INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Bush Returns With Little To Show

Winding up a five-day trip to the Middle East, President Bush delivered a speech on Sunday to the World Economic Forum, hosted by the Egyptian government at the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. Exhorting Middle East leaders to open up their political and economic systems, Bush said, "Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail." He added, "The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve." While the speech was a strident defense of liberal democratic ideas, in the seven years of his presidency, Bush has not shown any good strategy for encouraging them abroad. With Hamas in control of Gaza and surging in the West Bank, Hezbollah now dominant in Lebanon, and Iraq still mired in chaotic violence, most of the Middle East is further away today from the goal of political and economic reform than when George W. Bush originally unveiled his "democracy agenda" early in his presidency. According to a Freedom House report from last year, the march of democracy has stalled not only in the Middle East, but all over the world.

AN UNPRECEDENTED POLITICAL ATTACK: While in Israel to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Jewish State, Bush used his speech before the Israeli Knesset to attack his domestic political opponents. Condemning those who advocate "negotiation" with America's enemies, Bush claimed, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement." Many American legislators expressed shock and disgust at the President's comments. Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) called the speech "raw politics," saying it was "outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country...and make this kind of ridiculous statement." Bush's condemnation of "negotiation" cast a wide net over a broad section of American political leadership which advocates some kind of responsible diplomatic engagement with regimes such as Iran and Syria. The bipartisan 2006 Iraq Study Group report advocated just this kind of engagement in the hopes of producing cooperation from Iran and Syria in stabilizing Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has also advocated engagement with Iran, stating last year that "America's strategic 21st century regional policy for the Middle East must acknowledge the role of Iran today." Numerous officials in Bush's administration, including Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker, have regularly held meetings with  Iranian diplomats. Last Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated, "We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage...and then sit down and talk with them [Iran]."

INEFFECTIVE 'JAWBONING': After Israel, President Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he appealed to Saudi King Abdullah to increase oil production and help lower oil prices. Bush's appeal was rejected. "Supply and demand are in balance today...The fundamentals are sound," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush had criticized the Clinton administration for high fuel prices, saying that a president must "'jawbone' oil producing nations" and persuade them to drop rates. Back then, Bush promised that he would bring down gas prices by creating "political good will with oil-producing nations" stating that he would "work with our friends in OPEC…and convince them to open up the spigot." At that time, oil was nearing $28 a barrel. Last week oil hit $127 a barrel, with many analysts "seeing a medium-term rise…to $200 a barrel as a genuine prospect." It's unlikely, however, that even increasing oil flows would reduce the price of crude. The oil market is "well supplied," according to Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, who said that prices are being driven by "speculative flows," and not supply and demand.

SCOLDING ARAB REGIMES: Upon arriving in Egypt on Saturday for the World Economic Forum, Bush was attacked by Egypt's state-owned press. Bush's Knesset speech "raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East," wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the Egyptian state press. "Bush aims to do nothing but appease Israel." The New York Times added that Bush was perceived to be "insensitive to Palestinian concerns." After he notably avoided meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his Israel visit, Bush met with Abbas on Saturday. Abbas told reporters that he had "demanded an explanation from Mr. Bush" for his Knesset speech. "What the president said at the Knesset made us angry, and to be honest, we don't accept it," Mr. Abbas said. Although Bush has steadily maintained that a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement is possible by the end of his term, he is virtually alone is this view. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley acknowledged that "we are not yet at the point" where the Israeli, Palestinian, and American leaders were going to meet "and declare a vision." Bush's keynote speech to the conference on Sunday was filled with exhortations to Arab political and economic reform, but the President's newly strident tone of advocacy served mostly to highlight the stark differences between his words and his administration's policies. These policies, especially the invasion of Iraq and the lack of engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, have seen the increase in power of radical movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas, a rise in influence by Iran, and an increasingly destabilized Middle East.

Under the Radar

MILITARY -- WEBB SLAMS BUSH FOR THREATENING VETO OF GI BENEFITS: On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) discussed his 21st Century GI Bill, which would dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. President Bush, however, has vowed to veto the bill. Webb blasted Bush for this unprecedented action, saying that "no president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served." "The president has a choice here to show how much he values military service," said Webb. The Pentagon has suggested that Webb's bill is too generous in conferring benefits to soldiers after "only" two years of service. However, as Webb pointed out, soldiers would still have to finish their enlistment term. As a recent CBO report showed, any loss in reenlistment rates would be entirely made up for by increased military recruits. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other conservatives have introduced their own version of the bill, which would reserve the most generous benefits for those who have served at least 12 years in the military. Webb pointed out that the alternative bill would exclude the vast majority of service members because "70 to 75 percent of the ground troops in the Army and the Marine Corps have left the service by the end of their first enlistment." 

JUSTICE -- REPORT APPLAUDS FBI FOR NOT PARTICIPATING IN ABUSIVE INTERROGATIONS: A new Justice Department Inspector General report concludes that "no agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took part in the military's rough interrogations, a key validation for the bureau." The report finds that torture techniques "became a major source of friction" between military interrogators and FBI agents, who "complained to superiors beginning in 2002 that the tactics they had seen yielded little actual intelligence, prevented them from establishing a rapport with detainees through more traditional means of questioning and might violate F.B.I. policy or American law." However, the report also faults FBI agents for being slow to report their concerns. For example, the agency did not formalize an order to not participate in or remain present in interrogations involving torture until 2004. Last month, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that the FBI had "reached out to DoD [Department of Defense], DoJ [Department of Justice], in terms of activity that we were concerned might not be appropriate." After the CIA acknowledged it had waterboarded at least three prisoners in February, Mueller defended his agency's refusal to torture, stating, "We have lived by" the protocol "not to use coercive techniques."

MEDIA -- STUDY CONCLUDES PENTAGON BENEFITED FROM U.S. MEDIA 'EMBED' PROGRAM IN IRAQ: The New York Times recently documented the Pentagon's domestic propaganda program using so-called "military analysts" in the media to garner support for the Iraq war and the Bush administration's war polices. A new study now shines light on another aspect of the Pentagon's use of the media during the war. Writing in the American Sociological Association's "Contexts" magazine, sociologist Andrew M. Lindner found that the program of embedding journalists with American troops during the invasion of Iraq "proved to be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the horrors of the civilian war experience." The end result, says Lindner, was "a communications victory for an administration that hoped to build support for the war by depicting it as a successful mission with limited cost." The report, "billed as the only sociological study to date of the substantive content of media coverage during the first six weeks of the Iraq war," is the result of a "content analysis of 742 news articles written by 156 English-language print reporters" embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq.

 

Think Fast

The on-air feud between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Fox News's Bill O'Reilly "has triggered back-channel discussions" involving Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker, and GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Ailes warned that if Olbermann didn't halt attacks against Fox, "he would unleash O'Reilly against NBC." The appeals failed, and O'Reilly has escalated his criticism of GE in recent weeks.

A top U.S. commander in Baghdad apologized to "local leaders and tribal sheiks" this weekend after it was discovered that “a soldier had used a Koran" as a target at a shooting range. Though the soldier has been "disciplined and sent out of Iraq," a major Sunni political party called for "tough government action" against the soldier.

Before breaking for Memorial Day, senators will be taking up a series of Iraq-related measures, including a "complex series of votes on the war money, a new G.I. education benefit, aid for the unemployed, immigration and even health care."

Career staff members at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) "say problems in the agency's contracting process run much deeper than" former HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who resigned recently amid a criminal probe. According to the staff, other officials "promoted certain companies while rebuffing concerns about their performance and qualifications."

Federal courts have largely rejected the Bush administration's attempts to "significantly rewrite America's bedrock conservation laws, particularly the Clean Air Act." Of the "78 federal court rulings and settlements in species cases resolved since January 2001, the Bush administration won just one." Judges have also often scolded the administration for its "disregard for the law and science."

And finally: This weekend, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "chased after the youth vote" by participating in two cameo appearances on "Saturday Night Live." I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president?" joked McCain in a political parody ad. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old." He also riffed on his supposed crusade against earmarks, stating, "When I entered the Senate in 1987, Arizona had 47,000 miles of paved roadway. Today it's less than 900."

Good News

Google Earth launches a new project today, Climate Change in Our World, that will allow users "to see how climate change could affect the planet and its people over the next century, along with viewing the loss of Antarctic ice shelves over the last 50 years."

State Watch

MISSOURI: Voter ID legislation fails again.

RHODE ISLAND: "The state is in the midst of its most severe budget crisis in years."

CALIFORNIA: Funds to hire personal and domestic assistance for disabled residents could be cut under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) revised budget.

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne: "Unfortunately, I have to follow the law."

ATTACKERMAN: A look at the real world positive effects of the California Supreme Court's decision overturning same-sex marriage ban.

FEMINISTING: Thousands of audience members turned their backs on anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly when she was honored at Washington University.

Daily Grill

"[T]he most important job of the federal government is to support the troops."
-- President Bush, 10/26/06

VERSUS

"No president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served."
-- Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), 5/18/08, on Bush's threatened veto of the 21st Century GI Bill

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