China and Japan: How A Fishing Boat Led to a Headline Confrontation (Ford)

Several years ago, I worked with a talented Chinese student who wrote a Master's dissertation on the "textbook crisis" about Chinese objections to the portrayal of history in Japanese textbooks. Anger over the representation of Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s led to violent protests and Beijing's threats to reduce ties with Tokyo./p>

I was reminded of this all week as the Sino-Japanese tension escalated over Japan's interception of a Chinese trawler and detention of the captain. Amidst the mounting concern --- some Western media even speculated about what the US would do if China invaded Japan --- I expected the situation to be resolved. And on Friday, my prediction looked good when Japan released the Chinese captain.

Still, the episode illustrates how an apparently minor incident can be elevated to the status of diplomatic crisis....

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US Politics Video: Muslims=Terrorists=Al Qa'eda=Conquest Campaign Ad of the Year

Renee Ellmers, a Republican running for Congress in North Carolina, says it all in 30 seconds:

Afghanistan: Spreading Covert War --- The CIA-Trained Teams Going into Pakistan

After all, it’s not like the U.S. has many options for Pakistan, where hatred for the U.S. runs high, official ties to extremists are deep and political restrictions on the presence of American combat troops prove durable. One of the larger political narratives Woodward’s book apparently presents is President Obama’s inability to either bring the Afghanistan war to a close or find good options for tailoring it to the U.S.’ main enemies in Pakistan. When the CIA comes to the Oval Office with a plan for inflicting damage on the safe havens — no matter how fraught with risk and blowback the plan is — is it any surprise that Obama would approve it?

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The Latest from Iran (24 September): Back to Life, Back to Reality

1315 GMT: A Rafsanjani Move on Political Prisoners? Rooz Online offers an English translation of its article on former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's 3 1/2-hour meeting this week with families of political prisoners. It provides this intriguing quote from Rafsanjani, taken from his website, on the dynamics of a visit to the Supreme Leader:

If I communicate your requests to government authorities, I am not sure I will get a positive response and in fact this may produce the opposite response....The esteemed leader had issued suitable instructions regarding the speedy examination of the prisoners’ cases and also on respecting their legal rights, which could solve many of the current problems....

I hope that this will not be a futile effort.

What makes this intriguing --- and Rooz notes this --- is that it is a follow-up to Rafsanjani's meeting last month with Ayatollah Khamenei, in which he directly handed the Supreme Leader files of political prisoners, insisting to Khamenei's office that he had to give them to the Supreme Leader personally.

As we later reported from reliable sources in Iran, Khamenei refused to look at the files in front of Rafsanjani. The frustrated former President later told members of his Kargozaran Party, "I won't bear this situation."

So is this a renewed attempt by Rafsanjani to "push" the Supreme Leader?

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Iran Witness: Ahmadinejad, the UN, and The Society of the Spectacle (Pedestrian)

Ahmadinejad was there for the show, and as the lead performer, he was not going to leave the room disappointed. He had kept his end of the bargain, given us a magnificent spectacle which the world will be a buzz with for weeks to come --- much to his delight. And he was not going to leave the stage without that final, majestic farewell, even if he himself had to create it. The men clapped like crazy, and he could pretend they were real. The spectacle became the real, and we could no longer tell the difference.

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US Politics: The "Progressive" Battles of the Democrats and the "Pledge" of the Republicans (Haddigan)

The next days will see the drawing of battle lines that will dominate the campaign trail in the weeks before November. Democrats will argue Republican gains in Congress will destroy any hope of progressive change in the next two years, pointing their voters to the measures defeated in Congress this week. Republicans will counter with the now-famous mantra, even if it was created by a Democrat, "It’s the economy, stupid", and they will remind their supporters that victories will help them push back against the unpopular reforms that Obama has managed to achieve.

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Iran Special: A Letter to Christiane Amanpour about the Media, "Freedom", and Ahmadinejad (Alinejad)

Ms. Amanpour,

I know it’s too much to expect you to present Ahmadinejad with the questions of Iranian mothers waiting endlessly for the trial of the murderers of their children, as you present him with the requests of the American mothers waiting for their children to come home. But you had an opportunity to ask Ahmadinejd in front of millions, as a sign of goodwill and a proof of the freedom that he shamelessly insists exists in Iran, to allow you to travel to Iran and interview those mothers whose children were killed in the streets and in prisons, without his Ministry of Culture causing you problems or his Ministry of Intelligence later imprisoning those whom you interviewed.

Before anything a journalist is a human being, and in a situation like this when the normal people in Iran, who are beting killed and imprisoned, are in serious need of help, people of the world --- including the journalists --- can offer them a hand and at least try to create for them opportunity. An opportunity equal to that given to an Ahmadinejad whose lies have destroyed the lives of many.

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US Politics Shocker: 1 in 5 Americans Think Obama is a Cactus (The Onion)

Not Barack ObamaThe Onion reports:

According to a poll released Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of U.S. citizens now believe Barack Obama is a cactus, the most Americans to identify the president as a water- retaining desert plant since he took office.

The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, found a sharp rise in the number of Americans who say they firmly believe Obama was either born a cactus, became a cactus during his youth, or has questionable links to the Cactaceae family.

"We asked people of varying races, ages, and backgrounds the same question: 'What is President Barack Obama?'" Pew spokeswoman Jodi Miller told reporters. "And a fifth of them responded, 'A cactus.'"

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US Foreign Policy LiveBlog: Barack Obama Addresses United Nations

1436 GMT: And That's It. Obama closes with that call for unity.

We'll have a full analysis tomorrow, but apart from the push on Israel and Palestine --- and even that passage which went on too long with emotional rhetoric, although Obama closed strongly by saying that the UN would meet next year with "an independent and sovereign Palestine" --- nothing much to hang on to.

CNN is waxing rhapsodic over Obama putting out "grand themes", but I don't think the call for "free economies", i.e., the iconic model of capitalism, will resonate too much with the General Assembly or peoples abroad. It felt more like a play for the domestic audience on the eve of Congressional elections, and it undercut the possibilities that Obama had promised for a US commitment to "development". At points the grand rhetoric was stretched to breaking point; it's hard to see how Obama's campaign to end corruption squares with the uneasy American involvement with a government like Afghanistan's.

As for Iran, Obama focused only on the nuclear issue, and it appeared that his rhetoric --- while talking tough --- was tilted toward encouragement of renewed talks.

One other note: while Obama --- in my view, fortunately --- got away from his drum-beat of extremists, extremists, extremists in the opening passage of the speech, this still came down to a very Us v. Them presentation. Look up at the passage where he set up the criteria for America's allies and for its adversaries. The Obama of "inclusion" from 2009 is now quite close to the Bush of "Good v. Evil" in 2002/2003, even if he throws out the consolation of a US drawdown in Iraq.

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Iran Special: Covering Ahmadinejad's Speech at the United Nations

James Miller of Dissected News joins EA WorldView today, travelling to New York to take in the atmosphere at the United Nations as President Ahmadinejad addresses the General Assembly. We'll be alongside, providing updates on the President's speech:

2055 GMT: A quick response from the US delegation to the UN: "Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people, Mr. Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable." [Scott Lucas]

2014 GMT: And this time, that is it.

2013 GMT: OK, once more. God has promised the world to the pure and righteous: "all those seeking justice and all the free spirits have been awaiting this moment". True believers of Islam and of Jesus Christ anticipate this justice and "the truth of humanity".

2011 GMT: Ahmadinejad moves to general invocations of the divine, of purity, and of love.

That seems a nice point to end on, but no, he's still going, back to the not-so-nice "domineering" and injustices. I really feel like I'm being taken in circles now.

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