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After Bush’s second inauguration in January 2005, the National Security Council
had an intense internal debate regarding Iran. The conflict did not center on
whether there should be a regime change in Iran, but rather, whether to employ
soft or hard power to achieve it. Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld advocated a series of escalating military strikes,
while former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair called for the use of soft power. Eventually, the
president’s military advisors ended the debate when they cautioned Bush that
with the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, engaging Iran militarily
would be highly risky and draining for the U.S. armed forces.
Could the diplomatic thaw between Venezuela and the United States be coming to an abrupt end? At the recent Summit of the Americas held in Port of Spain, Barack Obama shook Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s hand and declared that he would pursue a less arrogant foreign policy towards Latin America. Building on that good will, Venezuela and the United States agreed to restore their ambassadors late last week. Such diplomatic overtures provided a stark contrast to the miserable state of relations during the Bush years: just nine months ago Venezuela expelled the U.S. envoy in a diplomatic tussle. At the time, Chávez said he kicked the U.S. ambassador out to demonstrate solidarity with left ally Bolivia, which had also expelled a top American diplomat after accusing him of blatant political interference in the Andean nation’s internal affairs. Whatever goodwill existed last week however could now be undone by turbulent political events in Honduras.
President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for $2.775 billion
in military aid to Israel is proceeding smoothly through the Congress. On June
17 the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs held a “markup” session on the budget. The subcommittee came
under pressure from an antiwar group that sought to suspend or condition foreign
aid over Israel’s use of U.S. weapons that left 3,000 Palestinians dead during
the Bush administration. The subcommittee held its session in a tiny Capitol room, denying activists and members of the press access to
determine whether there was any discussion on aid to Israel.
In an outcome that was mirrored across large parts of Europe, Britain's
governing Labour Party was dealt a crushing defeat in elections for European
parliament and local government offices--and right-wing parties, including the
fascist British National Party (BNP), made unprecedented gains. The picture was similar elsewhere in Europe, with a few exceptions. All told, neo-Nazi and far-right parties will hold
more than 40 seats in the new European parliament.
Since the June 12 Iranian presidential elections, Iran "experts” have mushroomed like bacteria in a Petri dish. So here is a quiz for all those instant experts. Which major country has elected more presidents than any in the world since 1980? Further, which nation is the only one that held ten presidential elections within thirty years of its revolution? The answer to both questions, of course, is Iran. Since 1980, it has elected six presidents, while the U.S. is a close second with five, and France at three. In addition, the U.S. held four presidential elections within three decades of its revolution to Iran’s ten.
There is hardly any election, in which the White House has a significant stake, where the electoral defeat of the pro-US candidate is not denounced as illegitimate by the entire political and mass media elite. In the most recent period, the White House and its camp followers cried foul following the free (and monitored) elections in Venezuela and Gaza, while joyously fabricating an ‘electoral success’ in Lebanon despite the fact that the Hezbollah-led coalition received over 53% of the vote.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered an important sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University. He defended Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the rightful winner of Iran's presidential election and called for an end to street protests.
The rights of Palestinian children are routinely violated by Israel’s
security forces, according to a new report that says beatings and torture are
common. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian minors are prosecuted by Israel
each year without a proper trial and are denied family visits. The findings by Defence for Children International (DCI) come in the wake of
revelations from Israeli soldiers and senior commanders that it is “normal
procedure” in the West Bank to terrorise Palestinian civilians, including
children.
The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide 
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