Who would have thought that Iran, a country that has been the nemesis of the past five American presidents, might actually become a model for what Washington wants to see happen politically in the Middle East? Who would have thought that a Berlin Wall moment for the region might happen in the strict Islamic republic, where a revolution 30 years ago unleashed Islam as a modern political idiom and extremism as a tool to confront the West Unlikely as it seems, the rise of a popular movement relying on civil disobedience to confront authoritarian rule — in the last bloc of countries to hold out against the tide of change that has swept the rest of the world over the past quarter century — is almost a diplomatic dream for the Obama administration
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Donald Rumsfeld in Repose
For a few months after his departure as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld occupied a suite of government-provided transition offices in a high-rise building in Rosslyn, Virginia, up the Potomac River a short way from the Pentagon.
Israeli official: ‘Accommodation’ possible on settlements
Israel is discussing an "accommodation" on settlement activities to show good faith with the Obama administration, a senior Israeli official told CNN on Tuesday. The comment came in advance of high-level meetings this week between two governments
Latest News About Iran Elections
Move Along, There’s Nothing to See Here, June 16, 9:12 p.m. IRT The Financial Times reports that “Iran on Tuesday banned journalists working for foreign media from leaving their offices to cover protests in the capital.” Wire services also announced that due to the ban on their photographers covering the demonstrations, they were forced to relay only images from official Iranian sources.
After 7 years at Gitmo, resettled Uyghurs grateful for freedom
Two of four Uyghurs relocated to Bermuda after seven years of detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, denied Friday that they had ever been terrorists, and expressed gratitude toward President Obama for working to free them. Asked what he would say to someone who accused him of being a terrorist, one of the men, Kheleel Mamut, told CNN’s Don Lemon, “I am no terrorist; I have not been terrorist. I will never be terrorist.
Four Uighur detainees from Gitmo sent to Bermuda
Four Chinese nationals of Uighur ethnicity held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility have been resettled in Bermuda, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday
Why Iraq Isn’t Korea
In the early days of the Iraq war, the analogy of choice for the Bush Administration was the post-World War II occupations of Japan and Germany. They had been bitter enemies of the United States; were both destroyed in a merciless world war; and eventually turned into peaceful, democratic allies of the first order. Anyone who said democracy couldn’t come at the barrel of a gun was denying the obvious.
Egyptians await Obama, saying, ‘It can’t all be rainbows and roses’
Languishing in a Cairo prison last year, a prisoner noticed that every day, the prison staff would clean the adjacent cell, even though there was no one in it. Why, the prisoner asked his guards, did they do it It’s for Barack Obama, they responded.
Waiting for Sotomayor: 3-year delay in greenhouse gas case
Judge Sonia Sotomayor may not know for some time when her Supreme Court confirmation hearings will be held. It could be next month or perhaps in September. As a waiting game, however, that pales in comparison to an important environmental lawsuit that has been pending at Sotomayor’s court for almost three years
Obama aims to repair U.S. image in Muslim world
President Obama travels to the Middle East on Tuesday in an effort to repair a damaged U.S. image — and seemingly reset relations with the Muslim world. It’s a process that has been in the works since his first week in office.