I am really proud of Senator John Kerry for getting out into the public sphere and explaining to Americans that the US needs to be cautious and nuanced at this fragile moment in Iran’s political course. Barack Obama was wrong to comment at all in his offhanded comparison of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Politico‘s Patrick Gavin (who is editing Michael Calderone’s column this week) reports and I have confirmed that Dan Froomkin’s invaluable White House Watch blog has been discontinued at the Washington Post. Froomkin was the new media hybrid of Woodward and Bernstein during the George W.
Ahmadinejad’s militias are beating up students and ransacking the universities. . .
NPR’s Mark Memmott reports on leading human rights attorneys and activists
The highest estimate of Taliban fighters in Pakistan (TTP) I had seen or heard until today was 20,000 (though inclusive of newer recruits and “conscripts”). In Afghanistan, the estimates I had seen (depending on whether it was based on US or Pakistani intelligence) ranged from 5,000-15,000 fighters.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry has a very sensible piece in the New York Times today. Kerry gets the strategic issues between the US and Iran — but he also understands that what is happening in the streets of Tehran matters.
According to my friend and colleague, Afshin Molavi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s decision to call for a massive “mourning” day honoring those who have died during the election protests sends a powerful political message to Iran’s citizens linking back to the Iranian Revolution 30 years ago.
(Credit: Jonathan Guyer) Jonathan Guyer is a Program Associate for the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force.
This is a guest note written by an anonymous student in Tehran. Sent to The Washington Note at 3:50 am on 17 June 2009. So long as the “process” is underway with the Guardian Council I don’t foresee things spinning way out of control. What happened in Azadi, the shootings, wasn’t systematic.
The economic crisis has magnified the importance of U.S.-China relations and accelerated China’s rise as a major player on the global stage. To discuss the relationship and offer prescriptions for American policy, the New America Foundation is hosting an event TODAY from 9:30 am – 11:00 am with Ambassador Frank Lavin.
