Good, no, GREAT News from Iraq

King Abdullah of Jordan visited.
Here’s the story copied in it’s entirety from the Jordan Times.
This is HUGE progress!

JT and agencies

AMMAN/BAGHDAD – His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday held talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi.

The King, who arrived in the Iraqi capital for his first visit to the country by an Arab leader since the US-led invasion in 2003, stressed his willingness to support the security and stability of Iraq, “which is an integral part of the security and stability of the Arab nation”.

He said Jordan deals with all components of the Iraqi population on equal footing, adding that unifying the efforts and ranks of various Iraqi groups, including the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, and putting the house in order is the only way to build a unified and sovereign Iraq that is capable of serving its people and Arab nation, according to a Royal Court statement in Amman.

The statement quoted the King as saying that Iraq will always be an advocate of Arab causes, urging all Arab countries to extend a helping hand to Iraq at this critical time because a “strong Iraq is a source of power for Arabs”.

Within this context, the statement added, the King underlined Jordan’s recent appointment of an ambassador to Iraq, describing the move as a “boost to bilateral ties”.

He said his visit to Iraq should be followed by mutual visits by officials from both countries at various levels to work out mechanisms to develop ties.

Talks focused on ways to encourage the private sector in both countries to explore cooperation prospects and enter joint ventures. The King said the two sides should build on the outcome of the Joint Jordan-Iraq Higher Committee meetings held in Amman recently.

King Abdullah and Maliki reviewed economic cooperation opportunities that benefit both the Jordanian and Iraqi people.

Maliki described the King’s several-hour visit as “a progressive and positive step towards strengthening relations between the two countries and a prelude to better Iraqi ties with the rest of the Arab countries”.

Abdul Mahdi said Iraq is keen on bolstering its relations with its Arab neighbourhood, a matter that would help boost joint Arab action.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in a television interview following the King’s visit: “The King of Jordan took a bold step when he visited Iraq today. We expect other Arab countries to move in this direction.”

12 August 2008

Perfect (non)sense

Yes, let’s let the fox guard the henhouse.

The Endangered Species Act has worked in countless cases (the latest being the wolf). It may have it’s problems but having the same government entity that wants to do a project also do the review of species that could be potentially endangered is ridiculous.

Georgia, again

Theoretically, Russia has halted forward movement in order to give Georgia a chance to surrender. Or rather because they were done “punishing” Georgia for their genocide on Russian citizens in South Ossetia.

“The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored,” Medvedev said, referring to Russian arguments that the incursion was needed to repel a Georgian offensive in South Ossetia. Russian officials have claimed that a Georgian push into the province last week claimed some 2,000 lives, including those of more than a dozen Russian peacekeepers stationed there.

Interestingly enough, if you go to the UN website [which I really don't like and so I have a hard time with it] there is no Russian complaint about Georgian genocide. Maybe I just can’t find it, but it seems like before attacking Georgia for it’s supposed genocide, Russia, in accordance with all the rules, should have filed a complaint with the UN.

Or, if the rules are going to change maybe we should sit back now and wring our hands so that Pakistan can have an incursion into India. [New news: India shoots dead at least 7 Muslim protesters in disputed Kashmir.]

In the WSJ today, Gary Schmitt and Mauro de Lorenzo write of how the West can stand up to Russia. Things have changed since it was written but it’s worth a read for the history and because it’s the only other place I’ve seen even a suggestion that Russia should have turned towards international institutions first if they had a problem with Georgia.

Next, the West should make use of Russia’s claim that its role in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is driven by the need to protect the populations there. If so, Moscow should have no objections to U.N.-sanctioned peacekeepers and observers moving into those two regions to replace the jerry-rigged system of “peacekeepers” that, until the war broke out, consisted of Russian troops, local separatist militaries and Georgian forces.

George Will has a great quote today.

McCain, who has called upon Russia “to immediately and unconditionally . . . withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory,” favors expelling Russia from the Group of Eight, and organizing a league of democracies to act where the United Nations is impotent, which is whenever the subject is important.

Emphasis mine.

And Ralph Peters is over the top ticked off about this.