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Troops to Iraq: Bush draws flak
Taliban shadow on Pranab’s visit in Pak media
Solve Kashmir issue through talks: Ban
Britain ‘tried to stop’ Saddam’s hanging
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Pak may ease visa norms for Indian tourists
Pak denies presence of Al-Qaida
US Embassy attacked in Greece
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Troops to Iraq: Bush draws flak
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates on Thursday faced tough questions from members of the Congress who called President George W. Bush’s plan to increase US troops in Iraq a “serious mistake”. One day after Bush told the nation of his plan to surge more than 21,000 troops into Iraq, his senior Cabinet officials were chastised by Democratic and Republican lawmakers who were skeptical about the effectiveness of this plan. Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Peter Pace testified before the House Armed Services Committee. The hearings turned heated at times. California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer scolded Rice noting the secretary has no children of her own to lose in the war. “Who pays the price?” Boxer demanded. “You're not going to pay a particular price”. The foreign relations panel’s chairman, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr, also a Democrat, called the escalation of troops a “tragic mistake”. Biden concluded that members of his foreign relations panel had reactions that went from “skepticism to intense skepticism to outright opposition to the president’s proposal”. Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, described it as “quite possibly the greatest foreign policy mistake in the history of our nation”. Criticism came from both sides of the political aisle. Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, called the new strategy a “dangerous foreign policy blunder”. Gates and General Pace heard similar reactions. “This is the craziest, dumbest plan I’ve ever seen or heard of in my life,” Congressman Neil Abercrombie, a Hawaii Democrat, told the General. Members of the Congress were concerned about the duration of the American presence in Iraq. Bush in his address said the US commitment to Iraq was not “open-ended”. Gates, when pressed by lawmakers, said the surge would probably last “months, not 18 months or two years”. He added that the US could revise its plan if Iraqi leaders failed to keep to its commitments. Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Iraqi government was on “borrowed time” as far as the Bush administration and the American people were concerned. “America’s patience is limited,” she said. In the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the panel’s Democratic chairman Tom Lantos of California told Rice there was “no mechanism whereby this Iraqi government will be held responsible, or can be held responsible, to do what they, in their own best interest, should do”. “What is the performance of the Prime Minister of Iraq that suddenly give us, or gives the President, so much confidence?” he asked. The Bush administration has also been criticised for shunning recommendations made by a bipartisan study group on Iraq. The panel, headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton, suggested the US to engage Iran and Syria in an effort to bring peace to Iraq. Rice on Thursday accused the two nations of destabilising Iraq and the broader West Asia. She said Iran and Syria were engaging in “extortion” rather than diplomacy with the US. Thomas Lippman, a former West Asia bureau chief with the Washington Post, told The Tribune, “We found ways to do business with the Soviet Union, a really threatening existential worldwide enemy, in the darkest days of the Cold War; surely we could find ways to do business with Iran today, even if the regime is run by odious people”. “Iran is a serious country that is not going to go away, and I would prefer that the United States be well thought of by the next generation of Iranians,” Lippman said. Calling the report a “very good” one, Dr Bahry said the Bush administration was making a mistake by not engaging Iran and Syria. “Boycotting them under these circumstances is not the right approach,” he cautioned.
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Taliban shadow on Pranab’s visit in Pak media Islamabad, January 12 However, this may yet prove to be incorrect as New Delhi and Islamabad are working hard to ensure that the talks between Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri are not seen as an exercise in futility, but present some kind of progress in the ongoing peace process. Although no major announcements are expected, the two sides may issue a joint statement announcing the dates for the fourth round of composite dialogue to be held in February. Similarly, the two sides are also hoping that the joint mechanism set up in last November to fight terrorism will be able to meet at the earliest, possibly by this month-end. Even if there is no agreement on these seemingly minor points, India or Pakistan will, at best, declare their intention to resolve their longstanding differences. Pakistan struck a discordant note today with its Foreign Minister telling the local media that President Pervez Musharraf might not attend the SAARC summit being held this April in New Delhi. He said it would be more appropriate for him to visit India after a reciprocal visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Pranab Mukherjee is coming to Islamabad primarily to invite Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for the forthcoming summit. The Indian side, however, played down Kasuri's statement saying he had only said that they were waiting for the invitation. “The invitation will be handed over tomorrow,” it was stated. Except for this reference, Kasuri struck a positive note about tomorrow’s talks. “We will improve the atmosphere and hold purposeful discussions on Kashmir, Sir Creek, Siachen and set high benchmarks for the fourth round of talks,” he told presspersons here. They would do everything “without posturing and without stealing a march over India,” he added. With Pakistan under international pressure regarding the increasing activities of the Taliban and the Al-Qaida, Pranab Mukherjee will reiterate New Delhi’s concerns over cross-border terrorism on the Kashmir side and the developments in Afghanistan and West Pakistan, which have serious repercussions for India as well.
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Solve Kashmir issue through talks: Ban
United Nations, January 12 "It is a long standing issue and should be resolved through peaceful dialogue," he told reporters yesterday. The United Nations has an observer team in Kashmir which keeps the world body informed of the developments there, Ban's remarks were sought in the context of External Affairs Minster Pranab Mukherjee's two-day visit to Islamabad beginning Friday. Ban Ki-moon has said efforts to foster peace in Sudan's Darfur region, Somalia and the Middle East would be key In his first formal press conference yesterday, since he took office on January 1, the 62-year-old former South Korean foreign minister made it clear that "Africa will be the focus of many of my priorities." He said he would attend the African Union (AU) summit on January 29 in Addis Ababa where the Darfur conflict and Somalia will be at the top of the agenda. — PTI, AFP
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Athens, January 12 “There are one or two anonymous phone calls which claim that the Revolutionary Struggle was behind it,” Public Order Minister said. — Reuters
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Britain ‘tried to stop’ Saddam’s hanging
London, January 12 In a letter to Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, she said Britain had pressed its case many times, adding: ''This included lobbying at the highest level in Baghdad on 29 December.'' The ousted Iraqi leader was hanged the following day. —
Reuters
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Pak may ease visa norms for Indian tourists
Islamabad, January 12 Federal Minister for Tourism Niloufer Bakhtiar was quoted by The News as saying that the government was considering increasing the duration of stay of Indian tourists from five to 15 days and introducing a tourist section in the passports for the purpose. Mr Mukherjee, who is arriving here tomorrow on his first-ever visit to Pakistan since taking over as External Affairs Minister, primarily to extend an invitation to President Pervez Musharraf to attend the 14th SAARC Summit at New Delhi in April, will have talks with his counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri. He will also meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Ms Bakhtiar said the extended time for Indian tourists would provide them an opportunity to visit other spots besides the places they want to go to. The talks between the Foreign Ministers here tomorrow will set the agenda for the fourth round of the Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) besides reviewing the third round of the CDP. — UNI
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Pak denies presence of Al-Qaida
Islamabad, January 12 “It is also a fact that there are Al-Qaida elements active in West Asia, North Africa and Europe, as Mr Negroponte has said, but it will be incorrect to link them to any remnants of Al-Qaida in Pakistan,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said in a statement here. —
UNI
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Iran demands release of nationals Diaz, Timberlake split
Woman dies of bird flu
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