TODAY'S HEADLINES
The New York Times on the Web
Sunday, November 21, 2004

House Leadership Blocks Vote on Intelligence Bill
By PHILIP SHENON and CARL HULSE
A core of highly conservative Republicans aligned with the
Pentagon moved to block a vote on a bill that would have
enacted the recommendations of the 9/11 panel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/politics/21panel.html?th

Bush Says Iran Speeds Output of A-Bomb Fuel
By DAVID E. SANGER
In meetings with Asian leaders, President Bush also
attempted to establish a unified front against North Korea.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/politics/21prexy.html?th

- QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

"I'm not going to take away the regular habanero. You can still grow and eat that, if you want to kill yourself."
- KEVIN M. CROSBY, a geneticist in Texas who created a milder pepper.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/national/21peppers.html?th

Mongolia Under Pressure to Serve as Haven for Refugees
By JAMES BROOKE
North Korea's new diplomatic presence is seen as an attempt
to block efforts to make Mongolia a processing center for
defectors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/internat...a.ready.html?th

France Is Cast as the Villain in Ivory Coast
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Many Ivoirians have turned on French businessmen, immigrant
workers and one another with a vengeance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/internat...21ivory.html?th

Some Hard-Liners in Turkey See Diversity as Divisive
By SUSAN SACHS
Under pressure from the European Union and civil rights
advocates, Turkey has started to reassess the way it has
treated religious minorities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/internat...1turkey.html?th

NATIONAL -THE PLASTIC TRAP
Soaring Interest Compounds Credit Card Pain for Millions
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Credit card companies are changing the terms of their
accounts at a historically high rate, costing Americans
millions of dollars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business...rds-web.html?th

Where Execution Feels Like Relic, Death Looms
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
A pending execution in Connecticut will mark the first time
in more than 40 years that an inmate has been put to death
north or east of Pennsylvania.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/nyregion/21execute.html?th

Turmoil Grips Elite School Over Money and Leaders
By STEPHANIE STROM
A debate is festering among graduates and parents at St.
Paul's, an elite school in New Hampshire, with critics
accusing trustees and the rector of mismanagement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/education/21paul.html?th

Broad Influence for Justice Dept. Choice
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
As President Bush's White House counsel, Alberto R.
Gonzales has been a principal architect of the widening of
executive authority.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/politics...onzales.html?th

Bill Clears Way for Government to Cut Back College Loans
By GREG WINTER and DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
The federal government will be able to require millions of
college students to shoulder more of the cost of their
education under the new spending bill before Congress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/education/21pell.html?th

Senators Want Boeing Deal Investigated
By PETER T. KILBORN
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee want the
Defense Department to investigate the Air Force's effort to
give the Boeing Company a $23.5 billion contract.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/politics/21boeing.html?th

THE PLASTIC TRAP
Soaring Interest Compounds Credit Card Pain for Millions
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Credit card companies are changing the terms of their
accounts at a historically high rate, costing Americans
millions of dollars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business...rds-web.html?th

The Castro Collection
By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
A painting from Cuba offers a glimpse into the world of art
smuggling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business.../21smug.html?th

INVESTING
The Four-More-Years Portfolio: How to Narrow the Field
By CONRAD DE AENLLE
Many investors believe that Republican control of the White
House and Congress will affect the prospects of certain
companies and industries. But which ones?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business.../21four.html?th

MAKING VOTES COUNT
Improving Provisional Ballots
One of the brightest spots in this year's election was the
nationwide debut of the provisional ballot.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/opinion/21sun1.html?th

The Promise and Peril of Heart Scans
Used sensibly, heart scans could save the health care
system substantial money. Used recklessly, however, the
scans could break the medical bank.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/opinion/21sun2.html?th

..................

Descent of Ivory Coast
The world needs to look at why Ivory Coast is tearing
itself apart and take urgent steps to contain this tragedy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/opinion/21sun3.html?th

The President's Yes Man

By Alan Berlow

In nominating Alberto Gonzales to be the next attorney general, President Bush has selected a man with a long record of giving him the kind of legal advice he wants. Unfortunately, that advice has not always been of the highest professional or ethical caliber.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Intelligence Overhaul Bill Blocked

By Charles Babington and Walter Pincus

Long-debated legislation to dramatically reshape the nation's intelligence community collapsed in the House yesterday, as conservative Republicans refused to embrace a compromise because they said it could reduce military control over battlefield intelligence and failed to crack down on illegal immigrants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Michael Powell Exposed! The FCC Chairman Has No Clothes

By Tom Shales

Oops. They got rid of the wrong Powell. The father unfortunately is going, but the son, even more unfortunately, remains behind.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Kerry Urges Democrats To Fight Values 'Assault'

By Dan Balz

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) signaled a return to partisan warfare with President Bush yesterday in an e-mail to supporters in which he accused the administration of preparing a "right-wing assault on values and ideals" and called on Democrats to fight back against what he labeled Bush's extreme agenda.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

3.5% Raise for Federal Civilian Workers Makes Spending Bill

By Christopher Lee

Congressional negotiators reached agreement yesterday on a spending package that provides a 3.5 percent raise for federal civilian employees, more than double that sought by President Bush.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...Nov20.html?nav=

Bush Toughens line on nuclear threats

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...ml?nav=hcmodule

Baghdad Suffers a day of attacks, assassinations

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...ml?nav=hcmodule

Children pay cost of iraq's Chaos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...v20.html?sub=AR

Mr. Bush's Better World

Fossil ape may be father of all apes

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/...97502691624.jpg

BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- A 13 million years old ape living in what is now Spain may have been the last common father of all apes, including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans.

The fossil gives us a missing link, not directly between humans and an apelike ancestor, but between great apes and lesser apes such as gibbons.

His name was Pierolapithecus catalaunicus and he had a stiff lower spine and flexible wrists, which showed that he was a tree-climbing specialist,the researchers write in this week's issue of the journal Science.

"This probably is very close to the last common ancestor of great apes and humans," said Salvador Moya-Sola of the Miguel Crusafont Institute of Paleontology in Barcelona, Spain, who led the study.

His colleague Meike Kohler said that it would have looked something like a modern chimpanzee and probably ate fruit.

"I would call it a missing link, because it really fills a gap," she added.

About 25 million years ago, old world monkeys, which now live in Africa and Asia, split off from the line that eventually led to apes.

The great apes -- orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans -- are believed to have branched off from the lesser apes such as gibbons and siamangs about 11 million to 16 million years ago.

Humans branched off from chimpanzees an estimated 7 million years ago.

A special for the creationists.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/...ent_2240343.htm

Industrialized Nations Reported Near Deal to Waive Iraqi Debt

[http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A0D195:2F72C9D

US, Germany, France and 16 other industrialized nations agree to write
off up to $33 billion

Bush Voices Concern About Iranian Nuclear Program


[http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A0D18F:2F72C9D

President says international community must stand united in opposition
to Tehran enriching uranium

_______________________________________
Power and Interest News Report (PINR)

http://www.pinr.com
content@pinr.com
------------------------------

22 November 2004


Rice Nomination Reinforces Washington's Drift Toward Isolation
Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
http://www.pinr.com

The nomination of current National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state in the second Bush administration leaves the shape of U.S. foreign policy as uncertain as it has been since the problems encountered by the occupation of Iraq revealed the limits of Washington's military and diplomatic power. Of all the major players on the Bush security team, Rice has been the one with the least defined and consistent geostrategic approach. Although she is expected to be one of the President's most trusted and loyal advisers -- indeed, a confidante -- she was not the main policy shaper in the first administration, playing, for the most part, a supporting role for the neo-conservative protagonists. It is not clear that she has a vision of her own, nor should one conclude that she will fall easily into the neo-conservative camp.

Analysts agree that the Rice nomination signals an attempt by Bush to achieve a single foreign policy voice in his second administration and to eliminate conflicting perspectives that subvert the aim of staying "on message." What that message is and will be, however, is open to question. At present, Washington is drifting toward greater isolation from the rest of the world and it is unlikely that Rice will reverse that tendency. Bush has announced that the grand design for foreign policy in his second administration is to continue the project of democratizing the greater Middle East, an idea that is central to neo-conservatism. Under present circumstances, that idea looks to be utopian, leaving a policy vacuum that is likely to be filled with ad hoc responses to the pressure of events initiated outside the U.S.

Conflicting Policy Tendencies

During the first Bush administration, neo-conservative, internationalist and realist tendencies of foreign and security policy contended for supremacy.

Represented by Vice President Dick Cheney and endorsed in practice by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the neo-conservatives proceeded on the premise that Washington was capable through its own military power and support from "coalitions of the willing" to remake the world into a system of market democracies in which the U.S. would function as protector and be the prime beneficiary. The neo-conservatives gained ascendancy after the September 11 attacks when they were able to meld their vision to the "war on terror." The resistance that Washington has faced in its efforts to make Iraq a demonstration project of Middle Eastern democracy has cast doubts on the viability of the neo-conservative position, but its advocates remain in place in the Defense Department and the Vice President's office.

Even if the neo-conservatives remain in ascendancy, it is not clear that they will be able to pursue their designs in any meaningful way. Preemptive warfare -- the key element in neo-conservative strategy, whether as a threat or as a practice -- does not appear to be viable in the near or medium term. The failure of neo-conservative policy in Iraq, which showed the weakness of Washington's military hand, leaves neo-conservatives with the choice of abandoning their vision for a more multilateral approach (which is unlikely) or continuing to affirm their ideology rhetorically as they make short-term expedient adjustments to challenges to U.S. interests and power.

The ascendancy of the neo-conservatives meant the eclipse of traditional Republican internationalism, rooted in global business interests, particularly finance, and represented by outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and much of the State Department bureaucracy. Favoring diplomacy over force and advocating a multilateral world order in which the U.S. would be primus inter pares, Powell reportedly opposed the Iraq intervention, but was able to do no more than convince Bush to go to the United Nations before embarking on the invasion.

With Powell's resignation, internationalism no longer has an advocate in the higher circles of power, making the prospect unlikely that Washington will attempt to rebuild U.S. power by shifting to a more multilateral course that would restore traditional alliances with European powers and seek cooperation with potential adversaries such as China and Russia. Had Powell or someone with his views been permitted to advocate multilateralism in the second Bush administration, Washington would have had more flexibility than it does now that internationalism has no voice.

Rice has been identified as the major exponent of the third foreign policy tendency in the first Bush administration, realism, although her present position is unclear. Realism here means the principle that international politics are determined by states using all their power resources to maximize the satisfaction of their interests. For Rice before 9/11, this meant that Washington should not be constrained by alliance structures or international organizations from acting unilaterally when it was in its interest to do so, which placed her closer to the neo-conservatives than to the internationalists. On the other hand, it also meant that Washington should refrain from nation building experiments and grand designs of world order, which distanced her from the neo-conservatives.

Realism was the foundation of the Republican foreign policy plank in the 2000 presidential campaign and was the operative tendency before 9/11. Washington's rejection of the Kyoto Treaty on global warming, its refusal to join the International Criminal Court and its cancellation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia were consistent with Rice's brand of realism and with the neo-conservative tendency, creating the alliance that edged internationalism to the margins.

After 9/11, it has become difficult to determine where Rice stands. Some commentators report that she underwent a "conversion" to the neo-conservative view, whereas others maintain that she has remained a realist. What is clear is that Rice -- whatever her personal views -- joined the neo-conservative camp in practice and did not perform the mediating role between conflicting perspectives that is usually expected from the national security adviser. Some analysts speculate that she was simply not strong enough to stand up to the neo-conservatives; others say that she is primarily motivated by ambition and simply went over to the winning side. Or, perhaps, she did undergo a political conversion. Whatever the case, she did not advocate an independent position that might have tempered the neo-conservative tendency through forwarding reservations about nation building.

A Policy Void

The nomination of Rice to the office of secretary of state appears to plant the second Bush administration in the position of trying to pursue foreign and security policy through the inoperative neo- conservative paradigm. The President, who self-avowedly concentrates on the overall vision and not on its implementation, continues to accept the neo-conservative big picture, and there is nothing to indicate that Rice is willing or motivated to try to persuade him otherwise. Yet in the aftermath of the Iraq intervention, that vision is no longer credible, at least in its original optimistic form. It is not possible to implement a design that has turned out to be utopian, which means that Washington faces a policy void.

If Bush and the neo-conservatives are true to their words, Washington will be occupied during the next four years in trying to democratize the Middle East, which means that it will be bogged down in Iraq and diverted from responding adequately to challenges elsewhere in the world. At State, Rice will be constrained by the neo-conservative project from exercising creative diplomacy, which demands resources and the President's "political capital." The stage is set for an ad hoc foreign policy unless there is some unforeseeable paradigm shift. Absent the internationalist tendency, ad hoc adjustments will tend in the direction of Washington's isolation from other great and regional powers, which will progressively gain advantage at the expense of the U.S.

An example of the drift toward isolation is the endorsement on November 16 by the International Atomic Energy Agency of the agreement between Iran and a combine of Britain, France and Germany that Tehran would temporarily suspend its uranium enrichment program while it negotiates an incentives package with the Europeans. Washington had hoped to refer Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council, where sanctions against Tehran could be imposed, but that option now seems to be dead.

The neo-conservative design for Iran is to pressure Tehran punitively and eventually to create the conditions for regime change from within by a discontented population. Neither the Europeans nor Russia nor China has any interest in the neo-conservative plan, and they have effectively blocked it. By joining the Franco-German combine, Britain has signaled its independence from the United States; the prospects for future "coalitions of the willing" are dim, and, in the case of Iran, Washington has effectively ceded initiative to other powers. This is a pattern that is likely to be repeated around the world: Washington will take the same line that it has for the last four years, but there will be little cooperation and other powers will pursue their own perceived independent interests.

Conclusion

The possibility that Washington will act to resist the drift toward multipolarity in world politics and toward its own isolation has grown dim with the Rice nomination and the appointment of her deputy, Stephen Hadley, to the post of national security adviser. Those who believe that neo-conservative triumphalism will generate new interventions probably have misplaced fears. It is far more likely that -- stripped of the viability of its vision -- the dominant neo-conservative tendency will be paralyzed, hastening the erosion of U.S. power worldwide and providing many opportunities for rising powers to test their mettle .

Report Drafted By:
Dr. Michael A. Weinstein

Major Creditors in Accord to Waive 80% of Iraq Debt
By CRAIG S. SMITH
The agreement is a critical step in rebuilding Iraq's
devastated economy and an important precedent for other
creditors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat.../22debt.html?th

Bush Says He'll Seek to Revive Intelligence Bill House
Blocked
By PHILIP SHENON
President Bush vowed to work with Congress to revive a bill
to enact major recommendations of the Sept. 11 panel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/politics/22panel.html?th

Clues on Hostages Emerge From Houses in Falluja
By ROBERT F. WORTH
For the first time, U.S. journalists saw evidence of the
places where hostages may have been imprisoned or killed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat...falluja.html?th

QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

"We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games."
- DAVID STERN, the N.B.A. commissioner.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/sports/b...22brawl.html?th

Iran to Suspend Uranium Enrichment Today
By NAZILA FATHI
In a sign of cooperation, Iran pledged to meet its deadline
and suspend its uranium enrichment activities on Monday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat.../22iran.html?th

Ex-Guerrilla Is Put Forward for Kosovo Prime Minister
By NICHOLAS WOOD
The prospect of a former rebel leader becoming prime
minister of Kosovo is causing alarm among international
officials in the province.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat...2kosovo.html?th

Cameraman Details Marine's Role in Mosque Shooting
By JAMES GLANZ and EDWARD WONG
The marine who appears to shoot and kill an unarmed Iraqi
prisoner was not aware that the incident was being
recorded, according to cameraman Kevin Sites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat...22shoot.html?th

Enforcement of Civil Rights Law Declined Since '99, Study
Finds
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Enforcement of civil rights laws has dropped sharply since
1999, as the level of complaints received by the Justice
Department has remained relatively constant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/national/22civil.html?th

Official Says Deferral Strategy Fails Amtrak
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Amtrak's strategy of scraping by on limited budgets by
deferring capital investments "is no longer workable,"
according to the inspector general of the Transportation
Department.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/national/22amtrak.html?th

Parts of Special-Ed Bill Would Shift More Power to States
and School Districts
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
Congress has given state and school officials more power to
shape the terms for providing services to the nation's 6.5
million disabled students.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/educatio...special.html?th

G.O.P. Says Motive for Tax Clause in Budget Bill Was Misread
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
Some expressed outrage about a provision in a spending bill
that would allow the Appropriations Committees to examine
Americans' income tax returns.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/politics/22explain.html?th

Security Dispute Dulls Luster of Bush's Trip to Chile
By DAVID E. SANGER and LARRY ROHTER
The Chilean government disinvited more than 200 guests to a
dinner with President Bush rather than let them be screened
for weapons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/internat...22prexy.html?th

G.O.P. Constituencies Split on Tax Change
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
President Bush faces key Republican groups that are divided
about how or even whether to proceed with an overhaul of
the tax code.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/business/22tax.html?th

G.O.P. Constituencies Split on Tax Change
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
President Bush faces key Republican groups that are divided
about how or even whether to proceed with an overhaul of
the tax code.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/business/22tax.html?th

ON THIS DAY-

On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Texas Gov. John B. Connally was seriously wounded. A suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/on...y/20041122.html

Many Who Voted for 'Values' Still Like Their Television Sin
By BILL CARTER
Network executives say the election will have little impact
on which shows they decide to put on television.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/business.../22tube.html?th

Bush Renews Migrant Pledge

SANTIAGO, Chile-President Bush vowed to push a plan that would
allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States as
guest workers even though it appears unlikely to win backing in a
Congress that grew more conservative in this month's elections. By
Peter Wallsten and Richard Boudreaux.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/ekV...Io30G2B0GJHK0AG

California Has 3 Billion New Ways to Attract Researchers

As California moves quickly toward setting up a $3-billion
embryonic stem cell research agency, other states are scrambling
to prevent their top researchers from being raided. By Megan
Garvey.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/ekV...Io30G2B0GJHL0AH

Iraq Vote a Priority for Shiite Leader

BAGHDAD-Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has launched a
massive get-out-the-vote campaign for Iraq's upcoming election,
determined to ensure that Shiites have a chance to win the power
that he believes rightfully belongs to the nation's majority
Muslim sect. By Alissa J. Rubin.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/ekV...Io30G2B0GJHM0AI

See also:
U.S. Troops Fire on Bus, Killing 3
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/ekV...Io30G2B0GJHN0AJ