Morning Coffee - 3 November 2009

Welcome to Morning Coffee, brought to you by Lindsay Beyerstein with additional links from the UN Dispatch team. Every morning we survey foreign affairs and foreign policy news so you don't have to. We begin with the "Starting Five" items of the day -- these may not always appear on A-1, but they *are* the kinds of stories that will be buzzing in foreign capitals, the UN and wherever foreign policy minds roam.
Starting Five
ARREST YOURSELF AND YOUR BROTHER, STAT - Irony alert: President Obama warned the newly reelected President of Afghanistan to get tough on corruption. Massive voter fraud in Karzai's favor was universally acknowledged during the August presidential election. He was declared the winner after his opponent quit, citing a lack of security for the runoff vote. Last week, Karzai's brother was unmasked as an opium trafficking warlord on the CIA's payroll. Link
COURT: SUCK IT UP, TORTURE VICTIM - If Canadian software engineer Maher Arar had slipped and fallen at JFK International Airport in 2002, he might be able to sue for compensation. His actual fate was infinitely worse, but a U.S. court has ruled that he has no right to sue. While changing planes at JFK, Arar was falsely arrested for being a terrorist. U.S. authorities sent him to Syria where he was tortured for months and confined in a coffin-like cell. Arar was ultimately exonerated, and the U.S. government apologized to him. However, a New York court found that only an act of Congress can compensate him for his pain and suffering. Arar plans to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Link
WORLD: STEP IT UP, YANKS - The UN and the European Union are joining forces to pressure the U.S. to commit to action on climate change. Just five days of pre-negotiation talks remain before the crucial Copenhagen summit where leaders hope to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Treaty. "The expectation out there worldwide among populations and the young [is for] the US to deliver on one of the key challenges of our century. The Americans will have to come up [with an offer] one way or another," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment minister who will host the upcoming summit. U.S. chief negotiator Jonathan Pershing stressed that the administration was doing its best to convince Congress to back a deal. Link
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR - Over 5 million children could be saved from lethal pneumonia between now and 2015 at the cost of less than $13 U.S. per child, according to the UN Childrens' Fund and the World Health Organization. The two agencies are seeking a total of $39 billion for the anti-pneumonia campaign. The campaign would focus on preventing pneumonia, preventing or treating other illnesses associated with pneumonia (e.g. measles and HIV), and providing antibiotics to poor children when prevention fails. Link
DON'T WASTE FOOD - Up to half of all crops go to waste in some of the world's hungriest countries, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Between 15% and 50% of all food grown is lost to post-harvest waste. The FAO blames bad weather, bacteria, and premature harvesting for the losses. It says that better training for farmers could dramatically reduce waste. Link
Provocateurs
Christopher Magnum in THE ADVOCATE
"The Ugandan embassies of France and the United States publicly condemned Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill on Monday, but officials in the African nation plan to move forward with the discriminatory legislation. [...] The bill would amplify the country's antigay laws, including criminalizing any public discussion of homosexuality and penalizing individuals who knowingly rented property to a homosexual. Also on Monday, Joann Lockard, the Ugandan embassy’s public affairs officer, stated disapproval of the proposed legislation. "
Jeff Huber in PEN & SWORD
"Thomas E. Ricks is the prototype of the sycophantic Pentagon beat reporter. He first met David Petraeus when Petraeus was a colonel or a light colonel (Ricks can’t remember which). Ricks began deifying Petraeus in Fiasco, his first book on Iraq. Fiasco was a scathing condemnation of the handling of Iraq after the fall of Baghdad. Ricks pilloried every major U.S. commander except Petraeus, whom he praised for the enlightened way he handled Mosul. Ricks has said little about how Petraeus operates: he hands out a lot of guns and then bribes everybody not to use them. "
The Editors in MOTHER JONES
"It's been more than three months since Mother Jones contributor Shane Bauer, along with his friends Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, was arrested by Iranian authorities while hiking near the Iranian-Iraqi border in northern Kurdistan. Though Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Iranian courts should treat the threesome with the "maximum possible leniency," Iranian authorities say they are continuing to investigate the hikers' activities. The families of the three are now calling for vigils on the 100-day anniversary of their detention, November 8. Shon Meckfessel, the fourth hiker—he traveled with the three to northern Iraq but didn't join them on their fateful hike because he was sick—has written the following open letter to Ahmadinejad."
Water Cooler

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will travel to Honduras today to serve on the Verification Commission that is tasked with ensuring that the coup regime and deposed President Mel Zelaya abide by the terms of the agreement they reached last week to end the standoff at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa. The two sides pledged to form a power-sharing government. It is unclear whether Zelaya will be restored to power under the deal because the Honduran Congress has to vote on the issue with input from the Supreme Court.

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