A Major Task for John Kerry

7 Comments

1. 

   Oui on December 14, 2013 at 5:50 am

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   Provocations, EU’s financial interests behind Ukraine protests – Lavrov

   KIEV, Ukraine (RT) – Russia ‘has no doubt’ that ‘provocateurs with a long-prepared script’ lurk behind the mass protests in Ukraine. This position was voiced by Russian RM Sergey Lavrov in a TV interview, in which he criticized the EU’s greed and interventionism.

   The scale of the ongoing protest is “incomprehensible” the Russian minister said on Saturday on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. Such a reaction would be understandable, for example, if Ukraine’s government had declared war on a peaceful foreign nation against the wishes of the people. But merely delaying signing the EU trade deal does not give good cause for it, Lavrov believes.

   “There is no doubt that provocateurs are behind it,” he said.

   Lavrov defended the Ukrainian government’s right to take decisions on its national policy and criticized Western officials who have sided with the protesters demanding the government’s resignation.

   ○ Ukraine Debt Rating Cut to the same level as Greece and Cyprus
   ○ Ukraine looks to China for money as debt crunch looms
   ○ Ukraine: the Tymoshenko and Yushchenko years of corruption
   ○ Ukraine’s GNI per capita decreased by 22% between 1990 and 2012
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     Oui on December 14, 2013 at 9:21 am

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     Kiev Tug-of-War: Merkel Still Open to Ukraine Cooperation

     (Spiegel Online) – Lithuanian President Dalia Grysbauskaite accused the Kremlin of blackmail. “The actions of Russia towards countries like Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia show that this country still employs uncivilized methods,” Grysbaukaite told the German newspaper Die Zeit. It is inconceivable “that a country in the 21st century would still blackmail other countries in this way.”

     ‘We Underestimated the Drama’

     European Parliament President Martin Schulz admitted EU officials made mistakes in their negotiations with Ukraine. “I think we underestimated the drama of the domestic political situation in Ukraine,” he told German public radio station Deutschlandfunk. Ukraine, he said, “has been in a deep economic and financial crisis” since the introduction of democracy. “They desperately need money and they desperately need a reliable gas supply,” he added.

     Schulz said he understood why Ukraine moved towards Russia. “It is not especially popular in Europe to help states which are in a crisis … and if you look at Moscow’s proposals, they would offer Ukraine short-term assistance that we, as Europeans, cannot and do not want to afford.”

2. 

   Oui on December 14, 2013 at 8:49 am

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   Close to Lanny Davis and the Clinton’s … that explains a lot!

   Since 2012, Block has been the CEO and president of The Israel Project (TIP), a Washington- and Jerusalem-based lobbying organization that provides “pro-Israel” talking points to journalists and the public with the goal of giving a “more positive public face” to the country. Commenting on Block’s hire, the Jewish daily Forward opined: “Block’s reputation as a pro-Israel bulldog seems to stand in stark contrast to that of [former president Jennifer Laszlo] Mizrahi, who chose mostly to engage with journalists and policymakers rather than fight with them.”

   Block co-founded with Lanny Davis the public affairs firm Davis-Block LLC, earned his “bulldog” reputation in part as a result of his efforts to smear critics of Israel and one-sided U.S. support for the country as “anti-Semitic.”

   [Source Right-Web]

   I’m glad Hillary is history, AIPAC took some losses and Secretary Kerry has invested his personal reputation for greater Middle East peace. I’m always optimistic but I know the deck of cards are stacked against him. All extremists from Arab states, Tehran, Jerusalem and Washington DC are united against his effort.

   Cross-posted from Tikun Olam – Center for American Progress Beds Down With Corporate Donors, Muzzles Israel-Palestine Debate.

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     kafkananda on December 19, 2013 at 4:44 pm

     That is a key insight. I ‘hope’ it is leading to a change in the public’s perception of who and what is the real nature of the evils befalling us. If the real terrorists are all lumped together maybe everybody else can put two and two together and wake up.

3. 

   Oui on December 14, 2013 at 10:19 am

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   Israel-Palestinian negotiations finally come into some focus

   (JPost) – Finally, after some 4-1/2 months of Israeli- Palestinian negotiations, some kind of game plan is beginning to emerge. Finally, some sort of indication about how this is all supposed to work – the logistics of the process, what a number of the key actors (namely the US and the Israelis) are thinking – is coming out into the open.

   US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State John Kerry all spoke to the Saban Forum in Washington over the weekend, and a careful reading of what they said – as well as comments chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni made at Tel Aviv University this week – provide an indication of where the process is now, where it is headed, and some of the pitfalls.

   … there must be iron-clad security arrangements to protect the peace, arrangements that allow Israel to defend itself, by itself, against any possible threats. And those security arrangements must be based on Israel’s own forces.

   But Netanyahu means it, and the Americans know he means it – and as a result, they have set up a team apparently unprecedented in size and scope to look at Israel’s security requirements after an agreement, and to suggest solutions.

   These types of security analyses have been done numerous times over the last 20 years of Israeli- Palestinian talks, but apparently not to the extent being undertaken now, led by Marine Corps Gen. (ret.) John Allen.

   “Never before – ever – has the United States conducted such an in-depth analysis of Israel’s security requirements that arise from the potential of a two-state solution,” Kerry said at the Saban Forum. “Never.”

   He said that some 160 people from an alphabet- soup list of US defense and intelligence organizations are involved in the project

   Kerry: Israel, Palestinians closest to peace ‘in years’

4. 

   Marie2 on December 19, 2013 at 7:02 pm

   A loose wheel or two in the Senate Senate Dem Defy Obama on Iran.  This could morph into a pile-up that would derail all the ME peace efforts.

5. 

   Oui on December 23, 2013 at 12:53 am

   Can’t be more clear where the Clinton’s stand on the Iranian issue: in opposition to Obama/Kerry and giving support to the Israeli hardliners Netanyahu/Liberman. Well done Hillary … gives credence to all who undermine the US-Iran detente.

   Clinton: Israeli Criticism – Good for America

   (Israel National News) – Israeli leaders’ criticism of Western powers recent agreement with Iran has been good for America, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, according to Maariv/nrg.

   Clinton reportedly said in a closed meeting in Washington that Israel’s open concern that the plan would be ineffective has kept the pressure on Iran and its allies.

   Israel’s status as a perceived ally of the United States means that its warnings of a possible military strike are taken seriously in Iran, she explained. Russia and China are also influenced by fear of an Israeli military strike, she said, citing the countries’ behavior in advance of Security Council votes on sanctions on Iran.

   Concern over a possible Israeli strike may have made Iran more flexible in its talks with U.S. diplomats.

   Report: Hillary Clinton Says Israel’s Strong Stance on Iran Has Helped the U.S.