In what seems like a sudden reversal from its President's rhetoric Iran has opted to allow nuclear inspectors into one of its plutonium producing reactors. Odds are the threat of further sanctions coupled with Iran's current gas rationing are causal in this decision. I'm curious if W will use this as an opportunity to open a dialog with Iran, will Iran allow further inspection if he does, and what will be enough for certain hawks to stop beating the drums of war?
From Reuters:
G8 to tackle Iran and Darfur
Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight nations are to gather in Germany to discuss the nuclear standoff with Iran, the unresolved conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and other pressing international issues.
(snip)
Diplomats said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is hoping her counterparts from Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Japan and Canada will agree that the elite club of industrialised nations should put pressure on Iran at next week's summit to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.
(snip)
Sudan is another topic on the agenda. The United States and Britain are interested in expanding UN sanctions against Sudan due to the violence in its Darfur region, but Russia is wary such action would do little to calm the situation.
On Darfur, Rice said she would discuss with G8 ministers what action could be taken at the UN Security Council to put pressure on Sudan's government following the US announcement of new unilateral sanctions on Sudan. full article
Of course the real trick will be for the G8 to get Russia and China to support any plan they come up with. While Russia has been helpful with Iran China has stonewalled any attempts at action by the UN Security Council.
By CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 30, 2007; 12:57 PM
LUNGI, Sierra Leone -- Britain supports a U.S. proposal to impose U.N. sanctions against the government of Sudan for its role in Darfur's bloodshed, a spokesman for Tony Blair said Wednesday as the prime minister arrived in Sierra Leone.
President Bush announced Tuesday the United States would draft the U.N. resolution, saying the Sudanese government has been complicit in atrocities against civilians and has been uncooperative with international efforts to end the Darfur crisis.
Britain "fully supports U.S. efforts to address the desperate situation in Darfur in the Security Council," the spokesman said before Blair arrived in Lungi, near Sierra Leone's capital of Freetown.
"We hope that all members of the (U.N. Security Council) will work with the U.S. to create a resolution which will effectively address the challenges in Darfur," he said on condition of anonymity in line with British government policy.
Aides said Blair would try to build support for action to stop Darfur's violence during his tour of Africa, which began in Libya and ends later this week in South Africa. more
To stay up to date on the crisis in Darfur please visit The Coalition for DarfurBy Michael Abramowitz and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 29, 2007; 12:10 PM
President Bush today announced broader sanctions on the government of Sudanese president Lt. Gen. Omar Hassam al-Bashir in an effort to halt violence in the troubled Darfur region, nearly three years after the White House described the conflict there as genocide.
In a brief address that included sharp criticism of Bashir, Bush said the Treasury Department will step up efforts to squeeze the Sudanese economy by targeting government-run ventures involved with its booming oil business, which does many of its transactions in U.S. dollars.
(snip)
The United States will also seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions against Khartoum, including a provision preventing the Sudanese government from conducting military flights in Darfur, Bush said. The United Nations has accused Sudan's government of bombing Darfur villages.
(snip)
Bush and his aides say Bashir and other senior Sudanese officials have thwarted efforts at cooperation even after Bush explicitly warned them of the consequences. The president said the Sudanese government bombed a rebel camp a day after Bush's speech at the Holocaust Museum. Sudanese officials have continued to give speeches rejecting the full complement of peacekeepers, U.S. officials say.
"For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder and rape of innocent civilians," Bush said.
" . . . President Bashir's actions over the past few weeks follow a long pattern of promising cooperation while finding new methods for obstruction."
The timing of today's announcement appears certain to anger U.N. diplomats, who have been reporting progress in negotiations with Bashir and have been aggressively lobbying U.S. officials to delay sanctions. Sudan's official news agency reported Saturday that Ban has agreed to travel to Khartoum to negotiate a deal on a United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur. full article
This may be too little too late. If W is serious about ending this the best thing he could do is get China on board in ending the conflict. Somehow I just don't see that happening anytime soon.
By SADAQAT JAN, Associated Press WriterSun May 13, 3:06 PM ET
Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire at their rugged border Sunday in their most serious skirmish in years. Pakistan claimed it killed five Afghan soldiers, but Afghanistan said just two Afghan civilians were killed.
Tension has been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan, both key U.S. allies, over controlling their 1,510-mile shared border and stemming the flow of Taliban and al-Qaida militants that stage cross-border attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistan's move to fence parts of the disputed frontier has also angered Afghanistan.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad accused the Afghan army of firing first at Pakistani border posts: "This was unprovoked and without any reason."
A Pakistan military statement said its troops returned fire and five Afghan soldiers were killed.
On the Afghan side, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi accused Pakistani forces of crossing more than a mile into Afghanistan's Paktia province.
"Border police tried to stopped them, and the Pakistani army started firing heavy weapons toward the Afghan forces," he said.
Two students were killed, he said.
Paktia Gov. Rahmatullah Rahmat said the Afghan forces fired in self-defense after the Pakistani soldiers launched artillery rounds and troops on foot attacked a border security post Sunday morning in the province's Jaji district.
"The Pakistanis launched artillery, shot their guns, and they left behind civilian casualties in the area. It is a clear violation — crossing the border to attack Afghanistan," Rahmat said.
Azimi claimed that thousands of locals joined the Afghan forces after the clash, which he described as the worst in years between the two countries.
Pakistan later denied its forces had entered Afghan territory or that they had hit civilian targets. Pakistan also complained that Afghan forces had fired on a NATO helicopter in the area. NATO officials in Kabul could not be reached for comment.
Afghanistan accuses the government in Islamabad of harboring and helping supporters of the former Taliban regime ousted in late 2001, which Pakistan denies.
The friction between Karzai and Musharraf has been well publicized however this is this first time our allies have traded gunfire. The question is this attributable to Pakistani regulars or militia supposedly under Musharraf's control. After all Musharraf ceded that portion of the country to tribal authority over six months ago.Looks like Britain has at least one General that thinks Iraq is going downhill too. The difference between him and the U.S. Generals who vocally concur though is he's not retired and he's in charge of the entire British army.
From the BBC:
 General Dannatt took on his role in August |
In an interview in the Daily Mail, Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, is quoted as saying the British should "get out some time soon".
He also said: "Let's face it, the military campaign we fought in 2003, effectively kicked the door in."
There are currently more than 7,000 British soldiers in Iraq, based largely in Basra in the south of the country.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said Britain had "a clear strategy" and worked with international partners "in support of the democratically elected government of Iraq, under a clear UN mandate." More
