What Caught My Eye Today

Nobel Prize - Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize today and urged the United States and China to make the boldest moves on climate change or "stand accountable before history for their failure to act." "It is time to make peace with the planet," Gore said in his acceptance speech. "We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war." His remarks came as governments met in Bali, Indonesia, to start work on a new international treaty to reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions. The governments hope to have the new pact, which succeeds the Kyoto accord, in place by 2012, but Gore has said the urgency of the problem means they should aim to come to an agreement by 2010. Before his speech, Gore said that he believes the next U.S. president will shift the country's course on climate change and engage in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Comparing global warming to war seems a bit extreme, but perhaps that's the motivation that is needed to kick start the international community--especially the U.S.--into action. I must say though that Gore's prediction of action by the next President seems a bit optimistic. I don't recall the subject of the environment being mentioned much, if at all, by any of the candidates from either party.

CIA - White House lawyers have advised President Bush's spokeswoman not to answer specific questions about why the CIA destroyed tapes of terror suspects under interrogation, as Congress seeks answers about the matter. The White House typically stops commenting — beyond broad talking points — once an inquiry into a controversial matter is under way. Congressional leaders are pressing to find out who knew what about the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotape and whether justice was obstructed in the process. Politicians in both parties and in the presidential campaign said inquiries must get to the bottom of the matter and questioned if anyone in the White House knew what was happening. Democrats and some Republicans expressed skepticism about CIA claims that tapes of the questioning of two terrorism suspects were destroyed only to protect the identity of the interrogators. The spy agency destroyed the tapes in November 2005, at a time when human rights groups and lawyers for detainees were clamoring for information about the agency's secret detention and interrogation program, and Congress and U.S. courts were debating whether "enhanced interrogation" crossed the line into torture. Let's see here. Destruction of interrogation videotapes, CIA agents purchasing liability insurance, the White House closing ranks on the issue and lack of support to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether any laws were broken. Yup, no signs of a cover up here. What I don't get is that we almost impeached a President for basically lying about an affair with an intern, but when it comes to breaking laws by using torture to interrogate alleged terrorists, no one in charge seems to be interested getting to the truth.

Taiwan - Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian pledged that before he steps down in May 2008 he will not declare formal independence — a move China has said would require it to retake the island by force. Chen's comments on the issue were his most explicit to date. They appeared to be aimed at reassuring Washington, the island's most important foreign partner. Washington has been concerned that a planned referendum in March on whether the island should join the United Nations could be a precursor to a declaration of formal independence. The U.S. transferred its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Since then it has tread a fine line between cementing its complex political and economic relationship with the communist mainland, and continuing its long-standing ties with democratic Taiwan. The U.S. is obligated by the Taiwan Relations Act to maintain sufficient force in the Pacific as a deterrent against China. But the act does not require the defense of Taiwan by U.S. forces if the island comes under attack from China. Washington is also eager to improve ties with China, a major trading partner and fellow U.N. Security Council member, and has grown increasingly exasperated with Chen's provocations. That sound you hear is a collective sigh of relief from the State Department. They have enough to worry about without Taiwan going on and on about this annoying little desire to be free and independent. Anyone want to be that there was some behind the scenes arm twisting going on prior to this announcement being made?

As good as this news is, there is another storm brewing in Europe...

Kosovo - At least 3,000 cheering Kosovars jammed a square in downtown Pristina, Serbia for a pro-independence rally as the breakaway province's leaders vowed to declare statehood early next year. Kosovo is widely expected to announce early in 2008 that it will formally break away from Serbia, but has vowed not to do so without U.S. and European Union approval. International mediators failed to negotiate a compromise on Kosovo's future by today's U.N. deadline. A State Department spokesman said that in the past 130 days of talks, negotiators from the U.S., European Union and Russia explored "every realistic option for an agreement and, in their words, 'left no stone unturned' in the search for a mutually-acceptable outcome." When Kosovo declares its independence, that would start a 120-day internationally supervised transition, during which the U.S. and other countries would recognize the new state and the U.N. would hand off administration to the EU. Although the province formally remains part of Serbia, it has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when NATO air strikes ended a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. Serbia has offered Kosovo broad autonomy but insists it remain part of Serbian territory, and Russia has threatened to block its independence drive at the U.N. Security Council. You know what they say--if it looks like an impasse, talks like an impasse, and walks like an impasse, it's probably an impasse. It sure would be nice to see some sort of compromise worked out because, historically, having Europe and the U.S. on one side and Russia on the other side of an internationally dispute. At least it didn't work out to well with that whole Germany and Berlin deal back in the day. If memory serves me, that little fiasco started the Cold war.

Myanmar - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Myanmar the international community was running out of patience with its authoritarian regime, saying the junta must embrace democracy and stop inflicting suffering on its own people. A U.N. human rights envoy said that Myanmar's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September killed at least 31 people, twice the toll acknowledged by the junta and also said that 650 people remained in custody from the crackdown and another 74 people were missing. The United Nations and governments around the world expressed outrage after the junta's troops opened fire on pro-democracy protests, which were led by Buddhist monks. Rights groups have reported continued arrests and abuse, despite claims by the junta that the crackdown has stopped. It's all well and good that the U.N. is losing patience with Myanmar's ruling junta, but does it plan to back up its frustration with action? Recent history clearly shows that the junta doesn't seem to care much about international opinion of how it operates.

2008 Presidential Campaign - The Oprah and Obama tour hit South Carolina Sunday, with the talk show host and medial mogul exhorting nearly 30,000 to ignore Barack Obama's detractors and help him capture the Democratic nomination and the presidency. Obama's campaign said more than 29,000 attended the event at the University of South Carolina's football stadium. It had the feel of a rock concert, with bands playing for early arrivals and campaign supporters yelling "fire it up" to the crowd. A recent poll had Hillary Rodham Clinton leading in South Carolina with 45% of likely Democratic primary voters, followed by Obama's 31%. The two candidates break even on the black vote here, and that's where Winfrey's appeal could become a factor — along with her pull among women. I'm not sure if Oprah will ultimately make a difference in outcome of the Democratic nomination or not, but I'm sure given the choice, Hilary would have preferred to have Oprah stumping for her rather than Obama.