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Inside Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma)

September 28, 2007 9:10 AM

Following is a transcript of a Q-and-A with our producer in Yangon:

What are you seeing and hearing as the situation at this point?

The protests that occurred today were different than the ones that occurred yesterday. And I think that a lot of that had to do with the amount of violence that was inflicted yesterday on the protesters. So today we saw the military out in force in a much greater way than we've seen in the past couple of days. They have absolutely surrounded and shut down five on the main pagodas downtown here in Rangoon along with really occupying and really showing a strong presence on a lot of the main downtown street.  (Why do some refer to this city as Rangoon, Burma and others Yangon, Myanmar? See Mark Litke’s blog entry.) So the protests that did occur happened at a number of different locations but they were not to the degree that we've seen in the past couple of days. What we saw were a couple of hundred people, maybe at most, gathering and then quickly disbanding when they were confronted by the military. But we've also heard that gunfire has been used today and a number of people have been killed.

Is there a curfew in effect and the clamp down is making it tighter so you probably won't see the kind of crowds we've seen in previous days?

There is a curfew that is in effect now. It's been in effect for the past couple of days. And that's going to be ongoing for the next two months. So anywhere from 9pm to 5am the streets are rather desolate. But that being said everybody here is still quite hopeful for a positive outcome here. And to make that point I think a lot of people here have heard that the U.N. envoy is en route to Rangoon. So that is keeping people a little bit more positive that there might be a positive reaction to this.
 

Continue reading "Inside Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma)"

September 28, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Myanmar vs. Burma

September 27, 2007 11:24 AM

Correspondent Mark Litke blogs:

In all my reporting on Burma, I have often pointed out that "Burma" is still the name of the country to those who legitimately won the 1990 election (which we covered in Burma). Note that all the opposition and exile groups use "Burma".

It was the junta that changed the name after Suu Kyi was arrested and accused of being under the influence of foreign powers (she was married to an Englishman). The junta ruled that keeping the name as Burma was an insult and proof that foreign powers wanted to dictate the country's future.

In fact the military was intent on wiping out the past and creating a whole new reality, history, and power structure under a new name: Myanmar.

They claimed it had true nationalist roots.

In fact, this is exactly what the Khmer Rouge did when they changed Cambodia's name to Kampuchea. Only those who wanted to gain favor with the regime called it Kampuchea. Today it is Cambodia again. I expect the same will be true of Burma and Rangoon if the military regime is ever unseated.

September 27, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Then As Now: Myanmar Protests

September 26, 2007 11:34 AM

Senior Broadcast Producer Tom Nagorski blogs:

The protests and now the crackdown in Myanmar bring back a profound memory. Eighteen years ago (1988 link) -- when the nation's name was still Burma, the capital still Rangoon -- I traveled there to cover a burgeoning protest movement. Then as now, a military dictatorship ruled, and ruled brutally; then as now, public gatherings of more than a handful of people were banned; then as now, the generals saw a challenge emerging, and deemed it dangerous. (At left, masses of demonstrators gather August 27, 1988 to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking in Rangoon to call for democracy in Burma.)

Today's challengers are the hundreds, perhaps thousands of Buddhist monks who have taken to the streets. Two decades ago, the catalyst was a soft-spoken but passionate woman named Aung San Suu Kyi, who happened to be the Oxford-educated daughter of Burma's founding father. In January 1989 Suu Kyi resolved to fight for democracy until her death; that spring she faced down soldiers with rifles trained on her. In July I followed her at rallies that flaunted the rules -- five thousand supporters came to a Rangoon neighborhood (2007 link) one morning, to hear her demand change and chastise the generals, always in the language of peaceful protest. Her models, she said, were Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. "We do not want violence," she said. "But this does not mean we are going to sit back weakly, and do nothing." (At right, Myanmar civilians join Buddhist monks during a march held in protest against the military government in Yangon, on Monday.)

Before leaving Burma I met with Suu Kyi at her home in the capital. She offered tea, and a small plate of cookies. The government's posture, she told me, could be summed up as "No dialogue, just bullets." But she was unbowed, gently defiant, and hopeful. "Civil disobedience has a great history," she said. "Martin Luther King said to the people, 'I have a dream.' Well, in a way it is the same with us. We just want to bring our dreams to reality." (At right, Tom's photo of Suu Kyi addressing thousands of people at a 1989 rally in Rangoon before being placed under house arrest.)

Later that month Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. Her odyssey of these eighteen years has brought her acclaim from the world over -- including the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded her in 1991. Time and again Suu Kyi has refused offers to leave the country -- even when her husband lay dying in a British hospital -- because she knew she would never be permitted to return. More recently Laura Bush has joined the legions of those taken by her plight, the power of her cause, and her quiet eloquence. But at this moment at least, the sad fact is that Aung San Suu Kyi's dream, and her challenge, are meeting the same response they did all those years ago. Suu Kyi is still under house arrest, in that same home in the capital. The generals still choose bullets rather than dialogue. They still have patrons -- the Chinese in particular -- willing to look the other way.

September 26, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Pushing for Federalism -- With Markout Pens

September 25, 2007 7:32 PM

Congressional producer Z. Byron Wolf blogs that it's not every day when Senators debate something they're actually debating:

Its essentially non-binding and it does nothing to end the war, but we could have an Iraq Policy amendment with enough votes to pass the Senate and it could theoretically change the US policy.

We had been approaching a vote on the amendment, but Presidential candidate Joe Biden, Democrat from Delaware, with some help from Presidential candidate Sam Brownback, Republican from Kansas, seems to have picked up some Republican support from odd corners. At 6:15pm on Tuesday night, Biden is in the midst of an audible on the Senate floor to tweak the amendment and gain some votes.

Biden thinks Iraq should be moved toward federalism. Just like the U.S. has states, he argues, the Iraqi provinces and the ethnic divides therein should be exploited to help calm the situation there. Voices as disparate as Brownback and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, are on board.

Foreign Policy experts, the Iraq Study Group, and the White House often call this a "partition" plan and most oppose it.

Biden and others were on the Senate floor with their reading glasses and their markout pens and they're changing the thing the old fashioned way. Sen. John Warner, R-VA, for instance, added a clause that the amendment should not impinge on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government.

It is not every day that when Senators debate something they're actually debating. Usually, minds are made up and the speeches given on the Senate floor are for the folks back home.

It remains to be seen exactly how many votes he will pick up and whether it will reach the 60 votes it needs.

Indeed, as the negotiations have drew on, the negotiating was taken off the Senate floor and the vote was put off until Wednesday at the earliest. Back to business as usual.

September 25, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Correspondent Responds to Jena 6 Comments

September 25, 2007 12:37 PM

On Saturday, correspondent Steve Osunsami blogged about his impressions covering the case of the Jena 6. Many of you commented -- nearly 3 dozen as of this writing. Steve read through them and responds below:

Hey folks, sorry I'm late getting back to this, (we're pretty busy here these days), but there are a few points mentioned I thought we might want to address. First is what happened underneath that tree. The story is that one black student, who may have been new to the school, asked an administrator if he was allowed to sit underneath the tree during free periods. The administrator said yes. The black student sat down, in the shade, somewhat unaware of the racial taboo. (At left, the stump of an oak tree that is at the center of a civil rights controversy in Jena, La.)

Even if he knew exactly what he was doing, it seems very 1950's to suggest that the black student was responsible for provoking the white students, to the point where nooses and the school's colors were found hanging from the tree the next morning.

People we talked with in Jena believe they know which white students hung the nooses, and tell us that the young white man who was beaten down was very good friends with one of the white students believed to be responsible for hanging the nooses. It's also important to point out that there were other fights where black students were severely beaten, and there was an incident at a gas station where a white business owner allegedly pulled a gun on a handful of black students and none of this warranted any sort of prosecution.

But we should also underline another point. At least one of the young black men, Mr. Bell, is no angel. The records are sealed in juvenile court, but according to residents and other people we've talked with, he's got a record.

It's never simple, is it?

Read Steve's original blog and reader comments here.

September 25, 2007 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Columbia’s Ahmadinejad Controversy

September 24, 2007 5:18 PM

ABC’s Aaron Katersky blogs from the campus:

The Columbia campus was filled with some of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's most hateful words. They were printed on fliers advertising a rally to speak out against the Iranian leader's presence. Accessing campus took a special sign-in sheet and a walk past burly guards. At the protest some students were filled with passion. Others ate sushi while passively listening to the speakers.

In the student center, Ahmadinejad walked onto the stage here to scattered applause. He offered a wave before he sat and listened to Columbia University's Lee Bollinger criticize him on an array of Ahmadinejad's most controversial positions. "Mr. President," Bollinger said, "You exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator." Bollinger said Ahmadinejad's "dangerous propaganda" about the Holocaust makes him "ridiculous." Bollinger said he felt the weight of the civilized world in expressing "revulsion" at what Ahmadinejad stands for. In response, Ahmadinejad said he thought it unnecessary to "vaccinate" students and faculty before his speech began. He then began an hour-long canonical trek that ended in the conclusion that science is a divine gift used by some "big powers" to "try to control everything in the name of security." He said 2 or 3 monopolistic powers want to force their word on the peace-loving Iranian people. Ahmadinejad believes himself an academic and he called for additional research into the Holocaust instead of a "wave of insults." He said the Holocaust should be open to all perspectives.

There were scattered boos and some applause at the end of his prepared remarks before a series of questions about terrorism, Israel, women's rights, the Holocaust.

For all of the firestorm, the event ended up relatively tame. The student rally gained in volume but remained peaceful. Bollinger's dressing down drew applause from many. Students called this event the most hands-on speech they'll witness in terms of its influence on world affairs, and some students also said Ahmadinejad should be challenged but had the right to speak. There were protestors entirely opposed to his invitation here, those who find his Holocaust and Israel remarks intolerable. Ahmadinejad was pressed on the most controversial issues but offered little clarity to satisfy his critics.

I was part of an international media contingent that covered today's events with an interest in what he would say and how the school would react. In the end one is struck by how little fanfare ultimately came from the remarks. It was more theater than substantive policy, but perhaps that's instructive in helping us understand a world leader with enormous sway over American foreign policy.

September 24, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Covering the Jena 6

September 22, 2007 12:43 PM

Correspondent Steve Osunsami blogs from Louisiana:

The minute we drove down the stretch of highway and passed by the sign on the road that said "Jena," it struck me that the city would probably forever be held in the same unfortunate circle as Jasper, Selma and Birmingham -- cities long defined by racial discord.

By Friday night, the tens of thousands of demonstrators were long gone, and the white business owners "downtown" had returned. But their doors were closed and locked. The signs in the windows said it all. No interviews. The white residents who agreed to interviews with the press camped out here had already seen how they were portrayed in the press.... No matter how fairly their words were couched, when they were placed next to the alarming story of the six black teens, the white residents came across as ignorant at best, and bigoted at worst. There's something about "we don't have a problem," and "it's the fault of the outsiders" that just rings a little hollow in the context of the incredible demonstration of outrage that took place in Jena on Thursday.

(Above left, protesters march to Jena High School Thursday. Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of this little Louisiana town Thursday in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.)

The good news for the boys is their cases will now most likely play out in juvenile court, where the records are sealed and even the most severe punishment would expire by their 21st birthdays.

VIDEO: Watch Steve’s report from Jena that aired earlier today.

UPDATED 09.25.07 @ 12:37p ET: Steve responds to reader comments here. 

September 22, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (38) | TrackBack (0)

Flying with O.J.

September 20, 2007 2:01 AM

ABC’s Tarana Harris blogs about being on the flight to Florida:

O.J. Simpson sat in the bulkhead seat directly behind first class. He greeted passengers from his seat as he boarded with a smile or a few words for the ones who stopped to shake his hand or chat. One passenger even congratulated him. Another passenger brought him two USC baseball caps, one for his autograph and one for him to keep. Simpson’s girlfriend wore it during the flight.

Simpson’s mood was light. He laughed often during the flight, napped, talked with his girlfriend seated next to his aisle seat, and watched Oceans 13. His conversation with attorney Yale Galanter, seated across the aisle, was minimal. One or two reporters approached Simpson during the flight and Galanter instructed his client not to speak with them. The two also discussed golf at one point.

They whispered a few times.

A small black puppy emerged from a carrier at one point and Simpson held him on his lap for a while.

Aside from taking a few naps, Simpson showed no visible signs of strain from spending three nights in jail.

September 20, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Despite Repeated Incidents, Blackwater, Others 'Rarely' Investigated

September 19, 2007 4:58 PM

Chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross blogs:

Despite repeated reports of shootings of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater and other U.S. private security contractors, the incidents were "rarely" the subjects of full investigations, current and former State Department officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"We get almost weekly reports of such shootings, but it is close to impossible to go the crime scene and interview witnesses," said one current State Department official formerly based in Baghdad.

The contractors are responsible for filing incident reports, the officials said, but the State Department could do little to follow up.

Continue reading on The Blotter.

September 19, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Playing Cat and Mouse on Capitol Hill

September 18, 2007 4:02 PM

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf blogs:

Disgraced Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was spotted late this morning, back in DC for the first time since word of his arrest for disorderly conduct in a Minneapolis airport men's room and subsequent pledge to resign at the end of this month (maybe). (At left, reporters question Craig after a vote today.)

A reporter for CNN spied Craig using a door reserved for staff and Senators and then slipping into a private Senator's dining room. Word spread through the Capitol Hill press corps like wildfire.

An interview with Craig remains elusive since his fall from grace and he has left open the narrow window that he won't resign after all.

Craig was seen next voting on the Senate floor at 12:15 and moments later he was pursued by still photographers just off the Senate floor.

Reporters who attended a photo op meeting between Sen. Arlen Specter and Attorney General nominee Judge Michael Mukasey saw Craig pop out of an unmarked door in the hallway and disappear just as quickly.

It’s like Whac-A-Mole or a Road Runner cartoon perhaps. Journalists covering the Iraq debate and the other business on Capitol Hill have the eyes in the back of their head turned on to find Craig too.

Games of cat and mouse could not happen anywhere else in town. Reporters covering the White House have a cramped set of rooms and offices built over a swimming pool. It is a renovated spot and the pool has been ripped out. But renovated or not, it’s the only place reporters can go at the White House. And it is cramped.

At the State Department, journalists have access to one wing in the basement. Walking the rest of the building requires an escort. It’s a similar story at the Justice Department. Journalists can walk around the Pentagon, but the movers and shakers there are not really public figures. They aren't on television as much as Senators and Congressmen.

But on Capitol Hill, a press pass is like a golden backstage pass to the Van Halen concert. There are some restrictions on where TV cameras can go, but the reporters can go anywhere.

The only places Craig is truly in private on Capitol Hill are in his office and on the actual Senate floor. Pretty much everywhere else is fair game. If you want to ask Hillary Clinton a question, figure out where she is and walk up and ask. Did Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say something that needs clarifying? Wait for him off the Senate floor and ask him. Try staking out President Bush without specific approval. You won't get far.

It’s all in keeping with the point of Capitol Hill, really. The House and the Senate ultimately belong to the voters. The lawmakers, necessarily, are accountable to the people and the reporters who get them information.

September 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

How do interest rate changes affect consumers?

September 18, 2007 2:14 PM

ABC’s Charlie Herman blogs:

The Federal Reserve met today and lowered the federal funds interest rate by half of a percent from its current level of 5.25%.

The Fed funds rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans.

But how does it affect consumers?

Credit Cards:
* Variable rate cards are set using a formula tied to the prime rate. But most variable rate cards don’t “float”. They shift at various, fixed times throughout the year. Also, fixed rate cards make up the majority of the market so there’s not as much of an effect as one might expect in the overall market.

Mortgages:
* Not tied to the Fed funds rate, but tend to track various U.S. Treasuries. Treasuries, however, can be influenced by the Fed's action today.

Home Equity Lines of Credit:
* Most of these types of loans are tied to the prime rate, so they would be directly impacted.

Car Loans/Leases:
* Fixed rate instruments that are generally tied to the 3 and 5-year treasuries. If you have a loan, they price won’t increase, but NEW purchases would likely be impacted.

Student Loans:
* Not affected. The Federal government prices student loans once a year (in June) based on the rates on the 91-day T-Bill rates.

September 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Why is Bush's AG pick significant?

September 17, 2007 8:41 PM

Justice Department correspondent Pierre Thomas blogs:

President Bush's selection of a former federal district judge may be the newest signal that the White House is willing to compromise with Congressional Democrats -- who have fought the administration on so many issues. You need look at only one senator to see the difference in tone. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, has been, perhaps, the administration's most vocal critic on Capitol Hill. Yet today, there was Senator Schumer was sounding far less combative in commenting on the selection of Michael Mukasey of New York.

"The President is a conservative, and any pick would naturally be conservative," Schumer said in a press conference today. "Most of the other names that were reportedly under consideration would have represented more of the same from this White House: more obstinacy, more opaqueness and more politicization of the uppermost echelons of our nation’s law enforcement. This selection has meaning beyond the resume of the man selected. For once, the President did not choose the path of most resistance. It gives hope that the final year and a half of this Bush administration may bring less of a go-it-alone attitude than the first six."

Here's what Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois had to say in a statement: "Judge Mukasey has a distinguished record of public service, and I hope his background as a member of the federal judiciary will give him the independence and integrity necessary for the job of Attorney General."

While the Democrats say they plan to ask Mukasey tough questions about his stance on some of the administration's most aggressive tactics in the war on terror -- they clearly are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt -- at least early on.

White House spokesman Dana Perino was sounding optimistic as well. Perino said Mukasey has been "well-received by both sides of the aisle in congress" and "initial feedback is very good." It looks like the White House did not want a fight on this one.

But wait just a second. Nothing is ever simple in Washington. Some conservatives based in Washington are said not to be thrilled with a nominee, who is not widely known in the nation's capital.

And there is a risk Mukasey's nomination might be delayed by Democrats who want MORE White House cooperation in their probe of the U.S. Attorneys controversy and a secret surveillance program. They want documents the White House has so far refused to release. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont went to the Senate floor Monday and issued this warning: "Our focus now will be on securing the relevant information we need so we can proceed to schedule fair and thorough hearings," Leahy said. "Cooperation from the White House will be essential in determining that schedule."

I guess we all have to stay tuned. Not so fast on political detente.

September 17, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

CIA Bans Water-Boarding in Terror Interrogations

September 14, 2007 5:10 PM

Brian Ross, Richard Esposito & Martha Raddatz blog:

The controversial interrogation technique known as water-boarding, in which a suspect has water poured over his mouth and nose to stimulate a drowning reflex, has been banned by CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden, current and former CIA officials tell ABCNews.com.

Watch the full report on "World News With Charles Gibson" tonight at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

The officials say Hayden made the decision at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes, and received approval from the White House to remove water-boarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques first authorized by a presidential finding in 2002.

The officials say the decision was made sometime last year but has never been publicly disclosed.

One U.S. intelligence official said, "It would be wrong to assume that the program of the past moved into the future unchanged."

Continue reading on The Blotter.

September 14, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)

Dueling TV Addresses

September 13, 2007 4:36 PM

ABC’s Raelyn Johnson blogs:

So what do the unlikeliest of allies -- George Bush and John Edwards have in common? They are both addressing the nation tonight on issues of Iraq. (At left, Edwards in Milwaukee on Monday.)

Breaking into the late summer slump that is primetime TV President Bush will address the nation this evening. He is expected to endorse Gen. Petraeus’ plan to withdraw as many as 30,000 troops by next summer.

Leading up to the address, the press shops of the democratic candidates have been firing off statements about the potential troop withdrawal. Tonight, John Edwards is trying to do something different -- by addressing the nation himself, with 2 minutes of airtime on MSNBC following the president.

It’s a bold move for Edwards, but it isn’t a far-fetched concept. Sure it was expensive, (the ad is estimated to cost between $100-150,000), but it falls right in line with Edwards’ push to be the most visible, most vocal anti-war candidate.

For months he’s been pushing Congress, including his top rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to push for a firm timeline for troop withdrawal. Tonight he gets another chance to push them in front of a large cable audience, and gets some headlines in the process, something Clinton and Obama have managed to do more successfully.

Edwards taped the address at his Chapel Hill, N.C. home. Sitting at a desk with an American flag in the background -- very Oval Office-esque, Edwards will say, “the president is pressing on with the only strategy he’s ever had -- more time, more troops, and more war,” and tell Congress it must answer to the American people. “Tell Congress you know the truth -- they have the power to end this war and you expect them to use it.”

But Edwards’ strategy tonight points to something else. The Iraq War has been the biggest issue of the 2008 race. And with the democratic candidates divided on who has the best Iraq plan with press releases, policy speeches and now by purchasing airtime for rebuttals, it seams the Dems are first running against Bush and only second to each other. But alas, the one thing that unites them in 08 -- the belief that after their party took power in the midterm election, Americans showed they believe a democratic president would most improve the situation in Iraq.

Nonetheless, the race is still on, to see which democrat that will be…

September 13, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Lunch with the President

September 13, 2007 11:30 AM

Chief Washington correspondent and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos blogs:

One of the best perks that come with a Sunday morning gig is the chance to have lunch with the President on the days of primetime national speeches. (And it’s not just because of the awesome White House food -- the main course at the last lunch was veal with lobster hollandaise.) These 1.5 to 2-hour sessions -– in which there’s about 10 of us (the evening news and Sunday show anchors) around the table with the President and the Vice President -- can be incredibly illuminating. Yes, the president is never really off stage. Yes, he’s giving us his talking points. But the chance to hear him explain his policies, and to have a conversation, to see his expressions close up, to get the occasional off-the-record nugget that can be used to pursue other stories, is invaluable.

In the five years that I’ve been attending these lunches with President Bush, it’s clear he’s grown in both confidence and knowledge when talking about national security affairs. But it’s just as clear -- especially from the last few sessions -- that he’s struggling with the failures of the country’s Iraq policy. He’s not always as certain about the way forward as he might appear in public.  (At right, Bush today.)

On my way to the lunch now. Can’t wait to hear what the President has to say and see what he’s going to serve. 

September 13, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Tony Snow Steps to Podium for Last Time

September 12, 2007 3:50 PM

White House correspondent Ann Compton and ABC's Jennifer Parker blog:

With his hair gray and thinning, but his spirits good, Tony Snow relinquishes the White House press podium today. (At left, Snow leaving today's briefing.)

There was a smattering of applause from Snow's staff and a few visiting reporters in the rear of the room as the lanky press secretary took the podium for the last time.

"I love these briefings," he insisted, although this final encounter would drag on for nearly an hour, punctuated with some heated exchanges on whether the Iraq war is open-ended.

The outgoing White House press secretary said earlier today that he's feeling better since chemotherapy for cancer has ended and he's going on vacation with his wife and three kids before starting out on the lecture circuit to make some money.

Continue reading on the Political Radar.

September 12, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

A Young Captain and Progress in Al Anbar

September 11, 2007 3:48 PM

Chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz blogs:

For the past two days, General David Petraeus has emphasized the progress in the Sunni province of Al Anbar. President Bush did the same on his visit to Iraq last week. Indeed, the province that a year ago was nearly written off has made remarkable strides. But the progress that has been made has far more to do with the hard work of soldiers and Marines prior to the surge than anything that has been done since. And there is one soldier in particular who deserves a great deal of credit.

He is Travis Patriquin, a young captain who served in Al Anbar as well as Afghanistan. I wrote about Patriquin last December, but given the success in Al Anbar, he should be lauded once again. Patriquin was the creator of a simple PowerPoint presentation, “How to Win in Al Anbar.” (Download PDF) The captain’s presentation, which demonstrated classic counterinsurgency techniques, circulated unofficially through the ranks, uses stick figures and simple language to show the importance of reaching out to local Sheikhs and tribal leaders. Patriquin even grew a moustache to make it easier for Iraqis to relate to him. The fact that he spoke Arabic was another plus. Patriquin never got the chance to see these ideas take hold. He was killed by an improvised explosive device last December. But he would no doubt be proud that the local leaders in Al Anbar have banded together to fight Al Qaeda, and proud that his ideas live on.

September 11, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Iraq: Where Things Stand

September 10, 2007 6:19 PM

Polling Director Gary Langer blogs about how we conducted our national public opinion poll in Iraq four and a half years after the war began:

I picked up 130 new heroes this past month. One hundred-thirty men and women who fanned out across Iraq, some in some relatively peaceful areas and others in horribly dangerous ones, armed with nothing more than sheaves of paper, a few pencils and perhaps a sense they were doing important work.

These were the interviewers and field supervisors who produced our national public opinion poll in Iraq. All Iraqis, trained in the principles and practice of survey research, they knocked on more than 3,000 doors in 458 neighborhoods and villages from the Persian Gulf to the Turkish border.

Most of those doors opened. And our interviewers went in, sat down, and asked our questions.

What's your life like here?

Do you think it'll get better in the coming year?

What's the biggest problem? What about the basics -- clean water, electricity, economic opportunity? How much confidence do you have in the government, the police, the army, U.S. forces?

What about violence -- any of that nearby here? Kidnappings, cab bombs, snipers, fighting between armed forces, abuse of civilians? Do you have friends or family who've been hurt? How's it affecting your own life, the things you do, the way you feel?

These and more questions, enough to fill a half-hour interview. Our interviewers took photos when they were permitted to do so, even a little video. They filled out field journals describing their experiences. Most completed their assignments relatively uneventfully. Some were detained by the police. Others witnessed bombings, shootings, kidnappings and beatings -- episodes of the random violence and loss that we now better understand are occurring across Iraq.

Two thousand, two-hundred and twelve interviews later we have our answers. The picture is neither a happy nor a pretty one. But it's compelling and necessary, and there was no other way to get it but through the efforts of these 130 researchers who made it possible for us to tell the story of life in today's Iraq.

Note: We first posted this entry back in March. With our latest Iraq poll just out today, it's again worth celebrating the courageous field workers behind these surveys. Without them our independent understanding of public opinion in Iraq would be impossible.

September 10, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

The Globe-Trotting Lame Duck

September 07, 2007 5:00 PM

White House correspondent Ann Compton blogs from Australia:

President Bush will not sit home his final year in office. While the presidential campaign of 2008 sweeps across the country, the lame-duck two-termer is scheduling an exhausting year of focus on international relations and foreign travel that will keep him out of the country. (At left, President Bush listens as South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun speaks during their meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Sydney, Australia, earlier today.)

Some trips are built-in obligations. In April, a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, is in ink on the calendar. July 7 brings the annual G8 Summit in a rare Asian venue: a spa in northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. The Pacific economic conference known as APEC is in South America in November. That's summertime in Lima, Peru. Unfortunately, the next hemispheric Summit of the Americas in Trinidad doesn't happen until 2009.

In addition, Bush just announced this week he will definitely attend the Beijing Olympics at some point in August as the two political parties back home prepare for their nominating conventions.

He has also invited foreign guests to his Texas ranch before he retires there. Heads of state from the 10-member ASEAN, the Southeast Asian partners are invited, although Burma is in the political doghouse on human rights, so put them down as a "maybe."

Add to all this the likelihood Bush will want to reciprocate on the hospitality he's given some of his new friends in Europe such as the French president and his desire to see Africa again. He could always visit Iraq and Afghanistan if conditions there show improvement. He's overdue for a major tour of the troubled Middle East.

In 2008, Bush could very well log more frequent-flier miles on Air Force One than any other year of his presidency.

September 7, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Me and the Green Monkey

September 06, 2007 7:37 PM

Associate producer Catherine Cole blogs:

We arrived at Belmont Park early Wednesday morning. Crowing roosters welcomed us to the stables, where dozens of horses live. View the The Green Money slideshow here.

In a dark stall, at the end of the hallway, lives The Green Monkey, the $16 million dollar horse. His owners named him after an exclusive golf course in Barbados. His face is very distinctive -- he has a wide white stripe that runs from his eyes to his mouth. As we trained the camera on him, he couldn't stop looking back at us. He has a reputation around the barn as being curious. Cameraman Tom Budai found out that he was. The Green Monkey lifted his head and pricked his ears as if to say, "I'm here and ready for my close-up".

People around the barn take his personality with good humor. Anna Seitz, the barn manager for Todd Pletcher Racing Stables, told correspondent Ryan Owens, "He's very smart and he likes to have fun. He's not a mean horse. He just has a lot of personality, and he's real feisty all the time." Seitz was raised on a farm in Versailles, Kentucky -- real horse country - -and she's been around horses all her life. But never a horse with such a high price tag.

"Whenever anybody wants to come to the barn and see what I do it’s fun to bring them by and show [a] very, very valuable horse," she said.

Anna led us to the track to watch The Green Monkey train. From my own untrained eye, he looked impressive as he sped past the camera. But this was only practice for him. He has never run in a real race; they're waiting for the perfect race.

No one has ever paid this much for a two-year-old. The Green Monkey was caught up in the battle between a sheikh from Dubai and an Irish tycoon who both bid on him. He caught their eye when he set a new record during one of his test runs. Jeremy Plonk, editor of Horseplayer Magazine, tells ABC News, "These two superpowers in the thoroughbred auction market have been at it for years now. And they're always trying to top one another. They want the best stock on the race track which in turn then will give them the best breeding stock down the line." And that is the chance that owners of The Green Monkey are betting on. I think they'd love him to be a racing champion, but if he never enters the winner's circle he wouldn't be a waste of money. They could put him out to stud, where he might sire future champions.

All of this may weigh heavy on the minds of men, but not for The Green Monkey. As he returned to the stables at the end of his work-out, he moved with confidence and with the gait of a champion. Only time will tell if he becomes one.

View the The Green Money slideshow here.

September 6, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

When a Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

September 06, 2007 6:12 PM

Pentagon producer Luis Martinez blogs:

They say time heals old wounds and a picture is worth a thousand words. Both of those expressions apply to a photograph just released by the Pentagon.

It's a photo of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega greeting American troops sent to assist with relief efforts his country in the wake of the Hurricane Felix's deadly sweep through Central America.

It's also a picture that no one would have imagined twenty years ago when the US was actively trying to overthrow Daniel Ortega's Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Ortega was re-elected to the Presidency earlier this year on a more moderate political platform than in his pro-socialist days in the 1980's. It was his pro-Soviet tilt back then that led the U.S. to actively support the Contras who were seeking to overthrow his regime.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Felix, Ortega's government requested international assistance. The U.S. responded quickly by sending a nine-person military assessment team to Nicaragua to see what help could be provided.

It was this group of military officers that Ortega greeted today providing the visual of America's one-time nemesis greeting American troops to his country. It's an image that also reminds one of Ortega's old ties to the Soviet Union. If you look closely at the photo you can see in the background some Soviet-era helicopters still serving the Nicaraguan military.

Today, the amphibious warship USS Wasp arrived off the coast of Nicaragua to help coordinate U.S. relief efforts. With its helicopters the Wasp should be able to ferry any humanitarian assistance to towns located on the storm-ravaged coast. The cargo vessel Swift is currently receiving supplies at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

September 6, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Israel vs. Syria

September 06, 2007 4:51 PM

ABC’s Simon McGregor-Wood blogs from Jerusalem:

For the last six months there has been a confusing series of exchanges between Israel and Syria, with mounting pressure toward restarting peace talks on the one hand, and on the other hand, renewed military tension and the fear that war could break out by accident or as a result of a Syrian gamble. (At left, Israeli soldiers jump off a tank in the Golan Heights today.)

Both sides have been reorganizing their military posture, with the Syrians’ buying new anti-tank weapons and reshaping their defenses, and the Israelis’ holding regular, large-scale exercises on the occupied Golan Heights in the shadow of last summer’s embarrassing failures against Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sent calming messages to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad has sent often contradictory messages in return -- calls for renewal of negotiations as well as veiled threats.

This morning the Syrian government accused Israel of bombing unpopulated targets inside Syria. The Israelis are denying flying the alleged missions (according to one report), but they have done this sort of thing before. Often in connection to Palestinian attacks, for which Israel holds Syria at least partially responsible.

This week there have been many Qassam rockets fired by militants in Gaza, coinciding with the start of the Israeli school year and it’s possible the Israelis would buzz the Syrians in response. But so far, no comment.

Israeli defense analysts talking to ABC News today also raised the possibility that this incident, if confirmed, may have come during a routine patrol to which the Syrians, for some reason, took exception.

Alternatively, they say, it’s possible the Israelis may have been trying to probe Syrian air defenses in light of recent intelligence that Syria has been upgrading its anti aircraft weapons with modern Russian technology.

The consensus here is that neither side is interested in war, and the expectation is that both will try and lower tensions in coming days.

September 6, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Covering Hurricane Felix

September 04, 2007 10:42 AM

Correspondent Jeffrey Kofman blogs from Belize:

Here's a question for Trivial Pursuit players: Name the capital city of Belize.

If you answered "Belize City" you got it wrong. Belize City was the capital of this tiny Central American nation, until Hattie came along.

Hurricane Hattie, that is. It struck Belize City on October 31, 1961 and destroyed three quarters of the buildings here. The storm caused so much damage to this low-lying city that the government of Belize decided to move the capital inland and away from future danger. And so Belmopan was born. Belize's capital city has just 9,000 inhabitants.

Today in Belize City they are bracing for yet another assault as Hurricane Felix churns its way westward. But it looks like this time they'll escape the worst. The fearsome category five storm has curved to the south and will be crossing over the remote swamps of Eastern Honduras today, where it is expected to lose much of its bluster. That is good news. It means Felix will be a much more moderate hurricane and maybe just a tropical storm when it hits La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula, two of the largest cities in Honduras. Its storm winds and rains should be fairly mild when they reach this far north.

But in these desperately poor countries, even a mild hurricane can be deadly. Shanty towns of tin-clad homes cling to the mountainsides outside the cities. A few inches of rain could unleash cataclysmic mudslides, washing the shacks and their inhabitants away. That is if what happened in the area when Hurricane Fifi struck in 1974 and again in 1998 with Hurricane Mitch. The death toll in Mitch will never be known, it is estimated that 11,000 died, with another 10,000 missing and unaccounted for.

Here in Belize City you can see why they are so vulnerable. They city sits at sea level. Only a small concrete wall keeps high tide from flooding the streets. It wouldn't take much wind or waves or storm surge to upend this city just as Hattie did 46 years ago.

Of course, at least they'd have Belmopan, the obscure capital in the mountains of the jungle, a long way from the vulnerable coastline.

September 4, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)