Think Progress

Under the Radar

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -- RICE PRESSURES ISRAEL TO REJECT 'EXPLORATORY CONTACTS' WITH SYRIA: Today, Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo points to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that reports, "The United States demanded that Israel desist from even exploratory contacts with Syria, of the sort that would test whether Damascus is serious in its declared intentions to hold peace talks with Israel." "In meetings with Israeli officials recently," the paper reports, "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forceful in expressing Washington's view on the matter." "The American argument is that even 'exploratory talks' would be considered a prize in Damascus, whose policy and actions continue to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and the functioning of its government, while it also continues to stir unrest in Iraq, to the detriment of the U.S. presence there." "When Israeli officials asked Secretary Rice about the possibility of exploring the seriousness of Syria in its calls for peace talks, her response was unequivocal: Don't even think about it." As Rice pressures other governments to reject direct talks with Syria, the Bush administration continues to oppose future U.S.-Syria talks because, as Rice puts it, "We've generally gotten nowhere" with previous attempts at diplomacy. But former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who supports direct talks with both Syria and Iran, recently rejected the White House’s excuse. “I don’t like the administration saying, ‘Powell went, Armitage went �€? and [they] got nothing.’ We got plenty,” he said. “You can’t negotiate when you tell the other side, ‘Give us what a negotiation would produce before the negotiations start.'" The Iraq Study Group has called for direct talks because  "Syria can make a major contribution to Iraq’s stability in several ways."

ECONOMY --  RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS LIVING IN SEVERE POVERTY: America's poor have yet to reap the benefits of the recent economic expansion as the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" "continues to wide." In an analysis of 2005 census figures, McClatchy newspapers found that "nearly 16 million Americans are living near deep or severe poverty," a 32-year high. The analysis revealed that from 2000 to 2005, the number of severely poor swelled by 26 percent -- the highest growth rate for any other segment of the population. Steven Woolf, co-author of the study, said the results were the opposite of what his team expected. "We're not seeing as much moderate poverty as a proportion of the population," he explained. "What we're seeing is a dramatic growth of severe poverty." The results show a stark rise in income inequality in the United States, as "the share of national income going to corporate profits has has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries." Washington, D.C. has the highest rate of people living in extreme poverty -- 10.8 percent. The long-term effects of more children growing up in this poverty will be widespread, explains the Center for American Progress, including increased crime rates and health care costs. With such high levels of poverty, the need to invest in resources to reduce poverty such as early childhood education, urban revitalization, and raising the minimum wage, is more crucial than ever.

IRAQ -- CHALABI MAKES POLITICAL COMEBACK IN IRAQ, OVERSEES ESCALATION STRATEGY: The Wall Street Journal reports, "In his latest remarkable political reincarnation, onetime U.S. favorite Ahmed Chalabi has secured a position inside the Iraqi government that could help determine whether the Bush administration's new push to secure Baghdad succeeds." The vaguely defined position will allow Chalabi to serve "as an intermediary between Baghdad residents and the Iraqi and U.S. security forces mounting an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign across the city." Created by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the position "is meant to help Iraqis arrange reimbursement for damage to their cars and homes caused by the security sweeps in the hope of maintaining public support for the strategy." Chalabi has had a sordid history with the U.S. involvement in Iraq. He was paid by administration intelligence agencies to provide evidence for the Iraq war, nearly all of which turned out to be false. Among Chalabi's questionable activities, he provided dubious Iraqi sources to the administration in the run-up to the war, he helped plant fabricated news stories about Iraq's weapons, and he was accused of passing U.S. secrets to Iran. In the Dec. 2005 Iraqi elections, Chalabi's political party failed to win a single parliamentary seat. He has remained, however, "an active behind-the-scenes player in Iraq's chaotic political scene." A senior American official said, "The question is whether he is really doing this to help, or whether he's trying to build himself a new political base in Baghdad or carry water for the Shiites. And we simply don't know the answer to that yet."

Think Fast

“Iraq may be facing a deadly civil war, but the Iraqi government is initiating major, costly repairs to its diplomatic building in Washington and expanding its real estate holdings here.” The Iraqi government recently purchased a $5.8 million mansion complete with “heated floorsâ€?and spacious bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi.”

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday “declared himself at odds with hawks in the US Administration” over Iran. He told BBC News, “I can’t think that it would be right to take military action against Iran. â€? What is important is to pursue the political, diplomatic channel.”

The White House yesterday announced “plans to replace the assistant defense secretary for health affairs” — William Winkenwerder — “two days after a review was ordered into outpatient care for wounded troops.” The Pentagon claimed the announcement had “no bearing on current events whatsoever.”

Day two of jury deliberations in the Scooter Libby trial produced no verdict. Yesterday, the jury of eight women and four men “requested a large flip chart, masking tape, Post-it notes and a document with pictures of the witnesses.” 

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq. “This is exactly what he shouldn’t be doing and what the [Bank] board was initially afraid that he would do, which is to use the financial resources of the World Bank to take some of the heat off the U.S. Treasury and U.S. policy,” said Bea Edwards of the Government Accountability Project.

“Ballot initiatives for increasing the minimum wage boosted voter motivation in five targeted states in 2006,” a new study shows. Voter motivation and reported interest in the election was “disproportionately high” among African-Americans, unmarried voters and women.

Parents have complained after ninth graders at a North Carolina school were given anti-Muslim literature in class. The handouts described Mohammed as a “criminal” and “demon possessed,” and included pamphlets with titles such as “Jesus not Muhammad” and “Do Not Marry a Muslim Man.”

And finally: “The tables will turn on Justice Stephen Breyer next month, when instead of posing obscure questions at Supreme Court arguments, he’ll be answering them - with no clerks to help on research.” In an apparent first, Breyer will appear on a quiz show, as the celebrity guest on the March 17 installment of NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!”