Obama, Congress honor Lincoln's 200th birthday

Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON: From Capitol Hill to Springfield, Illinois, President Obama and Congress are paying tribute to Abraham Lincoln on the bicentennial of his birth.

"It is an honor to be here: a place where Lincoln served, was inaugurated, and where the nation he saved bid him a last farewell," Obama said in speech at the Capitol yesterday.

"As we mark the bicentennial of our 16th president's birth, ...I feel a special gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story possible - and who in so many ways made America's story possible."

In the last couple of years, several best-selling books have focused on the life and political skills of the nation's 16th president.

And, it is a well known fact that the nation's newest president has taken a particular interest in not just reading about the Illinois politician, but also modeling himself politically after him.

White House officials say Obama's speechwriter even had several conversations with political historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who wrote the 2005 book "Team of Rivals," which focused on Lincoln's Cabinet -- before crafting his speeches about Lincoln.

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama -- a Democrat who hails from the Land of Lincoln - Illinois; reminded audiences from coast to coast about the similarities between himself and the beloved political leader.

In Washington, a congressional tribute took place yesterday at the Capitol rotunda, and a wreath honoring Lincoln was placed at the Capitol.

Obama also paid tribute to his hero earlier this week, at a celebration for the reopening of the theater where Abraham Lincoln was slain. The reopening of Ford's Theatre after an 18-month refurbishment, was timed to coincide with a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth

Also yesterday, the US Mint unveiled the first of four new pennies depicting Abraham Lincoln. The coins, produced to honor the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth (and the 100th anniversary of the production of the Lincoln cent), are the first redesigned pennies to enter circulation in a half-century.

The heads still feature Lincoln's profile and the words "In God We Trust;" the flip side will highlight a stage of his life. The first release features a picture of the one-room log cabin where Lincoln was born. The other three coins will be issued in roughly three-month intervals throughout the year and will depict Lincoln's formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois, and his presidency.

The Library of Congress also marked Lincoln's bicentennial yesterday by opening a special exhibit featuring Lincoln's handwritten speeches and artifacts, including the Bible used last month by Obama during his swearing-in.

"This exhibit, in a little more than 200 items, presents Lincoln, the man and the politician," John Sellers, curator of the exhibit, told reporters. Lincoln successfully fought a proposal for legalized slavery as development spread to the Western United States, and he eventually brought an end to slavery throughout the country.

There are also grim reminders of Lincoln's assassination. An original "wanted" poster with large black letters reads: "$100,000 Reward. The murderer is still at large."

The poster includes a photograph of John Wilkes Booth, who was on the run after being accused of firing the fatal shots at Ford's Theatre in Washington, where Lincoln was attending a play.

The autopsy report is also included in the exhibition, along with the actual blood stains of Lincoln's blood. Other, more lighthearted artifacts are also on display, including an 1860 letter from a girl urging presidential candidate Lincoln to grow a beard to help his prospects with voters.

An Open Letter--From Pakistan--To President Obama

By Imran Khan

Dear President Obama,

Your extraordinary ascent to the U.S. Presidency is, to a large part, a reflection of your remarkable ability to mobilize society, particularly the youth, with the message of "change." Indeed, change is what the world is yearning for after eight long and almost endless years of carnage let loose by a group of neo-cons that occupied the White House.

Understandably, your overarching policy focus would be the security and welfare of all U.S. citizens and so it should be. Similarly, our first and foremost concern is the protection of Pakistani lives and the prosperity of our society. We may have different social and cultural values, but we share the fundamental values of peace, harmony, justice and equality before law.

No people desire change more than the people of Pakistan, as we have suffered the most since 9/11, despite the fact that none of the perpetrators of the acts of terrorism unleashed on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, were Pakistani. Our entire social, political and economic fabric is in a state of meltdown. Our sovereignty, dignity and self-respect have been trampled upon. The previous U.S. administration invested in dictators and corrupt politicians by providing them power crutches in return for total compliance to pursue its misconceived war on terror.

There are many threats confronting our society today, including the threat of extremism. In a society where the majority is without fundamental rights, without education, without economic opportunities, without health care, the use of sheer force and loss of innocent lives continues to expand the extremist fringe and contract the space for the moderate majority.

Without peace and internal security, the notion of investing in development in the war zones is a pipe dream, as the anticipated benefits would never reach the people. So the first and foremost policy objective should be to restore the peace. This can only be achieved through a serious and sustained dialogue with the militants and mitigation of their genuine grievances under the ambit of our constitution and law. Since Pakistan's founding leader signed a treaty in 1948 with the people of the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and withdrew Pakistani troops, they had remained the most peaceful and trouble-free part of Pakistan up until the post-9/11 situation, when we were asked to deploy our troops in FATA.

Even a cursory knowledge of Pushtun history shows that for reasons of religious, cultural and social affinity, the Pushtuns on both sides of the Durand Line (which marks the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan) cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of their brethren on either side. The Pushtuns are proud of their history of resisting every invader from Alexander onwards, to the Persians, Moghuls, British and the Russians (all superpowers of their times) who were all bogged down in the Pushtun quagmire. So, no government, Pakistani or foreign, will ever be able to stop Pushtuns crossing over the 1,500-kilometer border to support their brethren in distress on either side, even if it means fighting the modern-day superpower in Afghanistan. Recent history shows how the mighty Soviet Union had to retreat from Afghanistan with its army defeated even though it had killed over a million Afghans.

To an average Pushtun, notwithstanding the U.N. Security Council sanction, the U.S. is an occupying power in Afghanistan that must be resisted. It is as simple as that. Therefore, the greatest challenge confronting U.S. policy in Afghanistan is how to change its status from an occupier to a partner. The new U.S. administration should have no doubt that there is no military solution in Afghanistan. As more innocent Pushtuns are killed, more space is created for new Taliban and even Al-Qaida recruits--revenge being an integral part of the Pushtun character. So, as with Iraq, the U.S. should give a time table for withdrawal from Afghanistan and replace NATO and U.S. forces with U.N. troops during the interim period.
The Pushtuns then should be involved in a dialogue process where they should be given a stake in the peace. As the majority's stake in peace grows, proportionately the breeding ground for extremists shrinks.

The crucial lesson the U.S. needs to learn--and learn quickly--is that you can only win against terrorists if the majority in a community considers them terrorists. Once they become freedom fighters and heroes amongst their people, history tells us that the battle is lost.

Terrorism worldwide is an age-old phenomenon and cannot be eliminated by rampaging armies, no matter how powerful. It can only be contained by a strategy of building democratic societies and addressing the root causes of political conflicts. The democratization part of this strategy demands a strategic partnership between the West and the people of the Islamic world, who are basically demanding dignity, self-respect and the same fundamental rights as the ordinary citizen in the West enjoys. However, this partnership can only be forged if the U.S. and its close Western allies are prepared to accept and coexist with credible democratic governments in the Islamic world that may not support all U.S. policies as wholeheartedly as dictators and discredited politicians do in order to remain in power.

The roots of terror and violence lie in politics--and so does the solution. We urge the new administration to conduct a major strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terror, including the nature and kind of support that should realistically be expected of Pakistan keeping in mind its internal security interests. Linking economic assistance to sealing of its western frontier will only force the hand of a shaky and unstable government in Pakistan to use more indiscriminate force in FATA, a perfect recipe for disaster.

The stability of the region hinges on a stable Pakistan. Any assistance to improve governance and social indicators must not be conditional. For the simple reason that any improvement in the overall quality of life of ordinary citizens and more effective writ of the state would only make mainstream society less susceptible to extremism. However, if the new U.S. administration continues the Bush administration's mantra of "do more," to which our inept leadership is likely to respond to by using more force, Pakistan could become even more accessible to forces of extremism leading to further instability that would spread across the region, especially into India, which already faces problems of extremism and secessionist movements. Such a scenario would benefit no one--certainly not Pakistan and certainly not the U.S. That is why your message of meaningful change, Mr. President, must guide your policies in this region also.

Source : Forbes.com

US to hold 'direct talks' with Iran

The US ambassador to the United Nations has said the new Obama administration will engage in "direct diplomacy" with Iran.

Susan Rice said at UN that the US remained "deeply concerned" about Tehran's nuclear programme and that the issue remained a top priority for the White House.

"We look forward to engaging in vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran," she said after meeting Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, on Monday.

International powers have offered Tehran a set of economic incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment programme which Western governments say is a cover for seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Tehran, however, insists the programme is only aimed at generating electricity.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions, three of which included the imposition of sanctions, requiring Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

Campaign pledge

Rice said the US remained "deeply concerned about the threat that Iran's nuclear programme poses to the region, indeed to the United States and to the entire international community."

"We will look at what is necessary and appropriate with respect to maintaining pressure toward that goal of ending Iran's nuclear programme," she added.

"Dialogue and diplomacy must go hand in hand with a very firm message from the United States and the international community that Iran needs to meet its obligations as defined by the Security Council and its continued refusal to do so will only cause pressure to increase," Rice added.

During his election campaign, Barack Obama, the US president, said he would consider holding direct talks with Iran and other powers with poor relations with the US.

Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, said on Monday the US would use "all elements of our national power" to address its concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.

He said Rice's comments were not a new initiative and that Rice was simply restating comments made by Obama on the presidential campaign trail.

Source: Agencies

Israel rebuffs call for Gaza truce

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stepped up preparations for a possible ground offensive after Hamas's long-range rockets hit another major population center.

Israeli aircraft carried out more than 10 air strikes in sharply reduced operations in rainy weather that allowed many Gaza residents to venture out to shop for food for the first time since the start of Israel's five-day-old offensive.

The poor weather -- "a truce imposed by God" as one Palestinian put it -- could delay any push by Israeli tanks into the territory. Forecasters predicted several days of clear skies starting late on Thursday.

U.S. President George W. Bush spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert but did not discuss a timetable for halting Israeli strikes, the White House said. Bush put the onus on Hamas to stop firing rockets as a first step to a truce.

Foreign pressure has grown on both sides to end hostilities, but Israel brushed aside as "unrealistic" a French proposal for a 48-hour truce that would allow in more humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.

"If conditions will ripen and we think there will be a diplomatic solution that will ensure a better security reality in the south, we will consider it. But at the moment, it's not there," an aide quoted Olmert as saying.

"We didn't start this operation just to end it with rocket fire continuing as it did before it began," Olmert said, according to the aide. "Imagine if we declare a unilateral ceasefire and a few days later rockets fall on (the town of) Ashkelon. What will that do to Israel's deterrence?"

Olmert made the remarks -- which did not rule out a ceasefire in the future -- to his security cabinet.

Hamas, for its part, said it was prepared to study proposals for a ceasefire so long as it "will bring an immediate cessation to the aggression and lift the siege entirely," senior official Ayman Taha said, referring to Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

With Palestinians increasingly enraged over the offensive, President Mahmoud Abbas called for the fighting to be stopped "immediately and without any conditions" and said Israel was "fully responsible" for the carnage. Abbas will ask the U.N. Security Council to act, aides said.

Diplomats said the deadliest conflict in the Gaza Strip in four decades appeared close to a tipping point after four days of air strikes that have killed 393 Palestinians, at least a quarter of whom, U.N. figures showed, were civilians.

Along the heavily-fortified border fence, Israeli tank crews prepared for battle while Islamist militants, hiding as little as a few hundred yards (meters) away, laid land mines and other booby traps should a ground war break out.

Inside Gaza, many residents ventured outside their homes to stock up on supplies, taking advantage of a lull in Israeli air strikes that have turned Hamas government buildings into piles of rubble.

Some children played happily in the rain, as one parent remarked they were finally able to run free after what he called days of "house arrest."

Despite calls by European and Arab powers for an end to the violence, public anger in Israel over the widening of the rocket attacks to include Beersheba, 40 km (24 miles) from Gaza, could prompt the government to hit Hamas even harder.

Israeli officials said they were open to amendments to the French proposal and alternatives being put forward by international parties.

Cabinet ministers, however, approved the mobilization of 2,500 army reservists, expanding on an earlier call-up of 6,500 soldiers for the garrison on the Gaza border, and officials said a ground offensive was an option.

HUMANITARIAN AID

Israel said it was doing its part to let humanitarian supplies into Gaza despite the rocket fire. Ninety-three truckloads of food, medicine and blood for hospitals entered on Wednesday, defense official Peter Lerner said.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo to seek a common position in response to the Israeli attacks, but the Arab world is deeply divided in its attitude toward Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip last year after fighting a brief civil war with the secular Fatah faction loyal to Western-backed Abbas.

The diplomatic moves coincided with an escalation in Hamas rocket fire deeper inside Israel.

At least four of the longer-range Grad rockets hit Beersheba, the city Israel calls the capital of the Negev, its southern region. One struck a school that was empty. Municipal authorities had canceled classes after rockets landed in Beersheba on Tuesday evening for the first time.

Other long-range rockets hit the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. Dozens of short-range rockets pelted border towns.

Israel's air strikes on Wednesday targeted smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt frontier and Hamas government offices in Gaza City. Palestinian medics said four people -- two militants, a doctor and a paramedic -- were killed.

Food supplies in Gaza were running low and power cuts were affecting much of the territory. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the high number of casualties from the offensive.

Medical officials revised the number of wounded to 1,650 after figures arrived from medical centers that had not reported their casualty statistics earlier. Three Israeli civilians and a soldier have been killed by rockets.

Olmert's centrist government launched the operation six weeks before a February 10 election that opinion polls predict the opposition right-wing Likud party will win, with the goal of halting rocket attacks by militants in Gaza.

The current violence erupted after a six-month ceasefire brokered by Egypt expired on December 19 and Hamas intensified rocket attacks from the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

France said it would host Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday and an Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to visit Jerusalem next Monday.

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous, Ari Rabinovitch and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Wafa Amr and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, James Mackenzie in Paris and Alaa Shahine in Cairo; Writing by Adam Entous and Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Charles Dick)