Obama marks Korean war truce
US President Barack Obama is marking the 60th
anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
Obama is delivering remarks on Saturday at a commemorative ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall.
The 1950 - 1953 Korean war pitted North Korean and Chinese troops against US-led UN and South Korean forces. It ended on 27 July 1953 - 60 years ago on Saturday - with the signing of an armistice.
But a formal peace treaty was never signed, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war and divided at the 38th parallel between its communist north and democratic south.
At least 2.5 million people were killed in the fighting.
In a proclamation declaring on Saturday as National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, Obama said the anniversary marks the end of the war and the beginning of a long and prosperous peace.
In the six decades since the end of hostilities, Obama said, South Korea has become a close US ally and one of the world's largest economies.
He said the partnership remains "a bedrock of stability" throughout the Pacific region, and gave credit to the US service members who fought all those years ago and to the men and women currently stationed there.
Obama is delivering remarks on Saturday at a commemorative ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall.
The 1950 - 1953 Korean war pitted North Korean and Chinese troops against US-led UN and South Korean forces. It ended on 27 July 1953 - 60 years ago on Saturday - with the signing of an armistice.
But a formal peace treaty was never signed, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war and divided at the 38th parallel between its communist north and democratic south.
At least 2.5 million people were killed in the fighting.
In a proclamation declaring on Saturday as National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, Obama said the anniversary marks the end of the war and the beginning of a long and prosperous peace.
In the six decades since the end of hostilities, Obama said, South Korea has become a close US ally and one of the world's largest economies.
He said the partnership remains "a bedrock of stability" throughout the Pacific region, and gave credit to the US service members who fought all those years ago and to the men and women currently stationed there.
Japan military plan worries China
China's Defence Ministry on Saturday urged international vigilance of Japan's military plans
after it unveiled an interim report calling for strengthened armed forces,
including the possible acquisition of the ability to hit enemy bases.
Japan's proposal its latest step away from the constraints of its pacifist constitution is part of a review of defence policy by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, which released an interim report on the issue on Friday. Final review conclusions are due by the end of the year.
Japan's Defence Ministry also said it would consider buying unmanned surveillance drones, create a force of Marines to protect remote islands, such as those disputed with China, and consider beefing up the ability to transport troops to far-flung isles.
"The sections about China in this report by Japan are playing on the same old themes, exaggerating the military threat from China, and have ulterior motives," China's Defence Ministry said in a statement on its website.
"This year, Japan has come up with all kinds of excuses to continue to expand its armaments... creating tensions in the region. These moves deserve the highest vigilance from neighbouring countries in Asia and from the international community," it said.
Security environment
The hawkish Abe took office in December for a rare second term, pledging to bolster the military to cope with what Japan sees as an increasingly threatening security environment including an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.
Abe called on Friday for a leaders' summit or a foreign ministers' meeting between his country and China as soon as possible.
But Abe's appeal drew a cool reaction from China which accused Japan of lacking sincerity.
Over the past year, China's stand-off with Japan over a string of uninhabited rocky islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China has become more acrimonious.
China also believes that Japan has never properly atoned for its brutal invasion and occupation of parts of the country before and during World War Two.
Japan's proposal its latest step away from the constraints of its pacifist constitution is part of a review of defence policy by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, which released an interim report on the issue on Friday. Final review conclusions are due by the end of the year.
Japan's Defence Ministry also said it would consider buying unmanned surveillance drones, create a force of Marines to protect remote islands, such as those disputed with China, and consider beefing up the ability to transport troops to far-flung isles.
"The sections about China in this report by Japan are playing on the same old themes, exaggerating the military threat from China, and have ulterior motives," China's Defence Ministry said in a statement on its website.
"This year, Japan has come up with all kinds of excuses to continue to expand its armaments... creating tensions in the region. These moves deserve the highest vigilance from neighbouring countries in Asia and from the international community," it said.
Security environment
The hawkish Abe took office in December for a rare second term, pledging to bolster the military to cope with what Japan sees as an increasingly threatening security environment including an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.
Abe called on Friday for a leaders' summit or a foreign ministers' meeting between his country and China as soon as possible.
But Abe's appeal drew a cool reaction from China which accused Japan of lacking sincerity.
Over the past year, China's stand-off with Japan over a string of uninhabited rocky islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China has become more acrimonious.
China also believes that Japan has never properly atoned for its brutal invasion and occupation of parts of the country before and during World War Two.
Europe's Incomplete One-Year Anniversary
Exactly a year ago when Mario Draghi, the well-respected president of the European Central Bank (ECB), made his now-famous "whatever it takes" remarks.
Twelve months later, this stands out as the boldest and most successful initiative in the history of modern central banking. Yet the durability of the benefits is undermined by Europe's frustratingly slow progress in getting to grips with its growth and employment deficits.
Europe's economic context was a daunting one that sunny day in London.
The Eurozone's financial system was fragmenting and deposits were fleeing struggling banks. Credit intermediation was coming to a complete stop, starving companies of working capital and putting investment plans on hold. Financial markets were in turmoil, with surging borrowing costs threatening sovereign creditworthiness and eroding liquidity.
In essence, Europe stood on the verge of a great depression, facing an immediate future of serial bankruptcies and massive unemployment.
In a conference organized by the British government, Mr. Draghi took the stage for a panel of central bankers' panel. In addition to those in the room attending the "Global Investment Conference," the event was well covered by the media and simultaneously streamed to nervous world markets.
Mr. Draghi totally upstaged his colleagues on the panel. He directly and frankly addressed the what, how and why of Europe's enormous financial strains. Comparing the Eurozone to a bumble bee that is able to fly despite seemingly-irregular aerodynamic properties, he confidently and calmly re-assured all that were listening that "the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough."
It was an extremely bold step.
Mr. Draghi courageously placed the ECB front and center in what were (and still are) complicated and stressful political interactions among the 17 member governments of the Eurozone. He seemingly did so without fully consulting with his colleagues on the central bank's governing council. And he put forward ambitious claims without concrete measures to back them as yet. (These came later, culminating in a dramatic ECB announcement in September.)
It also turned out to be an extremely successful step.
Without spending a single Euro, Mr. Draghi calmed markets, reversed the bank deposit flight and allowed the financial system to partially heal. In the process, he managed to unify a governing council that could have easily disintegrated into one big national political mess - thus bringing an important element of coherence to often-erratic cross-border and regional interactions.
Yet I suspect that the one-year celebration will not be an entirely satisfactory one for Mr. Draghi and his ECB colleagues.
While they brilliantly delivered and did so by literally making it up as they went along national and regional politicians have lagged. As such, the financial improvement has not been accompanied by a meaningful change in what matters most: namely, the ability to generate economic growth, create jobs and arrest excessive income and wealth inequalities.
Europe's incomplete anniversary speaks to a broader phenomenon that serially frustrates the global economy from recovering fully from the shock of the 2008 global financial crisis: Politicians have failed to exploit the window offered by experimental central bank policies, and continue to do so.
In Europe, national governments still differ on the causes of the region's malaise; and if you cannot agree on history or at least put it aside it is hard to press forward with a unified and credible vision that gets sufficient buy-in from naturally-skeptical citizens.
In the United States, a polarized Congress has undermined virtually every policy step proposed by the Obama Administration to bring the economy closer to escape velocity for economic growth and job creation; and Capitol Hill has done so regardless of merit and need. As such, the Federal Reserve has felt compelled to venture deeper and deeper into experimental policies, raising concerns about collateral costs and unintended consequences.
In celebrating the one-year anniversary, the West would be well advised to look beyond the great success of a courageous (and extremely cost effective) policy measure.
We should also think in terms of foregone opportunities. And we should constantly remember the millions of unemployed, the alarmingly high joblessness among the young, the struggles that too many face in securing their families wellbeing, and the growing number of retirees that are legitimately worried about their pensions.
They all serve as a vivid reminder of an incomplete success. Hopefully, they will also add to the calls for more comprehensive and durable actions.
Israel's Cabinet To Vote On Freeing Palestinian Prisoners Ahead Of Peace Talks
Israel arrested Masoud a month later and sentenced him to life, meaning he was doomed to die in prison one day for killing the lawyer in the name of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction.
Now Masoud, along with dozens of other long-term Palestinian prisoners, is up for release as part of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's attempt to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks after five years of diplomatic paralysis.
Israel's Cabinet is being asked to approve a prisoner release in principle on Sunday, as part of a Kerry-brokered deal to get the two sides back to the table.
The Cabinet vote would pave the way for a preliminary meeting of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington on Tuesday, followed by up to nine months of talks in the region on setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Such a deal has eluded Israelis and Palestinians for two decades and they have low expectations.
The fate of those held in Israeli jails is an emotionally wrought issue for Palestinians, who view the prisoners as heroes who made personal sacrifices in the struggle for statehood.
A prisoner release particularly of lifers with "blood their hands" would go a long way toward giving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a popular mandate to give talks another shot, even if many Palestinians believe Israel's hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not serious about a deal.
Israelis tend to view the prisoners as cold-blooded terrorists, and early releases of security prisoners in previous swaps elicited vociferous objections from the public, including Supreme Court appeals.
For Israel's government, approving the release of prisoners it refused to free in the past even if in stages and linked to progress in talks poses the most difficult test so far of its professed willingness to reach a peace deal.
In a statement late Saturday, Netanyahu said that a decision to release prisoners is "painful to the bereaved families, painful to the people of Israel and very painful for me."
Yet, he said, prime ministers "are required from time to time to take decisions that are against public opinion if it is important to the state," signaling he is pushing for Cabinet approval of the release.
Abbas, meanwhile, briefed reporters on the terms of the upcoming negotiations, based on what he said were Kerry's assurances to him. He said the American invitation would state that the talks will be about establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel, based on the 1967 borders and with mutually agreed upon land swaps.
The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem lands Israel captured in 1967. In previous negotiations, Abbas offered to trade 1.9 percent of West Bank land for the same amount of Israeli territory, a swap that would enable Israel to keep some of the dozens of Jewish settlements it has built since 1967.
Israeli officials have declined comment on the negotiations. Netanyahu refused in the past to accept the 1967 lines as a starting point, and it's not clear whether his position has changed.
Abbas said the situation would become clearer after Sunday's Cabinet meeting.
A senior Palestinian official said the Palestinians would go to talks without Israel having agreed to a freeze of settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Nearly 600,000 Jews already live there, and thousands of homes are under construction.
In guidelines for the talks requested by the Palestinians, Kerry stipulated earlier this month that both sides have to refrain from unilateral steps, according to the Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a gag order the U.S. secretary of state slapped on the negotiators.
The Palestinians understand this to mean that Israel will slow down settlement construction and refrain from provocative steps, such as announcing new projects, the official said. The Palestinians, in turn, will suspend plans to seek further recognition at the U.N. General Assembly, which last year recognized a state of Palestine in the 1967 borders. Israel fears further international isolation as a result of Palestinian activity at the U.N.
Abbas has argued he would need either a settlement freeze or Israeli recognition of the 1967 lines as a baseline to be able to resume negotiations.
In Sunday's Cabinet meeting, ministers will be asked to vote on a number of fateful issues, an official in Netanyahu's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with briefing regulations.
The ministers will be asked to authorize the resumption of talks with the Palestinians and appoint a team reportedly the premier and three ministers to oversee the negotiations.
They will be asked to approve an amended bill that would require a national referendum on any partition deal with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu's decision to fast-track the referendum bill has prompted contradictory speculation. Some say this shows the lifelong hawk is serious about a deal this time and wants to silence opposition by ultra-nationalists in his Likud party and his coalition from the outset. Others suspect he is trying to create new obstacles to any agreement.
The Cabinet ministers would also have to approve, in principle, a release of Palestinian prisoners who were arrested before the start of the so-called Oslo talks on interim peace deals in the early 1990s.
Abbas gave Kerry a list of 104 names, including that of Omar Masoud who is No. 77, ranked by seniority. The two longest-held at the top of the list are cousins Karim and Maher Younis, imprisoned since 1983 for kidnapping and killing an Israeli soldier, Palestinian officials said.
When Israeli media reported last week that Israel would only release 82 and that Palestinians from Israel and east Jerusalem would not be freed, Abbas asked Kerry for clarifications.
The U.S. diplomat gave Abbas to understand that all 104 would be freed, said a Palestinian official, also speaking anonymously to avoid violating Kerry's call for discretion. The prisoners are to be released in four stages over six months, beginning a month after the resumption of talks, the official said.
As of late June, nearly 5,000 Palestinians were being held by Israel.
Masoud's mother, 70-year-old Tamam, said she is optimistic.
"I hope everything will work out between Jews and Arabs," she said, speaking in her shack in the Shati refugee camp. Abbas "took a good step by talking about releasing prisoners," she said.
Omar Masoud's family was evasive when asked about the killing, portraying it as the rash act of an immature youth. A recent prison photo of him showed a balding middle-aged man who his mother says often cooks for other prisoners because of his work experience as a teenager in an Israeli restaurant.
Despite considerable opposition in Israel to prisoner releases, polls indicate a majority support a resumption of peace talks. Yuval Diskin, former head of Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet, expressed that ambivalence.
He noted that he opposed a 2011 swap in which Israel agreed to free some 1,000 Palestinians for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants, but that the upcoming round of talks may be the last chance for a deal.
"We need to understand that the negotiations cart is stuck in very, very deep mud," he told Israel TV's Channel 10 on Friday. "And there are some very painful things that will need to happen in order to get that cart out of the mud."
