http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17738.htm
Brown to Pull Troops Out of Iraq 05/20/07 "The Scotsman" -- -- GORDON Brown will remove all British forces from Iraq before the next election under a plan to rebuild support among disillusioned Labour voters. Scotland on Sunday can reveal the Prime Minister elect is working on a withdrawal plan that could see troop numbers slashed from 7,000 to as few as 2,000 within 12 months. If implemented, the strategy would culminate in total withdrawal no later than spring 2010, the date by which Brown must go to the country to seek his own mandate. Policy under Tony Blair involved keeping a small force in Iraq for many years to come. But it emerged last night that President George Bush has been briefed by White House officials to expect an announcement from Downing Street within Brown's first 100 days in power. The accelerated 'troops out' plan will prove unpopular in Washington, and leaves Brown open to accusations that after supporting the Iraq war he is now leaving its people to an increasingly uncertain future. Yesterday, as Blair made his seventh and last visit as Prime Minister to Iraq, the security crisis was all too obvious. Mortars hit the British army HQ while he was there and Baghdad's Green Zone was also hit around the time of his visit. Blair reiterated that he had "no regrets" about removing former Iraqi dictator Saddam from power, but discontent over his handling of the crisis was driven home when former US President Jimmy Carter condemned his "blind" support of the war in Iraq. The Chancellor, who does not share Blair's personal commitment to the US-led operation, or his close relationship with President Bush, is now poised to seize the opportunity to open the Brown era with a "grand gesture" on Iraq. Senior ministers last night confirmed that an accelerated draw-down of troops could be "comfortably achieved" well within two years, by which time Brown is expected to be preparing for an electoral showdown with David Cameron. One senior Cabinet minister, expected to play a central role in Brown's first government, said an accelerated withdrawal from Iraq was one of the "foremost options" under consideration. He added: "We are already committed to a withdrawal of sorts. The schedule can be altered so it is comfortably done within two years." Under the blueprint for withdrawal announced by Blair in February, the 7,100 British troops currently in Iraq would be reduced to 5,000 by late summer, with an aspiration to reduce gradually over the following two years. But the military plans sparked by the looming change at the top involve cutting the British presence more rapidly: to 4,000 by late summer and perhaps 2,000 to 3,000 by the year end. The ultimate hope is to draw down to a "nominal" force within 18 months, and a virtually complete exit within two years of Brown coming to power. Michael Codner, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, said declining public support and demands had raised expectations of changes in the British presence. He said: "There is a growing view that British forces in Iraq will be reduced substantially in the next 12 months, perhaps to as low as 1,500. The change of leadership is an obvious catalyst." ©2007 Scotsman.com *** From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 1:49 PM Subject: A Statement from Palestinian Leader Barghouti Marwan Barghouti is probably the Palestinian leader best qualified to bring peace to Israel/Palestine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwan_Barghouti Unfortunately he is one of the 10,000+ Palestinians sitting in Israeli prisons -- charged with murder and being a terrorist supporter -- charges questioned by many as being politically motivated. Ed Kent] URGENT RELEASE: A Statement from Marwan Barghouti - 17th May 2007 "The catastrophe currently afflicting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the homeland and the Diaspora must end immediately. Hundreds of innocents have already been injured, maimed and killed by the criminal operations that are being carried out around the clock in the Gaza Strip. They are a threat to the unity of the Palestinian people, their institutions and national cause, a cause for which we have expended much sweat and made many sacrifices in the past. I therefore condemn this bloody struggle for control over a besieged authority that is bereft of any jurisdiction that it initially may have had, following 7 years of Israeli obstruction and interference. A united effort to enhance and protect the Palestinian National Authority and its institutions, through a respect of the Prisoners' Document, the Mecca Agreement, the basic laws and the regulations is at present paramount. I call for President Mahmood Abbas and head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshal to meet without delay, with the Prime Minister and senior leaders of the two movements in attendance. This meeting will be an opportunity to engage in a strategic dialogue and to settle all unresolved issues, without exception. A time limit of 3 months must be set for the reaching of an all-encompassing strategic vision, which will regulate the relationship between the two sides and protect the higher interests of the Palestinian people. This vision should also include the re-activation and development of the PLO, with a renewed dialogue between all national and Islamic factions, in the homeland and the Diaspora. Finally, may 5th June be a day of national unity for the Palestinian people. May it serve as an opportunity to renew our commitment to our national goals and to protect all Palestinian national institutions. *** http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20070519/464e7640_3ca6_1552620 0705191390882950 Carter: Bush 'Worst' in World Relations May 19, 2007 2:29 PM EDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy. The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions. "The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me." Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate. He spoke while promoting his new audiobook series, "Sunday Mornings in Plains," a collection of weekly Bible lessons from his hometown of Plains, Ga. "Apparently, Sunday mornings in Plains for former President Carter includes hurling reckless accusations at your fellow man," said Amber Wilkerson, Republican National Committee spokeswoman. She said it was hard to take Carter seriously because he also "challenged Ronald Reagan's strategy for the Cold War." Carter came down hard on the Iraq war. "We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said. "But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies." Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Bush for having "zero peace talks" in Israel. Carter also said the administration "abandoned or directly refuted" every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents. Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone. "The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion," Carter said. "As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one." Douglas Brinkley, a Tulane University presidential historian and Carter biographer, described Carter's comments as unprecedented. "This is the most forceful denunciation President Carter has ever made about an American president," Brinkley said. "When you call somebody the worst president, that's volatile. Those are fighting words." Carter also lashed out Saturday at British prime minister Tony Blair. Asked how he would judge Blair's support of Bush, the former president said: "Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient." "And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world," Carter told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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