How the Private Sector Affects US Foreign Policy

Iran has expressed interest in buying Boeing commercial passenger planes if the US lifts trade sanctions on the Muslim nation.  

You can bet your ass Boeing and other aircraft trade organizations are flipping through their rolodexes in search of lobbyists in Washington right about now.  

Good Move

The Czech ambassador to Russia made statements today signaling that the EU will begin looking to diversify its gas providers after the most recent dispute between Russia and Ukraine.  He also said the two nations risk losing the EU's confidence in Russia and Ukraine as political and economic partners.  

The ambassador cited the proposed Nabucco pipeline as an alternative -- a $7- to $8-billion dollar project that would bring Central Asian oil to Europe, circumventing Russia.  The project is slated to begin in 2010, though it faces some major challenges and depends on the acceptance of Turkmenistan, an uncertain partner.  

Second Attempt

Russian and Ukrainian officials have agreed to meet for talks over the ongoing gas dispute between the two nations. The meetings will be held on Saturday in Moscow, but some express grave pessimism over the outcome

"(An agreement) is practically impossible," says Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.  "The conditions laid by one and the other side are so contrasting that this simply cannot work."

Retreat!

US military and pentagon officials say they are drawing up plans to draw down troops quicker than anticipated, assuming Obama will reject current plans as too slow, reports the International Herald Tribune (IHT).

Officials with Obama say he's committed to the goals he set out in the campaign but is willing to listen to commanders on the ground and their recommendations.  

Smells Like Desperation

In a showing of just how much falling oil prices are hurting his political ambitions, hard-line anti-West, anti-capitalist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is now courting western oil companies for investment.

Western companies' -- Chevron, Royal/Dutch among them -- interest in investing in Venezuela, says the NY Times, shows the scarcity of oil projects open to investment elsewhere, principally in the Middle East.

Experts are saying that Venezuela's shrinking production capabilities became obvious even a year ago, when the government first began considering Western investment, where companies tend to have more expertise in shoring up higher production rates.

In 2007 Chavez nationalized oil fields and began kicking out Western companies -- matters that Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips have ongoing legal battles over.

Venezuela remains a risky investment and no one seems sure how the bids, expected to be finalized by June, will turn out. "An agreement on a piece of paper means nothing in Venezuela because of the way Chavez abruptly changes the rules of the game," said one anonymous Venezuelan oilman.

Cholera?

At least 27 children between the ages of one and 10 are reported dead in the Nigerian state of Ebonyi following a cholera outbreak.

This Day reports the government has been slow to act, saying they have not concluded that it is truely cholera or contaminated water.  

Tamils in Retreat

Troops in Sri Lanka claim to have taken full control of the northern peninsula that was the last hold out of the rebel Tamil Tigers in the area.  

The area, known as the Jaffa peninsula, has long been seen as a symbolic base for the rebels.  1,700 Tamil civilians in the area fled the fighting for refuge in government-held areas.  

124

Pakistan arrested 124 suspected militants across the country today. None have been linked directly to the Mumbai attacks. Officials say the moves are part of a larger, seven-weeks-long-so-far operation to rid Pakistan of militants. The operation has also shut down networking websites and publishers of "questionable material."

Down in the Flood

Major floods have displaced over 109,000 in the southern Philippines, reports the Manila Bulletin (MN), sending victims fleeing to already crowded evacuation centers.  

The centers were set up last year to allow villagers to escape the fighting between government forces and the rebel MILFS (not that kind of MILF -- see previous post).  Now government and aid workers cannot delineate between those fleeing floods and those fleeing violence.  

Though the government had previously declared the fighting had calmed some time ago, many were hesitant to leave the evacuation centers where three daily meals were a guarantee.  Now, many of those in the center have no homes to go to after floods severely damaged them.

Resultant landslides wiped out highway routes, "leaving thousands of commuters and more than 100 public and private vehicles stranded yesterday," reports MN.  

Spent Rods

After a year of stagnation, South Korean officials are heading into the North to restart denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.  

Talks and an aid-for-disarmament deal stalled in 2007 when North Korea refused to let international inspectors in to fully inspect all weapons without the same promise from South Korea, whom they say has nukes from the US. Both Seoul and Washington deny the claim.  

Talking Heads

After years of suspicion, predating even the Iranian revolution of 1979, officials of the Islamic government have looked scornfully at the BBC as a propaganda machine for British, and in turn American, interests and ambitions.  

So it is no surprise that when the BBC launched a Farsi-language news station yesterday Iran's intelligence minister labeled the new station a "security threat" hours before the first broadcast of BBC Persian TV.

The official said Iran will take "necessary measures" to deal with the station, which is to be broadcast to Farsi-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the rest of the world.  

Read more about the tension and the roots of Iranian suspicion towards Britain at the United Arab Emirates daily paper The National. 

Concrete Jungle

Israel pushed deep into the heart of Gaza City today, hitting a UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building where hundreds were taking shelter, though only three were confirmed injured.  Also hit was a foreign press office and a hospital.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed regret, but told reporters that a Hamas militant fired from beside the compound and then ran in for cover.  Ban Ki-Moon, however, said Defense Minister Ehud Barack told him the shelling of the compound was a "grave mistake."  Ban is "outraged" at Israel.  

UNRWA officials told the NY Times the IDF were given GPS coordinates for all UN buildings.  

The heavy urban raids come as negotiations in Egypt are stepping up, reports just about every major paper (FT), but they have also described the peace talks as "stepping up" every day of this conflict.  

In the midst of the aggression, the European Commission has canceled plans to increase economic and diplomatic relations with Israel.