New Developments III
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Johnny Guitar
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Damien wrote:criddic3 wrote:I just read that, too. This is a strange development. With all the trouble that Spitzer has had so far, it is not going to get better for him. Spitzer is the first Democrat Governor in NY in over a decade and he's not making it look good for his party.
It's got nothing to do with the Party. And besides, Joe Bruno isn't exactly being the best p.r. person for the Repubs.
Now, now, Damien--let's be fair. We all remember how honest Criddic was during that looooong string of closeted gay Republican scandals, and how he pointed out dutifully how those reflected poorly on the Republican Party as a whole. We all remember that, right? Right?
The NY Lieutenant Gov., David Paterson, would take over if Spitzer resigns. He is a blind African American from Harlem with an excellent reputation for integrity who did not make powerful enemies like Spitzer did. What an interesting development.
Edited By kaytodd on 1205180167
Edited By kaytodd on 1205180167
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
It's got nothing to do with the Party. And besides, Joe Bruno isn't exactly being the best p.r. person for the Repubs.criddic3 wrote:I just read that, too. This is a strange development. With all the trouble that Spitzer has had so far, it is not going to get better for him. Spitzer is the first Democrat Governor in NY in over a decade and he's not making it look good for his party.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
I just read that, too. This is a strange development. With all the trouble that Spitzer has had so far, it is not going to get better for him. Spitzer is the first Democrat Governor in NY in over a decade and he's not making it look good for his party.Greg wrote:Apparently, New York governor Eliot Spitzer has been implicated in a prostitution ring.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
THE NATION
Surprising Outcomes in Pakistan
by MONI MOHSIN
[posted online on February 22, 2008]
In an election that produced many surprises, perhaps the greatest surprise was that it proceeded smoothly. In the weeks leading up to the polls, opposition parties and civil society alike had expressed fears that President Pervez Musharraf and his loyalists in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) would rig the elections massively. As it happened, they didn't--or couldn't. Polling was largely fair and free. Intelligence agencies in Pakistan routinely manipulate national elections to produce results of their choosing. That the all-powerful army chose not to meddle this time is significant.
Since Gen. Yahya Khan presided over the dismemberment of the country after a humiliating war with India in 1971, seldom has the military's stock been so low. Not only is the army loathed for the imposition of a repressive state of emergency, but its intelligence agencies are also widely believed to have been involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, leader of Pakistan's largest political party. Conscious perhaps of the military's increasing unpopularity, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the new army chief, had begun reducing the military's encroachment into civilian life soon after taking office last November, withdrawing his generals from key civilian posts to which Musharraf had appointed them. Almost certainly a strategic retreat in the face of intense pressure from ordinary Pakistanis and increasingly impatient Western aid donors, this withdrawal nonetheless provides much-needed space for civilians to reassert themselves.
Another unexpected but wholly welcome result of this election was the humiliation of religious parties. Campaigning on the platform of anti-Americanism in the 2003 election (and allegedly assisted by some creative number-crunching behind the scenes by military agencies), a coalition of religious parties had, for the first time in Pakistan's history, not only seized control of two of the country's four provinces but also netted fifty seats in the national assembly. This election saw them routed. Not only did they lose Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP)--the two provinces bordering Afghanistan--but their takings at the center plummeted from fifty to three. News of the religious parties' defeat in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, triggered street celebrations. Inept, repressive and corrupt, the mullahs were eventually thrown out by an electorate that places prosperity and security far above religious rhetoric. This election, then, successfully debunks the notion that Pakistan is a nation of religious zealots. Provided the newly elected democrats do not disappoint, there is reason to hope now that the rise of liberal democracy will defeat the vestiges of religious extremism in Pakistan.
No less stinging was the rebuke delivered to Musharraf and his allies. The PML, commonly known as the King's Party, lost two-thirds of its seats in Parliament, with twenty-two former cabinet ministers failing to get re-elected. Since the sacking of an intransigent Chief Justice and the subsequent crackdown on civil society last year, Musharraf and the PML had hemorrhaged support. What little goodwill they had built up through economic growth in the past five years was lost through recent microeconomic mismanagement, resulting in acute power shortages and spiraling wheat prices. Without the carapace of his military uniform and with his parliamentary support in tatters, President Musharraf stands exposed, isolated and deeply unpopular. He has no obvious role left to play in a democratic dispensation. If he were less autocratic, he would voluntarily step aside. But having dismissed demands from the victorious parties for his resignation as "way off," this ex-commando is more likely to fight to the bitter end, resulting probably in his impeachment. George W. Bush, though he loathes to admit mistakes, also will find it difficult to continue backing his old ally in the war against terror in the face of such wholesale rejection from his own people. The next American government would do far better to ally itself with the people of Pakistan and their chosen representatives than with a discredited, illegitimate President and an unpopular army.
The fact that Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has emerged as the overall winner and the only truly nationalist party with a footprint in every province, is no surprise. Indeed, the surprise is that it didn't bag more seats. The sympathy vote generated by Bhutto's murder was probably diluted by her party's perceived readiness to do business with a dictator. Even after her assassination, Asif Ali Zardari, her widower, continued to claim that his party had no quarrel with Mr. Musharraf and obligingly did not mention Musharraf's bête noir, the sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. (But had it not been for Bhutto's willingness to engage with Musharraf, perhaps this election would not have taken place at all.) The PPP has not received a sufficient majority to form government. For this it will have to enter into a coalition with another party, most likely the Muslim League of the Saudi-backed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the second-biggest winner.
Zardari, who was bequeathed the chairmanship of the PPP in Bhutto's will, has a difficult task ahead. Having swept northern Punjab, Sharif's party is resurgent. Coalition governments are notoriously hard to manage, but particularly so for these old adversaries. In the past their one imperative had been to achieve power and then jostle to keep it, at whatever cost to their own credibility and the democratic process. Indeed, Bhutto and Sharif habitually sided with the establishment to topple each other's elected governments from power throughout the 1990s.
But more is at stake now than ever before. Both Sharif and Bhutto had been elected prime minister twice and dismissed twice on charges of corruption and misrule. Zardari and Sharif are aware that they are running out of political lives. Regional tensions are at a simmering point. Unemployment, inflation and lack of security has made the public less forgiving and more demanding, as seen in the defeat of the PML and the religious parties. There is real anger, which boiled over in the days following Bhutto's assassination.
Much will depend on how the opposition parties conduct themselves after the election. Thus far both Sharif and Zardari have made all the right noises, but now they will have to put their talk into practice. Sharif, whose party did not win any seats in Sindh or Baluchistan, must recognize that if any single party can heal the rifts between the provinces, it is the PPP. Hence he must not try to strengthen his bargaining power in the coalition by accepting defectors from the ragtag remnants of the PML. Zardari in turn must respect Sharif's mandate and not block his wishes to address the issue of the sacked judiciary. The mullahs may have lost at the polls, but Al Qaeda and Taliban-backed insurgents still prowl the border with Afghanistan. To fight them effectively, the army and new government will have to act in unison, the government rallying the people behind the army. The government of NWFP, dominated now by secular ethnic Pashtuns, will have a key role in rehabilitating an unpopular Punjabi army with their tribesmen.
Given their limited choices, the people of Pakistan have chosen wisely. Now it is up to the elected parties to rule wisely. Sharif and Zardari must usher in a stable, democratic Pakistan. They must ensure that they do not provide the army with the excuse for yet another coup. This is the time for healing, redemption and reconciliation. He who manages all three will be the ultimate winner of this election.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080310/mohsin
Surprising Outcomes in Pakistan
by MONI MOHSIN
[posted online on February 22, 2008]
In an election that produced many surprises, perhaps the greatest surprise was that it proceeded smoothly. In the weeks leading up to the polls, opposition parties and civil society alike had expressed fears that President Pervez Musharraf and his loyalists in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) would rig the elections massively. As it happened, they didn't--or couldn't. Polling was largely fair and free. Intelligence agencies in Pakistan routinely manipulate national elections to produce results of their choosing. That the all-powerful army chose not to meddle this time is significant.
Since Gen. Yahya Khan presided over the dismemberment of the country after a humiliating war with India in 1971, seldom has the military's stock been so low. Not only is the army loathed for the imposition of a repressive state of emergency, but its intelligence agencies are also widely believed to have been involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, leader of Pakistan's largest political party. Conscious perhaps of the military's increasing unpopularity, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the new army chief, had begun reducing the military's encroachment into civilian life soon after taking office last November, withdrawing his generals from key civilian posts to which Musharraf had appointed them. Almost certainly a strategic retreat in the face of intense pressure from ordinary Pakistanis and increasingly impatient Western aid donors, this withdrawal nonetheless provides much-needed space for civilians to reassert themselves.
Another unexpected but wholly welcome result of this election was the humiliation of religious parties. Campaigning on the platform of anti-Americanism in the 2003 election (and allegedly assisted by some creative number-crunching behind the scenes by military agencies), a coalition of religious parties had, for the first time in Pakistan's history, not only seized control of two of the country's four provinces but also netted fifty seats in the national assembly. This election saw them routed. Not only did they lose Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP)--the two provinces bordering Afghanistan--but their takings at the center plummeted from fifty to three. News of the religious parties' defeat in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, triggered street celebrations. Inept, repressive and corrupt, the mullahs were eventually thrown out by an electorate that places prosperity and security far above religious rhetoric. This election, then, successfully debunks the notion that Pakistan is a nation of religious zealots. Provided the newly elected democrats do not disappoint, there is reason to hope now that the rise of liberal democracy will defeat the vestiges of religious extremism in Pakistan.
No less stinging was the rebuke delivered to Musharraf and his allies. The PML, commonly known as the King's Party, lost two-thirds of its seats in Parliament, with twenty-two former cabinet ministers failing to get re-elected. Since the sacking of an intransigent Chief Justice and the subsequent crackdown on civil society last year, Musharraf and the PML had hemorrhaged support. What little goodwill they had built up through economic growth in the past five years was lost through recent microeconomic mismanagement, resulting in acute power shortages and spiraling wheat prices. Without the carapace of his military uniform and with his parliamentary support in tatters, President Musharraf stands exposed, isolated and deeply unpopular. He has no obvious role left to play in a democratic dispensation. If he were less autocratic, he would voluntarily step aside. But having dismissed demands from the victorious parties for his resignation as "way off," this ex-commando is more likely to fight to the bitter end, resulting probably in his impeachment. George W. Bush, though he loathes to admit mistakes, also will find it difficult to continue backing his old ally in the war against terror in the face of such wholesale rejection from his own people. The next American government would do far better to ally itself with the people of Pakistan and their chosen representatives than with a discredited, illegitimate President and an unpopular army.
The fact that Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has emerged as the overall winner and the only truly nationalist party with a footprint in every province, is no surprise. Indeed, the surprise is that it didn't bag more seats. The sympathy vote generated by Bhutto's murder was probably diluted by her party's perceived readiness to do business with a dictator. Even after her assassination, Asif Ali Zardari, her widower, continued to claim that his party had no quarrel with Mr. Musharraf and obligingly did not mention Musharraf's bête noir, the sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. (But had it not been for Bhutto's willingness to engage with Musharraf, perhaps this election would not have taken place at all.) The PPP has not received a sufficient majority to form government. For this it will have to enter into a coalition with another party, most likely the Muslim League of the Saudi-backed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the second-biggest winner.
Zardari, who was bequeathed the chairmanship of the PPP in Bhutto's will, has a difficult task ahead. Having swept northern Punjab, Sharif's party is resurgent. Coalition governments are notoriously hard to manage, but particularly so for these old adversaries. In the past their one imperative had been to achieve power and then jostle to keep it, at whatever cost to their own credibility and the democratic process. Indeed, Bhutto and Sharif habitually sided with the establishment to topple each other's elected governments from power throughout the 1990s.
But more is at stake now than ever before. Both Sharif and Bhutto had been elected prime minister twice and dismissed twice on charges of corruption and misrule. Zardari and Sharif are aware that they are running out of political lives. Regional tensions are at a simmering point. Unemployment, inflation and lack of security has made the public less forgiving and more demanding, as seen in the defeat of the PML and the religious parties. There is real anger, which boiled over in the days following Bhutto's assassination.
Much will depend on how the opposition parties conduct themselves after the election. Thus far both Sharif and Zardari have made all the right noises, but now they will have to put their talk into practice. Sharif, whose party did not win any seats in Sindh or Baluchistan, must recognize that if any single party can heal the rifts between the provinces, it is the PPP. Hence he must not try to strengthen his bargaining power in the coalition by accepting defectors from the ragtag remnants of the PML. Zardari in turn must respect Sharif's mandate and not block his wishes to address the issue of the sacked judiciary. The mullahs may have lost at the polls, but Al Qaeda and Taliban-backed insurgents still prowl the border with Afghanistan. To fight them effectively, the army and new government will have to act in unison, the government rallying the people behind the army. The government of NWFP, dominated now by secular ethnic Pashtuns, will have a key role in rehabilitating an unpopular Punjabi army with their tribesmen.
Given their limited choices, the people of Pakistan have chosen wisely. Now it is up to the elected parties to rule wisely. Sharif and Zardari must usher in a stable, democratic Pakistan. They must ensure that they do not provide the army with the excuse for yet another coup. This is the time for healing, redemption and reconciliation. He who manages all three will be the ultimate winner of this election.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080310/mohsin
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Sonic Youth
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Turkey has invaded Iraq, just so's you know.
(CBS/AP) Turkish forces pressed ahead with ground operations against Kurdish rebels in Iraq on Saturday after the military reported that five troops and several dozen rebels had been killed in the cross-border fighting.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials expressed displeasure Saturday with Turkey's ground incursion into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels, with Iraq's government spokesman suggesting Turkey take another approach and the Kurdish president warning the Turks not to target civilians.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi government said Turkey had assured it that the operation, Ankara's first major ground incursion against Kurdish rebel bases in nearly a decade, would target only rebels who have staged hit-and-run attacks on Turkish targets from hideouts in northern Iraq.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraqis understood that Turkey faced threats from the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a battle for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for years, often using bases in northern Iraq.
"But military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options but this never resulted in a good thing," al-Dabbagh said at a news conference on reconstruction. "Turkey should adopt another type of solution."
Meanwhile, a Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded in a land mine blast on Saturday in the Turkish province of Bingol, nearly 190 miles from the border, local media said.
Two buses and five vans on Saturday ferried soldiers toward the Turkish border town of Cukurca, which lies north of the combat area, Dogan news agency reported. Vehicles used to carry ammunition were seen returning from the border area.
Two Turkish warplanes were seen flying toward Cukurca, Dogan said, but it was unclear whether they were on a bombing mission.
Further west, soldiers in Besta swept roads for possible land mines. Dozens of troops carrying assault rifles, light mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and sleeping mats patrolled near mountains with snow-covered peaks.
Supported by air power, Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq late Thursday in an offensive that marked a dramatic escalation in Turkey's fight with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, even though Turkish officials described the operation as limited.
The Turkish military said five troops and 24 Kurdish rebels were killed in clashes. At least 20 more rebels were killed by artillery and helicopter gunships, it said. Artillery units positioned near Cukurca could be heard firing shells across the border on Friday evening, Dogan agency reported.
The Iraqi government said Saturday that fewer than 1,000 Turkish troops had crossed the frontier. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Turkish commanders had assured Iraq that the "operation will be a limited one and it will not violate certain standards that they have set."
Al-Dabbagh said Iraq's president and prime minister had spoken to Turkish officials.
"We know the threats that Turkey is facing but military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options, but this never resulted in a good thing," al-Dabbagh said. He acknowledged that Turkey was "suffering from the terrorist PKK organization."
On Friday, a military officer of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said on condition of anonymity that several hundred Turkish soldiers had crossed the border. The coalition has satellites as well as drones and other surveillance aircraft at its disposal.
Sky-Turk television said about 2,000 Turkish soldiers were in Iraq, operating against rebel camps about 2-2.5 miles in from the border. NTV television said a total of 10,000 soldiers were inside Iraq in an operation that had extended 6 miles past the frontier. The activity was reportedly occurring about 60 miles east of Cizre, a major town near the border with Iraq.
It was not possible to confirm independently the size or scope of the attack on the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. CNN-Turk television, citing Turkish security officials, said the operation could last two weeks.
The advance was the first confirmed Turkish military ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Turkey's army is believed to have carried out unacknowledged "hot pursuits" in recent years, with small groups of troops staying in Iraq for as little as a few hours or a day.
Turkey staged about two-dozen attacks in Iraq during the rule of Saddam, who conducted brutal campaigns against Iraqi Kurds. Some Turkish offensives, including several in the late 1990s, involved tens of thousands of soldiers. Results were mixed; rebels suffered combat losses but regrouped after Turkish forces withdrew.
The PKK militants are fighting for autonomy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey and have carried out attacks on Turkish targets from bases in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The conflict started in 1984 and has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.
Turkey's government has complained that Iraqi and U.S. authorities were not doing enough to stop guerrilla operations. The Turkish air force has been staging air raids on PKK forces in the north since December with the help of intelligence provided by the U.S., a NATO ally.
"We continue to express our absolute solidarity with Turkey about the PKK. This is a common enemy of the United States and Turkey," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday in Washington. "It is also an enemy of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government because the Iraqi territory cannot be used for terror, should not be used for terrorist attacks against Turkey."
Rice, however, said: "We've also been very clear, though, that stability and progress for Iraq is in the interest of Turkey. And so, everything should keep in mind that nothing should be done to destabilize what is a fragile but improving situation in Iraq."
Iraq's Oil Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed that oil exports to turkey would flow unimpeded. A pipeline that runs into Turkey was often halted in past years due to sabotage, but is now pumping more than 300,000 barrels per day.
"Turkish military operations will not affect pumping oil through this pipeline as both Iraqi and Turkish governments are keen not to halt it," Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Kurdish President Massoud Barzani's office warned in a statement that the regional government would not stand by if the Turks struck civilians.
"The regional government of Kurdistan will not be a part of the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK fighters. But at the same time we stress that if the Turkish military targets any Kurdish civilian citizens or any civilian structures then we will order a large-scale resistance," it said.
Tariq Jawhar, a spokesman for the National Assembly of Kurdistan, a regional body, said that "we want the Iraqi federal government and the U.S. to ... work hard to stop this aggression and to seek peaceful negotiation to solve the problem."
"Such military operations are considered a clear violation of the federal Iraqi territory," he said.
(CBS/AP) Turkish forces pressed ahead with ground operations against Kurdish rebels in Iraq on Saturday after the military reported that five troops and several dozen rebels had been killed in the cross-border fighting.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials expressed displeasure Saturday with Turkey's ground incursion into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels, with Iraq's government spokesman suggesting Turkey take another approach and the Kurdish president warning the Turks not to target civilians.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi government said Turkey had assured it that the operation, Ankara's first major ground incursion against Kurdish rebel bases in nearly a decade, would target only rebels who have staged hit-and-run attacks on Turkish targets from hideouts in northern Iraq.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraqis understood that Turkey faced threats from the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a battle for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for years, often using bases in northern Iraq.
"But military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options but this never resulted in a good thing," al-Dabbagh said at a news conference on reconstruction. "Turkey should adopt another type of solution."
Meanwhile, a Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded in a land mine blast on Saturday in the Turkish province of Bingol, nearly 190 miles from the border, local media said.
Two buses and five vans on Saturday ferried soldiers toward the Turkish border town of Cukurca, which lies north of the combat area, Dogan news agency reported. Vehicles used to carry ammunition were seen returning from the border area.
Two Turkish warplanes were seen flying toward Cukurca, Dogan said, but it was unclear whether they were on a bombing mission.
Further west, soldiers in Besta swept roads for possible land mines. Dozens of troops carrying assault rifles, light mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and sleeping mats patrolled near mountains with snow-covered peaks.
Supported by air power, Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq late Thursday in an offensive that marked a dramatic escalation in Turkey's fight with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, even though Turkish officials described the operation as limited.
The Turkish military said five troops and 24 Kurdish rebels were killed in clashes. At least 20 more rebels were killed by artillery and helicopter gunships, it said. Artillery units positioned near Cukurca could be heard firing shells across the border on Friday evening, Dogan agency reported.
The Iraqi government said Saturday that fewer than 1,000 Turkish troops had crossed the frontier. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Turkish commanders had assured Iraq that the "operation will be a limited one and it will not violate certain standards that they have set."
Al-Dabbagh said Iraq's president and prime minister had spoken to Turkish officials.
"We know the threats that Turkey is facing but military operations will not solve the PKK problem. Turkey has resorted to military options, but this never resulted in a good thing," al-Dabbagh said. He acknowledged that Turkey was "suffering from the terrorist PKK organization."
On Friday, a military officer of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said on condition of anonymity that several hundred Turkish soldiers had crossed the border. The coalition has satellites as well as drones and other surveillance aircraft at its disposal.
Sky-Turk television said about 2,000 Turkish soldiers were in Iraq, operating against rebel camps about 2-2.5 miles in from the border. NTV television said a total of 10,000 soldiers were inside Iraq in an operation that had extended 6 miles past the frontier. The activity was reportedly occurring about 60 miles east of Cizre, a major town near the border with Iraq.
It was not possible to confirm independently the size or scope of the attack on the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. CNN-Turk television, citing Turkish security officials, said the operation could last two weeks.
The advance was the first confirmed Turkish military ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Turkey's army is believed to have carried out unacknowledged "hot pursuits" in recent years, with small groups of troops staying in Iraq for as little as a few hours or a day.
Turkey staged about two-dozen attacks in Iraq during the rule of Saddam, who conducted brutal campaigns against Iraqi Kurds. Some Turkish offensives, including several in the late 1990s, involved tens of thousands of soldiers. Results were mixed; rebels suffered combat losses but regrouped after Turkish forces withdrew.
The PKK militants are fighting for autonomy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey and have carried out attacks on Turkish targets from bases in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The conflict started in 1984 and has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.
Turkey's government has complained that Iraqi and U.S. authorities were not doing enough to stop guerrilla operations. The Turkish air force has been staging air raids on PKK forces in the north since December with the help of intelligence provided by the U.S., a NATO ally.
"We continue to express our absolute solidarity with Turkey about the PKK. This is a common enemy of the United States and Turkey," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday in Washington. "It is also an enemy of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government because the Iraqi territory cannot be used for terror, should not be used for terrorist attacks against Turkey."
Rice, however, said: "We've also been very clear, though, that stability and progress for Iraq is in the interest of Turkey. And so, everything should keep in mind that nothing should be done to destabilize what is a fragile but improving situation in Iraq."
Iraq's Oil Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed that oil exports to turkey would flow unimpeded. A pipeline that runs into Turkey was often halted in past years due to sabotage, but is now pumping more than 300,000 barrels per day.
"Turkish military operations will not affect pumping oil through this pipeline as both Iraqi and Turkish governments are keen not to halt it," Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Kurdish President Massoud Barzani's office warned in a statement that the regional government would not stand by if the Turks struck civilians.
"The regional government of Kurdistan will not be a part of the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK fighters. But at the same time we stress that if the Turkish military targets any Kurdish civilian citizens or any civilian structures then we will order a large-scale resistance," it said.
Tariq Jawhar, a spokesman for the National Assembly of Kurdistan, a regional body, said that "we want the Iraqi federal government and the U.S. to ... work hard to stop this aggression and to seek peaceful negotiation to solve the problem."
"Such military operations are considered a clear violation of the federal Iraqi territory," he said.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
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Mister Tee
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Except my point is, all except the Rasmussen were taken 3 weeks to a month ago -- a period during which the economic figures took a nosedive. (And Rasmussen is, historically, the most GOP-favoring polling by a significant margin)
Consumer confidence numbers plunged over the same period, so I don't think we can dismiss the numbers as an automatic outlier. Though, as I say, we'll have to wait for confirmation from at least one more source.
Consumer confidence numbers plunged over the same period, so I don't think we can dismiss the numbers as an automatic outlier. Though, as I say, we'll have to wait for confirmation from at least one more source.
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OscarGuy
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It's too low, Tee. here's a smattering of recent poll data. I don't know what their record lows are, but these aren't rosy.
President Bush Job ApprovalPoll Date Approve Disapprove Spread
RCP Average 01/29 - 02/16 32.8% 62.6% -29.8%
Rasmussen 02/10 - 02/16 35% 61% -26%
AP-Ipsos 02/04 - 02/06 30% 66% -36%
CNN 02/01 - 02/03 32% 67% -35%
CBS News 01/30 - 02/02 27% 65% -38%
USA Today/Gallup 01/30 - 02/02 34% 61% -27%
ABC News/Wash Post 01/30 - 02/01 33% 65% -32%
FOX News 01/30 - 01/31 33% 60% -27%
NPR 01/29 - 01/31 38% 56% -18%
President Bush Job ApprovalPoll Date Approve Disapprove Spread
RCP Average 01/29 - 02/16 32.8% 62.6% -29.8%
Rasmussen 02/10 - 02/16 35% 61% -26%
AP-Ipsos 02/04 - 02/06 30% 66% -36%
CNN 02/01 - 02/03 32% 67% -35%
CBS News 01/30 - 02/02 27% 65% -38%
USA Today/Gallup 01/30 - 02/02 34% 61% -27%
ABC News/Wash Post 01/30 - 02/01 33% 65% -32%
FOX News 01/30 - 01/31 33% 60% -27%
NPR 01/29 - 01/31 38% 56% -18%
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
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Mister Tee
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Okay, this is so outlandish -- and such a precipitous drop from the previous reading -- that I'll wait for confirmation. But if this turns out an accurate reading, it makes Bush the most despised president in polling history.
Reason to believe it's accurate? Some of us have said for a while that it was amazing Bush's numbers were so low even while official figures said the economy was in decent shape. Now, those figures have gone south in a hurry, and might account for this extraordinary development:
George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.
Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.
Reason to believe it's accurate? Some of us have said for a while that it was amazing Bush's numbers were so low even while official figures said the economy was in decent shape. Now, those figures have gone south in a hurry, and might account for this extraordinary development:
George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.
Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.
Bush orders wider sanctions on Syrian officials
Freeze on U.S. assets for those who ‘undermine efforts to stabilize Iraq’
WASHINGTON - President Bush Wednesday ordered expanded sanctions against Syrian government officials and their associates, the White House said.
The measures are intended to freeze U.S. assets of those believed to have benefited from public corruption or to have been responsible for actions that "undermine efforts to stabilize Iraq," the White House said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23152907/#storyContinued
Freeze on U.S. assets for those who ‘undermine efforts to stabilize Iraq’
WASHINGTON - President Bush Wednesday ordered expanded sanctions against Syrian government officials and their associates, the White House said.
The measures are intended to freeze U.S. assets of those believed to have benefited from public corruption or to have been responsible for actions that "undermine efforts to stabilize Iraq," the White House said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23152907/#storyContinued