In the biggest strategic move of the week, Obama pulled the rug out from under the missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe, to be replaced by a more cost-effective, sea-based system intended to defend against short- and medium-range missiles launched from Iran.
Russia countered by cancelling its plans to deploy missiles near Poland, according to an announcement by its NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, in Brussels.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Moscow but didn’t appear to come away with much.
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly made a “secret” visit to Moscow and it is believed he succeeded in convincing Russia to hold off on its planned sale of advanced missiles to Iran, at least for the time being.
Ahmadinejad repeated his standard blistering attack of Israel on Friday, stating among other things, that the Holocaust is a myth.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev condemned such talk and even went so far as to say he could imagine circumstances which might justify more sanctions against Iran.
Plans moved forward to start talks between the United States, Iran and other world powers on October 1. They are expected to continue for several months. So far, Iran has refused to accept any restraints on its nuclear enrichment program.
U.S. officials said they believe Iran could build a nuclear weapon within one to three years.
Israel-watchers said they believe Netanyahu will give the world powers until next summer or fall to get results. After that, the threat of a military strike against Iran will go up.
Presidential envoy George Mitchell returned from the Middle East on Friday, having failed to convince Israel to halt the expansion of new settlements in what Obama has described as Palestinian territory. The U.S. president has said that such a move by Israel is a necessary prelude to peace talks. Israel’s position on the matter recently hardened with the announcement two weeks ago that it will build another 455 homes for settlers on top of the 2,400 that were already under construction.
The L.A. Times reported yesterday that: “Most countries consider construction by Israel in those areas which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War and has populated with 500,000 Jews, to be a violation of international law.” The 2003 “road map,” an international peace plan, required Israel to freeze such settlement building.
Regardless of the resulting low expectations, President Obama announced plans to meet with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Obama will meet with Medvedev.
Ahmadinejad will also head for New York this week to address the General Assembly.
Violence erupted in Somalia last week and U.S. troops were said to have been involved in an attack on Islamic insurgents there.
As a result of additional intelligence that the insurgency in Afghanistan is continuing to gain territory and strength, the CIA announced that it is increasing its presence in that nation, paralleling the ongoing U.S. military expansion.
A new tape containing the voice of Bin Laden claimed that Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan is “hopeless,” and in a website posting, Mullah Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban suggested that the U.S. and NATO should study Afghanistan’s long history of repelling foreign invaders, going back to the days of Alexander the Great.
Last week, the Department of Defense released the obituaries of 13 military personnel killed in Afghanistan, ranging in age from 20 to 33. Nine of the fallen heroes were killed by improvised explosive devices (IED's). It has been reported that three more soldiers were killed this weekend.
Today, the New York Daily News reported that it has been estimated that 20% of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI’s) as a result of IED attacks. It said that in some cases the symptoms appear on a delayed basis. The policy in Afghanistan, according to the story, is that if a soldier is hit by improvised explosive devices three times he can be taken off patrols and given light duty.
Approximately 1.8 million military personnel have served in Iraq and Afghanistan over the years. Back in March of this year, Defense Department doctors estimated that the number of TBI’s could be as high as 360,000.
Total U.S. deaths in Afghanistan now stand at 841, according to the website icasualties.org.
A car bomb attack in Kabul on Thursday killed 26 civilians and wounded 55.
The Department of Defense, last week, also released the obituary of one 30-year-old soldier killed in Iraq when his vehicle overturned. The death was classified as non-combat-related.
Family members are in the process of being notified of the death of another soldier today as a result of a helicopter crash in Iraq which also injured 12 service personnel.
U.S. deaths in Iraq now total 4,345 according to icasualties.org.
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Comments: 25
And the policy of allowing soldiers hit by IEDs THREE times??? to be given light duty....??? INHUMANE.
And the rest of it is just plain scary. I realize it is global politics as usual, given the cast of characters, but that makes it doubly and triply scary.
www.nopom.info
I would add to your list that the threatening actions by the Secretary of State (either on her own or under orders from the President) against the constitutional actions of the democratic government of Honduras have put the U.S. on the same side as Venezuela. Being a part of the leftist coalition attempting to destabilize Central America is apparently a comfortable position for the Obama administration, but it scares the hell out of most Americans.
> Central America is apparently a comfortable position for the
> Obama administration, but it scares the hell out of most
> Americans.
Nonsense. Central and South American would have have these socialist governments if they did not have a history or repression and colonization by the US. The economies and growth rates of these countries are doing very well, and the wealth is getting dsitributed more broadly than in the US ... that is progress, and if the corporations were still in charge it would not be happening.
Why don't we learn instead of whining this silly stuff after it is too late?
Facts are troublesome things, aren't they? You can dream about a prosperous socialist world, but those pesky facts just don't support your dream.
How can Israel, in violation of International Law, continue this process & expect the Palestinians to cooperate?
It's war and Israel is the more civilized side since it is not indisciminantly killing Palestinian civilians to satisfy their constitution.
On Iran, I have always been skeptical about our accusations of their bomb making as we were duped into a misguided war based on Iraqi WMD's. What is the UN saying since they were there (unbiased report of course). Furthermore what is the rest of the arab world saying too. I'm sure that they have opinions too.
One thing that concerns me is if Israel does take out Iran's nuclear plant(s) then what? Iran will retaliate but a more pertinent question will be how will the entire region react, the USA, Europe, and the rest of the world? Will Israel, as an act of penitence then offer the tidbit of stopping any further construction in the occupied territories?
Why would Persians care about the Arab world? To them, Arabs are to be used not treated as equals. That ethnic rivalry predates the Greek city states. Bruce said it pretty well.
What goes around comes around!
This was a good movie, and it will be a spectacular move if the Russians have a clue and start to inch towards becoming part of the West and quit trying to recreate the thug empire.
We will see soon how Russia responds. I think it will be surprising.
I don't believe Americans can begin to see how the palestinians feel about losing their land to the Jews. People spout right of conquest but fail to speak "right of conquest" when talking how Israel lost its country to begin with. I do not feel any compassion for Hamas lobbing cheap scud missiles inti Israel but I do not condone the mass murder of innocent and unarmed Palestinians either. Before and after WWII nobody wanted to allow the Jews to migrate to their country including the U.S. so something had to be done and giving them their own country was inevitable. The UN moved the people out of what is now Israel and could as well keep the Jews behind their borders instead of allowing then to become empire builders. Ahmadinejad shows opposition the only way he can and we do not know the real state of Iranian politics except they want to be ruled by their religious leaders just like the rest of Islam or their intent with their nuclear program, all we know is the propaganda spewed by the neocon war mongers. Its not that Islam hates our freedom its that we keep murdering their people under false pretenses. The IAEA is still the worlds nuclear watchdog not Israel or the U.S. or the Jewish hardliners, the Jewish war mongers are doing know more than saber rattling to get support from their party but no attack will be forth coming from Israel or the U.S.
One of my questions has always been why do we support the EU defense with our money and resources? If the EU needs a defense why don't they pay for it? Americans had the right idea after WWI when they said they were tired of fighting Europe's wars.
My opinion and that's all I can give is that bin Laden is dead and he is only brought up when their is a need to straighten the support for these expanding wars for profit.
But again, as with everything Obama does more significant that scratching his nose, the Republicans knee-jerk into screaming at him for giving away the store.
Argh, it is amazing when you think of how long that BS from the Republicans has actually worked ... and don't you just wonder when it became more BS and a habitual mode of behavior, like screaming socialist at everything that was not Republican, or unpatriotic?
By the way, Obama was very good on Letterman last night. Hope that works its way to Youtube.
I would say they have more of a right to put missiles along their border than we have to put them in Poland.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/09/024571.php
I get tired of painting this picture but maybe this time someone will listen to the whys of how it simply isn't so.
Chief component is supposed to be naval. That system as far as I can tell is limited to a single test platform. Any such ship with the system is to be based in the Gulf off Iran supposedly. That ship and it's attendants have the same problem that you noted some time ago. A lot of ASMs only a few hundred miles away at most, never mind submarines/attack craft. Not that I think the Iranians could sink that cruiser with the ABM system easily but fending off a swarm of those will distract from the primary mission of targeting the Iranian ballistic missile. If the Iranians launch from northern Iran, that puts additional distance between them and our ship system (reaction time being perfect of course). Our ABM must come from behind through whatever missiles/chaff/ECM the Iranians will pop too in hope of protecting that launch.
The land based system fired towards the Iranian target has more reaction/calibration time compared to the trailing method. It also has more launch capability and less chance of any interference being in friendly territory. Now a ship based system in the Med might work for the same reason the land one would but that is not the plan the Administration is talking of. Never mind of course that we have virtually no ABM defense for the East Coast, that system in Poland was intended to do that double duty. The Vaval system does not have the covering range.
So we PO'd allies for what? The Russians can if they actually have the capability (debatable) place that vaunted missile system of theirs in western Russia anytime anyway. Note they never did despite their complaints. They didn't want to scare the eastern Europeans anymore than they already had. Now they got what they wanted, us backing down publicly and the Poles/Czechs doubting we have their backs at all.