tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73658166012924964862024-03-21T09:02:37.429-07:00Americas ImpactWe are a nonprofit community of foreign policy progressives dedicated to making U.S. foreign policy a domestic priority. By supporting Congressional candidates who embrace pragmatic U.S. engagement with the world, we hope to build a more prosperous and secure America. Find out more at http://www.americasimpact.org.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-63532767825667316762013-02-26T18:57:00.001-08:002013-02-26T18:57:36.535-08:00Allies Welcome Reception This Wednesday!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;">Join America's Impact Allies Welcome Reception - Wednesday February 27th from 6pm - 8pm. For more information and to register, visit our <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4946680655" target="_blank">Eventbrite page </a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-6015056312162470062012-10-08T09:28:00.003-07:002012-10-09T08:47:57.923-07:00Speaker Series: Zack Gold, Middle East AnalystLooking beyond campaign rhetoric, Zack will
discuss differences and similarities in the Middle East policies of
President Obama and Governor Romney. He will also outline important
regional issues facing either in the next presidential term: including
the Iranian nuclear issue, the Syrian conflict, countries in transition,
and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/111660825658337/">https://www.facebook.com/events/111660825658337/</a><br />
<br />
Agenda:<br />
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6:00-6:30 pm: Arrival & mingling<br />
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6:30-7:00 pm: Discussion with Zack<br />
7:00-8:00 pm: You can stick around for the happy hour, meet members or head home to watch the debate at 9 :) <br />
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Zack Gold Bio:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhvn3unFKSkeSuuDYxmA1am6v8JX8P704LlrdBb45W3ZPpbtyO3g6n_s5zOKyfFXmvIhbiE2-USoxlfTEMZkZeGqCguaC83zVbthdRtMgrn_PfMSg7YDiy7COZ4lzcaHq1GndQiCqfaBL/s1600/ZG+RC+-+HEAD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhvn3unFKSkeSuuDYxmA1am6v8JX8P704LlrdBb45W3ZPpbtyO3g6n_s5zOKyfFXmvIhbiE2-USoxlfTEMZkZeGqCguaC83zVbthdRtMgrn_PfMSg7YDiy7COZ4lzcaHq1GndQiCqfaBL/s320/ZG+RC+-+HEAD.jpeg" width="320" /></a>Zack Gold is a Middle East analyst, scholar, and author, focusing on U.S.-Egyptian relations,
Islamist politics, and counterterrorism. He is also the founder of
Middle East Insights, an online publication of original analysis by a
new generation of thinkers. He was previously a research associate at
the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. Before that, Zack conducted
counterterrorism research at the International Policy Institute for
Counter-Terrorism in Israel, where he wrote on radicalization among
Muslim-Americans. From 2003-2005 he worked on the U.S. Department of
State’s International Visitors Leadership Program at Meridian
International Center. He twice received the Department of State's
Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Oman and Egypt. Zack’s
writing is regularly featured by The National Interest, and he has also
been published by Foreign Affairs and World Politics Review, among other
publications. Zack earned a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from
The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a B.A., in political science
and communication from the University of Delaware. Follow Zack on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/ZLGold">https://twitter.com/ZLGold</a> <br />
<br />
Hope to see you there! Invite your friends and colleagues. <br />
<br />
RSVP through Facebook if you can, please.<br />
<br />
To hear about upcoming events, sign up for our mailing list and newsletter here: <a href="http://www.americasimpact.org/signup" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.americasimpact.org/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>signup</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-81925555008574196012012-07-22T09:54:00.001-07:002012-07-22T09:54:51.894-07:00Speaker Series: Damian Murphy, Senior Foreign Policy Legislative Asst to Senator Casey (D-PA)<div>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/416765738369421/"><div class="mbs fbEventHeadline fsxl fwb fcb" itemprop="summary">
Speaker Series: Damian Murphy, Senior Foreign Policy Legislative Asst to Senator Casey (D-PA)</div>
</a><div class="mbm fsm fwn fcg">
<span class="fbEventPrivacy" data-hover="tooltip" id="ud4j58_9" tabindex="0">Public Event</span> · <span class="fsm fwn fcg">By <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=145953171886" href="https://www.facebook.com/AmericasImpact/events?ref=hl">America's Impact</a></span></div>
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<span itemprop="description">At this free event, Damien Murphy, Foreign Policy Legislative Assistant to US Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (<a href="http://www.casey.senate.gov/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>www.casey.senate.gov/</a>),
will speak to America's Impact off the record about what he views as
the most important foreign policy issues being tackled by the Senate.</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-61430556545833787832012-07-17T04:01:00.002-07:002012-07-17T04:01:23.738-07:00America's Impact - a visual overviewWondering what AI is all about? Click to view this snazzy, web-based presentation: <br />
<a href="http://www.americasimpact.org/prezi" target="_blank">America's Impact- an overview</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-17913933174345411052012-07-07T09:42:00.002-07:002012-07-07T09:44:40.015-07:00Speaker Series Event: William LeoGrande, PhD: US Foreign policies toward CubaProf. William LeoGrande will speak on the topic of US foreign relations with
Cuba and provide us with insights regarding second- and third-order
effects of potential changes to our current policies towards Cuba.<br />
<br />
Prof. LeoGrande is a frequent adviser to government and private
sector agencies. He has written five books, including Our Own Backyard:
The United States in Central America, 1977 – 1992. Most recently, he was
co-editor of A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution.
Previously, he served on the staffs of the Democratic Policy Committee
of the United States Senate, and the Democratic Caucus Task Force on
Central America of the United States House of Representatives. Prof.
LeoGrande has been a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs
Fellow, and a Pew Faculty Fellow in International Affairs. His articles
have appeared in various international and national journals, magazines
and newspapers.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.americasimpact.org/signup">www.americasimpact.org/signup</a><span itemprop="description"><br /> <br /> Location: <br /> Glover Park Group, (Auditorium B.) Gallery Pl/Chinatown, 1025 F Street NW # 9 Washington, DC<br /> <br /> Date:<br /> Wed., July 11, 2012<br /> <br /> Time:<br /> 6pm - Doors open<br /> 6:30pm William LeoGrande of American University<br /> 7:00-7:15 wrap-up & migrate to District of Pi Pizzeria</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-48158801541733846482012-05-08T18:00:00.000-07:002012-05-08T18:00:00.862-07:00Speaker Event: Aki Peritz, Third Way.<div class="clearfix pvm prm">
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012<span class="fcb"> </span></div>
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<span class="fcb">6:00pm</span> until <span class="fcb">8:00pm</span></div>
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Please join us for this educational event, book signing, and mingling session! <br />
<br />
Aki Peritz, Senior National Security Policy Advisor at Third Way, will
speak to us about his recent publication, “Find, Fix, Finish,” about
America’s campaign against alQaeda in the decade af<span class="text_exposed_show">ter
9/11. He will also tell us about the findings of Third Way's recent
focus group research which explored views of the Democrats and
Republicans on national security. Mr. Peritz will be available before
and after his talk to meet with America's Impact members and to have
further discussions. <br /> <br /> 6 - 6:30: Reception and opportunity for book signing with Aki Peritz<br /> 6:30 - 7: Speaker: Aki Peritz, author of "Find, Fix, Finish" and Senior Policy Advisor at Third Way.<br /> 7 - 8: Reception, mingling, and book signing<br /> <br /> Join us on the earlier side so you don't miss out on the snacks.<br /> Happy Hour specials throughout the event.<br /> Hope to see you there! Invite your friends and colleagues. <br /> <br /> RSVP through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/284394718312891/" target="_blank">Facebook </a></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> To hear about upcoming events, sign up for our mailing list and newsletter here: <a href="http://www.americasimpact.org/signup" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.americasimpact.org/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>signup</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0910 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA38.8971097 -77.024505338.8955652 -77.0269728 38.8986542 -77.0220378tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-90427162336107526372012-04-30T18:00:00.000-07:002012-04-30T18:00:04.810-07:00America's Impact- April Membership Happy HourJoin us for our inaugural monthly membership happy hour, sponsored by our new partner, District of Pi pizzeria! (<a href="http://www.pi-dc.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.pi-dc.com</a>)<br />
<br />
Invite your friends and colleagues to learn about America's Impact, our
research initiatives, and how you can get involved in some of our
upcoming <br />
<br />
Come early so you don't miss the snacks.<br />
Enjoy happy hour specials throughout the event.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/284436641641858/" target="_blank">Click here</a> to RSVP.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0910 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA38.8971097 -77.024505338.8955652 -77.0269728 38.8986542 -77.0220378tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-46571769471207570432012-04-20T21:20:00.001-07:002012-04-20T21:20:18.318-07:00AI's new sponsor bar, District of Pi Pizzeria, in Washington DCAI is proud to announce its new partnership with <a href="http://www.pi-dc.com/">District of Pi Pizzeria</a> in Washington DC!<br />
<br />
District of Pi has graciously agreed to host our monthly receptions and provide us with some real perks, like drink specials and happy hours.<br />
<br />
This Pizzeria came onto our radar when we heard rumors that it was President Obama's favorite pizza place. Check out these articles:<br />
In <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2011/08/30/obamas-favorite-pizza-finally-comes-to-dc/">Forbes</a> Magazine<br />
On DC <a href="http://dc.eater.com/archives/2011/08/31/inside-district-of-pi-pizzeria-opening-today-in-penn-quarter.php">Eater.com</a><br />
<br />
We are planning our first membership reception event at District of Pi on April 30th at 6pm. Please join us for this event! More details on Facebook.com/americasimpact<br />
<br />
~AI Executive CommitteeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-71892071630010016422012-02-29T17:57:00.002-08:002012-03-01T08:18:19.908-08:00Super Tuesday Primaries Watch Party<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; ">Watch how AK, GA, ID, MA, ND, OH, OK, TN, VT, & VA vote in these primaries, and discuss how hot-button domestic and foreign policy issues impact this election cycle.</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; ">Co-sponsored by: <a href="http://www.americasimpact.org/">America’s Impact</a> & <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DCDrinkingLiberally">DC Drinking Liberally</a></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; ">Bring your friends and colleagues!</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/239055836185777/">RSVP</a></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; ">Location: <a href="http://g.co/maps/jmzqx">Lounge 201 </a>@ 201 Massachusetts Ave NE # B1, Washington D.C., 20002<br />Date: March 6, 2012<br />Time: 6 - 9pm<br />Drink specials until 8pm<br />Free appetizers & Wi-Fi</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-55395500249453378402012-02-05T13:23:00.000-08:002012-02-05T13:30:45.910-08:00AI Happy Hour - Feb 8th, 6-8:30pm @ Fado's Irish Pub<span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">America's Impact invites you to a networking reception in Washington, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">DC on Feb. 8th, 6-8:30pm. </span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Come learn about America's Impact and how you can join our goal to make foreign policy a domestic priority. Come learn how you can participate in election activities and fund</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">raise to support candidates who share our principles.<br /><br />Bring your friends and colleagues, and network with fellow foreign policy progressives! (...and don't forget your business cards!)"<br /><br />When: Wednesday, Feb. 8. 6pm to 8:30pm<br /><br />Where: Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant DC<br />808 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001<br /><br />RSVP: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/164937476950106/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; ">https://www.facebook.com/<wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block; "></span>events/164937476950106/</a><br /><br />Hope to see you Feb. 8th for a fun couple of hours!<br /><br />America's Impact<br />Executive Committee</span></span>Dan Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17593363664129475470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-9141150052645170832012-01-22T14:35:00.000-08:002012-01-23T18:49:05.023-08:00America's Impact SOTU Watch Party - 1/24<span><span style="line-height: 12px;"></span></span><span><span>Come join America's Impact, Network for Progress, DC for Obama, and many other groups at the State of the Union Watch Party this Tuesday!</span></span><div><br /></div><div>When: Tuesday January 24th, 2011 6:30pm - 10:30pm</div><div>Where: Local 16 (1602 U Street NW)</div><div><br /></div><div><span><span>For more information and to register - <a href="http://124sotuprogressparty.eventbrite.com/">http://124sotuprogressparty.eventbrite.com/</a><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>You can also RSVP on our Facebook Page - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/329777210373986/">http://www.facebook.com/events/329777210373986/</a></span></span><div><span></span></div></div>Dan Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17593363664129475470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-48231909473360771452010-06-14T10:58:00.000-07:002010-06-14T10:58:23.053-07:00An integrated national security budget?<div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>The idea is daring and daunting - in Washington, budgets are the sinews of power. The details of the CAP plan are here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/less_is_more.html</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>- - - </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>T</span>he Center for American Progress (CAP) has proposed a "</span></span><a href="http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=54523&elq=d63cc7e89fd14b2593a9704a20803e67" target="_blank" title="blocked::http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=54523&elq=d63cc7e89fd14b2593a9704a20803e67"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">unified national security budget</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> encompassing defense, diplomacy, and development." The unified budget would compile funding across various federal departments so that priorities could better be compared and resources better allocated by taking funds from the Department of Defense budget and putting them into under-funded services like the Coast Guard and agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development. </span></div><div> </div><div><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The report is mostly about USAID, CAP stating that -- "<em>the additional provision of $10 billion in USAID’s budget alongside a $40 billion reduction in defense spending would allow for major improvements in three key areas:</em></span> <div align="left"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">• </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Restoring a professional workforce</span></em></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">• </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Strengthening its “fundamental” development assistance capacity</span></em></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">• </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Improving the agency’s ability to prevent and respond to disasters</span></em></span></span></div>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-59577781825486725042010-06-02T06:33:00.000-07:002010-06-02T06:34:18.223-07:00The Official US National Security StrategyJust released by the Obama Administration and available via <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/32033360/The-Cable-The-Obama-administration-s-National-Security-Strategy-May-2010">The Cable</a>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-34737911100821748752010-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:002010-05-26T08:18:44.945-07:00Pentagon lobbies for more State/USAID funding<i>Via Josh Rogin at Politico:</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/24/mullen_goes_to_bat_for_state_department_budget"><b>Mullen goes to bat for State Department budget</b></a><br />
<br />
"The Pentagon is actively lobbying for the State Department and USAID as next year's budgets get formed, and now we can add Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the list of Defense Department leaders who are going out on a limb to support money for diplomacy and development.<br />
<br />
In separate letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, Mullen criticized the $4 billion cut that Sen. Kent Conrad, D-ND, proposed for the fiscal 2011 budget request in his budget resolution. That cut has already been criticized by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the entire development community.<br />
<br />
"We are living in times that require an integrated national security program with budgets that fund the full spectrum of national security efforts, including vitally important pre-conflict and post-conflict civilian stabilization programs," Mullen wrote. "Diplomatic programs are critical to our long-term security."<br />
<br />
But the Pentagon isn't just writing letters. Hill sources say that Pentagon officials of various stripes are actually lobbying foreign affairs appropriators while making the rounds on Capitol Hill. Traditionally, the Pentagon guys talk to the defense appropriators, leaving the foreign affairs lobbying to the State Department.<br />
<br />
There's also new traction on Gates's idea for a $2 billion jointly managed fund to handle issues that overlap the security and diplomatic spheres. The Pentagon is actively pushing the idea, Hill sources say, while the pushback is actually come from the State Department, which is still skeptical the funds could be jointly managed in a fair and uncomplicated way.<br />
<br />
Regardless, Gates's push to actually take money from his own department and giving it to State is real, despite some bureaucratic wrangling over the assistance. And the Pentagon's lobbying will no doubt have an effect if and when Conrad's budget resolution makes it to the Senate floor. We're hearing that a bipartisan effort led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, D-MA, is preparing to try to roll back Conrad's cuts. Then again, Congress might not even tackle the issue directly this year."Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-23470116460059284852010-05-26T08:07:00.000-07:002010-05-26T08:14:58.343-07:00A New Grand Strategy: Watch Obama's 2010 graduation address at West PointA preview of a new grand strategy?<br />
<br />
<object width="340" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PXeTSAJIMRU&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PXeTSAJIMRU&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="300"></embed></object>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-83200849422573156432010-05-20T14:15:00.000-07:002010-05-20T14:15:55.978-07:00FP Mag: Five Primaries where the World MattersFrom Foreign Policy Magazine:<br />
<blockquote> It's political season once again in the United States of America, with midterm elections due in the fall and a series of fierce primary battles already underway this spring. Most voters are clearly concerned with the state of the U.S. economy above all, but in a few key races, foreign policy is making a showing. And it's appearing in often surprising ways.</blockquote><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/19/five_primaries_where_the_world_matters?page=0,0">Read more here</a>.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-90198669135005174032010-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:002010-05-20T14:05:54.003-07:00VA's Jim Moran new to Foreign Operations Appropriationsvia Politico, see the original <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/13/meet_the_new_foreign_ops_appropriator_jim_moran">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>For all you readers who love to follow (or need to follow) the appropriators who dole out the foreign operations funding, this is big news: Virginia Democrat <b>Jim Moran</b> is now a member of the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee.<br />
<br />
The outgoing chairman of the full committee,<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hbezATQpGKP5QPFN-UblLVBLTPXAD9FGT4BG0" target="_blank"> <b>David Obey</b></a>, D-WI, announced the changing musical chairs on the committee last night and <a href="http://appropriations.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=616:house-appropriations-committee-democrats-announce-subcommittee-assignments&catid=3:press-releases&Itemid=120&Itemid=4" target="_blank">put out a press release</a>. Moran replaces <b><a href="http://www.mccollum.house.gov/" target="_blank">Betty McCollum</a></b>, D-MN, who is no longer on the subcommittee.<br />
<br />
Although Moran will technically be the lowest-ranking member of the subcommittee, as a long-time appropriator with other top subcommittee postings, he's sure to have influence. In March <a href="http://moran.house.gov/" target="_blank">he was named</a> chairman of the interior and environment subcommittee and he is the third ranking Democrat on the ultra-powerful defense subcommittee as well.<br />
<br />
Importantly, Moran is close to defense subcommittee chairman <b>Norm Dicks</b>, D-WA, who is <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37163.html" target="_blank">widely expected</a> to take over the chairmanship of the full committee next year when Obey retires. In fact, it was Dicks who handed over the interior subcommittee gavel to Moran.<br />
<br />
And now, <b>as both a defense and foreign ops appropriator, Moran sits at the intersection of the congressional debate over how to rebalance the tools of national statecraft from the military to the diplomatic core, which is <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/02/25/gates_rips_jerry_rigged_us_foreign_policy">raging inside the government</a> now. </b>The foreign ops community will be watching to see if he ends up siding with <a href="http://www.usglc.org/2010/04/14/widespread-support-continues-to-build-for-international-affairs-budget-request/" target="_blank">those who support</a> the president's requested budget increase (Gates, Clinton, <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/29/thursday_bloody_thursday_bono_calls_out_senator_over_aid_cuts">Bono</a>, etc.) or those who want to cut foreign ops funding to pay for domestic needs (<a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/22/senate_budget_committee_cuts_foreign_aid_request_despite_pleas_from_everybody_invol">Kent Conrad</a>). </blockquote>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-72772066306230095992010-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:002010-05-05T08:32:39.315-07:00Big news! Leaked NSC doc suggests AID become independent of State<div class="blog-hed"> <h1><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/03/white_house_proposed_taking_development_role_away_from_state">White House proposed taking development role away from State</a></span></h1><h2> <span class="post_by"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Posted By <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/blog/11505">Josh Rogin</a> </span></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><img class="meta_block" src="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/images/091022_meta_block.gif" /> <span class="post_date">Monday, May 3, 2010 - 1:12 PM</span> </span></h2><h2><span style="font-size: x-small;">Politico </span><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20" onclick="return addthis_sendto()" onmouseout="addthis_close()" onmouseover="return addthis_open(this, '', '[URL]', '[TITLE]')" target="_blank"><span class="more_top"></span></a> </h2></div><!-- END BLOG HED --> <!-- ARTICLE BODY --> <!--paging_filter--><div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;"> <img src="http://foreignpolicy.com/files/fp_uploaded_images/100503_shah200.jpg" /> </div>The White House is moving closer to finishing a sweeping review of U.S. development strategy that aims to put development on par with diplomacy and defense as a "central pillar" of U.S. national security, according to sources familiar with the issue.<br />
<br />
<i>The Cable</i> has obtained a draft copy (<a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/files/fp_uploaded_documents/100503_2010_05_03_10_46_51.pdf">pdf</a>) of the review, which is titled "A New Way Forward on Global Development" and is known internally as the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development or PSD-7. <br />
"The Obama Administration recognizes that the successful pursuit of development is essential to our security, prosperity, and values," the draft document reads. It promises a "new approach to global development that focuses our government on the critical task of helping to create a world with more prosperous and democratic states."<br />
<br />
Sources cautioned that the draft document was presented <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/22/obamas_development_reviews_still_at_odds_after_high_level_meeting">at a deputies committee meeting</a> two weeks ago and has been updated since. But they said that certain key passages have already exacerbated tensions between the National Security Council and the State Department, which is finalizing the interim report for its own wholesale policy review, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). The NSC declined to comment.<br />
<br />
One important section of the seven-page document would establish an interagency "development policy committee" -- moving the responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy on development out of the State Department.<br />
<br />
At issue is whether Foggy Bottom should have the ultimate authority over development policy or whether oversight should be done by the new interagency body, which reports up to the president.<br />
<br />
The draft document also calls for an overall review of U.S. development strategy every four years (separate from the QDDR), and the design of country and/or regional strategies to "organize U.S. engagement and inform resource allocation."<br />
<br />
The idea of a government-wide, independent committee to oversee development is one that Senate Foreign Relations Committee heads <b>John Kerry</b>, D-MA, and <b>Richard Lugar</b>, R-IN, <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/22/obamas_development_reviews_still_at_odds_after_high_level_meeting">also support</a>.<br />
<br />
The draft also outlines of how the relationship between State and USAID should work -- and those outlines don't jive with how we hear the QDDR is shaping up. For example, the document says that USAID should have "responsibility and accountability for a core development and humanitarian assistance budget," as well as a robust policy planning staff, a leadership role in setting strategies and the "mandate, where appropriate, to lead U.S. government development efforts in the field."<br />
<br />
USAID Administrator <b>Rajiv Shah</b> would "be included in NSC meetings where appropriate" if this draft document's recommendations were adopted, but he would also still report up to Secretary of State <b>Hillary Clinton</b>, not directly to the White House as some might hope.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/09/coming_soon_early_details_on_clintons_strategy_review">Officials have indicated</a> that in State's QDDR, USAID would also get its own policy planning staff but would probably not control its own budget. State Department officials argue that by keeping control over USAID's budget, they would be in a stronger position to advocate for it.<br />
<br />
"You can see many things here that try to establish more balance and reorient the authority over development back toward the NSC and the White House," said one development leader closely observing the process. "Each of those things could invite some pushback from State."<br />
<br />
Overall, the document is a good draft, this observer said, noting that it could go through several revisions before being finalized. "We're not hugely supportive of the USAID administrator reporting to the secretary of state, but a lot of this is largely positive in terms of strategy and overall direction."<br />
<br />
The QDDR is led by Shah and Deputy Secretary <b>Jack Lew</b>, with heavy input from Policy Planning chief <b>Anne-Marie Slaughter</b>. The PSD-7 is led by top NSC aides <b>Gayle Smith</b>, <b>Michael Froman</b>, and <b>Jeremy Weinstein</b>.<br />
<br />
The interim report of the QDDR is expected to be released soon. There has never been a promise from the White House that the PSD-7 would be released publicly.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-39694195263121853382010-04-22T10:40:00.000-07:002010-04-22T10:40:58.720-07:00Poll: Americans Now Less Anxious about Foreign Policy, But Party MattersAccording to a new poll, Americans are less worried about US foreign policy and feeling better about how the world views the US. Good news, right?<br />
<br />
However, being "less anxious" doesn't mean that a majority are confident in the direction of the US in the world. Then there are the partisan differences:<br />
<blockquote>"When the Anxiety Indicator is calculated by party, Republican worries have soared from a relatively low level of 108 in 2008 to 134 today. By contrast, Democratic anxiety -- which was 142 in 2008 -- has now fallen to relatively calm 104. Independents were at 140 in 2008 and are still fairly anxious at 128, but that's a notable decline." </blockquote> The differences hold about the general direction of the country:<br />
<blockquote><div dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;"> "In 2008, only 20 percent of Democrats said the country was going in the right direction, compared with 45 percent of Republicans.</div></blockquote><blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;"> <div dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;">Now the Democrats’ view has shifted a staggering 41 points, to 61 percent who think the country is going in the right direction, while Republicans’ rating has dropped to only one-quarter (26 percent). Independents are far less enthusiastic than Democrats are, but their "right direction" number has doubled from 16 percent to 32 percent."</div></blockquote><br />
<br />
Much more info on the <a href="http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/foreign-policy-index-2010.">Public Agenda home page</a> and the high points on <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0410/New_poll_Americans_less_anxious_about_foreign_policy.html?showall">Laura Rozen's blog</a>.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-64245119355959736572010-04-06T13:59:00.000-07:002010-04-06T14:00:37.803-07:00Reading List: How Enemies Become Friends - The Sources of Stable PaceFor those of you interested in keeping up with the latest in "high politics," check out Charlie Kupchan's <i>How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace</i> out in March 2010. As those of you who visit this page might suspect, Kupchan argues that diplomacy is key to converting enemies into friends.<br />
<br />
Available through the Council on Foreign Relations, Steve Clemons gives it <a href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2010/04/the_robin_is_ba/">a positive first impression</a>.<br />
<br />
The publisher's write up is <a href="http://www.cfr.org/publication/21178/">here</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div class="bodytext">"Is the world destined to suffer endless cycles of conflict and war? Can rival nations become partners and establish a lasting and stable peace? <i>How Enemies Become Friends</i> provides a bold and innovative account of how nations escape geopolitical competition and replace hostility with friendship. Through compelling analysis and rich historical examples that span the globe and range from the thirteenth century through the present, foreign policy expert Charles Kupchan explores how adversaries can transform enmity into amity—and he exposes prevalent myths about the causes of peace.</div><div class="bodytext"><br />
</div><div class="bodytext">Kupchan contends that diplomatic engagement with rivals, far from being appeasement, is critical to rapprochement between adversaries. Diplomacy, not economic interdependence, is the currency of peace; concessions and strategic accommodation promote the mutual trust needed to build an international society. The nature of regimes matters much less than commonly thought: countries, including the United States, should deal with other states based on their foreign policy behavior rather than on whether they are democracies. Kupchan demonstrates that similar social orders and similar ethnicities, races, or religions help nations achieve stable peace. He considers many historical successes and failures, including the onset of friendship between the United States and Great Britain in the early twentieth century, the Concert of Europe, which preserved peace after 1815 but collapsed following revolutions in 1848, and the remarkably close partnership of the Soviet Union and China in the 1950s, which descended into open rivalry by the 1960s."</div></blockquote>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-27038751207129347422010-03-29T10:00:00.000-07:002010-03-29T10:02:10.312-07:00April 7: Celebrate passage of health reform<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">As you may have read <a href="http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/03/26/why_obamas_healthcare_win_helps_transatlantic_ties_98883.html" target="_blank" title="">here</a> and <a href="http://americasimpact.blogspot.com/2010/03/health-care-win-good-for-us-foreign.html" target="_blank">here</a>, last week's passage of health reform victory is also a victory for US foreign policy. It's time to celebrate!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">America’s Impact is joining with the DC Democratic Party, DC for Democracy, DC for Obama, DC Latino caucus, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Montgomery County Young Democrats, Organizing for America, South Asians for Opportunity, Young Lawyers for Obama, and others for the party of the Spring:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Wednesday, April 7</span></b></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">6:30pm - until we drop<br />
</span></b> </span></span><br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>LOCAL 16</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1602 U Street, NW, Washington, DC (16th and U Streets NW)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">U Street Metro Stop (Green/Yellow line)</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span> <br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><br />
<div></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RSVP and find more information:</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Facebook - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#%21/event.php?eid=103764619658983" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=103764619658983</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">MyBO - <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gp8shg" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),
"35fc61685e3bfa6cee652c2dca5f44c6", event)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gp8shg</a><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Expect happy hour specials, music, invited health care reform leaders, and lots of appreciation for all of the hard work put in to achieve a tremendous legislative victory.</span></span></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-28763809123481130612010-03-28T18:00:00.000-07:002010-03-28T18:00:49.923-07:00State's Global Pulse 2010 - online NOW through March 31!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.globalpulse2010.gov/"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXktOK1C0adwAHRZ_pprO9-vvSg1wnbXUb5HvJRtw63onWUCuBMIObL31XrwfwSNd5pFj4h-v3vDLtpNhVoHLkziXppXEYANmADfe5ojiTRbWHzvWNriSiJSAbj2CPUkRFC3i3cdSeQ4/s640/Global+Pulse+2010_pic.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="quote textright"><br />
</div><div class="quote textright"><br />
</div><div class="quote textright">Want more input in US foreign policy? Check out the Global Pulse initiative at USAID - it's a legit initiative to involve the public and interested professionals in the shaping the future of US foreign policy. </div><div class="quote textright"><br />
</div><div class="quote textright">More info here: <a href="http://www.globalpulse2010.gov/">www.globalpulse2010.gov</a><i> </i></div><div class="quote textright"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="quote textright"><i>“There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from one another; and to seek common ground.“ ~ President Barack Obama</i></div><h3 class="copyhead italic">What is the value of Global Pulse 2010?</h3>Global Pulse 2010 will provide an opportunity to voice opinions, share ideas, and create innovative solutions to social issues facing the global community within the fields of science and technology, entrepreneurship, and human development. This is a unique opportunity to influence a global conversation that will build partnerships across borders, strengthen understanding among cultures, and unite the human race in an effort to create innovative solutions to the most pressing social issues of our time.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-69352862820586178972010-03-27T12:15:00.000-07:002010-03-27T12:16:18.282-07:00Health care win good for US foreign policy<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62P0P320100326">Link to original article</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Obama's Health care win could boost foreign policy</b></span><br />
Jeff Mason, Friday, March 26, 2010<br />
<br />
<span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's domestic success on healthcare reform may pay dividends abroad as the strengthened U.S. leader taps his momentum to take on international issues with allies and adversaries.<br />
</span> </span><br />
<div class="relatedTopics"><span id="articleText"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/russia"><br />
</a></span></div><span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_1"></span>More than a dozen foreign leaders have congratulated Obama on the new healthcare law in letters and phone calls, a sign of how much attention the fight for his top domestic policy priority received in capitals around the world.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span><br />
Analysts and administration officials were cautious about the bump Obama could get from such a win: Iran is not going to rethink its nuclear program and North Korea is not going to return to the negotiating table simply because more Americans will get health insurance in the coming years, they said.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span><br />
But the perception of increased clout, after a rocky first year that produced few major domestic or foreign policy victories, could generate momentum for Obama's agenda at home and in his talks on a host of issues abroad.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span><br />
"It helps him domestically and I also think it helps him internationally that he was able to win and get through a major piece of legislation," said Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser to Republican President George W. Bush.<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span><br />
"It shows political strength, and that counts when dealing with foreign leaders."<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span><br />
Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the Democratic president's persistence in the long healthcare battle added credibility to his rhetoric on climate change, nuclear nonproliferation and other foreign policy goals.<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span><br />
"It sends a very important message about President Obama as a leader," Rhodes told Reuters during an interview in his West Wing office.<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span><br />
"The criticism has been: (He) sets big goals but doesn't close the deal. So, there's no more affirmative answer to that criticism than closing the biggest deal you have going."<br />
<span id="midArticle_9"></span><br />
Foreign policy dividends have been minimal in the short amount of time since he signed the healthcare bill into law on Tuesday.<br />
<span id="midArticle_10"></span><br />
Exhibit A: a one-on-one meeting this week between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, a country that closely tracks U.S. domestic policy, yielded little sign of a breakthrough in a dispute over Jewish housing construction on occupied land in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.<br />
<span id="midArticle_11"></span><br />
A FOREIGN POLICY SUCCESS, TOO<br />
<span id="midArticle_12"></span><br />
Still, some specific foreign policy successes are looming.<br />
<span id="midArticle_13"></span><br />
U.S. and Russian officials say Washington and Moscow are close to announcing an agreement on a nuclear arms reduction treaty, which would require a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate for ratification.<br />
<span id="midArticle_14"></span><br />
Some analysts said Russia was watching Obama's domestic successes and failures throughout the process.<br />
<span id="midArticle_15"></span><br />
"I think there were some in the Kremlin saying, 'how strong is he? If he can't get some of these things through, does that give us more leverage to push him on arms control?'" said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.<br />
<span id="midArticle_0"></span><br />
Administration officials played down a connection between healthcare and talks with Russia on the START nuclear arms treaty, though Rhodes said the processes that led to success on both issues were similar.<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span>"Like healthcare, the START treaty has been a negotiation where at times we seemed very close to getting a deal done and then there were huge roadblocks," Rhodes said, crediting Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for sticking it out.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span><br />
"So, it was a similar narrative of persistence, of refusing to throw in the towel at times when he could have."<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>Foreign leaders have noted the persistence.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span><br />
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown were among the leaders who congratulated Obama, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the healthcare win would have a positive impact abroad, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span><br />
Analysts said the bill's passage showed Obama could deliver votes for domestic legislation with foreign policy components, such as rules to fight climate change, currently stalled in the Senate, which European leaders are eager to see advance.<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span><br />
James Lindsay, senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, who was skeptical that Obama's healthcare win would have a huge foreign policy benefit, said the law did free up the president to focus less on purely domestic issues.<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span><br />
"If the president had lost on healthcare, it would have further sapped his popularity as president, requiring him to spend even more time on domestic affairs and left him with less time to devote to foreign policy," he said.<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span>"That's not the same as saying that because the healthcare bill has passed that the Iranians are going to be more pliable in their nuclear program, that the Israelis are going to rethink their settlement policy or the Chinese are going to become more agreeable on currency issues."</span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-56070722591097734512010-03-08T08:51:00.000-08:002010-03-08T08:51:22.074-08:00Neocons no longer welcome in the GOP?Politico article <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34050.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Republicans scold Liz Cheney</strong><br />
<span class="author"> By: <span style="color: red;">Ben Smith</span><br />
March 8, 2010 06:19 AM EST </span></span> </div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A group that includes leading conservative lawyers and policy experts, former Independent Counsel <a href="http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/kenstarr" target="_blank">Kenneth Starr</a> and several senior officials of the last Bush administration is denouncing as “shameful” Republican attacks on lawyers who came to the Obama <a href="http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/departmentofjustice" target="_blank">Justice Department</a> after representing suspected terrorists. <br />
<br />
Senate Republicans have demanded details of the lawyers' past work and <a href="http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/lizcheney" target="_blank">Liz Cheney’s</a> group “Keep America Safe” has <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0310/Cheney_group_questions_loyalty_of_Justice_lawyers.html" target="_blank">questioned their “values</a>." A drumbeat of Republican criticism forced the Justice Department reluctantly to identify seven of them last week. But the harshness of the criticism – Keep America Safe labeled a group of them the “Al Qaeda Seven” — has provoked a backlash from across the legal establishment. <br />
<br />
“We consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications,” wrote the 19 lawyers whose names were attached to the statement as of early Monday. <br />
<br />
The statement cited John Adams’s defense of British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre to argue that “zealous representation of unpopular clients” is an important American tradition. <br />
<br />
The attacks on the lawyers “undermine the Justice system more broadly,” they wrote, by “delegitimizing” any system in which accused terrorists have lawyers, whether civilian courts of military tribunals. <br />
<br />
The letter’s signers include some of the top officials of a <a href="http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/georgewbush" target="_blank">Bush</a> Justice Department that wrestled at length with the legal questions surrounding terrorist detentions. <br />
<br />
The Bush officials clashed repeatedly with some of the detainee lawyers, such as the current deputy Solicitor General, Neal Katyal, whom they are now defending. The signers include former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, <a href="http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/johnashcroft" target="_blank">John Ashcroft’s</a> No. 2, and Peter Keisler, who served as acting attorney general during President Bush’s second term. They also include several lawyers who dealt directly with detainee policy: Matthew Waxman and Charles “Cully” Stimson, who each served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs; Daniel Dell’Orto, who was acting general counsel for the Department of Defense; and Bradford Berenson, a prominent Washington lawyer who worked on the issues as an associate White House counsel during President Bush’s first term.<br />
In 2007, Stimson resigned as the Bush administration’s top detainee affairs official after suggesting on a radio show that companies not hire law firms providing pro bono services to detainees. He later apologized.<br />
<br />
The lawyers’ sharp criticism of the Democratic appointees reflects, in part, a rift that deepened late in President George W. Bush’s term, in which allies of Vice President Dick Cheney fought pitched battles over the treatment of detainees with lawyers throughout the government seeking to bring terror suspects into a more familiar legal framework.<br />
The letter’s other signatories include Philip Zelikow and John Bellinger III, who were top advisers to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, .<br />
Also signing were David Rivkin and Lee Casey, officials in the Justice Department in the first George W. Bush administration. Rivkin and Casey ‘s participation underscores the depth of discomfort with the attacks, as they have been among the most vocal defenders of Bush Administration detainee practices. Last April, for example, they wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the controversial Department of Justice memos widely viewed as justifying harsh treatment in fact “detail the actual techniques used and many measures taken to ensure that interrogations did not cause severe pain or degradation.”<br />
<br />
Separately, former Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson rose to the defense of lawyers representing detainees. He noted, however, that some of those now defending current Justice Department lawyers were “completely silent” in the face of “vicious attacks” on Bush administration lawyers handling terrorism issues.<br />
“I of course think it’s entirely appropriate for members of the legal profession to have provided legal services to detainees,” Olson told POLITICO. “It is a part of the responsibility of lawyers and in the finest tradition of the profession to represent unpopular persons who are caught up in the criminal justice system or even in the military justice system. I think that people who do so, do so honorably,” said Olson, whose arguments before the Supreme Court helped win the presidency for George W. Bush in 2000. <br />
<br />
“But I also think that some of the people being highly critical now of the criticism of the lawyers in the Justice Department, have been completely silent when it came to attacks — vicious attacks — on lawyers in the Department of Justice and the Defense Department who were providing legal assistance and advice to the United States of America during the last administration in connection with the attacks on the United States by terrorists. <br />
<br />
“So lawyers should be encouraged to provide legal advice conscientiously to their clients. And that goes for people in the Bush administration and the Obama administration.” <br />
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In 2007, Olson co-authored an article in Legal Times in 2007 expressing similar sentiments about representation of detainees. His co-author was Neal Katyal, one of the current Justice Department lawyers attacked by Cheney.<br />
<br />
Liz Cheney’s partner in Keep America Safe, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/aclu-and-human-rights-watch-rally-holder%E2%80%99s-defense" target="_blank">wrote Sunday</a> to dispute the notion that his group’s sharp-edged ad constituted an “attack” on the lawyers. His aim, he wrote, was to push for Justice to release their names and to raise “the question of whether former pro bono lawyers for terrorists should be working on detainee policy for the Justice Department.” <br />
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Other critics have compared the Justice Department appointees to mob lawyers, and argued that while they have a right to defend their clients, they don’t belong in government. <br />
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Keep America Safe is not alone in raising the issue. And Republican leaders on Capitol Hill believe the attacks are politically effective, exposing what they see as concern for the rights of alleged terrorists outweighing the security of Americans. A senior Republican congressional aide said that the line of attack is likely to broaden as the midterm elections approach. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Ipwa) has taken the lead in pressing the Justice Department first to reveal the number of its appointees who represented or advocated for detainees and then to confirm their names to <a href="http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/03/exclusive-unknown-doj-lawyers-identified/" target="_blank">Fox News</a>. <br />
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Fox reported that most of the nine were big-firm lawyers who “played only minor or short-lived roles in advocating for detainees,” a popular pro bono cause at more than half of the country’s large law firms. A few were more prominent. Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Justice Department’s Civil Division represented John Walker Lindh, the young California man captured among the Taliban early in the war in Afghanistan. Jennifer Daskal, another political appointee at Justice, worked on detainee issues at Human Rights Watch, opposing the Bush Administration’s policies. But the highest profile attorney among the group is Katyal, who represented Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, in the case in which the Supreme Court declared President Bush’s military tribunals unconstitutional. <br />
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“The fact that he got 5 votes on the Supreme Court has to count for something,” said Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who drafted the letter. <br />
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“There has to be some space to disagree without someone running an ad suggesting you’re an Al Qaeda agent,” he said.<br />
Here is the full statement and signatories as of early Monday:<br />
The past several days have seen a shameful series of attacks on attorneys in the Department of Justice who, in previous legal practice, either represented Guantanamo detainees or advocated for changes to detention policy. As attorneys, former officials and policy specialists who have worked on detention issues, we consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications. <br />
<br />
The past several days have seen a shameful series of attacks on attorneys in the Department of Justice who, in previous legal practice, either represented Guantanamo detainees or advocated for changes to detention policy. As attorneys, former officials and policy specialists who have worked on detention issues, we consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications. The past several days have seen a shameful series of attacks on attorneys in the Department of Justice who, in previous legal practice, either represented Guantanamo detainees or advocated for changes to detention policy. As attorneys, former officials, and policy specialists who have worked on detention issues, we consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications.<br />
<br />
The American tradition of zealous representation of unpopular clients is at least as old as John Adams’s representation of the British soldiers charged in the Boston massacre. People come to serve in the Justice Department with a diverse array of prior private clients; that is one of the department’s strengths. The War on Terror raised any number of novel legal questions, which collectively created a significant role in judicial, executive and legislative forums alike for honorable advocacy on behalf of detainees. In several key cases, detainee advocates prevailed before the Supreme Court. To suggest that the Justice Department should not employ talented lawyers who have advocated on behalf of detainees maligns the patriotism of people who have taken honorable positions on contested questions and demands a uniformity of background and view in government service from which no administration would benefit. <br />
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Such attacks also undermine the Justice system more broadly. In terrorism detentions and trials alike, defense lawyers are playing, and will continue to play, a key role. Whether one believes in trial by military commission or in federal court, detainees will have access to counsel. Guantanamo detainees likewise have access to lawyers for purposes of habeas review, and the reach of that habeas corpus could eventually extend beyond this population. Good defense counsel is thus key to ensuring that military commissions, federal juries, and federal judges have access to the best arguments and most rigorous factual presentations before making crucial decisions that affect both national security and paramount liberty interests. To delegitimize the role detainee counsel play is to demand adjudications and policymaking stripped of a full record. Whatever systems America develops to handle difficult detention questions will rely, at least some of the time, on an aggressive defense bar; those who take up that function do a service to the system. <br />
<br />
Benjamin Wittes <br />
Robert Chesney <br />
Matthew Waxman <br />
David Rivkin <br />
Lee Casey <br />
Philip Bobbitt <br />
Peter Keisler <br />
Bradford Berenson <br />
Kenneth Anderson <br />
John Bellinger III <br />
Philip Zelikow <br />
Kenneth W. Starr <br />
Larry Thompson <br />
Charles "Cully" D. Stimson <br />
Chuck Rosenberg <br />
Harvey Rishikoff <br />
Orin Kerr <br />
Daniel Dell’Orto</span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365816601292496486.post-46309340184411517082010-03-03T11:42:00.000-08:002010-03-03T11:42:24.894-08:00Umm, we tried that: Mitt Romney wants a confrontational, "no apologies" foreign policyIn a book that mirrors the GOP's talking point criticism of President Obama's foreign policy initiatives, Mitt Romney is pushing a new book that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/02/ap/politics/main6260107.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1">criticizes the Administration</a> for "apologizing" to the world. I haven't read it, but <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/78105/romneys-no-apology-outlines-foreign-policy-for-fantasy-world">Spencer Ackerman</a> has an incisive and critical review: <br />
<blockquote>Mitt Romney’s just-published book, “No Apology: The Case For American Greatness,” is a bid to bolster the former Massachusetts governor’s nonexistent national-security and foreign policy portfolio ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run. But a glance through the remarkable conflation of conservative shibboleths, paranoid global fantasies and deterministic myopia in “No Apology” makes it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the perennial GOP candidate might have been better off saying nothing at all.</blockquote>Full review available <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/78105/romneys-no-apology-outlines-foreign-policy-for-fantasy-world">here at the Washington Independent</a>.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04028966304974464602noreply@blogger.com0