National Security | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Nat’l Security / Foreign Affairs: September 14th, 2012
- Organized Ambush Followed Libya Chaos
- Morsi Appeals for Calm
- Google Blocks Access to Inflammatory Video
- Chinese Ships in Japan’s Waters to Protest Sale of Islands
- Obama Rebuffs Netanyahu on Iran’s Nuclear Program
Excerpts and more top stories
LIBYA: Official: Libya Chaos Followed by Organized Ambush – NYT
The mayhem that killed and wounded more than a dozen American officials was actually two attacks — the first spontaneous and the second organized, a top Libyan security official said.
LIBYA: Murder in Libya - ECONOMIST, OPINION
The world’s policeman must not retreat from the world’s most dangerous region; indeed America should do more
LIBYA: Our Diplomats Deserve Better – NYT, OPINION
Prudence Bushnell: Diplomacy is a dangerous profession, and we must make its work safer.
LIBYA: What Libya Lost – NYT, OP-ED
Ethan Chorin: Many Western officials were pessimistic or indifferent to Libya’s growing pains. In their eyes, Libya continues to be a sideshow of the broader Arab Spring.. Ambassador Stevens did not agree. He believed in Libya, and now, his death may derail the very processes he championed.
STEVENS: Our Man in Benghazi - NYT, OPINION
Roger Cohen: The U.S. envoy’s death rebukes the quest for squalid political capital and demands reflection on the best of America.
LIBYA/EGYPT: Middle East Turmoil: 5 Lessons from the Attacks Against U.S. Embassies – TIME
The attacks on U.S. embassies this week are the product of intense jockeying for power in an Arab political landscape riven with both new, and familiar challenges. Here are five key lessons to take away from an ugly week
EGYPT: Morsi Appeals for Calm – WSJ
Egyptian riot police clashed with protesters angry over an anti-Islam film close to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo as the country’s president, Mohammed Morsi, called on Muslims to protect embassies.
EGYPT: Anti-American Protests Over Film Enter 4th Day - NYT
Protests inspired by a video denigrating the Prophet Muhammad entered a fourth straight day in Cairo, and other demonstrations erupted in the much of the Middle East after Friday prayers.
EGYPT: Belated Response From Egypt – NYT, EDITORIAL
Is this friendship? President Morsi of Egypt waited until Thursday before condemning the deaths of 4 Americans in Libya and promising to protect embassies in Cairo.
HATE VIDEO: As Violence Spreads in Arab World, Google Blocks Access to Inflammatory Video – NYT
Google blocked an anti-Muslim video on YouTube, which it owns, in Egypt and in Libya, but did not take it down altogether.
CHINA/JAPAN: Chinese Ships Enter Japanese Waters to Protest Sale of Islands – NYT
It was the first such move by China since Japan announced that it had bought a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
CHINA: Off-Script Scramble for Power in a Chinese Leader’s Absence - NYT
If and when China’s presumptive new leader, Xi Jinping, re-emerges, he will do so in the midst of a contentious Communist Party preparing to shake up its leadership.
CHINA: Trial Set for Chinese Official Embroiled in Scandal - NYT
Wang Lijun, the charismatic police chief under the fallen politician Bo Xilai, will be tried on Tuesday in the southwestern city of Chengdu, according to a court official.
CHINA/JAPAN: China Ship Incursion Irks Japan – WSJ
Tensions between Japan and China escalated as an unusually large group of Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea, as Beijing tried to assert its sovereignty.
JAPAN: Japan voices anger over Chinese incursion - FT
Six Chinese state vessels have left territorial waters near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku/Diaoyu islands after a stand-off with Tokyo
JAPAN: Japan Will Try to Halt Nuclear Power by the End of the 2030s - NYT
Japan’s government said it intends to stop using nuclear power by the 2030s, marking a major shift from policy goals set before last year’s Fukushima disaster.
ISRAEL: Obama Rebuffs Netanyahu on Setting Limits on Iran’s Nuclear Program - NYT
President Obama on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to spell out a specific “red line” that Iran could not cross in its nuclear program.
ISRAEL/IRAN: Israel’s Iranian dilemma - LAT, OP-ED
The country has bucked world opinion before. Should it do so once again, this time to neutralize Iran’s nuclear threat?
IRAN: U.N. Agency Rebukes Iran for Failing to Cooperate - NYT
The International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a measure that rebuked Iran for defying demands to curb its uranium enrichment and expressed concern about its nuclear advances.
PAKISTAN: Husain Haqqani: Manipulated Outrage and Misplaced Fury – WSJ, OPINION
Islamists stoke resentment of the West—and anger over the long decline of Muslim influence—to serve their own violent ends.
PAKISTAN: Anger Rolls Across Pakistani City in Aftermath of Factory Fire – NYT
Several survivors said Thursday that as the fire spread, plant managers forced them to stay in order to save the company’s stock: piles of stonewashed jeans.
LEBANON: Pope Benedict Arrives in Lebanon, Calls for Halt to Weapons to Syria – NYT
Even before protests against an incendiary video erupted this week, upheaval in the region had complicated Pope Benedict XVI’s trip, although the Vatican downplayed security concerns.
LEBANON: Pope Arrives in Lebanon With Message of Peace – WSJ
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon urged peace at a time of great turmoil in the Middle East, saying the import of weapons to Syria during the country’s civil war is a “grave sin.”
LEBANON: U.S. Sanctions Hezbollah Leader for Aid to Syria – WSJ
U.S. Treasury officials imposed sanctions on the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and two other members of the organization for their alleged role in aiding the Syrian government in its crackdown on opposition forces.
INDIA: India Inflation Climbs – WSJ
Inflation in India rose more than expected in August on higher prices of fuel and manufactured products, reducing the chance that the Reserve Bank of India will cut interest rates next week.
RUSSIA: Russian Parliament Expels a Putin Opponent – NYT
The legislator, Gennadi V. Gudkov, crossed a political line in the sand when he joined crowds calling for the ouster of the Russian president.
RUSSIA: Russia Votes to Expel Opposition Lawmaker – WSJ
Russia’s parliament voted to expel an opposition legislator who denounced the move as the latest step in the Kremlin’s “political revenge” against critics.
VENEZUELA: Amnesty Criticizes Venezuela’s Exit from Rights Court – WSJ
Advocacy group Amnesty International criticized Venezuela for beginning the process of withdrawing from a prominent rights court established by the Organization of American States.
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