Iran Opinion: How to Engage Iran --- First, Break the Rules (Limbert)

John Limbert & Ali KhameneiHistory is littered with the wreckage of these American efforts, which foundered on a combination of mistrust, misreadings, bad luck, bad timing and negative precon­ceptions. After 30 years of hostility, floun­dering and missteps, officials in both Teh­ran and Washington find themselves in the unwavering grip of five rules that, like the biblical "laws of the Medes and the Persians that alter not", have come to control both sides.

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US and Britain: Scott Lucas on BBC "Does London Need America?"

More chat with Sky TV and with several British radio stations today, as President Obama continued his visit --- the concern here, at least in these discussions, was "Does Britain Need America?" Two examples:

BBC Radio Wales: the item starts at the 1:07.18 mark.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester: the audio starts around the 38.00 mark.

See also Obama and Britain: Scott Lucas on the BBC

Video & Transcript: Obama Speech to British Parliament "If We Fail to Meet Our Responsibility, Who Would Take Our Place?"

An extract from President Obama's speech today to the British Parliament, followed by the transcript --- we'll post further video when it is available:

Because we have always believed that the future of our children and grandchildren will be better if other people's children and grandchildren are more prosperous and free --- from the beaches of Normandy, to the Balkans to Benghazi. That is our interest and our ideal. And if we fail to meet that responsibility, who would take our place?

Our action --- our leadership --- is essential to the cause of human dignity. And so we must act --- and lead --- with confidence in our ideals, and an abiding faith in the character of our people, who sent us here today.

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US-Israel Video & Transcript: Obama Speech to American Israel Public Affairs Committee

President Obama's speech today to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee --- the statement in joined in progress, during the President's acknowledgement of guests in the audience:

PART 1

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Middle East Analysis: Dennis Ross & the Battle Within the Obama Administration

Israeli PM Netanyahu and Dennis RossIn February 2009, we headlined, "Treading Softly on Iran: Dennis Ross Sneaks into the Administration". Our analysis at the time:

He has been brought [into the Administration] with a remit so broad that it threatens to be vague. Now he is not focused on Iran but overlapping with both [Afghanistan-Pakistan envoy Richard] Holbrooke and [Israel-Palestine envoy George] Mitchell. There may be some State Department master-plan setting out how Ross, a forceful personality, will work with those two envoys --- equally forceful personalities --- and how he and his staff will in turn work with permanent State Department desks overseeing the Middle Eastern, Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asian regions.

More than two years later, Holbrooke is dead and Mitchell has resigned in frustration. But Ross is still very much present in the National Security Council. And the operative term is not "work with" other personalities and other departments but "work against".

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US-Israel Video & Transcript: President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu Speak to Press

Video and transcript of the remarks by US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting in the White House today:

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, let me, first of all, welcome again Prime Minister Netanyahu, who I think has now been here seven times during the course of my presidency.  And I want to indicate that the frequency of these meetings is an indication of the extraordinary bonds between our two countries, as is the opportunity for the Prime Minister to address Congress during his visit here.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Back to Business After Obama

2105 GMT: Protestors in the far eastern town of Albou Kamal, on Syria's border with Iraq, have reportedly have set fire to offices of the ruling Baath Party.

A tribal leader said, "People want to overthrow the regime. There can be no dialogue with tanks and soldiers, no dialogue with security men who kill, arrest and smash the homes of civilians. We want democracy and freedom. We want to feel we are real citizens, not numbers."

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Middle East Special: Assessing Obama's Speech "It's Domestic Politics, Stupid"

Little new was said in this speech, despite the hype. Negotiations between the US and other nations, especially on issues as complicated at Israel and Palestine, do not happen in a public forum in a 40-minute address. This moment at the podium is unlikely to have a huge effect on how the international community, or the Middle East, views Obama.

Instead, the President was looking at many of the Republicans who have vowed to block him at every turn, many Democrats who are frustrated with the lack of progress in his foreign policy, and many Americans who are scared of what they do not understand, namely a rapidly-changing political situation in the Middle East.

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Syria, Libya, Palestine (and Beyond) LiveBlog: While Obama Speaks....

2100 GMT: Claimed video of a demonstration in Homs tonight, "The people want to topple the regime":

2040 GMT: A day after balking at an agreement to transfer power, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said --- through a spokesman --- that he will sign the arrangement.

Spokesman Ahmed al-Sufi said Saleh will accept Sunday during the celebration of Yemen National Day at the Presidential Palace in Sanaa. Al-Sufi said Abdul-Latif al-Zayyani, the head of the Gulf Co-operation Council, would return to Yemen for the event.

The GCC, which brokered the agreement, said in a statement that its foreign ministers would meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday and al-Zayyani would attend.

The Yemeni opposition dismissed Saleh’s promise to sign.

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Middle East Video and Transcript: The Obama Speech

See also Middle East Special: Live Analysis of Obama Speech as It is Delivered

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Please, have a seat.  Thank you very much.  I want to begin by thanking Hillary Clinton, who has traveled so much these last six months that she is approaching a new landmark -- one million frequent flyer miles.  (Laughter.)  I count on Hillary every single day, and I believe that she will go down as one of the finest Secretaries of State in our nation’s history.

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