Saturday, December 3, 2011

Arab Spring and I

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AP Interview: Iraq PM Confident in Post-US Future

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press
BAGHDAD December 3, 2011 (AP)

Weeks before the U.S. pullout, Iraq's prime minister confidently predicted Saturday that his country will achieve stability and remain independent of its giant neighbor Iran even without an American troop presence.
Nouri al-Maliki also warned of civil war in Iran's ally Syria if Bashar Assad falls — a view that puts him closer to Tehran's position and at odds with Washington. The foreign policy pronouncement indicates that Iraq is emerging from the shadows of U.S. influence in a way unforeseen when U.S.-led forces invaded eight years ago to topple Saddam Hussein.
"The situation in Syria is dangerous," al-Maliki told The Associated Press during an interview at his office in a former Saddam-era palace in Baghdad's Green Zone. "Things should be dealt with appropriately so that the spring in Syria does not turn into a winter."
The Obama administration has been outspoken in its criticism of Assad's bloody crackdown on protests that the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people so far, the bloodiest in a wave of uprisings that have been dubbed the Arab Spring.
Iraq has been much more circumspect and abstained from key Arab League votes suspending Syria's membership and imposing sanctions on the country. That has raised concern that Baghdad is succumbing to Iranian pressure to protect Assad's regime. Tehran is Syria's main backer.
Nouri al-Maliki
AP
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks... View Full Caption
Al-Maliki insisted that Iraq will chart its own policies in the future according to national interests, not the dictates of Iran or any other country.
Some U.S. officials have suggested that Iranian influence in Iraq would inevitably grow once American troops depart.
Both countries have Shiite majorities and are dominated by Shiite political groups. Many Iraqi politicians spent time in exile in Iran under Saddam's repressive regime, and one of al-Maliki's main allies — anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — is believed to spend most of his time in Iran.
"Iraq is not a follower of any country," al-Maliki said. He pointed out several areas in which Iraq had acted against Iran's desires, including the signing of the security agreement in 2008 that required all U.S. forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year. Iran had been pushing for all American troops to be out of the country even sooner.
"Through our policies, Iraq was not and will not be a follower of another country's policies," he said.
But he also took pains to emphasize that Iraq did want to maintain good relations with Iran as the two countries share extensive cultural, economical and religious ties.
"Clearly, we are no enemy to Iran and we do not accept that some who have problems with Iran would use us as a battlefield. Some want to fight Iran with Iraqi resources as has happened in the past. We do not allow Iran to use us against others that Iran has problems with, and we do not allow others to use us against Iran," he said.
The prime minister defended his country's stance when it comes to how to address the instability roiling neighboring Syria right now.
The U.N.'s top human rights official said this week that Syria is in a state of civil war and that more than 4,000 people have been killed since March.
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Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
 When it comes to news, American media plays footsie with the Pentagon, CIA, the right wing Christian fundamentalists, their leading henchmen and women in politics, career politics, their PR men, consultants, pollsters, high profile lobbyists, some from the K Street inside the belt-ers, nasty TV and Radio show balderdashers. In substance, all sorts of jingoists.Well they are entitled to their putrid political philosophies. Not that it matters. Who reads that crap, anyway?The reality of the Middle East mess is that the nations are forming a firm opinions about American superpower bravado. Admitted that America led the world into small and large foreign wars. Some noteworthy for their extent, scopes and aftermath.
Europe would not be the Europe of today if Americans and their British allies did not land on the Omaha beach. Thanks Uncle Sam for the guts, gumption and the assumption that Hitler had to be stopped. Mussolini had to be stopped.
Those fascist, racist self promoting former dictators have gone with the winds. Did that stop from other dictators emerging like mushrooms over the period? Former ally, Joseph Stalin massacred his own citizens. Pol Pot followed suit in that great tradition.
Dictators come and dictators go. Not all are as unwelcome. The dictators America installed, supported till they were evicted from their palaces. Their majestic statues toppled down and hacked to pieces.
Americans are crazy talking about number of deaths in Syria, Libya and many other Arab countries. They are inevitable. Not necessarily politically correct. In Washington, DC, the murders happen every single day of every single week, month a year and years on. Why not raise your voice against such lawlessness? Road rage deaths in California keeps going. Who cries for such unnecessary deaths?
Not Uncle Sam. He is busy tallying numbers in other, preferably, Arab countries. Good luck. There shall be plenty of tallying
Tally-Ho.
...and I am Sid Harth@arabuhuru.org.
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In FRUS We Trust: 150 Years of US Foreign Relations History

December 2, 2011
December 3, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. The FRUS series, which is produced by the State Department’s Office of the Historian, was first published in 1861 in the same year that the Government Printing Office was founded and is the official documentary history of U.S. foreign policy decision-making and major diplomatic activity. Researchers and students of foreign policy have relied on the series to provide a “road map” of various major U.S. Government archival sources for many years.

Image: FRUS Series 150th Anniversary. Source: State Dept. Office of the Historian.
The FRUS series now comprises more than 450 individual volumes. A staff of approximately 20 historians and editors at the Office of the Historian in the Department of State compile and prepare the volumes for publication.  More recent volumes published over the last two decades increasingly containing declassified records from all the foreign affairs agencies who participate in a declassification review if their documents are selected for inclusion in a FRUS volume.
What will you find in a typical FRUS volume?
The State Department’s Office of the Historian describes the contents of FRUS volumes:
Foreign Relations volumes contain documents from Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy.
In general, the editors choose documentation that illuminates policy formulation and major aspects and repercussions of its execution. Volumes published over the past few years have expanded the scope of the series in two important ways: first by including documents from a wider range of government agencies, particularly those involved with intelligence activity and covert actions, and second by including transcripts prepared from Presidential tape recordings.
They go on to add that currently “volumes on the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations are now being researched, annotated, and prepared for publication.”
Contributing to an “Intelligent Public Opinion”
Although the FRUS was originally proposed as an unofficial Annual Report for the Secretary of State, its originators displayed very lofty goals for their now long-lived series.
In describing the history of how the FRUS series came about, Joshua Botts of the Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State explains:
The covering memorandum to the Secretary transmitting the Order for Secretary of State Frank Kellogg’s approval explained that FRUS “ought to contribute to the promotion of interest in questions of foreign policy and in turn assist in the maintenance of an intelligent public opinion.”
In short, the Department intended for FRUS to serve an important public affairs function in addition to satisfying demands from the academic community.
Image: Frank Billings Kellogg, 45th Secretary of State under President Calvin Coolidge, 1925-29. Source: State Dept. Office of the Historian.
Thus, the editors of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series act as the curators of American diplomatic history, sifting through our foreign affairs information to ensure there is a means for future generations of Americans to witness, decipher and interpret U.S. foreign policy decisions and actions.
150TH Anniversary Events for the FRUS series
1)      FRUS Research: To mark the 150th anniversary of FRUS, the Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State is presenting research on how the evolution of the series fits within many important themes in U.S. history, including the transformation of government institutions, changing conceptions of national security and transparency, and the increasingly important role that the United States has played in the world.
2)      Upcoming FRUS Events:  As part of the FRUS series sesquicentennial, the Office of the Historian has also embarked on an outreach initiative. Even if you missed the commemorative events held to date, you can consult the list of events to see if a recording is available.  A recent event was the Interview with a U.S. State Department Historian at Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, DC which focused upon the story behind the very first FRUS volume.
3)       Video of the January 2011 “Open Secrets: The FRUS Series” AHA Panel:  To hear how the FRUS editors sort through questions such as how much the public needs to know, what should be kept secret, are secrets political, and how long secrecy lasts, watch this fascinating panel discussion on how a democracy balances the public’s right to know against the need for preserving national security. This panel was held on January 9, 2011 at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting and included a roundtable of historians from the State Department and National Security Archive. Called “Open Secrets: The Foreign Relations of the United States Series, Democracy’s ‘Need to Know,’ and National Security”, the panel discussion can be viewed on CSPAN video or Youtube video.
Figure: FRUS panel entitled “Open Secrets: The Foreign Relations of the United States Series, Democracy’s ‘Need to Know,’ and National Security” at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting on January 9, 2011.
4)      FRUS RSS feed:  To keep up-to-date about new releases in the FRUS series, you can subscribe to the State Department’s FRUS Series RSS feed.
So from one 150 year-old to another, GPO wishes the Foreign Relations of the United States series a very well-deserved happy birthday!
How can you get the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series?
About the Author:  Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (Bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.

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  • ...and I am Sid Harth@sidileaks.net
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