Inter Press Service

Daniel Levy in Inter Press Service News | 'Respite on the Road to Nowhere?'

Communications — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:23:00 -0400

New America in the News:
..."A ceasefire means more than stopping fire," said former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy. "For Palestinians, it means actually being able to breathe and opening up the economy."...

"Any effective truce will further enhance the sense of the futility of [U.S.-led] negotiations even though an improved security environment will create a more promising backdrop to those talks," said Daniel Levy... LINK

Daniel Levy in Inter Press Service | 'US/Mideast: Let's Not Make a Deal'

Communications — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:37:00 -0400

New America in the News:

... "[Keeping the two-state solution alive] means saying it's all about settlements, it's all about not further eroding the situation in the territories, not further allowing the creation of an infrastructure of occupation," said former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, during a panel on Capitol Hill Monday sponsored by the New America Foundation think-tank.

"To the extent to which [a shelf agreement] is still part of the narrative of this administration, that is what should actually be shelved," he said, adding that Bush's vision was "not doable nor desirable" in the present political climate.

If successful, the Annapolis plan would make Israel and a "reformed" Palestinian leadership agree to a "road map" for peace, a "shelf agreement" outlining two separate and contiguous Israeli and Palestinians states, living side-by-side... LINK

Flynt Leverett and Nir Rosen in IPS News | "Lebanon Crisis Shows Hues of Iraq"

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:55:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . "This is more and more becoming a Sunni-Shi'a conflict. It really does feel like Iraq," said journalist Nir Rosen in a conference call with analysts and reporters at the New American Foundation.

"Sunni militias, backed by the Future Movement, formed over the last year, and have been a complete failure, perhaps because they were fighting for money. They just disappeared and caused a great sense of betrayal and shock among Sunnis," said Rosen, adding that the perceived victimisation of Sunnis had instigated more radical circles in Tripoli to fight against the "apostate Shi'a", that they appeared "eager to start this battle", according to Rosen. . .

Rosen, who is currently in Beirut and accompanied Shi'a Amal fighters as they battled on the streets, described Hezbollah fighters acting "hand in hand" with the army on the commercial strip of Hamra Street in West Beirut. Most of the targets captured by Hezbollah and their allies were subsequently turned over to the army. "They are not trying to change the demographic balance in Beirut, it is to make a show of force to let rival militias know [Hezbollah] could have a real political coup," said Rosen. "Hezbollah's main concern is to keep weapons; it doesn't have much interest in running things in Lebanon." . . .

"Lebanon, in the post Hariri period, is not in any really meaningful sense a democracy. It is a political order rooted in the distribution of political assets along sectarian lines, and the patterns of distribution are way out of whack with demographic reality, particularly with regard to the Shi'a," said Flynt Leverett, once a senior specialist on the Middle East for the Bush administration's National Security Council.

Leverett described the Lebanese political arena as a "sideshow" when compared to the Bush administration's real strategic interests in the region. Washington champions hollow talk about "democracy" as a bulwark against radical influences, he said, but in reality the policy -- what he called the "height of strategic malpractice" -- only serves as an excuse for the U.S. not to diplomatically engage with the countries it must: Iran and Syria.

"[It was a mistake] to latch on to this so-called March 14th coalition -- Cedar Revolution -- in Lebanon and to decide to use it as a fulcrum for trying to leverage various U.S. policy objectives," said Leverett. "What we have done here is basically what we did in the 1980s. We picked a group of Western-oriented Lebanese political actors whom we liked because they kind of looked like us and talked like us," he said. "We decided to array them against people who have real street cred; the results then were disastrous, and I think the results now are proving to be very bad." . . .

Nir Rosen in IPS News | "Bush Tour Diminished by Hezbollah Show of Force"

Communications — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:03:00 -0400

New America in the News:

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. . . "These Sunni militiamen proved a complete failure, and America's proxies in Lebanon barely put up a fight despite their strident anti-Shiite rhetoric," noted Nir Rosen, a regional expert at the New America Foundation who described Hezbollah's offensive as "the death throes of the Bush plan for the 'New Middle East'."

"Now it is clear that Beirut is firmly in the hands of Hezbollah, and nothing the Americans can do will dislodge or weaken this popular movement, just as they cannot weaken the Sadrists in Iraq or Hamas in Gaza," he said. . .

Steve Coll and Rajan Menon in IPS News | 'U.S. Reactions to Pakistani Election Results Are Mixed'

Communications — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:40:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Pakistan: U.S. Reactions to Pakistani Election Results Are Mixed (Inter Press Service News)

..."[The Islamist parties] have been replaced by secular Pashtun nationalist parties who are hostile to the Taliban and who, at a minimum, will not allow the institutions of these provincial governments to be used by collaborators of the Taliban," Steve Coll, a South Asia expert and president of the New America Foundation, told an interviewer on public television Tuesday.

..."There is this notion that if a coalition can be stitched together, this will strengthen the war on terror," said Rajan Menon, a South Asia expert at Lehigh University. "It will not, because the war has very, very little support among Pakistanis, regardless of social class, ethnic background, or religious commitment who feel that it has only spread the violence without translating into any tangible benefit for average Pakistanis.

"If you have a democratic government headed by the PPP or Sharif, it will have to reflect this popular sentiment," Menon said, noting that Zardari has already called for more dialogue with militant Islamists in the tribal areas than military confrontation.

Steve Clemons in Inter Press Service News | "Bruising Battles Ahead"

Communications — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:20:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Super Tuesday Leaves Bruising Battles Ahead (Inter Press Service News)

"The Democratic Party can't tell what it wants to be," Steve Clemons, a political blogger and head of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, told IPS. ...

"[McCain] is likely to do a deal with Mike Huckabee and bring evangelicals along with Huckabee at the VP [vice president] ticket," said Clemons.

New America in IPS News | 'U.S./Cuba: Justice Not So Blind in Politically Charged Cases'

Communications — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:00:00 -0500

New America in the News:

U.S./Cuba: Justice Not So Blind in Politically Charged Cases (Inter Press Service News)

...At an event last week, Leonard Weinglass, an attorney for the agents -- who are better known as the "Cuban Five" -- argued that the tough treatment given his clients exposed hypocrisy in the so-called "war on terror". Speaking at the New America Foundation, a centrist Washington think tank, he sought to contrast the treatment of his clients with that of Luis Posada Carriles and other well-known Cuban-American militants.

"The comparison of the cases is incredible," said Weinglass. While Posada has publicly admitted to engaging in acts of terrorism, Weinglass argued, his clients simply sought to monitor the activities of Cuban-American exile groups that have been linked to previous acts of violence in Cuba -- acts the Cuban government felt U.S. authorities were not doing enough to prevent. more

Steve Coll, Peter Bergen in Asia Times | 'War on Terror Moves East'

Communications — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:32:00 -0500

New America in the News:

War on Terror Moves East (Article by IPS's Jim Lobe in Asia Times)
"The F-16s really can't be used for counter-insurgency in FATA," according to Steve Coll, author of the prize-winning history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and al Qaeda from 1979 to 9/11, "Ghost Wars" and president of the New America Foundation (NAF). "The F-16s are a symbol of what has been wrong with U.S. aid to Pakistan." ...

"It would be political suicide for a Pakistani leader to permit (such operations)," said Peter Bergen, the co-director with Coll of the NAF's Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency Initiative and a well-regarded expert on al Qaeda and the region. "(Popular) approval for (Osama) bin Laden goes up to 70 percent in FATA and the Northwest Frontier," he added noting that one recent survey showed that three out of four Pakistanis nationwide oppose U.S. intervention. ...

Steve Clemons in IPS Report on Sen. Chuck Hagel's Letter to Bush

Communications — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:29:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Amid growing contention among Democratic presidential contenders about U.S. policy toward Iran, a senior Republican lawmaker has appealed to President George W. Bush to pursue "direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks" with Tehran.

The appeal, which was sent to Bush by Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel two weeks ago, noted that Washington's diplomatic efforts to use economic pressure to persuade Iran to freeze its nuclear programme were "stalling" amid "growing differences with our international partners" that are likely to continue widening.

"Unless there is a strategic shift," according to Hagel's letter, which was also sent to other top administration officials, including Pentagon chief Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "I believe we will find ourselves in a dangerous and increasingly isolated position in the coming months."

"Now is the time for the United States to actively consider when and how to offer direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks with Iran," it went on, adding that such a move should be combined with continued efforts with U.S. allies to press Iran through economic sanctions, including a third U.N. Security Council Resolution.

"An approach such as this would strengthen our ability across the board to deal with Iran," it went on. "Our friends and allies would be more confident to stand with us if we seek to increase pressure, including tougher sanctions, on Iran. It could create a historic new dynamic in U.S.-Iran relations, in part by forcing the Iranians to react to the possibility of better relations with the West."

The letter, which was disclosed by Steven Clemons, director of the national strategy programme at the New America Foundation (NAF), on his influential blog, thewashingtonnote.com, comes amid increased speculation over the likelihood of a U.S. military attack against Iran some time next year. ...

For the complete article, please follow this link.

New America-Sponsored Letter to Bush Reported by Inter Press Service

Communications — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:54:00 -0400

New America in the News:

A bipartisan group of eightformer top U.S. policy-makers sent a letter to President George W. Bush Wednesday, urging him to make sure that Arab states that do not currently recognize Israel will nevertheless participate in next month's Israeli-Palestinian conference.

The conference, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 15 in Annapolis, Md., should establish and endorse the contours of a permanent peace accord, according to the policy-makers.

Their letter also urged Bush to use the conference to launch Israeli-Syrian peace talks and lay the groundwork for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, the first step toward engaging Hamas, which controlsGaza, in the larger peace effort. The letter was signed by the national security advisers to former U.S. national security advisers, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, among others.

In order to be credible to Arab participants, the conference, must commit itself to a freeze on all settlement expansion, according to the letter, which was also signed by former Rep. Lee Hamilton, co-chair with former Secretary of State James Baker of the Iraq Study Group. ...

The letter comes amid intensified exchanges between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in advance of next month's conference.It followed the publication late last month of another letter from five former senior U.S. diplomats with lengthy service in the Middle East, which urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to intensify herown mediation efforts to ensure a successful outcome. ...

Both letters stressed that any final communiqu coming out of the November conference should include mutual understandings between Israel and the Palestinians on five key issues that are considered centralto any final settlement that would be reached between them. Those understandings should then be enshrined in a new U.N. Security Council resolution, the letters said. ...

The two letters also called for mutual understandings about the Palestinian refugee problem, including financial compensation and resettlement assistance for those refugees who cannot or do not want to live in a new Palestinian state; and on the creation of security mechanisms that that would address Israeli concerns while respecting Palestinian sovereignty.

"Because failure risks devastating consequences in the region and beyond, it is critically important that the conference succeed," said Wednesday's letter, which was co-sponsored by the International Crisis Group, the New America Foundation and the U.S./Middle East Project. ...

For the complete article, please visit the IPS website.