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New York Times
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How to Exit Iraq
John Nagl, Colin Kahl, and Shawn Brimley
9/5/2008
The Bush administration is working out an agreement on having American troops out if Iraq by 2012. The authors say what happened in Basra is as an example of an exit strategy. A rapid withdrawal risks rebounding violence, but a slow withdrawal and reorienting the mission toward advising Iraqi forces is a clearer strategy that may help them advance our interests. They then detail strategies we must enact to succeed and those we must avoid to ensure that withdrawal does not fail.
John Nagl, a former Army lieutenant colonel, Colin Kahl, an assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown, and Shawn Brimley are fellows at the Center for a New American Security.
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A Glimpse of the New
David Brooks
9/5/2008
Brooks says there was a raw energy in the Republican Convention that showed the party's desire and passion for change after much decay. He recounts Palin's speech as evidence of that--absent political rhetoric and a yearning for the Reagan years. McCain's speech, although not as transformational as many had hoped, offered a plan for traditional conservatism, including lowered taxes, free markets, and a plan for energy independence.
David Brooks is a New York Times columnist.
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The Resentment Strategy
Paul Krugman
9/5/2008
The Republicans have a lot of anger, writes Krugman, based on the unfounded perception that Democrats are elite and look down on ordinary people. Krugman says this is astonishing given the wealthy and elite backgrounds of many of the party's leaders. Fortunately, the problems the Bush administration created are fresh in voters' minds. However, Krugman says the Republicans excel in exploiting resentment, so the Democrats cannot afford to be complacent.
Paul Krugman is a New York Times columnist.
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Elegy for a Maverick
E.J. Dionne, Jr.
9/5/2008
The "old" McCain, willing to cross party lines and unafraid to criticize his own Republican party, deserves the presidency far more than the "new" McCain who, as indicated by his choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate and her subsequent, divisive speech, is now pandering to the stereotypical Republican party.
E.J. Dionne writes on national policy and politics for the Washington Post. He began his column for the Post in 1993. He is a University Professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.
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The Support the Palins Really Need
Ellen Crosby
9/5/2008
Many are praising Todd and Sarah Palin's choice not to abort their Down Syndrome baby, Trig, but their trials as a family with a special needs child have only just begun. True support will come in the form of discerning the needs of Trig in particular and Americans with disabilities in general.
Ellen Crosby is a freelance reporter for The Washington Post and former foreign correspondent for ABC News Radio. She has spent many years overseas in Europe and the former Soviet Union but now lives in Virginia with her husband and three sons. Her articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor. She is also the author of "Moscow Nights," published in the United Kingdom.
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How Palin Beat Alaska's Establishment
Kimberley A. Strassel
9/5/2008
Strassel details Palin's record as governor of Alaska, stating that she stood for reform at some risk to her party's approval. Palin passed an ethics law and tightened up oil oversight by persuading the legislature to rewrite the oil tax law. That raised taxes on the industry, for which Palin has taken some knocks. However, the state GOP machine has crumbled in the wake of corruption revelations that followed. Strassel suggests that today's congressional Republicans could learn from this. The party has been plagued by earmarks, scandal, and corruption, and that has diminished voters' trust, which in turn has tarnished good, conservative ideas.
Mrs. Strassel writes 'Potomac Watch' for the Journal.
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Wal-Mart Thrives When Democrats Are in Charge
Rahm Emanuel
9/5/2008
Emanuel maintains that while there is nothing wrong with Wal-Mart executives advocating for the candidate of their choice, company executives ignore economic facts and misinform employees by advocating for the GOP. This, he thinks, crosses the line. At the very least, Emanuel says Wal-Mart leaders should keep their campaign for McCain-Palin out of the employee break room. The company that bills itself as a friend of the middle class should examine the facts and live up to its slogan. Those economic facts lead to a simple conclusion: families save money and live better when a Democrat is living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Mr. Emanuel, a Democratic congressman from Illinois, was a senior policy adviser to President Clinton.
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All VP Picks Are Political. Family Shouldn't Matter.
Ted Van Dyk
9/5/2008
Van Dyk asserts that the media uproar over Alaska Gov. Palin's daughter's pregnancy is one of the most disgusting episodes in recent political memory. Having participated in several selections of Democratic vice-presidential nominees, Van Dyk says the idea of "vetting" prospective running mates began after George McGovern's selection and then rejection of Tom Eagleton in 1972 when it came out that Eagleton had once received shock-therapy for depression. Palin, he concludes, should be judged on her credentials--or lack thereof.
Mr. Van Dyk's memoir of politics, "Heroes, Hacks and Fools," was published earlier this year by University of Washington Press.
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What Palin Really Did to the Oil Industry
James P. Lucier Jr.
9/5/2008
Palin gave every Alaskan a stake in the state's mineral wealth, says Lucier. Regarding the respective differences in their energy policies, he says the real comparison is not between Obama's windfall profit tax and Palin's risk-and-profit-sharing plan. Rather it is between Palin's view that the people should share directly in the state's mineral wealth and McCain's proposal that coastal states should share in federal offshore oil revenue. His plan is for the funds to be used for public purposes such as roads, schools, and conservation. But a direct share in oil profits for every citizen is a more effective incentive for more drilling. If Mr. McCain offered every individual American a royalty check too, he might find it easier to sell his program.
Mr. Lucier is a managing director of Capital Alpha Partners, LLC, in Washington, DC.
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Last Week's Economic News Was a Big Shot in the Arm For McCain
Bradley R. Schiller
9/5/2008
Schiller writes that good economic news benefits the incumbent-party candidate. He details Yale University economist Ray Fair's predictions about the percentage of the popular vote going to the incumbent party. Fair, he writes, has discovered that the incumbent party's advantage increases with increasing per capita GDP and decreases when there is an uptick in inflation. Schiller says we don't have to wait until Nov. 4 to find out if McCain will cinch it. On Sept. 26 the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases its "final" estimates for second-quarter GDP growth. Schiller concludes that an upward revision would augment McCain's vote total.
Mr. Schiller, professor of economics at American University and the University of Nevada, Reno, is author of "The Economy Today" (McGraw-Hill, 2008).
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What Mrs. Palin Could Learn From Mrs. T
Barbara Amiel
9/5/2008
Amiel says Margaret Thatcher would have recognized the guns aimed at Sarah Palin as the weapons of the left with feminist trigger-pullers. All the shrapnel has so far been counterproductive: the mudslinging tabloid journalism only raised her profile to a point where viewers who would never dream of watching a Republican vice-presidential acceptance speech tuned in. Amiel believes the former Prime Minister would have told Palin to stand her ground and do her homework. She concludes that if a grocer's daughter can do it, a self-described hockey mom cannot be dismissed.
Ms. Amiel is a columnist for Macleans', the Canadian weekly newsmagazine, and a former senior political columnist for the Sunday Times of London.
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Adopting the tools of our enemies, a path to victory
Fabius Maximus
9/5/2008
The author points out that the US has supported terrorist groups seeking to overthrow Iran's government, and he questions what this means for the War on Terror since we defined the war with the us-them distinction as a tactic. He says if we adopt the same terrorist tactics, the war ends. But the war won't end because of the power struggle between the US and the rising power of the Shiites.
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Pentagon Recommends Shift of American Forces from Iraq to Afghanistan
Damozel
9/5/2008
The author questions the motivation behind the shifting of forces from Iraq to Afghanistan. She says the return of Anbar province to the Iraqi government is fraught with risk considering the Maliki government's crackdown on the Awakening Council. She believes it is cynical to use the reduction of troops from Iraq to demonstrate to the American public that there was a return from the security gains made during the surge.
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Financial Times
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Beijing's Olympian task is to curb inflation
Stephen Roach
9/3/2008
The economic impact of the Beijing Olympics on China has been overplayed, writes Roach. Economists should be turning their focus away from the Olympics and towards an external shock heading China's way in the form of the post-bubble adjustments emanating from the US. China and the rest of export-dependent developing Asia will soon feel the effects of a shortfall in external demand. The biggest question for China over the next year will be whether the slowing pace of growth will be sufficient to stem the recent build-up of inflationary pressures. Wood says that Chinese officials' dismissal of inflationary pressures as being structural is erroneous and worrying.
The writer is chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.
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How donors should cap aid in Africa
Adrian Wood
9/3/2008
It is questionable whether giving high levels of aid to developing countries is always helpful, writes Wood. Aid dependence can lead to the undermining of good governance by distorting political accountability, with governments paying too much attention to donors and too little to their citizens. This leads to confused and shifting policies and slower growth. Wood proposes that donors collectively set an upper limit on the amount of aid they give to any developing country. He invites ministers to explore the idea at this week's aid effectiveness forum in Ghana.
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A glimpse of a new shade of grey in Japan
David Pilling
9/3/2008
The resignation of Yasuo Fukuda as Japan's prime minister after just one year in office may seem like a sign that it is "business as usual" in a country that has seen 11 prime ministers come and go in just 18 years. However, Pilling says there is evidence that Japan's political, econonic, and social landscape is slowly changing. After half a century of almost continuous rule, the Liberal Democratic party is finally facing serious opposition. But the fact that a woman may seek to become the LDP's new leader in a country where women are scandalously underrepresented in public life is perhaps the biggest clue to the quiet upheaval taking place.
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South China Morning Post
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'iPhone Girl' just a 'beautiful mistake'
South China Morning Post
8/27/2008
A young woman working in a factory in Shenzhen has become a global internet phenomenon after photos of her smiling on the production line were found on a new iPhone shipped to Britain. The pictures have sparked fevered online discussions around the world. Enthusiastic netizens have even produced special "iPhone Girl" websites, like iphonegirl.net and iphonegirl.cn, carrying the latest news about the accidental images. "Those shots were taken by our assembly and testing workers for the testing process. But they must have forgotten to delete the photos," said Liu, head of electronic giant Foxconn's media office in Shenzhen.
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China's Top 500 Enterprises Catching up with Global Giants
Chinaview
8/30/2008
Analysts said the growing proportion of revenue and profits indicated that Chinese companies had become more competitive and profitable. However, Chinese enterprises still fell behind in innovation, investment in research and development, and the ability to operate internationally. Research and development spending accounted for only 1.32 percent of their total revenue, compared with the international average of 3 percent to 5 percent.
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Chinese Funds Report Record-high Losses in First Half on Changes in Fair Value
Chinaview
8/29/2008
According to a recent report, China's 364 funds managed by 59 fund companies incurred record losses totaling 157.9 billion US dollars between Jan. to June. Due to the stock market slump in the first half, stock-based funds suffered huge losses valued at 1.055 trillion yuan, accounting for 97.52 percent of the total losses. It was in reaction to the tightening monetary policy, the economic slowdown, and the pressure of huge freed-up non-tradable shares coming onto the market. The US sub-prime mortgage crisis and global inflation also dented investor confidence.
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China Adopts Law to Promote Circular Economy
China Daily
8/29/2008
China's top legislature passed a law to promote the circular economy on Friday. The aim of the law is to boost sustainable development through energy savings and the reduction of pollutant discharges. Under the law, the government will launch close monitoring over high-consumption and high-emission industries. China has been facing serious environmental and resources problems with its economic development, mainly due to an inefficient use of resources.
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Olympic Gold Brings Hope for Sports Reform
Economic Observer
8/25/2008
Cui Dalin, deputy chief of the General Administration of Sports, said that China was still not a great sports power before and after the Olympic games. It still lagged far behind in public athleticism, popular recreational sports, and physical education in the schools, and the population of athletes relative to the total population was still low. The Ministry of Education, after conducting surveys, also confirmed Chinese adolescents had become less healthy since 1985.
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ynetnews.com
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The Jordanian option
Giora Eiland
9/3/2008
Eiland asserts that a two state Israeli-Palestinian conflict solution is already known in detail, as Yossi Beilin points out, but cannot be implemented because the minimal positions of each side are much less than the other side can accept. The two state solution failed 8 years ago with strong and popular leadership, so it is not likely to succeed now. Incorporation of Palestinian areas in Jordan should be considered as an alternative.
Maj General Giora Eiland is former Head of the Israeli National Security Council and a former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.
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A ticking Arab time bomb
Smadar Peri
9/4/2008
Rising food prices and rising unemployment are creating a crisis of hunger in the Middle East and South East Asia, from Turkey and Egypt to Pakistan. An uneasy quiet is being maintained during Ramadan, writes Peri, but following the 40 days of fasting the Middle East is set to explode. The locus of this explosion and its expression cannot be identified with certainty.
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Beware, the Friends of Bashar are here
Michael Young
9/4/2008
A group of states led by France has resolved to legitimize the Syrian regime and break its isolation, writes Young. President Sarkozy is visiting Bashar Assad even though Syria did not meet Sarkozy's condition of re-establishing diplomatic relations with Lebanon. Lebanese President Sleiman will probably travel to Washington to offset the influence of the countries working for Syria. He should try to build support for Lebanon in the US Congress and in think tanks.
Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star.
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Arab mismanagement? Blame colonialism
Rami G. Khouri
9/3/2008
Khouri notes that Italy's apology to Libya for colonialism is a step in the right direction. However, Italy still expects special benefits from its former colonial subjects. Arab incompetence, despotism, and corruption, as exemplified by the rule of Muammar Ghaddafi, are due to the mess left by colonialism, Khouri claims.
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Whether anyone admits it or not, Hamas appears to have won
Daoud Kuttab
9/3/2008
Hamas has apparently won the battle for supremacy against the Fatah, declares Kuttab. The boat that broke the siege, the Rafah crossing openings, Israeli acceptance of the lull, Arab world concessions, and other signs all point to a Hamas victory. Arab countries like Jordan have no choice but to accept the new reality rather than put their faith in the failed Israeli and American governments and their policies.
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Prepared by the MidEastWeb News Service
www.mideastweb.org
www.mideastweb.org
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India and the Sub-Continent >>
Dawn (Pakistan)
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Office of the president
Anwar Syed
8/31/2008
The common belief that the Pakistan president has enormous power is simply wrong, says Syed. Apart from Fata, the constitutional stipulations actually add up to a bill of constraints on his authority. His discretionary authority to appoint is limited to two posts, neither of which is a carrier of much power. He may disregard the prime minister's advice in appointing provincial governors, but they too are largely ceremonial heads of provinces, as the president is of the federation.
The writer is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts.
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Big fish vs. small fish
Abdul Bayes
8/31/2008
Bangladesh emerged as a basket case of corruption during Khaleda's tenure. That is not to deny that there was corruption during Haisna's tenure, but much less in magnitude compared to that of Khaleda's. Unfortunately, the anti-corruption drive started with Hasina, which turned into an "anti-Hasina" drive, says Bayes. It is as if this was the price Hasina had to pay for the movements marshaled against misdeeds of the past governments and the subsequent establishment of the present setup of governance.
Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.
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Is there life after Doha?
Jorge Heine
8/30/2008
After the WTO summit in Doha, at least in theory everybody is in favor of a more open and liberalised trade regime, one with lower subsidies and lower tariffs. The real question is how to get there. There are, as they say, many ways to skin a cat. The end of the Doha Round has brought to the fore the issue of what to do to move forward in trade liberalisation, says Heine. The issue is an especially critical one for India as it continues to open its economy and its industry aims at gaining a foothold in foreign markets.
Jorge Heine is CIGI Professor of Global Governance at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario. He currently serves as vice president of the International Political Science Association and was Chile's Ambassador to India from 2003 to 2007.
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Redefine Indo-Pak relationship
M L Kotru
8/30/2008
A model often proposed at Washington-encouraged meetings has been a Kashmir valley delinked from Jammu and Ladakh, over which India might enjoy at best a face-saving, limited sovereignty. But, says Kotru, given the current divisions within the Indian polity, it is hardly likely that the UPA government will dare implement any plan that erodes the State's links with the Indian union. So, to strike a different note, the time has come to redefine the basic relationship between India, Pakistan, and the State of Jammu Kashmir.
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Clouds of uncertainty
Rauf Nizamani
8/29/2008
After Musharraf's departure, it seemed the situation would improve and everybody heaved a sigh of relief in the hope that now the country would be on the right track. This was evident from the enhanced confidence of the stock market on the very first day. But the clouds of uncertainty again engulfed this short-lived celebration as the major political parties are once again at loggerheads, especially on the issue of the restoration of judges, says Nizamani.
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No news is bad news
Barkha Dutt
8/29/2008
If Zardari becomes Pakistan President, he will also be the most powerful "civilian" leader the country has had in 61 years. Undoubtedly Pakistan's military will not step back and allow him grand, unchecked authority. In this case, India needs to keep parallel channels of influence open, both with the civilian coalition and with the military, says Dutt. But with entirely apolitical troops on India's side and authoritarian soldiers on Pakistan's, direct contact between the militaries doesn't work well for foreign policy either.
Barkha Dutt is Group Editor, English News, NDTV.
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Keep It Together
Arif Mohammed Khan
8/28/2008
Pakistan could survive as a nation and as an idea even after losing Bangladesh because it was created on the basis of a divisive ideology. On the other hand, India can survive as a nation but not as an idea if it allows another partition on the basis of religion. Keeping this on mind, India needs to pursue the Kashmir problem with a skill of diplomacy without succumbing to any dividing tactics, says Khan.
The writer is a former Union minister.
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Popular uprising in J&K:A clash of identities
Balraj Puri
8/28/2008
In Kashmir separatists were providing an outlet to the sense of alienation. Suddenly both declined, partly due to political upheaval in Pakistan and partly due to the developments within the state. The new civilian government in Pakistan ignored the separatist leaders and instead gave recognition to mainstream leaders like Omar Abdullah and Mufti. These leaders had already encroached upon the space that separatists had occupied by protesting against human rights violations and supporting a dialogue with Pakistan and separatists for the final solution to the Kashmir problem, says Puri.
The writer is Director, Institute of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs.
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Power of myth
Dr Manzur Ejaz
8/27/2008
Pakistan's judiciary has been used as an effective tool by the ruling classes. The rich and powerful could get away with any kind of crime. Justice Chaudhry was the first to subvert this mode and became pro-active in delivering justice to the have-nots, says Ejaz. This is why his defiance of Musharraf gained significance of historical proportions, elevating him to the level of myth. The PMLN quickly grasped the significance of this myth and employed it to win an election despite its disarrayed organisational structure.
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Time for Medals
Sarwar Sukhera
8/26/2008
Pakistan's political history reflects a dismal picture, as the influence of the military has been there from independence. The political parties of a considerable size were either created by the martial law administrators or benefited from them. The only exception is the PPP. It came into being in the form of a revolt against Ayub Khan. And it has done it once again, so true to its philosophy of challenging the powerful and the mighty and coming out victorious despite all the unfavorable odds stacked against it, says Sukhera.
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Blogorama >>
Blog: Last of Iraqis
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http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com/2008/08/back-to-reality.html
Dr. Mohammed
8/31/2008
The author returns to Iraq after being outside of the country and gives his impressions of what is different since he was last there. He says Baghdad is a dark city with no electricity and guards everywhere armed with AK-47s. He had to switch his mind into "fighter" mode to survive and continue living in Baghdad without going insane or ending up dead.
Dr. Mohammed is a dentist living in Iraq.
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Trade War over Georgia? Not the point.
Patrick Lang
8/31/2008
Lang brings up the spectre of nuclear war between the US and Russia. He says the Russians should consider the bellicose comments of both Obama and McCain concerning Georgia and the foolishness of the idea of sending US fleet units into the Black Sea where the potential for a confrontation with the Russian Navy would be high. Such a confrontation, fed by mass emotion expressed by modern media, could easily escalate into an uncontrollable process.
Patrick Lang is a retired senior officer of US Military Intelligence and US Army Special Forces.
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REPORT: SOMALIA AND AL QAEDA
Adam Elkus
8/29/2008
Elkus describes how our counter-terrorism strategy has backfired on us in Somalia. He says that because we backed Ethiopia's invasion, we forgot that Ethiopia was Somalia's traditional enemy and got suckered into giving our legitimacy to another country's power play. Ethiopia's occupation and American airstrikes in Somalia are slowly creating the conditions for Al Qaeda to gain a foothold, as the conflict takes on the tenor of a holy war against the American-backed Ethiopians.
Adam Elkus is a freelance writer specializing in foreign policy and security.
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China to Russia: You're On Your Own
Matthew Yglesias
8/29/2008
Yglesias notes that China has not given any support to the Russian invasion of Georgia, despite being part of the same anti-Western alliance, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He says it is actually quite difficult for autocracies to have any but the most limited forms of sustained cooperation unless the relationship becomes one of one-sided domination. The US should try to keep China off of Russia's side in this crisis.
Matthew Yglesias writes for the Atlantic Monthly.
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Signs of Expanding Russian Ambitions
Galrahn
8/28/2008
Yesterday, Russia threatened Moldova if it didn't back off the pro-Russian Trans-Dniester area. Galrahn says Russia is in position to accomplish their goals in South Ossetia and Abkhazia without disconnecting themselves from the West, but signals of another military intervention sends a clear message that the ambition doesn't stop at peacekeeping. Russia has a case for the independence of Abkhazia and Sout Ossetia, but not beyond those two provinces.
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Death Match (III)
Arthur Silber
8/28/2008
Silber contends that US foreign policy is built not only on physical needs such as acquiring natural resources like oil, but psychological needs as well. The powerful narrative of American exceptionalism has also helped drive US policy into the disastrous expansion mode it is currently in. The author says the most dangerous aspect is that the ruling elite of America actually believe the US has a civilizing mission and the right to invade any country it wants to.
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Will the Afghanistan Surge Doom Pakistan?
China Hand
8/27/2008
A US-led military surge into Afghanistan might forestall the collapse of the Karzai regime, but it could also doom Pakistan, writes the author. The salient development in Pakistani politics in 2008 has been the collapse of the political fortunes of two would-be American clients--Pervez Musharraf and the leader of Benazir Bhutto's PPP, her widower Asif Zardari--and the political ascendancy of Nawaz Sharif of the opposition PML-N, whose conservative, non-aligned policies have resonated with Pakistani voters since his return from exile last November.
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'Rainmakers' and global warming
Naomi Norberg
8/25/2008
Norberg compares two attempts at environmental protection. One is by an organization of US scientists who want to create an Earth-observation network of satellites to improve climate data at a cost of 9 billion dollars. The other is a group of farmers in the African state of Burkina Faso who want to prevent desertification by traditional methods costing a mere 84 dollars an acre.
Naomi Norberg is a PhD candidate in comparative law.
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Iraq's Evil Twin
Chris Hedges
8/25/2008
Hedges points out that as the conflict in Afghanistan has intensified, so has the indiscriminate use of airstrikes. Meanwhile, the accidental killing of Afghan civilians has gone up, which has resulted in a loss of political legitimacy with the Afghan people. The author says we do not have the knowledge to effectively wage wars in Southwest Asia. Just because we have the capacity to wage war does not mean we we have the right to wage war.
Chris Hedges is the author of the book "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning."
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Musharraf's Resignation and Beyond
Beena Sarwar
8/20/2008
Musharraf's departure is just one step in the process of democracy for the continuation of which Pakistan and its allies will need all the patience they can muster. For the time being there would be no dramatic change. Inflation would continue to break people's backs, violence in the name of religion would continue to take lives, unprincipled forces would continue to try and sabotage the democratically elected government, and the lawyers would continue to agitate for restoring the judiciary, says Sarwar.
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Washington Post
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Making Gore's Switch Isn't Quite So Simple
David A. Fahrenthold
8/31/2008
Those who study the US power supply say there are three key reasons why Gore's plan doesn't seem doable. First, there is too much ground to make up. Fossil fuels now provide about 72 percent of all US electrical power. Despite a recent boom in the building of renewable energy "plants"--US wind-power capacity grew by 45 percent last year alone--solar, wind, and geothermal power still provide less than 3 percent of the country's power. Second, the consumers and the energy are too far apart. The areas of the United States that are richest in renewable-energy potential--the sun-baked Southwest, the windy Great Plains--are often far from the coastal cities that need their juice. So any major switch to clean power is going to require new transmission lines to connect the turbines out there and the flat-screen televisions over here. Third, "carbon capture" may still be years away.
David A. Fahrenthold covers the environment for The Washington Post's Metro staff.
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Drilling Down on the Drill Ban
Phil Kerpen
8/27/2008
The offshore oil and gas and Rocky Mountain oil shale development bans expire at the end of this fiscal year, and come October there is nothing in current law that prevents green-lighting the leasing and exploration process. If President Bush pledges to veto an extension of the ban, opponents of oil drilling will have no other option but to cave in because veto-sustaining blocks in both Houses of Congress have made their commitment to allowing the ban to end clear in writing. Mr. Bush is a lame duck and it would be easy for him to simply sign the extension of the ban, likely to be buried in the year-end spending bill, let everyone go home to campaign, and wind down his time in office without any last high-profile clash over policy. But it would be a mistake. If President Bush takes a strong stand on this issue, he will win the lasting legacy of forcing environmental extremism to yield to economic necessity.
Phil Kerpen is director of policy for Americans for Prosperity.
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Want a Better Way to Power Your Car? It's a Breeze.
Lester R. Brown
8/31/2008
T. Boone Pickens is half right. But why not use the wind-generated electricity to power cars directly? Let's cut the natural-gas middleman. Several major auto manufacturers, including GM, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan, are producing plug-in hybrids. Both Toyota and GM are committed to marketing plug-in hybrids in 2010. Toyota might even try to deliver a plug-in version of its Prius gas-electric hybrid next year. To put wind power on the road, of course, we would have to tap the wind resources in nearly all the states, plus those that are off-shore, which the department says can meet 70 percent of national electricity needs. We are now in a position to launch a crash program to convert to plug-in hybrids on a massive scale and at wartime speed. This would resuscitate Detroit, reinvigorate thousands of the country's wind-rich rural communities, dramatically cut carbon emissions. and quickly reduce the vast outflow of dollars for imported oil.
Lester R. Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute and the author of "Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization."
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Russia and the New Axis of Evil
Arthur Herman
8/29/2008
The chessboard of traditional competitive geopolitics is back with a vengeance. Russia is the principal source for Iran's nuclear weapons program as well as the principal obstacle to international sanctions. Between them, Mr. Putin and Tehran's mullahs clearly aim to control access to every major source of fossil energy from the western end of the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea. The third player in this axis, Venezuela's President Chavez, hopes for an oil and natural gas monopoly in his part of the world. A broad strategy of targeted economic sanctions and multilateral diplomacy backed by US military power--together with a determined effort to push down oil prices by expanding supply and strengthening the dollar--can introduce a note of sober realism to the strategy of this new axis and force them to realize how limited and vulnerable their source of money and power really is. However, the most important strategy right now is to secure democracy's vital new flanks: Iraq, Georgia, and Colombia. By shoring up and strengthening rather than abandoning all three governments, the US will send a clear signal that liberty, not tyranny, is the wave of the globalizing future.
Mr. Herman's latest book is "Gandi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age."
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Fill 'er up with coal?
Ralph Hostetter
8/31/2008
Coal to liquid provides an exceptional example of an alternative energy source. Coal is converted to oil at a ratio of 1.25 barrels of oil per ton of coal, and less expensivbe coal is normally used in coal liquefaction. Coal at a cost of $14 to $54 per ton would prove very advantageous with oil at its current price. American Clean Coal Fuels in its Illinois clean fuels plant is developing a 30,000 barrel per day biomass and coal-to-liquid operation. Baard Energy at its Ohio River Clean Fuels project is building a 53,000 barrel per day coal-and-biomass-to-liquid operation. Rentech is building a 29,000 barrel per day coal-to-liquid operation at its Natchez, Miss., site. Synthetic fuel production--including both capital and operating costs--using Powder River Basin coal at $30 per ton plus 10 percent interest would be $1.85 a gallon.
E. Ralph Hostetter, a prominent businessman and publisher, is an award-winning columnist and vice chairman of the Free Congress Foundation board of directors.
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