Prime Minister George Papandreou Survives Confidence Vote

At Telegraph UK, "Greek prime minister survives confidence vote."

And at New York Times, "Greek Leader Survives Vote, Bolstering Deal on Europe Debt." And at Business Week, "Papandreou Seeks to Form Unity Government to Avert Default":

Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking to form a government of national unity that will enable Greece to convince international leaders to resume aid before the nation runs out of funds next month.

Papandreou met with President Karolos Papoulias today as pressure mounts on the 59-year-old to step aside after he was forced to cancel a referendum that may have led to Greece being ejected from the euro. The premier won a confidence motion early this morning after pledging to disaffected members of his ruling Pasok party that he would not stay on.

Papandreou proposed “contributing definitively to creating a government of wider cooperation with the main goal of guiding legislation and anything else related to the historic Oct. 26” agreement with international lenders, the premier told reporters after meeting the president in Athens today. Last month’s accord “is a prerequisite for our remaining in the euro.”

Aid Package Elusive at G-20 Summit at Cannes

At WaPo, "G-20 sends a strong message to Europe," and LAT, "G-20 summit ends with little action on European debt crisis."

BONUS: Eswar Prasad, at The Daily Beast, "Crisis Kills G-20 Progress."

Israel Navy Intercepts Boats Bound for Gaza

At New York Times, "Israel Intercepts Two Boats Bound for Gaza":

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said on Friday that it had boarded two small boats that were sailing toward Gaza to challenge Israel’s maritime blockade of the Palestinian coastal enclave. There were no reports of violence or injuries.

The boats, one Canadian and the other Irish, were carrying 27 pro-Palestinian activists, journalists and crew members from nine countries. The military had stated that it would prevent the boats from reaching Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The Israeli Navy initially notified the vessels that they were en route to an area under blockade and advised them to turn back, or to sail to a port in Egypt or Israel, the military said in a statement.

Also at Israel Matzav, "Here we go again... Flotilla refuses navy order to turn around; UPDATED WITH VIDEO."

A Greek Lesson in Democracy

At New York Times, "Greek Revolt on Bailout Vote May Oust Prime Minister."

ATHENS — The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou teetered on the verge of collapse on Tuesday, threatening Greece’s adherence to the terms of a new deal with its foreign lenders and plunging Europe into a fresh bout of financial turmoil.

Several lawmakers in the governing Socialist Party rejected Mr. Papandreou’s surprise plan for a popular referendum on the Greek bailout, raising the possibility that he will not survive a no-confidence vote scheduled for Friday that depends on his holding together a razor-thin parliamentary majority.

An emergency cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Papandreou ended at nearly 3 a.m. Wednesday, with the cabinet saying that it unanimously supported the prime minister’s call for a referendum, local news outlets reported. The opposition and some members of his own party, however, were calling for new elections immediately.

The impasse in Athens seemed likely to delay — and perhaps scuttle — the debt deal that European leaders reached after marathon negotiations in Brussels last week. Financial markets cratered on Tuesday for the second straight day, wiping out the gains since the Brussels deal was announced last week. Some analysts said that Greece was now coming closer to a messy default on its debt, and perhaps a departure from the zone of 17 countries that use the euro as their common currency.

And at Wall Street Journal, "A Greek default would provide a lesson in what happens to countries that can't live within their means":

George Papandreou became the most unpopular man in Europe on Monday by announcing that his government would put the terms of last week's EU-IMF bailout package to a referendum, so that Greeks can decide their economic future for themselves. The Prime Minister's announcement sent markets tumbling world-wide, took Italian government-bond yields to a near euro-era high, and had German officials privately denouncing his behavior as un-European.

An alternative view is that Mr. Papandreou has done his own people, and all Europeans, a considerable favor. Who would have thought the Greeks had something to teach the world about democracy?

Yeah, who would have thought the Greeks would know something about democracy? They're living beyond their means, no doubt, but this news is like a breath of fresh air. What a crisis!

Also at WSJ, "Greek PM's Referendum Plan Stuns Europe, Rattles Markets."

This Was the Week That European Democracy Died

From Janet Daley, at Telegraph UK:

So this is where we are. The agreed EU “stability union” triumphantly paraded before the media in Brussels will have the power to approve or disapprove budgets of countries in the eurozone – that is, to vet and police them – before they are submitted to the elected parliaments of those countries. In other words, parliaments which are directly mandated by, and answerable to, their own populations will not control the most essential functions of government: decisions on taxation and spending. Even without the ultimate institutions of economic and political union, which still elude the EU, actual power over fiscal policy will be taken from the hands of national leaders. And if, as a voter, you cannot influence your prospective government’s tax and spending policies, what exactly are you voting for?

Europe Needs Economic Growth

At Los Angeles Times, "Europe debt crisis plan hinges on economic growth":

Reporting from London — The latest plan to save Europe from its debt crisis was greeted with a burst of self-congratulation from the bleary-eyed leaders who negotiated it and a respite from the months of pounding by the continent's financial markets.

But the politicians who struck an early-morning deal in Brussels to avert financial collapse still face another ominous threat: a slide back into recession for their economies that could undermine the debt agreement as well as bring even greater social disorder to their streets.

The realization appears to be taking hold in some capitals that any "grand plan" to restore confidence in the Eurozone will fail without accompanying economic growth. Cuts in government spending that have been prescribed to get budget deficits under control also lead to job losses, along with the hardship and fear that foment social unrest.

Evidence is already coming in. From riots in Britain to peaceful protests by thousands of youths in Spain, from the angry unions marching through tear gas in Greece's streets to the far-right populist parties surging in popularity in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, the consequences of a hard economic squeeze are creating a backlash on the streets and making governments nervous.

More at that top link.

Benefits Run Out for Spain's Jobless

The report's at Wall Street Journal, but click through at Google:

Spain's jobless rate, hovering above 20% since early 2010, reached its highest rate in 15 years in the third quarter, the government reported Friday, at 21.5%—driven up in part by public-sector cuts. The number of households without any income also hit record levels, rising to 559,900, or 3.2% of Spain's families, the government said.

One reason: Three years into the economic crisis, more and more jobless Spaniards are seeing their unemployment benefits expire. The Spanish social safety net for the long-term unemployed runs out more quickly than in many Western European countries, and its unemployment rate is the highest in the European Union.

Most wage-replacement benefits in Spain—which top out at about €1,400 ($2,000) monthly for workers with two children—run out or significantly decline by 24 months, compared with three to five years in some countries, including Belgium and Denmark. Mr. Tuesta's benefits expired late last year.

The government on Friday announced plans to spend an additional €24 billion ($34 billion) on job development from 2012 through 2014. Those expenses could require cuts elsewhere. The euro zone, trying to contain a debt crisis, wants Madrid to slash its budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2013, from more than 9% last year.

Even as it has frozen pensions and cut public-sector salaries, Spain's government has been loath to trim assistance for the jobless. Still, in August, 71% of Spain's jobless collected unemployment benefits, compared with more than 79% in the summer of 2010, according to the Spanish Labor Ministry.

That's the crisis of the European welfare-state model right there, and right here at home protesters at Occupy Wall Street are campaigning for the exact same fiscal bankruptcy and welfare state nightmare.

It's an upside down world.

RELATED: At Reuters, "Spain's Bankia, Popular 'can meet new capital rules'."

Greeks Attack Merkel Government as Nazi Regime

At London's Daily Mail, "Furious Greeks lampoon German 'overlords' as Nazis with picture of Merkel dressed as an SS guard."

Greeks angry at the fate of the euro are comparing the German government with the Nazis who occupied the country in the Second World War.

Newspaper cartoons have presented modern-day German officials dressed in Nazi uniform, and a street poster depicts Chancellor Angela Merkel dressed as an officer in Hitler’s regime accompanied with the words: ‘Public nuisance.’

Greeks are furious at the deal, even though it means the banks will write off 50 per cent of the country’s debt and Socialist prime minister George Papandreou said Greece had ‘avoided a mortal national danger’.

Opposition parties blasted the landmark agreement, with conservatives warning it condemned the country to ‘nine more years of collapse and poverty’.

But it is the fury of ordinary Greeks which is raising eyebrows.

Greek government officials who agreed to the belt-tightening moves have been portrayed in cartoons giving the Nazi ‘Sieg Heil’ salute.

And German visitors flocking to ancient tourist sites are being met with a hostile welcome from some Greeks.

Berlin’s interference has revived historical enmities and evoked comparisons to the massive destruction of Greece at the hands of Hitler’s Germany more than 65 years ago.

That's pretty cheap.

Of course, Greece is the freeloader of Europe, so naturally they'd attack the powerful Germans as "Nazis."

Iran Defeats the United States in Iraq?

From Frederick Kagan and Kimberly Kagan, at Los Angeles Times, "Out of Iraq":

Iran has just defeated the United States in Iraq.

The American withdrawal, which comes after the administration's failure to secure a new agreement that would have allowed troops to remain in Iraq, won't be good for ordinary Iraqis or for the region. But it will unquestionably benefit Iran.

President Obama's February 2009 speech at Camp Lejeune accurately defined the U.S. goal for Iraq as "an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant." He then outlined how the U.S. would achieve that goal by working "to promote an Iraqi government that is just, representative and accountable, and that provides neither support nor safe haven to terrorists."

Despite recent administration claims to the contrary, Iraq today meets none of those conditions. Its sovereignty is hollow because of the continued activities of Iranian-backed militias in its territory. Its stability is fragile, since the fundamental disputes among ethnic and sectarian groups remain unresolved. And it is not in any way self-reliant. The Iraqi military cannot protect its borders, its airspace or its territorial waters without foreign assistance.

Although Obama has clearly failed to achieve the goals for Iraq that he set five weeks after taking office, Iran, in contrast, is well on its way to achieving its strategic objectives. Since 2004, Tehran has sought to drive all American forces out of the country, to promote a weak, Shiite-led government in Baghdad, to develop Hezbollah-like political-militia organizations in Iraq through which to exert influence and intimidate pro-Western Iraqi leaders, and to insinuate its theocratic ideology into Iraq's Shiite clerical establishment. It has largely succeeded in achieving each of those goals.

Well, they don't beat around the bush, do they?

There's more at that top link.

And see Omri Ceren, at Commentary, "Untangling Ideology From Incompetence on Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal."

Archaeologists in France Discover Underground Remains of 21 German Soldiers from World War I

At Der Spiegel, "WWI Grave Find Tells Story Germans Want to Forget":

Archaeologists in northern France have unearthed the bodies of 21 German soldiers from World War One in an elaborate underground shelter that was destroyed in a French attack in March 1918, and hasn't been opened since.

Individual war casualties are still frequently found during construction work on the former Western front battlefields of France and Belgium, but the discovery of so many soldiers in one location is rare.
The tomb, poignant and grisly, sheds light on the lives of the soldiers who died in explosions from heavy shells that penetrated the tunnel.

"It's a bit like Pompeii," Michaël Landolt, the French archaeologist leading the dig, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time. This is an extraordinary find."

Fascinating. It turns out Germans don't really like digging up the past, so to speak. German newspapers buried the story on the inside pages.

RTWT.

Harvard's Stephen Walt: 'The Myth of American Exceptionalism'

At Foreign Policy.

I saw this a couple of weeks back and wasn't the least bit surprised, especially since I learned that Walt was a featured speaker at communist Code Pink's Jew-hating anti-AIPAC conference in May. I considered writing a full take-down, but thought better of my time. Besides, Walt gets hammered in the comments:

Typical Revisionist Thinking

As an American, I have absolutely no qualms with the content of this article. That said, we all need to take a deep breath and realize that this is just another contribution to the millions of pages of standard revisionist political thinking in the US. And it seems like every time another page or two is written, the author and/or his/her readers act as though they have just unearthed a treasure trove of hidden truth that typical "brainwashed" Americans have never heard before.

There is nothing in this article that is not taught in every basic US history class (at least at the university level), that has not been widely reported in the US media, or that is not a common topic in US political discussion. As much as people outside of the US like to think of Americans as lost in a world of false euphoria stemming from their very "Americanness," the harshest critics of the United States, much like this author, are to be found right within the US itself, teaching at its universities, publishing articles in its journals and newspapers, lecturing at events, and participating in public political discussion. Believe me, as a nation, we are quite sober and objective.

This is a full-length feature in the magazine's November/December issue, and it might be useful for international relations course syllabi. Or, well, perhaps as part of a debate on exceptionalism. Either that, or as a museum piece of elitist (egghead) political science, worth a read for its curiosity value (at the link)

The Post-Global Warming World

From Wall Street Journal (at Theo Spark):

The science on climate change and man's influence on it is far from settled. The question today is whether it makes sense to combat a potential climate threat by imposing economically destructive regulations and sinking billions into failure-prone technologies that have their own environmental costs.

Well, WaPo's Eugene Robinson says the debate's over.

Right. Freakin' idiot.

The Once and Future German Problem

My dad used to always warn against the eventual rise of Germany after World War II. It's a question that's always fascinated me. Germany's already wielding tremendous influence amid all the economic turmoil, but if the Eurozone crashes say goodbye to a united Europe and the promise of peace it established.

At Washington Post, "In Europe, new fears of German might."

BERLIN — For decades, Germany’s role in Europe has been to supply the cash, not the leadership. With fresh memories of war, the continent was cautious about German domination — and so were the Germans themselves.

But the economic crisis has shaken Europe’s postwar model, and Germany increasingly calls the shots. As countries struggle to pay their debts, only Chancellor Angela Merkel has enough money to haul them out of trouble. And the price Merkel is demanding — more control over how they run their economies — is setting off alarm bells in capitals across the continent.

In Athens, protesters dressed up as Nazis routinely prowl the streets, an allusion to the old model of an assertive Germany. In Poland, accusations that Germany has imperial ambitions became a campaign issue in the recent presidential election.

And although German leaders have sought in recent weeks to soothe others’ fears in advance of high-level meetings in Brussels on Sunday and in coming days, the tone has sometimes sounded pugilistic.

Germany reengineered its culture after 1945. And I expect its role as economic powerhouse will satisfy renascent nationalist aspirations for European dominance. But there were predictions of a return to multipolarity and armed conflict in the years following the end of the Cold War. Hyper-institutionalization in the European project made that an impossibility. But times change. A lot depends on the role of the United States, whether we stay engaged in NATO and continue to keep Germany down, as we had throughout the postwar era. Is war among the leading European powers even a possibility at this point? Well, probably not --- I haven't heard a lot of calls for territorial revisionism, for example --- but you can't rule these things out. The pillars sustaining the peace are giving way. See Joshua Goldstein's recent essay, "Think Again: War."

RELATED: Anne-Marie Burley (Slaughter), "The Once and Future German Question."

Muammar Gaddafi Allegedly Sodomized After Capture

It's pretty awful, but seriously? Folks are going to get worked up about this? The dude promised to go "house to house" to cleanse the "greasy rats" from Libya.

There's commentary at CBS News, "GlobalPost: Qaddafi apparently sodomized after capture." (Via Memeorandum.)

Or go straight to the source, "Gaddafi sodomized: Video shows abuse frame by frame (GRAPHIC)."

Obama Doctrine: How Obama Blew It In Iraq

From Bruce Kesler, at Maggie's Farm:

After 9-years of US sacrifices, President Obama's rush for the exits in Iraq and the incompetence of his administration is seen again, with very probable bad consequences for Iraq's ability to withstand internal discord and external influence from Iran. The US is left with little but a likely buffer protecting Iranian interests and a sanctions evasion route that allows Iran greater freedom from Western pressure. Once again, each time over and over, Obama blows US interests into the crapper.

No doubt.

RTWT.

RELATED: From Pejman Yousefzadeh, "Leaving Iraq the Wrong Way."

European Leaders Debate Severe Options for Accord

At WSJ (via Google):

BRUSSELS — European leaders took their first steps toward a new plan to stem the euro crisis, admitting that their last grand plan, agreed to only three months ago, has failed.

The new effort, which leaders hope to finalize at another summit on Wednesday, involves a sweeping recapitalization of European banks, a substantial restructuring of Greece's debts, a bigger bailout fund, and even possibly fresh efforts to entice sovereign-wealth funds in China and elsewhere to come to Europe's aid.

Continue reading at that link.

Banks are writing off some of their Greek loans, and lots more capitalization is needed. See also Der Spiegel, "German Parliament Slows Euro Rescue Decisions," and Telegraph UK, "David Cameron vows to reclaim EU powers amid looming rebellion."

Gaddafi Killed by Shot to the Head

Well, you think?

It's not like it took a forensic medical examiner to figure it out.

See CBS News, "Autopsy: Qaddafi was killed by shot to head." (Via Memeorandum and Doug Powers at Michelle's.)

Hillary Clinton Warns Iran on U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. Here's she's seen with Christiane Amanpour, where she announces that "no one should miscalculate our commitment to Iraq, most particularly Iran":

See New York Times, "Clinton Defends Iraq Withdrawal Plan."

Springtime for Islamists in Tunisia?

At LAT, "Tunisia vote could shape religion in public life":

This nation that inspired revolution across the Arab world is facing another bellwether moment that may again foreshadow what happens throughout the Mideast in the intensifying battle between secularists and Islamists over the role of religion in shaping public life.

Tunisians will vote Sunday for a constituent assembly that will set the course for a new government and write the nation's laws. Islamists, suppressed for decades by autocratic rule, are poised to win big, a prospect that has liberals and secularists worried about the future of civil liberties.

The outcome will be the latest evolution in a tumultuous year of Arab rebellion that last week saw Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi killed and his half-naked body laid out in a souk's cold-storage locker, a gruesome show of contempt that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago.

But it has been a year of the unfathomable: Here in Tunisia, the suicide late last year of a desperate fruit seller launched an uprising that in January brought down President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. With quickening speed, revolt spread to Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown weeks later. Today, as the words "Arab Spring" have become the catchy lexicon of rebellion, the entrenched leaders of Yemen and Syria face gathering forces arrayed against them.

The pressing concerns facing Tunisia mirror those of other countries trying to advance beyond the grip of tyrants. Voters here say they do not want the vital issues of joblessness, economic problems and widening youth disenchantment to be eclipsed by an Islamic agenda.

But ambitions of Islamists have been simmering for years in a region where police states arrested their leaders and muffled the voices of fiery clerics. Freedoms brought by the Arab Spring are reigniting debates between Islamists and secularists, but also between ultraconservative and moderate Muslims over how deeply religion should permeate society.

Also at WSJ, "Large Numbers Turn Out for Tunisian Vote" (via Google):

Democracy activists across the region hope that a successful vote here could galvanize pro-democracy movements that have flagged amid violent regime crackdowns, as in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, and by a pushback by old-guard counterrevolutionary forces, as in Egypt.

Among the countries that have overthrown leaders, Tunisia presents the most fertile seedbed for democracy, say analysts: It has a relatively large and educated middle class. Women enjoy a measure of equality unmatched in the Arab world. The country has a tradition of civil rule both before and after January's revolution. With a relatively homogenous population of 10 million, the country also suffers from few ethnic and sectarian rifts.

The question is the degree to which Tunisia's vote will apply to the likes of Egypt, Libya, Yemen or Syria, where uprisings have been bloodier and rife with internal tribal, sectarian or regional tensions. Tunisia may stand as an aspirational example, analysts say—or as a bar set too high.

Gilad Shalit Release

Gilad Shalit was released last Tuesday. I posted a couple of times on the Israel/Hamas deal, but I didn't have the chance mid-week to comment on Shalit's homecoming. He looks ghastly. That's what five years of being held hostage does to you. Terrorists terrorize. Not enough to eat. No loved ones to care for and have care for you. It burns inside the think of what in God's name drives these people to such barbarism. But he's home, and that in itself is a blessing, even if there may be more just like him.

I'm reminded after checking over at Melanie Phillips' blog, and she links to a couple of her essays: "The infernal choice," and "Journalism? No, cruelty and propaganda."