by Mark Silva

They don't call Henry Kissinger a seasoned diplomat for nothing.

The former secretary of state and veteran of Republican administrations said today that Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, under consideration for secretary of state in the administration of Democratic President-elect Barack Obama, would make "an outstanding appointment'' and display "great courage'' on Obama's part.

Voice of America's correspondent in New Delhi, Steve Herman, has the word on the Nobel Peace Prize-winner's remarks (and the photo of Kissinger as well) at the World Economic Forum at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. "To appoint a very strong personality with an independent constituency into a Cabinet position requires a lot of courage," Kissinger told his audience there.

If Clinton is appointed, Kissinger said, she would have to become a subordinate to a former rival - a "symbol of a new approach."

The Indian media also have been "rife with reports'' that Obama could name the former president, Bill Clinton, as a personal envoy in the Kashmir territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. Kissinger, 85, sparked some laughter in New Delhi when asked about this: "There is a limit to the number of Clintons you can appoint" at one time.

by Mark Silva

The leaders of the world's industrial powers have concluded a hasty summit on a global economic crisis with a commitment to strengthen regulation of financial markets, bolster international monetary funds and avert any new trade barriers in the face of a spreading worldwide recession.

Yet President Bush, who convened this summit of nearly two-dozen nations near the end of his term, conceded today that their words are only the start of an ongoing global dialog.

"All this is an important first step,'' Bush said at the close of the conference. "It makes sense to come out of here with a firm action plan, which we have,'' he said, but "a meeting is not going to solve the world's problems... A meeting will start a process so that we can say over time that we will have a regulatory process in place that will help us avoid this from happening in the future.''

This extraordinary summit for the leaders of the United States and 20 other industrial nations was prompted by a global economic crisis that has spanned from India to Western Europe, from St. Louis to St. Petersburg and from Boston to Beijing.

The leaders have agreed to reform and modernize institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and take "a fresh look at rules that govern market manipulation and fraud.''

They have agreed to "take whatever further actions are necessary to stabilize the financial system,'' according to the White House. They have agreed to continue providing liquidity to help free frozen credit markets and ensure that the IMF, World Bank and other development banks have sufficient funds to help developing countries affected by the crisis.

(Bush at close of summit, photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

by Mark Silva

What an international dance is taking place today:

Around the perimeters of a global Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy which President Bush has convened on a rainy day in the nation's capital, the leaders of other nations are holding court on their own around town.

Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia, will hold a discussion up at DuPont Circle this afternoon, in a conference sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, will hold a press conference at the Willard Hotel, not far from the White House. And, oh yes, President Bush, host of this summit, will be making his own public assessment of what, if anything, was accomplished.

This is no small summit: Starting with the so-called Group of Eight industrial nations who already meet annually around the world - the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia - the rest of the so-called G-20 arrived in Washington as well, with the presidents and prime ministers of China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and others convening here - though Jan Peter Balkende, prime minister of the Netherlands, had to turn around and go home for the death of his father, which Bush noted with solemnity at the start of dinner last night, leaving Jan Cornelis de Jager, minister of finance, in the prime minister's place.

The one "celebrity,'' as Sen. John McCain might put it, who isn't here: President-elect Barack Obama, who sent some "sherpas''--former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright among them - to report back and meet on the sidelines with world leaders who will be dealing with the new Obama administration starting in January.

"The state of the partnership'' among the U.S. and European nations in particular, as the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies' Simon Serfaty put it this week, is remarkably better than it was just two years ago. With Obama's election, he says, it promises to improve even more.

"The reaction (in Europe) to the election of Obama was just euphoric,'' Serfaty says. "But the partnership is in a good shape because Bush has made it so. I think we should not neglect the extent to which the relationship between America and Europe has dramatically improved from Bush to Bush over the past two years, and has set the stage, in fact, for this set of decisions that will be made by Obama in the next few months on the basis of a legacy that has significantly improved relative to the past several years.''

So, in effect, the outgoing Bush has served as a sort of sherpa for the incoming Obama, who steps onto a "euphoric'' stage in the midst of a global economic crisis.

This is the table in the vaulted hall of the National Building Museum where Bush and the leaders of 20 other nations and international organizations are meeting on the global economic crisis today. (Photo by Stephen Jaffe / EPA. )

by Mark Silva and updated

If the perimeter is a little tight around the White House tonight, for the pre-summit dinner of world leaders on the eve of an international economic summit in Washington, this list of attendees for the summit might explain why.

It also helps explain the menu: Fruitwood-smoked Quail with Quince Gastrique, Quinoa Risotto, Landmark Chardonnay "Damaris Reserve" 2006, Thyme-roasted Rack of Lamb, Tomato, Fennel and Eggplant Fondue, Chanterelle Jus, Shafer Cabernet "Hillside Select" 2003,Lolla Rosa, Red Oak and Endive, cider Vinaigrette,
Baked Vermont Brie with Walnut Crostini, Pear Torte, huckleberry Sauce, Chandon Étoile Rosé.... and does anyone care for coffee?

Argentina:
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner -- President
Carlos Fernandez - Minister of Finance
Hector Timerman - Sherpa
Jorge Taiana - Deputy Minister of Finance

Australia:
Kevin Rudd - Prime Minister
Wayne Swan - Treasurer
David Tune - Associate Secretary (Sherpa)
Michael Callaghan - Special Envoy to the International Economy

Brazil:
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - President
Guido Mantega - Minister of Finance
Marcos Galvao - Deputy Minister of Finance
Antonio Aguiar Patriota - Sherpa

Canada:
Stephen Joseph Harper - Prime Minister
James Flaherty - Minister of Finance
Leonard John Edwards - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sherpa)
Tiff Macklem - Deputy Minister of Finance

China:
Hu Jintao - President
Wang Qishan - Vice Premier
Xie Xuren - Finance Minister
He Yafei - Sherpa

by Andrew Zajac

The U.S. government's long and troubled history of trying to broadcast TV and radio programming into Cuba added another unhappy chapter with release of a Government Accountability Office report critical of efforts to use commercial broadcasters to beam Radio and TV Marti signals into the island.

No-bid contracts awarded in December 2006 to transmit programming via Radio Mambi and TV Azteca "did not reflect sound business practices", GAO investigators found.

The GAO also criticized a lack of transparency in the way Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting recruits and pays for production and on-air talent.

OCB defended the contracts to Mambi and Azteca, arguing that the U.S. urgently needed a way to reach the Cuban people because of the deteriorating health of president Fidel Castro (pictured above).

by Matthew Hay Brown

After a year and a half of pushing unsuccessfully for a timeable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, congressional Democrats have found an ally in Baghdad.

Iraq's national security adviser told reporters in Najaf today that the U.S.-backed government would not agree to the security deal it is negotiating with Washington unless it included details of a pullout.

"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops," National Security Adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said. His comments echoed those made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Arab diplomats in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The State Department slapped the Iraqi demand down today.

"The U.S. government and the government of Iraq are in agreement that we, the U.S. government, we want to withdraw; we will withdraw," spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. "However, that decision will be conditions-based."

But the demand has found a willing audience among the congressional majority.

"President Bush refuses to listen to Congress or the American people, but he cannot support Iraqi political reconciliation and security and ignore Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's call for a timetable for the withdrawal," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

By Clarence Page

Even Robert Mugabe can't escape the age of YouTube.
The British Guardian has posted video of state-sponsored vote rigging by Zimbabwe's aspiring president-for-life that would put an old-school Chicago precinct captain to shame.

The video, shot by a Zimbabwean prison officer for the British Guardian, can be viewed here .
There have been numerous reports of killings, torture and stolen votes in Mugabe's recent anointment, but this is the first known evidence to be captured in video.
Opposition Morgan Tsvangirai, who has experienced beatings and detention from Mugabe's 28-year-old regime himself, pulled out of the election to stop the waves of violence and intimidation against his own supporters.

Though Mugabe was the only candidate, he directed voters to turn out for him anyway because he didn't just want to win. He wanted a landslide.

What he got was a "ZANUslide," according to at least one Zimbabwean journalist on-the-run . ZANU-PF is the acronym for Mugabe's political party, Zimbabwean African National Union-Popular Front.

by David Nitkin

President Bush said today he wants to continue toward a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, and would not directly address reports that Israel plans a military strike to destroy Iranian uranium enrichment capabilities before the end of the year.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be to solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message. And that is that, You will be isolated and you will have economic hardship if you continue trying to enrich."

Bush addressed his goals for an upcoming trip to Japan for a G8 summit during a statement in the Rose Garden, and took five questions from reporters at the conclusion of his prepared remarks. Two of the questions concerned Israel's intentions in Iran, a topic of escalating debate. But the president did not specifically mention the prospect of Israeli military attacks in his responses.

Bush said he supported a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to provide enriched uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear power program and collect the spent fuel, "thereby negating the need for the Iranian regime to enrich at all."

Questions about Israeli intentions in Iran have swelled since last month, when more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s flew more than 900 miles over the Mediterranean in an exercise that included refueling tankers and helicopters that could rescue downed pilots, the New York Times reported. The distance covered during the exercise showed that Israel jets could reach Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

by Mark Silva

As leaders of the world's major economic powers prepare for a meeting in Japan next month, an adviser to President Bush says they have not reached agreement yet on a long-term plan for emissions of greenhouse gases.

Bush and the leaders of the rest of the Group of Eight nations will meet at Toyaka for their annual G-8 summit after the Fourth of July, and they also will meet with leaders of China, India, Brazil and other economic powers taking part in climate change talks which Bush had held promise of delivering an agreement on national goals by the end of his presidency.

Jim Connaughton, the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, offered a briefing for reporters last night about the status of ministerial-level talks leading up to the G-8 and major economies meetings. He was finishing the fourth round of such talks in South Korea.

"Our goal is to pull together the agenda for a meeting of the leaders of the world's major economies on -- to discuss energy security and climate change,'' he said. "This will be the first time the leaders have come together in that number and in that configuration, to have a candid exchange about some of the most difficult issues related to advancing the agenda on climate change.

"We've been talking about the general direction of the major economies in providing leadership in addressing greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with promotion and sustaining economic growth, and poverty eradication especially in the developing countries,'' he said, unable to divulge details. "These meetings are private, high-level, and we really are able to sort of press on some of the tougher issues that have been eluding the climate negotiators.''

What about any progress on the goal which many have of a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050?

"The long-term goal is a new issue,'' he said. "It was not a subject of discussions among any of the countries until it was put on the table by several countries in conjunction with the G8 meetings last year in Heiligendamm... and it was a pretty big deal for all the countries to agree that they be considering a global vision that they would share and they would try to translate that into a specific shared goal. ...

"There's no agreement on a long-term goal until the end of next year when all the parties come together in agreement,'' Connaughton said. "All I can say at this time is that we have advanced the discussion... The long-term goal is a very complex subject, as you look at the various scenarios for how you get from here to there.''

In this 2006 file photo, the Discoverer Deep Seas drillship sits on station off the coast of Louisiana as Chevron drills for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

by Mark Silva

It appears that Western oil companies will be getting their hands on Iraqi oil a lot sooner than they will ever see whatever reserves are held within off-limit reaches of the American Outer Continental Shelf.

With news that four oil companies are near agreement with Iraq for "service'' contracts to help Iraq extract its oil and significantly boost production, these companies stand to gain a foothold in an expanding supply of oil for the world market. What makes us doubt that any of that will result in lower gas prices here at home?

President Bush is calling on Congress to lift a moratorium on drilling in most of the Outer Continental Shelf, suggesting that these long off-limit tracts of off-shore oil-rich earth may hold as much as 18 billion barrels of oil, nearly three decades of oil coming from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer.

This offers no immediate relief for gas prices, the president acknowledges, but in the long run could boost the world supply and ease prices. Congress, however, is unlikely to go along with the president's proposal.

The Bush administration's own Energy Department has reported that it could take so long to first lease and then explore and then produce anything in these regions that its impact on both supply and price is questionable - with production "unlikely before 2017.''

The Energy Department's own 2008 Annual Outlook reports that "access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.

The potential estimated annual production from the Outer Continental Shelf in the lower 48 states is projected, in 2030, at 2.4 million barrels a day. The world's oil producers put out nearly 90 million barrels a day today.

The added oil production from the region would offer a modest increase, the Energy Department report concludes, noting that "because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.''

by Mark Silva

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is looking for more than handshakes in her relationship with the soon-retiring President Bush, pressed him publicly today for progress on a promised international agreement on climate change.

"We had a very good atmosphere,'' Merkel said after their dinner and meeting at a lakeside government guest house in Meseberg, Germany. "This atmosphere shows -- I think shows very clearly that we have constructive dialogue at virtually all levels on virtually all issues. We've had that for quite some time, and we're going to continue this dialogue in the next few months to come. ''

Merkel, who has a particular interest in confronting the problem of climate change, noted that she an others will be looking forward to keeping the promises made by the U.S. and others at a Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, last year when the G-8 reconvenes in Japan this summer

Bush, who opposed a common, mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions as envisioned in the Kyoto Protocols which he refused to sign, has proposed an agreement among the major industrial nations that each set an achievable long-range goal of reduction in pollutants by the end of his term.

by David Lerman

As Virginia Sen. John Warner tells it, his legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions will help reduce global warming, lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and create millions of jobs using new technologies.

"We are trying to solve one of the most difficult problems ever facing America," the Republican senator from Virginia said Monday in offering his bill to the Senate.

"Doing nothing is not an option," he added. "Let us do something."

But to President Bush and many other Republicans, doing nothing is a far better option than passing Warner's sweeping legislation mandating reductions in carbon emissions from factories, refineries, power plants and other businesses.

The Warner bill, they say, would harm the economy, drive jobs overseas, increase taxes and jack up the already soaring price of gasoline.

"It would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). "It is, at its heart, a stealth and giant tax on virtually every aspect of industrial and consumer life."

That ideological divide will be on prominent display this week, as the Senate debates a measure that Warner hopes will serve as a capstone to his 30-year Senate career.

A cluster bomb in the yard of a house in the southern Lebanese village of Sultaniyeh (THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

More than 100 countries meeting in Dublin, Ireland agreed today to a treaty that would ban the use of cluster bombs, those canister munitions filled with bomblets that are often left in civilian areas long after the conflict is over where they main and kill the innocent, especially children.

The U.S. has opposed the treaty because it wants to maintain the military option of using them as a defensive weapon, a position that has placed it at odds with global human-rights groups. The U.S. is joined by Russia and China in opposing the ban.

It's not just the Bush Administration that opposes the treaty. The Clinton Administration did too. Britain had sided with the U.S. until recently when Prime Minister Gordon Brown, hoping to battle back from his domestic unpopularity, broke with the U.S. and signed on to the treaty.

There hasn't been much if any talk about cluster bombs in the presidential campaign so far though today's agreement could change that.

There was a telling vote in September 2006 on legislation that would have banned the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain voted against the ban which failed 70-30. Sen. Barack Obama voted for the ban.

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt - A rebuffed President Bush complained today that "those who are screaming the loudest'' about Saudi Arabia stepping up oil production are the same people opposing his efforts to expand domestic oil drilling.

People equals Democrats in this equation, and expansion equals ANWR.

The president, who failed this week to convince Saudi leaders to significantly boost oil production to help alleviate pressure on prices, said today that Americans will have to step up to the oil drilling platform as well.

The United States cannot keep blaming others for failing to provide enough petroleum, the president said, while the U.S. itself is unwilling to explore new oil fields. In particular, Bush wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling - which environmentalists and Democratic leaders adamantly oppose.

"Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration,'' Bush told reporters here today. "Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy, and continue our strategy for the advancement of alternative energies, as well as conservation.

"And one of the interesting things about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power, and against expanding refining capacity,'' he said.

"We've got to do more at home,'' the president said. "And we need a Congress who will be responsive to those requests.''

by Mark Silva

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudis have agreed to only a modest boost in oil production, announced in the midst of meetings with Saudi King Abdullah and President Bush over tea, lunch and dinner and an overnight stay for Bush at the palatial horse farm where the Saudi ruler keeps 150 thoroughbred Arabian stallions.

But, for the second time in five months, the Saudis have rebuffed the Bush administration's request for significantly stepped-up oil production to ease rising oil prices. The Saudi oil minister said the Saudis already had marginally boosted production by about 300,000 barrels a day, as of May 10, to meet world demand, including U.S. demand, as they see it - boosting production to 9.45 million barrels a day during June.

The Saudis have made it clear that they see no great world demand for increased production, Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, said after private meetings between the president and king at Abdullah's ranch - and they are not bowing for one customer, albeit the world's biggest consumer.

"What they're saying to us is... Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy,'' Hadley said.

The talks were carried out in private, but both sides spoke about them afterward. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, was asked how forcefully Bush had made the case for boosting production.

"The discussion was carried out in a friendly fashion,'' Saud told reporters. "I don't know what you mean by forcefully -- he didn't punch any table or shout at anybody... The president showed great concern for the impact on the American economy... and we of course sympathized with that completely. But on our part, we are doing everything we can to help the international economy by producing as much as is needed.''

In the midst of these talks, the discrepancy between gas prices in the land of plenty and land of consumers could hardly be more dramatic: While gas goes for about 46 cents a gallon on the furnace-hot streets of Riyadh, the average price of a gallon of regular in the United States this week reached $3.73.

by Frank James

Watching the appearance of conservative radio-talk show host Kevin James on Chris Matthews' "Hardball" show yesterday was a little like watching a car wreck. Very ugly but riveting too.

The topic was whether President Bush was correct, during a speech at Israel's Knesset, to criticize some people (read Sen. Barack Obama) as appeasers, just like Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who infamously tried to avert war by making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

James (no relation) said Bush was absolutely correct. Then Matthews, like a smart courtroom lawyer who knows beforehand how the witness will answer the question, asked James what exactly Chamberlain did wrong.

That's where the fun began. It was clear that James, who's more of a screamer than even Matthews, didn't have a handle on Chamberlain, at one time getting so flustered that he referred to him and "Nevillain Chamberlain."

"He was an appeaser" was the best James could shout. Which, as you can tell from the video, Matthews suspected all along.

I've seen before that look Matthews' had on his face as he toyed with James. It was on a cat I once owned which tormented a mouse it had caught.

By Andrew Malcolm

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is proud of what he sees as his truly conservative credentials. He's for smaller government, much smaller. He's for foreign trade but not foreign military involvement. He wants to spend that money wasted on empire-building right back here in these United States of America. He'd also get rid of the Education Department and the Federal Reserve.

His followers, who reverently call him Dr. Paul, like the way he would strictly adhere to the Constitution as he sees it and return more freedoms to the little guy in the face of big government.

Paul fans -- regularly called Paulites, Paultards or Paulunteers -- also see a gentle humility in the weathered but wise hands of the 72-year-old ob-gyn, who reputedly has delivered some 4,000 infants into life in this wondrous world.

But there seems to be another side to Paul. A mean, vicious, cruel and uncaring side. A side that sees millions of humans -- albeit Burmese who are not registered to vote in Texas -- afflicted with an historic cyclone, countless thousands of lives lost, devastation everywhere.

by Bay Fang

The first U.S. military aid flight landed in Burma's capital city of Yangon on Monday, but a US official cited "massive concern" about supplies getting to the approximately 1.5 million people waiting for help in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta.

The director of U.S. foreign disaster assistance, Ky Luu, said the US plans to track the emergency supplies - water, mosquito nets and blankets - it flew in on a C-130 cargo plane, but appealed to the military government to allow disaster experts into the country.

Myanmar's ruling junta has given permission for just two more C-130 flights, but Luu said the US was prepared to give much more. It has thus far refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers waiting in Bangkok.

Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, who accompanied the supplies, told a news conference at an airbase in Thailand before taking off, "We're limited only by the permission from the authorities in Burma."

People made homeless by cyclone Nargis shelter from the rain in Bogalay township area (Photo: EPA/STR.)

by Frank James

The military junta that leads Myanmar, also known as Burma, relented today and agreed to allow one U.S. cargo plane laden with relief supplies to land in the nation more than a week after a cyclone killed perhaps more than 100,000 people and made more than 1.5 million homeless.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, speaking from Crawford, Texas where President Bush is preparing for his daughter Jenna's weekend wedding, admitted that one plane load wasn't much considering the staggering need in Myanmar. But at least it was something.

While the Myanmar government is allowing in supplies, it's still refusing to let U.S. relief workers into the nation.

Here's Johndroe's exchange with reporters:

Q Gordon, on Burma,/Myanmar, that first flight that gets in, that's scheduled to get in on Monday, can you say a little bit what that's going to be carrying, whether it's going to be -- what kind of materials are being sent?

Chinese paramilitary police patrol a street in Lhasa in China's Tibet Autonomous Region Thursday, March 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

by Frank James

Sen. Hillary Clinton wants President Bush to skip the Olympic Games' opening ceremonies in Beijing this summer to protest China's political crackdown in Tibet and China's failure to more actively pressure the Sudanese government over Darfur.

Bush has said recently he plans on atttending and now that Clinton of all people has called for him not to, that's likely to cement his resolve.

For her part, Clinton stops far short of calling for a complete U.S. boycott of the games, a la President Jimmy Carter in 1980 when he announced a complete American boycott games then to punish the Soviet Union for invading Afghanistan.

That was a public-relations disaster which ruined the event not just American athletes but sports fans and the media. Rooting for Canada just didn't cut it.

So there's little political appetite for a similar boycott of this summer's games. Clinton makes it clear in her statement that she's not going there:

Americans will also stand strong and root for the success of American athletes who have worked hard and earned the right to compete in the Olympic Games of 2008.

Here's her complete statement:

Kosovars dance and celebrate the newly-independent Kosovo in Pristina on February 18, 2008. (Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images)

by Matthew Hay Brown

President Bush recognized the Republic of Kosovo today, congratulating President Fatmir Sejdiu on having taken an “important step in your democratic and national development” a day after the former province of Serbia declared independence.

“On this historic occasion, I note the deep and sincere bonds of friendship that unite our people,” Bush wrote in a letter released by the White House. “This friendship, cemented during Kosovo’s darkest hours of tragedy, has grown stronger in the 9 years since war in Kosovo ended.

“Kosovo has since worked to rebuild its war-shattered society, establish democratic institutions, hold successful elections for a new government, and foster prosperity,” Bush wrote. “As an independent state, Kosovo now assumes responsibility for its destiny. As in the past, the United States will be your partner and your friend.”

The United States joined Britain, France, Germany and Turkey in recognizing the new Balkan state, which has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serbian forces in 1999. The majority of Kosovars are ethnic Albanians; most are Muslims.

China and Russia, which have issues with separatists within their own borders, have expressed their disapproval. As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, either could block the fledgling state from gaining a seat in the General Assembly. Serbia, meanwhile, withdrew its diplomats from Washington over U.S. recognition.

Last stop:The resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, on the Red Sea. Photos by Silva

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – All along the route of President Bush’s six-nation, eight-day tour of the Middle East, the president has promoted what the White House calls, simply, “the freedom agenda.’’

Bush has pressed this agenda – articulated during his reelection inaugural address as a contest between democracy and tyranny – in Saudi Arabia, where women can neither vote nor drive. He has promoted it in Kuwait, where women only recently were given the vote – Bush met there with a roundtable of Kuwait women. And he has promoted it in Bahrain, which elected its first woman to parliament, still the only one, two years ago.

“In my country, we speak of these developments as the advance of freedom,’’ Bush said during his signature speech of the trip, staged in the economically and socially advanced Gulf port of Abu Dhabi. “Others may call it the advance of justice.’’

Here in Eqypt, as Bush pursues a vision of peace in the Middle East, the president will meet today with the leader of a nation that once lost and then ceded this portal of the Sinai desert and peninsula. President Hosni Mubarak also has ruled here for the better part of three decades, only recently opening elections to rival parties and securing reelection with nearly 90 percent of the vote.

The White House – publicly, at least -- maintains that it has found a welcome reception to its message in a series of private sessions which Bush has held with leaders from Jerusalem and the West Bank of Israel to his final stop here in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Yet, when pressed about this, the leaders of the least democratic nations along the president’s path have employed the most diplomatic terms possible to change the subject.

Bush arrived in a suit, leaves with a robe. Photo by Silva

by Mark Silva

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - President Bush arrrved for dinner at King Abdullah's tent tonight wearing a floor-length, fur-lined robe. And he gets to take it home with him.

The "tent" is actually a building with a tent-like roof, the pooler reports. Half the building was taken up by an enormous hall, lined on three sides by low arm chairs. The pool waited in a wood-paneled, marble-columned entry hall, its doors open to a front patio and, beyond it, a soaring fountain, bathed in soft bluish light.

The president arrived escorted by the king's son, Mutib, following two men carrying silver incense holders, which filled the hall with aromatic smoke. The president wore a full-length robe, with bluish-silver trim, and seemed eminently pleased. Only later, when he sat beside the king and took it off, did it become clear that the robe was lined with fur.

A Saudi said that the robe is called a farw. The president's aides, including Press Secretary Dana Perino, Communications Director Ed Gillespie and Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, followed in their own robes. One, State's Elliot Abrams, when asked by Newsweek, said he was allowed to keep it, suggesting these were gifts for all.

Good thing, becase it was cold in Saudi Arabia and overcast for much of Bush's two-day stay here -- in the 40s Farenheit earlier in the day.today. They had even predicted snow, unseen here since 1968, according to a minister. But no snow fell, and tonight the moon poked through in a clearing Riyadh sky.

Tomorrow, the president heads for Egypt, before heading home from this eight-day tour of the Middle East that started in Jerusalem, carried him to the West Bank with tours of Bethlehem and Galilee, saw Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Bush leaves Saudi Arabia without any promise of relief in gas prices and doubts about the future for peace in the Middle Eas -- see the Swamp below -- but he won't leave empty-handed. The robe will come in handy back home in the District of Columbia, where things have gotten pretty chily, politically speaking.

Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali I. Al-Naimi: The U.S. and Saudi are longtime allies, but Riyadh will not boost oil production for Washington. Photos by Mark Silva -- and one of Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – President Bush, entering another round of private meetings with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia today, plans to argue that the price of oil is not only hurting the American economy, but also having an impact on world trade.

Yet the oil minister of Saudi Arabia, addressing reporters here today, maintained that this nation which holds the world’s greatest reserves of oil will not increase production based on the demands of one customer – albeit the world’s largest consumer of oil, the United States. Instead, minister Ali I. Al-Naimi said here, Saudi Arabia will adjust its production according to the interests of maintaining “stability’’ in the world oil market.

Bush, also addressing reporters during his two-day tour of Saudi Arabia, said he understands the pressure oil prices place on the American household and would warn the king of this nation that has grown wealthy with its vast reserves that any economic slowdown in the U.S. would result in less oil purchased.

“Demand has outstripped supply,’’ Bush said.

“We will raise production when the market justifies it. This is our policy,’’ Al-Naimi said. Asked about the potential impact of prices on the U.S. economy, he said: “A recession in the U.S. is very significant to the oil market and demand… I’m sure that no one would look with pleasure upon a recession in the U.S.’’

Asked about gasoline prices – and asked particularly whether Americans might ever see anything below $2 per gallon in the future, the bespectacled and soft-spoken oil minister said: “That is an excellent question, but let me tell you what happened to the last guy who tried to predict prices… If I knew the answer to that question,, I would be in Las Vegas rather than here.’’

At the Saudi oil minister's press conference: Mark Silva and newfound friends. Photo by Jon Ward of the Washington Times, with thanks.

The Emirates Palace. Elton John plays here on the 22nd. Photos by Silva

The Emirates Palace hotel, site of President Bush's address today on freedom. Photos by Mark Silva and updated with speech

by Mark Silva

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – President Bush, standing in the heart of the oil-rich and monarchic Gulf states with a direct appeal for freedom and democracy, called on Arab allies to stand with the United States against the perceived threat posed by Iran.

"Today, your aspirations are threatened by violent extremists,'' Bush told an invited audience in the theater of the most opulent hotel in the world. "These extremists have hijacked the noble religion of Islam… They hate freedom, and they hate democracy.

"“Iran is today the world’s leading state sponsor of terror,'' Bush told his audience. "It sends millions of dollars to extremists around the world, while its own people suffer… at home.’’

Iran finances the militant Islamic organization of Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, the Taliban, Shia militants in Iraq, the president said. "It seeks to intimidate its neighbors with ballistic missiles and bellicose rhetoric…. Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere.

Bush was delivering his signature speech of his Middle East tour today -- pressing a message of democracy and economic advancement. And he could have not chosen a more opulent public setting for this address aimed at an audience of Arab leaders in an oil-enriched region: The Emirates Palace Hotel, where Bush is staying, a $3-billion edifice erected by the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

“I am honored by the opportunity to stand on Arab soil and speak to the people of this region,'' Bush said in the opening of his address. And then the president spoke directly of the threat which Iran poses to this region and the world.

The White House says the 302-room hotel is the costliest hotel ever built, with much of the interior décor marble and gold. A senior administration official says this is a fitting place to talk about democracy and economic developmen.

The White House also maintains that the president’s address here represents his most significant public statement in the region – the apex of an eight-day tour of the Middle East in which Bush is not only promoting his vision of a lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians, but also exhorting Arab leaders to support continuing pressure against Iran so long as it is developing nuclear power.

Host: Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

The central mosque in Bahrain, a chain of islands in the Persian Gulf which maintain their Islamic roots but have opened to Western trade -- drawing weekend-seeking Saudis in pursuit of a beer -- and have played host to the U.S. Navy for years. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva, and updated overnight

MANAMA, Bahrain -- President Bush became the first sitting American president to visit this wealthy island nation that serves as home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet today, part of a five-nation tour of Arab states seeking support for U.S. policies in the region.

"I am really honored to be the first U.S. sitting president to have visited your country,'' Bush told the king upon his arrival today. "Perhaps I should say, it's about time.

"The American people have a long friendship with the people of Bahrain,'' Bush said. "For decades, Bahrain has welcomed the United States Navy -- and is now home to our Fifth Fleet.''

And, if the U.S. faces hurdles with its Middle East policy in other Arab quarters, this international trading post and Westernized Gulf state is highly supportive of Bush's push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- government ministers said here that they also support sanctions against Iran for nuclear development, though the U.S. should refrain from "sabre-rattling'' in its public approach toward the the Iranians.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Hhalifa told Bush here that this "is a historical opportunity to see the realization of your vision for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state, side-by-side with Israel, a a time such a vision is being demanded by world's conscience.''

OId and new: Downtown Manama features some striking skyscrapers, angular buildings and some that evoke the image of sails on the shores of this Gulf city.

"Two years ago, I was pleased to sign legislation that strengthened our friendship and our relationship with the free trade agreement with Bahrain -- it's America's first such agreement with any nation in the Gulf,'' he said. "This agreement is helping to pave way to freer and fairer trade between our countries -- so we can create jobs and opportunity and hope in both our lands.

"Our two nations share a common vision for the future of the Middle East,'' the president said. "Through our alliance, we share the burdens and risks of maintaining security, as well as defending freedom throughout the region. We also believe in the power of democratic reform.'

This nation, Bush noted, has held free elections since 2000 -- and in 2006 elected a woman to parliament. "Bahrain's reforms are making your nation stronger,'' Bush said. "You're showing strong leadership, and you're showing the way forward for other nations.''

Bush has come here to speak of his vision for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, as well as his concern about what he perceives as the continuing threat posed by Iran. There is a first-class Iranian restaurant in the hotel where the press is stayng, and the government is throwing a reception for the press this evening. So there may be little news here for now.

Simply new: With free trade comes Western icons.

by Matthew Hay Brown

While condemning “in the strongest terms” the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Amnesty International warned Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf against using the attack as a pretext for further repression – and urged the Bush administration to watch carefully.

“The killing of Benazir Bhutto must not be allowed to become a setback to civilian governance or indeed lead to a further crackdown on civil liberties,” said Catherine Baber, director of Amnesty’s Asia Pacific program.

The group has been highly critical of the Pakistani leader, and its American branch joined with other human rights groups this month at a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press for reform.

While Musharaff heeded the U.S. call to lift the state of emergency he declared in November, Amnesty said, the organization remains “deeply concerned” that the U.S. government has not made an “unequivocal call” for the restoration of an independent judiciary and the lifting of restrictions on the media.

“Pakistan is at a dangerous crossroads,” said Alex Arriaga, Government Relations Director for Amnesty International USA.“If it cannot rely on an independent judiciary, some of the most dangerous aspects of martial law will become enshrined in its legal and political system, leaving the people’s human rights in the balance.

“The United States government must press its ally, which has used the ‘War on Terror’ to justify its actions, and put an end to this slippery slope,” Arriaga said. “Without these steps, the Bush administration will further acquiesce that fundamental rights can be denied, and those who oppose Musharraf are likely to face intimidation – or even death.”

by Matthew Hay Brown, updated

Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle say the murder of Benazir Bhutto must not slow Pakistan’s progress toward democracy.

“The assassination today of former Prime Minister Bhutto is not only a tragedy for her family, loved ones and millions of supporters, but also a severe blow to real democratic reform in Pakistan,” House Democratic Leader Steny H. Hoyer said in a statement today. “Madam Bhutto was committed to democratic principles and it is imperative that the cause she championed continue to move forward.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Bhutto’s bravery “stands in stark contrast to the cowardice of those who remain committed only to chaos, murder and thwarting democracy in Pakistan. It is our expectation that President Musharraf and the Pakistani people will go forward with free and fair elections.”

House Republican Leader John Boehner called the attack “yet another reminder that we must remain vigilant in standing against the enemies of freedom in Pakistan and around the world to ensure that their efforts to thwart democracy will once again fail.”

“Pakistan has been a vital ally of the United States,” Boehner said, “and a strong relationship with a stable, democratic Pakistan is important to our success in seeking out and defeating Islamic extremism in the Global War on Terror.”

by Matthew Hay Brown

While Washington debates whether it should talk to Iran, one Maryland congressman has already struck up a conversation.

For the past year, Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest has been meeting with Iranian officials and business leaders to talk about ways to improve relations between the United States and the Islamic republic that President Bush put in his Axis of Evil.

With the recent release of a U.S. intelligence report concluding that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program four years ago, he now sees an opportunity.

"You get this kind of momentum, we will begin a dialogue with Iran," the Eastern Shore Republican said. "If it's not in this administration - although I think it's possible - you will see a change in policy so that the next administration will have a better opportunity to openly discuss issues with the Iranians."

That's been Gilchrest's goal since a private meeting last autumn with Iran's envoy to the United Nations. The three-hour session with Ambassador Mohammad Javad Zarif was the start of a continuing effort by Gilchrest, a former Marine who had come to regret his 2002 vote to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, to develop relations with the country that some believed the White House planned to attack next.

Read the rest of the story in today's Sun

by Matthew Hay Brown

President Bush will follow up on last month’s Annapolis Conference in January with a visit to Israel and the West Bank, the White House said today. Bush is scheduled to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The visit to Israel will be Bush’s first as president, and the first by a U.S. president since Bill Clinton visited in 1998. Bush also plans stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the trip from Jan. 8 to 16.

“This visit will follow up on the progress made at Annapolis in helping Israelis and Palestinians to advance their efforts toward peace,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said this afternoon in a statement.

Perino said the trip would “also be an opportunity to reaffirm the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of our allies in the Middle East … The meetings with leaders will allow for discussions of developments in Iraq, the challenges presented by Iran, regional security, ecomomic ties, and relations between the United States and these close allies.”

Bush’s visit with Saudi King Abdullah will be the first since the ruler pardoned the gang-rape victim who was convicted of being alone with a man who was not related to her and sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes.

Before the pardon, Bush told reporters that he thought of his own daughters, and said “I’d be angry at a state that didn’t support the victim.” He added that Abdullah “knows our position loud and clear.”

by James Oliphant

Against improbable odds, Chris Dodd did it.

Earlier today, the leader of his own party, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), pushed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewal bill to the floor. Reid had selected a piece of renewal legislation voted out of the Senate Intelligence Committee rather than the version of the FISA bill passed by the Judiciary Committee. And the Senate followed Reid's lead by voting in favor of cloture to cut off debate on the bill.

All throughout the day, Judiciary Democrats such as Dodd, Edward Kennedy, and Russ Feingold took aim at the bill, even as Reid professed his hope that the Senate would pass the FISA bill today, in advance of its holiday adjournment. Dodd, a margin-of-error presidential candidate, vowed to filibuster the FISA bill on the floor if it granted large telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T immunity from civil lawsuits for allegedly cooperating with the government. The Intel Committee bill did just that.

by Frank James

Fresh off his trip to Oslo, Norway to accept his Nobel Peace Prize for his role as the world's best-known Cassandra on global warming, former Vice President Al Gore was in Bali, Indonesia where he spoke to a United Nations climate conference today.

Gore took his nation, i.e. the Bush Administration, to task for being the leading obstacle to a new climate change agreement to supersede the Kyoto Protocol which is widely viewed as having been ineffective.

Here's an excerpt from the Associated Press's story:

The former vice president urged delegates to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, and told them that the next U.S. president will likely be more supportive of international caps on polluting gases.

"My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," said Gore, who flew to Bali from Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping alert the world to the danger of climate change.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore speaks during the Nobel ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Odd Andersen)

by Mark Silva

Al Gore today recalled reading his "own political obituary'' seven years ago tomorrow -- he found in it "a judgment that seemed harsh and mistaken.''

Yet "the unwelcome verdict'' of the U.S. Supreme Court in the disputed Florida presidential election of 2000 also served as a "painful gift,'' the former vice president said today in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. It was the gift of an opportunity "to search for fresh new ways to serve my purpose,'' he told his audience in Oslo today. "That quest has brought me here.''

Citing Winston Churchill and Robert Frost, Henrik Ibsen and Mahatma Gandhi, Gore proclaimed today that the Earth has a "fever'' and said "our world is spinning out of kilter.'' Yet too many political leaders are choosing to ignore "the planetary emergency'' of global warming, said Gore, citing the tonnage of pollution spewed anew into the atmosphere each day.

And it is primarily some of the biggest polluters -- the United States and China -- that are ignoring the implications of unchecked pollution, Gore said.

It has been 15 years since Gore carried this message to an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and 10 years since he made the case in Kyoto. Now, as he heads to another international climate conference in Bali this week, the Nobel Prize winner is calling on world leaders to ratify a new treaty that caps emissions by the beginning of 2010.

"Now comes the threat of climate crisis -- a threat that is real, rising, imminent, and universa,'' Gore said in accepting his prize. "Once again, it is the 11th hour. The penalties for ignoring this challenge are immense and growing, and at some near point would be unsustainable and unrecoverable. For now we still have the power to choose our fate, and the remaining question is only this: Have we the will to act vigorously and in time, or will we remain imprisoned by a dangerous illusion?''

by Matthew Hay Brown

It isn’t every day a Republican leader takes to the Senate floor to ask: Why can’t America be more like France?

But with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in town, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the United States could learn much from the European nation long derided by American conservatives.

“The French people surprised us by electing a free-market reformer, then they surprised us again by electing a center-right parliament that could get his ideas through,” the Kentucky Republican said. “Some of those ideas, like cutting the top tax rate, have gone through. The winds of change are clearly blowing through France.”

And it isn’t just France, McConnell said.

“Over the past few years, the Old Europe model of big government and bloated entitlements has shown signs of cracking. Germany elected a reformist chancellor from the Christian Democratic Party. Canadian conservatives rebounded under Stephen Harper after near extinction.

“Even the socialists are admitting their mistakes. The Socialist former prime minister of France, Lionel Jospin, shocked his fellow countrymen when he blasphemously declared that ‘The state cannot do everything.’ And in Italy, center-left Italian Premier Romano Prodi announced in July he would raise Italy’s retirement age from 57 to 61.”

Times clearly have changed since Gallic opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq led cafeterias across America to rename their French fries, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld dismissed France and Germany as “Old Europe,” and supporters of President Bush dismissed John Kerry as “too French.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy before a joint session of Congress, November 7, 2007, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Robert Byrd looking on approvingly. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

by Matthew Hay Brown

Thirty-seven hundred words, and not one of them the four-letter one that has divided France and the United States.

In his address to Congress this morning, French President Nicolas Sarkozy led lawmakers on a tour of the Greater Middle East that spanned from Afghanistan through Iran and Lebanon to Israel. But the unabashedly pro-American conservative tiptoed right past Iraq, where French officials and citizens alike have opposed the U.S. invasion and occupation.

“We may have differences, we may disagree on things, we may even have arguments, as in any family, but in times of difficulty, in times of hardship, one stands true to one’s friends, one stands shoulder to shoulder with them, one supports them, and one helps them,” Sarkozy told the joint session, as rendered in the official translation.

Thus dispensing with any allusion to the war – which Sarkozy also has opposed, although not as vocally as his predecessor, Jacques Chirac – he focused his remarks on the historical friendship between the two nations, and areas for future cooperation.

Among these, he named Afghanistan, where he said France would “remain engaged … for as long as it takes;” Iran, whose development of nuclear arms he called “unacceptable;” and the Holy Land, where he said France “wants security for Israel” and “demands that there be a state for the Palestinians.”

by Aamer Madhani

As Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that he may send troops into Iraq “at any time” to crack down on the Kurdish rebel group PKK, a senior State Department official expressed displeasure today over Iraqi Kurdish leaders failure to clamp down on the terrorist organization.

David Satterfield, the State Department’s Iraq coordinator, put the onus on the Kurdistan Regional Government in heading off a Turkish incursion against the guerilla fighters in northern Kurdistan.

“In the first instance, responsibility for dealing with this threat lies with the Kurdish Regional Government leadership,” Satterfield told Defense Writers in Washington this morning. “This organization is based in and operates from the KRG territory. We look to the Kurdish leadership to take steps in their own interest against this group.”

“And I must tell you, this is not anything which the Kurdish leadership is not aware of from our own voice. We are not pleased with the lack of action undertaken against PKK…..They [KRG] should act and they should act now in meaningful fashion against the PKK in order to prevent an action the consequences of which could be harmful to them, to Iraqi interests and certainly to our broader interests.”

Satterfield’s comments came as Erdogan ratcheted up the rhetoric about a possible incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan. At a news conference in London today, Erdogan said that he was prepared to halt exports into Iraq and was prepared to launch a military strike into Iraqi Kurdistan.

by Bay Fang

Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of foreign relations for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, said Friday that the Kurdish government would be interested in meeting with Turkey over the issue of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, suggesting that KRG prime minister Nechirvan Barzani should lead talks with Ankara.

The United States is pressing for a low-profile meeting to take place on the sidelines of the Iraq Neighbors' Conference to be held in Istanbul on November 2-3.

"We hope Turkey can accept that excluding the KRG from talks with the Iraq government doesn't make sense," said Bakir, who is in Washington, DC for meetings with administration officials.

The Turkish parliament on Wednesday authorized its military to conduct cross-border military strikes against the PKK in northern Iraq, a group that is listed as a terrorist group by the US and other countries. The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984.

Washington, afraid of destabilizing what has been the most peaceful part of Iraq, has urged Turkey not to carry out an incursion.

President Bush hosted the Dalai Lama at the White House in 2001. China has protested this week's event at the Capitol, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president will appear in public with the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland. AFP/Getty ImagesWhite House photo.

by Matthew Hay Brown

Fresh from needling the Turks, Congress is now preparing to stick it to the Chinese.

And this time, they’ll have the support of the president.

A week after a House committee recognized the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide, officials will award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama. President Bush, who urged Democratic House leaders against taking up the genocide resolution for fear of antagonizing key Middle Eastern ally Turkey, is planning to attend the ceremony for the Tibetan Buddhist leader Wednesday at the Capitol.

"We are furious," Zhang Qingli, head of the Communist Party in Tibet, said today in Beijing, Reuters is reporting. "If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world."

For Al Gore, the prizes keep coming: An Oscar for his film, "An Inconvenient Truth,'' an Emmy for his cable television program and now the Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy on the issue of global warming. One prize still eludes him: The presidency. But a spokeswoman says Gore is involved today in "a campaign of a different kind.''

by William Neikirk

Former Vice President Al Gore completed a remarkable political renaissance Friday when he won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his relentless and sometimes controversial crusade against global warming.

Sharing one of the world's most coveted prizes with a United Nations-sponsored scientific group on climate change, the loser of 2000's razor-thin presidential election suddenly gained new stature, sparking speculation that he might use the award as a springboard to take another run at the White House.

Gore avoided that question at a press conference in California, but his spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider, said in an e-mail that he "has no intention of running for president in 2008. He is involved in a campaign of a different kind, to educate people about the climate crisis and what they can do to solve it. That's what today is about.''

Indeed, Gore told reporters that he would try to use the award and recognition to speed up awareness about the dangers of climate change. "It truly is a planetary emergency," he said. "We have to respond quickly." Still, he did not rule out getting into the race.

See the rest of the story in today's Tribune:

by Mark Silva

The Bush White House, which has taken some time in coming around to the concession that the acts of mankind have played a contributing role in global warming but still opposes any mandatory international caps on greenhouse gas emissions, today acknowledged Al Gore's Nobel prize for his advocacy in the campaign against climate change.

"The president learned about it this morning,'' said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman aboard Air Force One, as the president flew to Florida -- of all places, on this day that has invoked many reminders of the 2000 election in which Bush prevailed over Gore with a court-settled dispute over the Sunshine State's presidential vote.

Today, the president is raising money for the Republican Party in Pinellas Park and speaking about free trade in Miami before heading to his Texas ranch for the weekend. Karl Rove, departed political guru, says Bush is rasing money at the home of Brent Sembler, son of Mel Sembler, a major Republican fundraiser who has been rewarded with an ambassadorship. Bush plans to raise money for the Tennessee GOP in Memphis on Monday.

"Of course, he's happy for Vice President Gore, happy for the International Panel on Climate Change scientists, who also shared the Peace Prize,'' Fratto said. "Obviously, it's an important recognition and we're sure the vice president is thrilled.''

Is Bush planning to call Gore?

"I don't know of any plans to make calls to any of the winners at this point,'' Fratto said.

by Andrew Malcolm

Well, the Al Gore drafters are still not giving up. In an online fundraising drive last week, Draftgore.com raised $65,000 to buy a full-page ad in today's New York Times that appeals to the former senator, former vice president and former presidential nominee to reconsider his current stand and run for the 2008 Democratic nomination.

"Many good and caring candidates are contending for the Democratic nomination," the ad letter says, "But none of them has the combination of experience, vision, standing in the world and political courage that you would bring to the job. Nor do they have the support among voters that you enjoy and would lead you to victory in 2008."

"All we're trying to do," says Monica Friedlander, a 47-year-old Oakland public relations person who founded the group, "is persuade him that it's a moral imperative for him to be a candidate."

That's all.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, introduced at Columbia University as ''ridiculous,'' reported in Tehran as his chance to make his case. Photo by Stephen Chernin/AP

by Matthew Hay Brown

In the blistering, 15-minute indictment with which he introduced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger called Iran a state sponsor of terror that was executing children, rounding up human-rights advocates, and supplying arms to America’s enemies in Iraq.

He told Ahmadinejad that he exhibited "all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," and said his denial of the Holocaust made him "either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

He called the president of Iran "ridiculous."

Here’s how Bollinger’s comments were reported yesterday by Iran’s state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency:

"Before President Ahamadinejad’s [sic] address, Colombia University Chancellor in a brief address told the audience that they would have the chance to hear Iran’s stands as the Iranian President would put them forth."

(Columbia President Lee Bolinger, above right, photo by Getty Images.)

by Mark Silva

President Bush, calling on the United Nations today to embrace a “mission of liberation,’’ freeing citizens of the world from tyranny, hunger, disease, poverty and despair, said the United States will tighten economic sanctions on the military regime of Burma.

The U.S. will impose an expanded visa ban on “those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights as well as their family members,’’ he said, pledging to support humanitarian groups working to alleviate suffering in Burma -- or Myanmar, as its military leaders have dubbed the nation.

There was little mention of the “global war on terror,’’ or threats on fronts such as Iraq or Iran, in this address to the General Assembly, and much talk of the challenges that the world faces fighting AIDS and malaria, poverty and repression. Bush made only two mentions of Iraq, and one of Iran.

For Bush, this sounded more like a legacy-seeking speech than a call to arms – a reiteration of the theme of “ending tyranny in the world’’ which he had made the centerpiece of his second inaugural address, without the rallying call for a fight that he had voiced five years ago, warning of the "gathering danger'' of Iraq.

Fulfilling the promise of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted six decades ago “requires confronting long-term threats,’’ Bush said at the podium of the General Assembly. “It also requires answering the immediate needs today.’’

Five years ago, Bush warned of "gathering danger" and told the United Nations that the United States will "stand'' against the threat. Sept. 12, 2002, White House photo by Paul Morse

by Mark Silva

Five years ago, President Bush stood before the General Assembly of the United Nations and warned about “a grave and gathering danger.’’

That perceived threat was the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. “We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers gather,’’ Bush said then.

That speech came one day after the anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, and it came 10 days before Bush delivered a resolution to Congress seeking authorization for the use of force against Iraq.

The president got that authority a month later, but the U.S. never found the weapons which Bush warned the U.N. about on Sept. 12, 2002.

Five years later, Bush returns to the U.N. General Assembly today to speak of the tyranny and violence and poverty and disease and ignorance and illiteracy that pose threats to world security today. The White House insists that today’s speech will not concentrate on the new threat which Bush warns about in the region: Iran, with its alleged designs on nuclear weaponry and its support for insurgents fighting inside Iraq.

“The speech is not about Iran, as much as many people are trying to make it out to be,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said last night in New York. “ It's about liberation…

"The speech is about liberation and how liberation from poverty, disease, hunger, tyranny, and oppression and ignorance can lift people up out of poverty and despair; and that the U.N.'s core mission is in align with that, and that that's what we should all be working towards,'' she said. "There's a brief mention in the speech, latest draft I saw, about Iran, but it's certainly not a focus.’’

by Mark Silva

It may not take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, but it may take a weather sleuth to take the temperature of Baghdad.

The National Weather Service operates a handy Web-site that tells of current and recent weather conditions all around the world. It features a drop-down list of all the countries for which conditions are available. It's very comprehensive.

But there's at least one missing, one where a lot of Americans happen to be residing at the moment.

Iraq.

Another member of the "axis of evil'' is unaccounted for as well.

Check it out.

Posted by Mark Silva

ROSTOCK, Germany -- At the Baltic Sea resort where some of the world's most influential leaders are meeting for three days, starting with a dinner at a manor house tonight, activists are calling for less talk and more action.

Hoisting some banners in commentary on the river at Rostock. Photos by Mark Silva