Goldman to Gold Man...
Belgravia Dispatch is enthused by the appointment of former Goldman Sachs executive Hank Paulson as the new Treasury Secretary, replacing John Snow. Importantly:
The question is whether Bush will give the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer the leeway to run Treasury and shape policy like Rubin, Bill Clinton's top economic adviser. Under Bush, no one has been allowed to take that role. Outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow and his predecessor, Paul O'Neill weren't part of the president's inner circle and were relegated to being salesmen of White House ideas. No sooner had Paulson been nominated yesterday than administration officials were insisting he would have a seat at the table.
The Bush White House is irritated that consistently good economic numbers (GDP growth, low unemployment) are not translating well from the Potomac to Peoria. Hopefully, Paulson will be able to use his new Washington bullhorn to spread the cheer...
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attempted to salvage his increasingly marginal influence by calling for a referendum in the West Bank & Gaza on the two-state solution - a clearly intended stab at Hamas' refusal to recognize the statehood of Israel. Kaffiyeh-philes across the Arab World, however, are incensed at this step backward for The Struggle:
Hamas's reluctance to accept the referendum stems from its fear that its outcome would deepen and complicate the internal Palestinian crisis, especially between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas argues that the real problem is Israel's refusal to give up the spoils of the 1967 War, not its non-recognition of Israel...
The world let out a disappointed sigh when Darfur-ian rebels did not reach agreement on a peace deal with the Sudanese government, contrasting their actions with their image as victims. Alan Kuperman illustrates the history of this "strategic victimhood" in NYT:
Darfur was never the simplistic morality tale purveyed by the news media and humanitarian organizations. The region's blacks, painted as long-suffering victims, actually were the oppressors less than two decades ago - denying Arab nomads access to grazing areas essential to their survival. Violence was initiated not by Arab militias but by the black rebels who in 2003 attacked police and military installations.
The most extreme Islamists are not in the government but in a faction of the rebels sponsored by former Deputy Prime Minister Hassan al-Turabi, after he was expelled from the regime. Cease-fires often have been violated first by the rebels, not the government, which has pledged repeatedly to admit international peacekeepers if the rebels halt their attacks.
In spite of rallies and admonitions, Darfur is gradually falling by the wayside. Max Boot demands action. Since no nation is willing to cough up large numbers of troops to stop the genocide, Boot suggests mercenaries:
A number of commercial security firms such as Blackwater USA are willing, for the right price, to send their own forces, made up in large part of veterans of Western militaries, to stop the genocide. We know from experience that such private units would be far more effective than any U.N. peacekeepers. In the 1990s, the South African firm Executive Outcomes and the British firm Sandline made quick work of rebel movements in Angola and Sierra Leone.
However, in both cases, these firms were invited by the host government to deal with rebellions. Sudan had to be dragged like a petulant child through the motions of securing African Union involvement, and is not expected to start clamoring for more foreign troops.
The question is whether Bush will give the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer the leeway to run Treasury and shape policy like Rubin, Bill Clinton's top economic adviser. Under Bush, no one has been allowed to take that role. Outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow and his predecessor, Paul O'Neill weren't part of the president's inner circle and were relegated to being salesmen of White House ideas. No sooner had Paulson been nominated yesterday than administration officials were insisting he would have a seat at the table.
The Bush White House is irritated that consistently good economic numbers (GDP growth, low unemployment) are not translating well from the Potomac to Peoria. Hopefully, Paulson will be able to use his new Washington bullhorn to spread the cheer...
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attempted to salvage his increasingly marginal influence by calling for a referendum in the West Bank & Gaza on the two-state solution - a clearly intended stab at Hamas' refusal to recognize the statehood of Israel. Kaffiyeh-philes across the Arab World, however, are incensed at this step backward for The Struggle:
Hamas's reluctance to accept the referendum stems from its fear that its outcome would deepen and complicate the internal Palestinian crisis, especially between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas argues that the real problem is Israel's refusal to give up the spoils of the 1967 War, not its non-recognition of Israel...
The world let out a disappointed sigh when Darfur-ian rebels did not reach agreement on a peace deal with the Sudanese government, contrasting their actions with their image as victims. Alan Kuperman illustrates the history of this "strategic victimhood" in NYT:
Darfur was never the simplistic morality tale purveyed by the news media and humanitarian organizations. The region's blacks, painted as long-suffering victims, actually were the oppressors less than two decades ago - denying Arab nomads access to grazing areas essential to their survival. Violence was initiated not by Arab militias but by the black rebels who in 2003 attacked police and military installations.
The most extreme Islamists are not in the government but in a faction of the rebels sponsored by former Deputy Prime Minister Hassan al-Turabi, after he was expelled from the regime. Cease-fires often have been violated first by the rebels, not the government, which has pledged repeatedly to admit international peacekeepers if the rebels halt their attacks.
In spite of rallies and admonitions, Darfur is gradually falling by the wayside. Max Boot demands action. Since no nation is willing to cough up large numbers of troops to stop the genocide, Boot suggests mercenaries:
A number of commercial security firms such as Blackwater USA are willing, for the right price, to send their own forces, made up in large part of veterans of Western militaries, to stop the genocide. We know from experience that such private units would be far more effective than any U.N. peacekeepers. In the 1990s, the South African firm Executive Outcomes and the British firm Sandline made quick work of rebel movements in Angola and Sierra Leone.
However, in both cases, these firms were invited by the host government to deal with rebellions. Sudan had to be dragged like a petulant child through the motions of securing African Union involvement, and is not expected to start clamoring for more foreign troops.
posted by Saket Vemprala at
8:25 PM
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