tagged w/ foreign relations
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Taken together, military leadership and a true focus on the needs of veterans, it has become clear to many in and out of the service that President Obama has earned their trust. The President has matched his words with actions that both protects America and gives our service members the confidence he is making the right decision when they are deployed.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=44972Taken together, military leadership and a true focus on the needs of veterans, it has... more
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This comes on the heels of a recent article in the Jewish Journal decrying Romney’s speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and his claim that “the people of Israel deserve better than what they have received from the leader of the free world.” According to the Jewish Journal, “Mitt Romney’s attack on President Obama is not based on the facts.” Writer Rabbi John Rosove then proceeded to lay out 19 facts highlighting President Obama’s strong support for the State of Israel and implored Mitt Romney to cease and desist.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=40173This comes on the heels of a recent article in the Jewish Journal decrying... more
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Whatever your opinion may be about the legitimacy of the timing of the reporters’ questions, the way in which they were asked, or of Mitt Romney’s press availability during this trip, I think we can all agree on one thing; you can’t tell people to show some respect for a holy site and, in the same breath, tell the same people to kiss your ass.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=40143Whatever your opinion may be about the legitimacy of the timing of the... more
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On Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia is opposed to any and all changes to the Russo-American START nuclear disarmament treaty.
During an interview with the Interfax Agency, Lavrov indicated that the treaty as it exists fully addresses the interests of Russia and the United States, and it cannot be modified, nor be subject to new negotiations.
The ratification of the treaty has suffered from delay tactics in the Senate on the part of Republicans who allegedly object to what they perceive is a weakness in monitoring, and is detrimental to U.S flexibility on missile defense. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced an amendment to increase the number of inspections, a move that will be considered by the Senate. However, it is being viewed as a 'treaty killer', since such an amendment would require the US to re-negotiate it with Russia. Similar amendments that were viewed as treaty killers in the past were already defeated thus far on the floor of the Senate.On Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia is opposed to any... more
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The Blog Pretty much sums it all how the people of Iraq are looking at the shoe incident.
Mr. Bush you paid the "price of freedom"
Some reactions:
Qasim Abdul Ridha, a 37-year-old teacher, said: “What he has done is improper with the profession of journalism. He conducted an aggression against the flag of Iraq. The democracy is not shoes. We demand the government prosecute him.”
Dhyaa Mahdi Salih, a 56-year-old lawyer, said: “What this brave journalist did is nothing but rejecting the tyrants in our country. And this journalist deserves to have a statue as he was throwing his shoe at the American president.”
Saddam Loqman, a 21-year-old shopkeeper, said: “My father was arrested by Americans and I wish I [could have thrown the shoe] instead, but if I was a journalist, then I have to respect the occupation when I get to the conference hall.” Then he laughed and said, “I think that the Iraqi government will permit journalists to attend conferences only after taking their shoes off.”The Blog Pretty much sums it all how the people of Iraq are looking at the shoe... more
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19 year old Meghan sounds off about her ideal Presidential candidate's attitude towards foreign relations.19 year old Meghan sounds off about her ideal Presidential candidate's attitude... more
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spooly
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added this
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4 years ago
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Pakistani troops have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, local officials say.
Reports say nine US helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border and US troops then tried to cross the border. South Waziristan is one of the main areas from which Islamist militants launch attacks into Afghanistan.
The incident comes amid growing anger in Pakistan over increasingly aggressive US attacks along the border. The latest confrontation began at around midnight, local people say. They say seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed in the Afghan province of Paktika near the Zohba mountain range.
US troops from the Chinooks then tried to cross the border. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward, local Pakistani officials say.
Reports say the firing lasted for several hours. Local people evacuated their homes and tribesmen took up defensive positions in the mountains.
The incident happened close to the town of Angoor Adda, some 30km (20 miles) from Wana, the main town of South Waziristan.
A Pakistani military spokesman in Islamabad confirmed that there was firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved.Pakistani troops have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the... more
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Blackwater Worldwide is the best-known of the private military companies whose personnel have become a ubiquitous presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL officer, Blackwater has grown into a firm with 600 full-time employees in the U.S. and 2,000 contractors serving abroad, most in Afghanistan and Iraq. The company’s wide-ranging business ventures include personal security services, manufacture of combat vehicles, operation of a fleet of aircraft and much more.
But Blackwater’s reputation has been tainted by several high-profile incidents that have garnered negative publicity, most recently a Sept. 16, 2007, incident in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in which a Blackwater personal security detail escorting a State Department convoy allegedly shot 17 Iraqi civilians.
In a July 7 meeting with the Military Times editors and reporters, Prince vigorously defended his company, which he said had a guiding principle of “operational excellence.”
The following are extracts from that meeting, edited for brevity and clarity.
Q. Under what constraints are you operating when it comes to publicly explaining or defending yourself against the allegations that have been leveled at you over the last couple of years?
A. We go to work [in Iraq] for the State Department, who by contract says you will have no contact with the media. So 99 out of 100 times, we have to say, “No comment to the media,” and we still try to abide [by] that however we can. This is kind of an anomaly, me going to an editorial board, but, you know, I’m here not really to talk about our State Department stuff but about the other stuff we do for DoD and aviation and et cetera.
But that is a difficult quandary that we’re put into where we’re a punching bag of sorts for folks that want to attack whatever is going on in Iraq and we’re not able to put the facts out.
We’ve done well over 20,000 missions now for the State Department. Probably point-4 of 1 percent of all those missions have resulted in the discharge of a firearm — not 4 percent, point-4 percent of 1 percent. So the idea that the guys are trigger happy and shooting up the place is just grossly inaccurate, and still, no one under our care has been killed or injured.
Q. Do you think the State Department could or should have done more to defend you?
A. I’m not here to criticize the State Department at all. … They have a difficult job there, we have a difficult job there. And I’m proud to say that no one under our care has been killed or injured, and we’re big boys, and we can take those lumps, and I’m honored that they renewed our work, that they see the value that we provide them.
Q. You recently put a retired Delta Force officer in charge of your State Department contract. What changes has Blackwater made to how your people conduct themselves downrange since he came on board?
A. His rotation to that job was a normal career rotation in the business. That job is a pressure cooker and the phone never turns off, and there’s always things happening overseas.
State Department has put cameras and DS [Diplomatic Security] agents in with our convoys. That’s something we’d asked for back in 2005 already in writing. [Our attitude] was, don’t take our word for it — let the camera or the government DS agent be that third-party arbiter to avoid the kind of incidents which, you know, got very overblown last September.
Q. Is that DS agent the senior guy in the convoy now?
A. Yes. He is the last word.
Q. We’ve heard that there has been a series of changes made that might improve the way people perceive Blackwater personnel in combat zones, such as no more goatees, no visible tattoos and no alcohol when deployed.
A. Well, we’ve had a no-alcohol policy for a long time. The haircut and uniform presentation is very, very clearly defined for State Department.Blackwater Worldwide is the best-known of the private military companies whose... more
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The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States.
The legislation would replace and expand the current $15 billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires at the end of September.
In a statement, ' said that when the program was launched in 2003, about 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today, the program supports lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment for more than 1.7 million people around the world, he said. It also has supported treatment and prevention programs that have helped HIV-positive women give birth to nearly 200,000 infants who are HIV-free.
The Democratic-led Senate, rarely in agreement with the White House, gave Bush credit for initiating the program. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a chief negotiator in crafting the bill, said the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is "the single most significant thing the president has done."
The global AIDS program will save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives, Biden said, "and the president deserves our recognition for that."
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and co-negotiator with Biden, said the program "has helped to prevent instability and societal collapse in a number of at-risk countries." He added that it has "facilitated deep partnerships with a new generation of African leaders, and it has improved attitudes toward the United States in Africa and other regions."
[Credit: Jim Abrams, AP; Photo: hopeinthedark.com]The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has... more
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"India will also have to plough the furrow at the Nuclear Suppliers Group for a "clean" exemption. All of which means a lobbyist - despite many in the Indian establishment screwing up their nose at the word - remains priority for this government. The nuclear deal is therefore the biggest deliverable for Blackwill's BGR in 2008.""India will also have to plough the furrow at the Nuclear Suppliers Group for a... more
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The House Foreign Relations Committee voted yesterday to condemn the killings of Armenians during World War I as an act of genocide on the part of the Turkish government. The vote was non-binding and so is largely symbolic, but it's really ticked off the Turks, who have said they will reconsider their support of the Iraq War if the measure passes in the main body of the House.
What I don't understand is why the House is making an issue of this right now. We're talking about something from World War I. If it's waited this long, probably not going to be a big problem to put it off a couple more years. Unless they're trying to make the war in Iraq harder to sustain by straining relations with Turkey? That seems way too sneaky to be the case, and it would probably hurt our troops more than bring an end to the war.The House Foreign Relations Committee voted yesterday to condemn the killings of... more
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Tori
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added this
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5 years ago
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Leftist President Hugo Chavez won re-election by a wide margin, giving him free reign for a more radical turn toward socialism and six more years to counter U.S. influence in Latin America and beyond.Leftist President Hugo Chavez won re-election by a wide margin, giving him free reign... more
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