APS Diplomat News Service articles from February 2009

APS Diplomat News Service archives from February 2009

Afghanistan Is A Test Of Obama's Resolve - A Test Of US Lead In A Troubled World.(Barack Obama)
February 9, 2009... *** Iran Has Taken Over From Gamal 'Abdul-Nasser's Arab Empire And Now Wants Its Client Hamas To Control The PLO, Thus Hijacking The Palestine Cause & Putting The Sunni Arab Rulers In A Weaker Position To Confront Its Plan For A Universal...

US For Huge Energy Corridor To Asia Via Afghanistan & Pakistan - Needs US-Iran Deal.(Viewpoint essay)
February 9, 2009... When US presidential envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell visited Riyadh after his Jan. 31 trip to Amman, he and Saudi King 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdul-'Aziz discussed a secret report that the Obama team was prepared to have a deal with Iran,...

Iran Says US Must Accept Nuke Plan.
February 9, 2009... The FT on Feb. 5 quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad's top adviser Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi as saying dialogue with the US will only succeed if the Obama administration accepted Tehran's right to have a nuclear programme. He said...

Iran Launches 1st Satellite.
February 9, 2009... In a move raising further worries in Israel and the West about Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions, Tehran on Feb. 3 launched its first home-made satellite designed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution and hailed it...

Obama Plan & Holbrooke Role For Afghanistan.(Barack Obama and Richard Holbrooke)
February 9, 2009... Obama wants to involve all neighbours and other GME states, as well as India, in US-led efforts for peace in Afghanistan. On this Mitchell is co-ordinating with the other US presidential envoy, Richard Holbrooke, for Afghanistan and Pakistan....

NATO Preparations.(elections)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... NATO spokesman James Appathurai says the new election date would give the allies enough time to deploy sufficient reinforcements to arrange security, adding: "We have always said it is important that elections...be held this year and we are...

NATO-Russia Rapprochement Despite US Base Loss.
February 9, 2009... Kyrghyzstan's government on Feb. 3 asked parliament to approve a motion to end the US lease of a vital base being used for supplies to Afghanistan. Kyrghyzstan by then had got $2.15 bn of aid promise from Moscow in return for closing the base....

US Still Hopes To Keep The Base.
February 9, 2009... Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on Feb. 3 said his country was ending US use of the Manas air base. But US military spokesman in Afghanistan Col Greg Julian called Bakiyev's statement "political positioning" and said the US presence at Manas...

Israel Faces A Crisis Of Peace Again, With Iran Replacing The Arab States In The War.
February 16, 2009... *** The Iran-Led Axis Has Fallen Into A Dangerous Trap: Facing A Latent Money War From Its Cash-Rich Opponents At A Time Of A Worsening Global Credit Crunch; It Has No Chance Of Defeating Its Opponents Who Are Part Of This Cycle's Players In...

Israel Faces UN Charges & Palestinian War Crime Accusations.
February 16, 2009... Although it did not achieve its aims, Israel's massive 22-day military assault on the Gaza Strip - called "Operation Cast Lead" - killed 1,500 Palestinians and wounded over 5,200 others. When the war ended on Jan. 18, the Gaza Strip looked as...

The Beirut Response & Money War.(Lebanon)
February 16, 2009... The massive rally in central Beirut on Feb. 14 which marked the fourth anniversary of former PM Rafiq Hariri's assassination was, among other things, a strong message to the US and the rest of the Western world that the Saudi-led Sunni Arab...

Hamas Close To Accord With Israel.
February 16, 2009... Hamas officials on Feb. 13 said an announcement of an Egyptian-mediated 18-month truce with Israel was days away and would include a substantial opening of Gaza's borders with the Jewish state in exchange for an end to rocket attacks on...

Saudi-Iran Money War Is Being Waged In Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine & The GCC Region.(Gulf Cooperation Council)
February 23, 2009... *** The Money War Has Already Hit Iran's Economy Hard Enough For The Tehran-Led Axis To Stop Sending The Funds Required For The March 8 Camp To Win Over The March 14 Coalition In The June 7 Polls, Consequently, The Sunni Rivals Of This Axis...

The Syria-US/Arab Game.
February 23, 2009... Assad openly shows eagerness to have the dialogue with the US before the one proposed between Tehran and Washington. But visiting US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry on Feb. 19 said: "Nobody takes words at face value,...

The Wider Sunni Front & How It Works.
February 23, 2009... The $2,720 bn Sunni Arab cash pile consists of foreign reserves and assets held by Saudi Arabia ($720 bn), Abu Dhabi ($1,500 bn) and Kuwait ($500 bn). The Sunni Arab front Riyadh is leading also includes the fellow GCC states of Bahrain and the...

Russia's Position.
February 23, 2009... John Hughes, a Reagan assistant secretary of state and now an academic, on Feb. 19 wrote: "A few months ago, at a small private luncheon I attended, former [US] National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft...was asked about the Iran problem. 'Iran...