-range missile attacks by Iran.

Under the new project, Washington will first deploy sea-based interceptors and then in a second phase deploy land-based systems involving SM-3 interceptors targeting short and medium-range missiles.

"Poland could host one of two land-based SM-3 sites, with of course the agreement of the Polish government," U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told reporters.

** Ukraine in talks to host part of US missile shield: report
** Ukrainian Envoy, Pentagon Deny U.S.-Kyiv Talks On Missile Defense

Tony Capaccio | Washington | October 15

Bloomberg - The Pentagon is reviewing the Bush administration’s doctrine of preemptive military strikes with an eye to modifying or possibly ending it.

The international environment is “more complex” than when President George W. Bush announced the policy in 2002, Kathleen Hicks, the Defense Department’s deputy undersecretary for strategy, said in an interview. “We’d really like to update our use-of-force doctrine to start to take account for that.”