Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, September 17, 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, September 17, 2009

September 17, 2009

View this newsletter as a web page on CFR's website.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- Czech government officials: United States to shelve missile shield program.

- U.S. intelligence sources say Iran has not continued to develop nuclear weapons.

- Venezuela, China agree to $16 billion oil deal.

- China foils bomb plot in Xinjiang.

Top of the Agenda: Missile Shield Reportedly Scrapped

Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer confirmed U.S. President Barack Obama is shelving plans (Krakow Post) for an anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe. Fischer said Obama called him to inform him of the change overnight. The Obama administration is expected to announce the reversal of direction (NYT) today.

The plan, developed under George W. Bush's presidency, would have built the missile shield (AP) in Poland and the Czech Republic, purportedly to protect U.S. soil against a potential attack from Iran or elsewhere in the Mideast.

Russia welcomed the report (RIA Novosti) that the missile shield would be scrapped. Russia strongly objected to the proposed shield, saying it could interfere with its own intercontinental ballistic missiles (WSJ).

Analysis

In an interview with CFR, Russian defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer discusses Russia's wariness toward the shield.

The Wall Street Journal's New Europe blog looks at the effect of the missile shield on Poland's 2010 presidential elections, and says political relations between the United States and Poland "have not been colder since the end of communism."

Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, writes that current missile defense efforts are "not nearly adequate (Scripps Howard News Service) to the evolving threat," and says U.S. enemies are investing in advanced weapons technologies "in the belief that, at a time of their choosing, they will be able to overwhelm our outdated system."

Background

A CFR Backgrounder looks at the state of U.S. missile defense.

MIDEAST: Iran's Nuclear Program

The U.S. intelligence community has told the White House that Iran has not restarted its nuclear weapons program, Newsweek reports. U.S. intelligence groups say the status of Iran's nuclear program has not changed since the November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate.

Lebanon: U.S. special envoy to the Mideast George Mitchell arrived in Lebanon (VOA) for talks with President Michel Suleiman. Mitchell traveled to Lebanon after two days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders that failed to reach a deal on the Israeli settlement issue.

PACIFIC RIM: China Foils Bomb Plot

China authorities said they disrupted a bomb-making plot (Xinhua) in the western region of Xinjiang. Police did not identify the ethnic background of the six suspects arrested, but their names suggested they were Uighurs (NYT). Tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the region led to riots in July that killed nearly two hundred people.

A CFR Backgrounder looks at the Uighur population in Xinjiang.

Myanmar: New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch launched a campaign calling on Myanmar to release its 2,100 political prisoners before the country's 2010 general elections. The group said Myanmar has doubled its number of political prisoners in the last two years.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Obama Still Considering McChrystal Report

President Obama said he will not rush a decision about increasing troop levels in Afghanistan (WashPost). Obama said he is still considering the recommendations of General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, who issued a report earlier this month calling for a new approach to U.S. efforts in the country.

Troop deaths: Three U.S. troops were killed (NYT) when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Separately, a car bomb in Kabul killed six Italian soldiers (ANSA)--the biggest single loss of life for the Italian force in its five years in Afghanistan.

AFRICA: World Food Program Hurt by Somalia Sanctions

The World Food Program says U.S. financial sanctions caused it to shut down three feeding centers (BBC) for malnourished children in Somalia. The sanctions cut off funding to areas controlled by insurgents.

Sierra Leone: An oil consortium led by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation says it has discovered an "active petroleum system" (Reuters) in the Sierra Leone-Liberian basin. Analysts say the find could contain some 200 million barrels of oil.

AMERICAS: China-Venezuela Oil Deal

China will invest $16 billion (Universal) over three years to increase oil production in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez announced. Combined with a recent deal with Russia, Chavez said production from Russian and Chinese projects in the Orinoco oil fields together will generate 900,000 barrels of oil per day.

EUROPE: Suicide Attack in Chechnya

A suicide bomber blew herself up (ITAR-TASS) in the Chechen capital of Grozny. The attack, which injured six police officers, was the latest incident in a string of violent events (AFP) in the region in recent months as Islamic militant groups rebel against the Russian-aligned local authorities.

Hungary: Hungary announced it will take in a former inmate (Budapest Times) from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said the former detainee will have to go through an eighteen-month integration process upon arriving.

TRANSNATIONAL: Climate Talks in Washington

Representatives from seventeen of the world's biggest carbon polluters (AFP) meet today in Washington for talks on climate change ahead of December's international conference on the issue in Copenhagen.

Ozone: The United Nations announced a total worldwide ban (Haaretz) on the use of materials harmful to the ozone layer. The ban comes as a result of the ratification by every country in the world of a treaty known as the Montreal Protocol.

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