Countdown

Europeans Express Unhappiness with Axis of Evil "Intent"

Volume III, No. 7
Posted on Friday February 15, 2002

Ashcroft Continues to Dodge Quote as Florida Votes to Punish Arab Students

Statements this week from Attorney General John Ashcroft did little to eliminate the controversy surrounding his alleged remark regarding differences between Islam and Christianity. Cal Thomas, a nationally syndicated columnist and radio personality who reported the quote insists that he accurately reported what he heard and had checked with the Attorney General. Jim Zogby, President of AAI, has been responding to media queries regarding actions requested in a letter to President Bush last week requesting an unambiguous clarification of the letter. “It’s ironic to have two leaders of the Christian right in a standoff about Islam”, he remarked, “The reported statement strikes at the basic concept of religious tolerance enshrined in our Bill of Rights.” In another effort to make foreign policy statements through local legislation, Florida is considering HB655 to ban financial aid to students from countries on the Department of State list of sponsors of terrorism. The bill’s comes from Rep. Dick Kravitz, who says, “These people are not innocent. These people come from countries run by dictators, thugs, thieves, tyrants and communist regimes. They are here to learn something to take back to their countries to use for terrorism.” Kravitz did not produce any evidence for his claims and chose to ignore the argument that if American values truly are worthy of imitating, then we should be engaging rather than distancing ourselves from these students.

Europeans Express Unhappiness with Axis of Evil “Intent”

Members of the EU have started to publicly distance themselves from the Bush Administration’s threats directed at countries that produce weapons of mass destruction. While acknowledging the dangers of proliferation, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said that Bush’s remark “was deeply unhelpful.” He said the administration’s approach to the rest of the world was simplistic. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer agreed. “We need to fight against terrorism with determination, but we must also look at the social and economic roots of that problem.” French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, commenting on the proposed increases in US defense spending remarked, “We can’t reduce all the world’s problems to the fight against terrorism.” The EU foreign ministers are preparing a blueprint for reviving peace talks that begins with the creation of a Palestinian state as “the starting point of a negotiating process.” The US and Israel have routinely excluded the Europeans from involvement in the Middle East peace process.

Campaign Finance Reforms Swing While Skepticism Rises

The successful passage of campaign finance reform measures this week in the House launched a slew of prognostications concerning the actual impact of the proposed legislation. Claims ranged from “the most important day that I will spend in 25 years in the Congress”, Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) to those saying that both parties were already moving to find alternative funding mechanisms. Key points of the bill include the ban on soft money by national party committees and a $10,000 limit on contributions to state parties for get-out-the-vote and registration efforts; a limit on individual contributions to $1,000 for House candidates, $2,000 for Senate and presidential candidates, and $30,000 to parties. Unions, corporations and nonprofits face limitations on the use of “issue ads”. Members defeated an attempt to have the law in apply to the 2002 elections.

Congressional Initiative on Foreign Aid

Senators are circulating S. Res. 204 calling for a substantial increase in “humanitarian, economic development, and agricultural assistance to foster international peace and stability, and the promotion of human rights.” Part of a continuing effort to raise foreign aid allocations, sponsors hope to catch the administration’s eye by noting that “United States foreign assistance programs should play an increased role in the global fight against terrorism to complement the national security objectives of the United States.”