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Deal in the Pipeline?

© lawhawk

Things have been relatively quiet on the Israel-Palestinian peace process front. This either means that there is some serious diplomatic maneuvering that could result in an agreement based on the plans set forth by the US requiring Israel to give 13 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel has stuck to requiring a 10+3 plan that would give back 10 percent initially and the 3 percent would be a conditional transfer based upon the PA agreeing to certain restrictions and conditions.

Elsewhere, the United Nations inspections teams in Iraq have brought some 80 samples of materials found at various sites around Iraq to testing facilities outside the country to verify the presence of chemical and nerve agents. The Iraqis dispute the initial US test results on samples saying they were tainted and inaccurate so that the samples will be tested in Switzerland and France. The outcome of these tests will likely result in a continuance of the sanctions that have been in place since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. These sanctions will only be lifted when the Iraqi government fully complies with them and includes a full disclosure of the extent and nature of its weapons of mass destruction program.

In addition, the Iraqi government claims that they are experiencing power shortages due to the continuing sanctions and that the quality of life continues to decline under the continued sanctions. This story confirms what I've said in the past - namely that the sanctions are having too harsh an effect on the population of Iraq and not enough of an effect on the leadership of the country who can use their population as a pawn in the high stakes game of weapons development and national security.

Iran has a bit of an identity crisis - or so some American observers might conclude. Although the moderate President Khatami has been working slowly on improving relations, hardline elements within the government have been undermining or slowing those efforts though rhetoric and attacking reform minded politicians who have aligned with Khatami. Khatami, however, has responded to the criticism by naming a trusted associate to the important Interior Minister position replacing the former Minister Nouri who was ousted by the conservatives under a vote of no confidence.

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