Video- Greta Van Susteren Interviews Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton

Haven't had time to watch the whole thing yet, but I'm sure Hillary held her own.

VIDEO- Duncan Hunter on Hardball: "There are angry folks out there that have camels and will throw stones at us"

By GottaLaff

Um, wow, that should win over some hearts and minds, Junior.



All that and we've won Iraq, too? Really? Who knew?

Liz Cheney is No Innocent Bystander. She Was Dick's Mole in the State Department on the Middle East

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash, via Mark Karlin:

But Liz Cheney may have more than paternalistic protectiveness in her heart, because Liz was part of her father's foreign policy operation when he was vice-president.

[...] She had responsibilities directly related to "diplomacy" in the Middle East.

[...] On a personal note for Liz, what makes all of this even more incestuous in terms of who knew and did what and when, Liz is married to one Philip Perry, who served in the Bush/Cheney administration as the General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security. [...]

[I]t sure does taint her "daughter dearest" defense of her father to remember that she may have been an advisor, confidante, and implementer of some of his more unsavory policies -- not that she assassinated anyone. [...]

[S]he probably knows about much of the truth [...] Only her father, David Addington and Scooter Libby might know more.

More here.

U.S. backed Hariri coalition claims victory in Lebanon vote

All kinds of good news in this, can't wait to see what happens in Iran.

BEIRUT (AFP) – A US-backed coalition in Lebanon claimed victory on Monday over an alliance headed by the fundamentalist Shiite militant group Hezbollah after a fiercely-contested election.

"This is a big day in the history of democratic Lebanon," a triumphant Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian grouping known as March 14, told cheering supporters at a rally after Sunday's vote.

(snip)

Hariri's coalition -- which held the majority in the old parliament -- was set to win 70 seats in the new 128-seat assembly against 58 for Hezbollah and its Christian and Shiite allies, according to his Future television station.

Hamas chief hails Obama approach

By GottaLaff

Unclenching a fist is one thing. It would really be something to eventually unclench an entire region:

The political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has credited US President Barack Obama with using a "new language" for the Middle East.

Speaking to an Italian newspaper Mr Meshaal also said that an official opening to his Palestinian Islamist movement was only "a matter of time". [...]

Iran and Syria, where Mr Meshaal is exiled, are key backers of Hamas.

Mr Obama's video message to the Iranian leaders and people was seen as a major break with previous US policy.

But in response, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded concrete policy changes from the US. [...]

Mr Meshaal, speaking in an interview with La Repubblica, said "a new language towards the region is coming from President Obama". [...]

"The challenge for everybody is for this to be the prelude for a genuine change in US and European policies," Mr Meshaal said.

"Regarding an official opening towards Hamas, it's a matter of time."

The US, EU and UN will not deal with Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, unless they reject violence and recognise Israel.

Change: "What you're hearing is... a rousing ovation"

By GottaLaff

CNN's Rick Sanchez is saying how happy this crowd was about the change that has finally arrived:

"What you're hearing is not polite applause, it is a rousing ovation from career diplomats. The man says he was going to make changes and that they would be swift, and that's what he has done today."

This is one time I agree with Rick Sanchez. Everyone in the room is swarming around President Obama, who just finished speaking, and he is beaming.

Smart Power.

Obama calls Middle East leaders

To work, to work.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In his first calls to world leaders since becoming President, President Obama called the following Middle East leaders this morning, according to a senior administration official: King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

George Mitchell Under Consideration for Middle East Envoy

By GottaLaff

This one seems obvious:

George Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic Majority Leader, is under serious consideration as the Middle East envoy for the Obama administration, Obama officials confirmed on Monday.

Mitchell is highly regarded as a negotiator for his work in the successful Northern Ireland peace process, and his selection would put a clear stamp on the Middle East as a top priority. [...]

The Mitchell plan for the Middle East helped form the basis for the international "road map" plan that helped guide Middle East diplomacy throughout the Bush years.

Severed cable disrupts web access

By GottaLaff

This can't be good:

Internet and phone communications between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have been seriously disrupted after submarine cables were severed. It is thought the FLAG FEA, SMW4, and SMW3 lines, near the Alexandria cable station in Egypt, have all been cut. A fault was also reported on the GO submarine cable 130km off Sicily. Experts warned that it may be days before the fault is fixed.

Jonathan Wright - director of wholesale products at Interoute which manages part of the optical fibre network:

"This will grind economies to a halt for a short space of time," he said "If you look at, say, local financial markets who trade with European and US markets, the speed at which they get live data will be compromised."

"If you think how quickly trades can be placed, if they are suffering from bad latency times, then by the time a trade is placed, the market may well have moved on."

The cause of the break is as yet unknown, although some seismic activity was reported near Malta shortly before the cut was detected. [...]

It is thought that 65% of traffic to India was down, while services to Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Taiwan and Pakistan have also been severely affected. [...]

"We've lost three out of four lines. If the fourth cable breaks, we're looking at a total blackout in the Middle East," said Mr Wright.

"These three circuits account for 90% of the traffic and we're going to see more international phone calls dropping and a huge degradation in the quality of local internet," he added.

"Normally you would expect to see one major break per cable per year. With four you should have an insurance policy. For this to happen twice in one year, on the same cable, is a serious cause for concern."

I blame Time-Warner.

Shoe-thrown at Bush is "signal moment in Middle East"

By GottaLaff

Bush can brag all he wants about that "free society" he bombed into Iraq, but he may encounter some strong disagreement:

According to the Associated Press, Muntader al-Zaidi’s shoe-throwing display of anger at George W. Bush is becoming a signal moment in the Middle East. The AP reports that Palestinian journalists are asking each other who’s going to throw their shoes at Condoleezza Rice. A jokey text message going around Saudi Arabia tells recipients that yesterday was the International Day for Shoes in Iraq.

What’s not funny is that back in Baghdad al-Zaidi is being interrogated, which probably means he’s being tortured. Iraqis are demanding his release, and for good reason: he’s not been charged with anything. Citing official sources, the AP reports that he’s being “tested for alcohol and drugs,” and I’d guess that the Maliki government is floating such un-Islamic behavior on al-Zaidi’s part as a way of preventing Iraqis from venerating him into a national hero while the government puts the screws to him.

Reactions in the Middle East include:

“Al-Zeidi is the man,” said 42-year-old Jordanian businessman Samer Tabalat. “He did what Arab leaders failed to do.”

Hear that, President Dawg?

Gates Warns Against ‘Testing’ Obama

Defense Secretary Robert Gates assured a gathering of Persian Gulf leaders in Bahrain that President-elect Barack Obama will continue the U.S. commitment to the Middle East after he takes office.