http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjVNlG5cZyQ&feature=related
Clinton warned to stay out of Chicago politics
http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13751017
by KAREN HAWKINS
Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) - Congressman Danny Davis has a message for former President Bill Clinton: Don't take sides in the Chicago mayor's race - or else.
Davis, a longtime friend of Clinton, warned the ex-president on Tuesday that he could jeopardize his "long and fruitful relationship" with the black community if he campaigns for former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel instead of one of the two leading black candidates running - Davis or former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.
The warning highlights the stakes in what is gearing up to be a contentious race for mayor in the nation's third-largest city. About a dozen people have made it on to the ballot to replace retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley, who is bowing out after more than 20 years in office, giving candidates their first real shot at Chicago's top job for the first time in two decades.
In a news release, Davis, a Democrat from Chicago's West Side, said Clinton's relationship with the black community may be "fractured and perhaps even broken" if he comes to town to stump for Emanuel, who moved back to Chicago this fall to run for mayor and is leading in the polls.
Davis later told The Associated Press that he intended the news release to be a personal appeal to Clinton, friend to friend.
"You just wouldn't want your friends to be campaigning against you," Davis said with a laugh. "I've enjoyed a great friendship and relationship and have a tremendous amount of affinity for both the Clintons ... and I'd like to keep it that way."
"I want him to be neutral," Davis said of the former president.
Emanuel's campaign recently announced that Clinton was going to head a campaign event in January, but no date or time has been announced. Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt declined to comment on Davis' statement, and messages left with Clinton's foundation weren't immediately returned on Tuesday.
Blacks make up 35 percent of Chicago's population, a key voting bloc that has the potential to doom or elevate a candidate. A recent Chicago Tribune/WGN poll showed Davis leading Emanuel among black voters, but just barely. Davis was backed by 21 percent of black voters, Emanuel was backed by 19 percent, but 30 percent were undecided. The poll showed Emanuel leading with 30 percent among all voters surveyed.
Emanuel held various positions in Clinton's administration, including senior policy adviser, director of special projects and political director. Davis also has known Clinton for years, and political consultant Delmarie Cobb said Davis was among the first black leaders to support Clinton's presidential campaign before he had widespread name recognition.
"I can see where Danny Davis would be very upset," Cobb said.
Braun, the race's other leading black candidate, joined the U.S. Senate the same year Clinton became president, and he was always supportive of her, Cobb said. Clinton appointed Braun as ambassador to New Zealand after she lost her Senate re-election bid.
Messages left for Braun's campaign weren't immediately returned.
Clinton - who Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison once dubbed the country's first black president - still enjoys a great deal of support among black voters, and Davis said part of his concern is about Clinton's impact on the mayor's race.
"I think he certainly has some sway and power," Davis said. "He's still a tremendous draw."
But Cobb wasn't convinced that Clinton's popularity would translate into votes. She and other black leaders want Clinton to stay on the sidelines because "a president shouldn't inject himself in a local mayoral race. He's an international figure."
"This is not something he should be a part of, especially when he has no direct ties to Chicago," Cobb said. "He is bigger than this."
While Davis said his message to Clinton was meant to be a friendly appeal, the tone of his statement was more direct, suggesting that the former president would lose black support if he campaigned for Emanuel.
"The African-American community has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Clintons, however it appears as though some of that relationship maybe fractured and perhaps even broken should former President Clinton come to town and participate overtly in efforts to thwart the legitimate political aspirations of Chicago's Black community," the statement said.
Cobb echoed that sentiment, saying that if Clinton visits Chicago for Emanuel, "it would appear that the president was supporting a white man over Hispanic and African-American and women candidates, and I'm sure that's not . . . the perception the president wants to project."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.frumforum.com/clinton-warned-stay-out-of-chicago-politics
EXCERPT:
December 29th, 2010 at 1:55 am
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/International_War_Crimes/Milosevic_Clinton_WarCrim.html
EXCERPT:
Glen Rangwala is a University Lecturer and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University in England. Trained in political theory and international law, he completed a doctorate on political and legal rhetoric in the Arab Middle East. His academic work focuses on Palestinian politics from 1967 to 1977, and the rhetorical relations between the West Bank resident population and the leadership of the Palestinian resistance movement in exile. He has co-written a monograph, Iraq in Fragments (Cornell University Press, 2006), on the fragmentation of the Iraqi polity following the invasion of 2003. He has also published on international humanitarian law, comparative human rights law, Iraq and nuclear weapons.
He is involved with Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq (dissolved and replaced by Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq in October 2003) and Arab Media Watch. His website Middleeastreference.org.uk contains information about Middle Eastern history and politics, in particular Palestine and Iraq. He is an editor of Labour Briefing.
In the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war Rangwala wrote articles in newspapers and appeared on British TV, especially in the context of the "dodgy dossier" prepared by Tony Blair's government. Rangwala had discovered that this dossier was mostly plagiarised from a postgraduate student's thesis and articles in Jane's Intelligence Review (with minor falsifications) [1] and traced back the people who had edited the dossier [2]. He submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs when it investigated the British government's information policy leading to the Iraq war [3]. He has since published a number of articles on the Iraq war, especially in The Independent [4].
Together with Dan Plesch, he contributed an article to A Case to Answer, a report commissioned by MP Adam Price on which impeachment procedures against Tony Blair are based. The report assembles evidence that Blair misled the British Parliament and people over reasons for the 2003 war on Iraq mainly from the PM's own statements and evidence disclosed by the Hutton Inquiry and the Butler Report.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/bill-clinton-s-russian-immigrants-are-obstacle-to-peace-comment-draws-fire-in-israel-1.315244
Bill Clinton's 'Russian immigrants are obstacle to peace' comment draws fire in
Israel
Former U.S. President tells press that Russian immigrants and settlers are those
least interested in peace in Israel.
By Jonathan Lis and Natasha Mozgovaya
Tags: Israel news Israel immigration Israel Russians Israel US
Former United States president Bill Clinton came under fire from Russian-born
Israeli politicians on Wednesday, a day after he told the media that the Russian
immigrant population in Israel is an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton makes introductory remarks at the Clinton
Global Initiative in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010
Photo by: AP
"An increasing number of the young people in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] are
the children of Russians and settlers, the hardest-core people against a
division of the land. This presents a staggering problem," Clinton told a
roundtable with press in New York. "It's a different Israel. Sixteen percent of
Israelis speak Russian."
Foreign Policy magazine quoted Clinton as saying that Russian immigrants are the
Israelis least interested in a peace deal with Palestinians. "They've just got
there, it's their country, they've made a commitment to the future there,"
Clinton said. "They can't imagine any historical or other claims that would
justify dividing it."
The magazine said that Clinton also mentioned a conversation with former Soviet
dissident turned Knesset member Natan Sharansky, who, according to Clinton, was
the only Israeli minister to reject the comprehensive peace agreement the former
president proposed at the Camp David Summit in 2000.
"I said, `Natan, what is the deal [about not supporting the peace deal],'"
Clinton was quoted as saying. "He said, `I can't vote for this, I'm Russian... I
come from one of the biggest countries in the world to one of the smallest. You
want me to cut it in half. No, thank you.'"
Clinton reportedly replied, "Don't give me this you came here from a jail cell.
It's a lot bigger than your jail cell."
But Sharansky denied Wednesday that such a conversation with Clinton ever took
place. "A report of President Clinton's comments has been brought to my
attention which I hope is inaccurate. I appreciate President Clinton's
commitment to peace and talent for political analysis" he said.
"However, as to the basic facts, I was never at Camp David and never had the
opportunity to discuss the negotiations there with President Clinton. It may be
that he had in mind our conversations at Wye Plantation years before, where I
expressed my serious doubts, given the dictatorial nature of the PA regime,
whether Mr. Arafat would be willing to bring freedom to his people, an essential
element of a sustainable peace," said Sharansky.
"History has shown that these concerns were justified. If the reports of
President Clinton's comments are accurate, I am particularly disappointed by the
president's casual use of inappropriate stereotypes about Israelis, dividing
their views on peace based on ethnic origins. I must add that these are
uncharacteristic comments from a man who has always been a sensitive and
thoughtful listener and conversation partner," said Saransky.
Yisrael Beitenu, the ultra-right wing party comprised mainly of Russian
migrants, condemned Clinton's statement Wednesday.
The party released a statement criticizing Clinton for meddling in Israel's
internal affairs and for his "crude generalizations".
"The people of Israel are one, and the Russian immigrants, as the other citizens
of Israel, yearn for true peace based on recognition of Israel as the nation
state of the Jewish people," said the statement.
"It seems that Clinton has forgotten that it was the [former] chairman of the
Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat who refused to Clinton's peace offer, which
included unbearable concessions on the part of Israel," said the statement.
Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver from Yisrael Beiteinu, said Wednesday
in response to Clinton's comments that any external attempt to create division
within Israeli society is wrong.
"The Russian immigration contributed to the development of Israel in every
field, including science, culture, sports, economy and defense. This year, the
entire country is celebrating the Twentieth anniversary of this immigration…
reflecting the fact that the Israeli people are united," said Landver.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he regretted Clinton's
remarks.
"As an old friend of Israel, Clinton surely knows that the immigrants [from the
former Soviet Union] have made a huge contribution to the strengthening and
development of Israel and the IDF," said Netanyahu
http://www.frumforum.com/clinton-warned-stay-out-of-chicago-politics
EXCERPT:
Clinton Warned: Stay Out of Chicago Politics
December 29th, 2010 at 1:55 am 
The Washington Post reports:
CHICAGO — Congressman Danny Davis has a message for former President Bill Clinton: Don’t take sides in the Chicago mayor’s race – or else.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/International_War_Crimes/Milosevic_Clinton_WarCrim.html
Milosevic, Clinton: both war criminals?
by Sandy Shartzer
from Marin Peace News, August / September 1999
Could President Clinton be charged with war crimes for his role in the Kosovo war?
Under the statute creating the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, yes he could. And if he were, he might be convicted.
Created by the UN to deal with "any serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since l991," the Tribunal can hold heads of government "individually responsible" for crimes they planned, instigated or ordered. It indicted Yugoslavian Pres. Slobodan Milosevic in May for a "campaign of terror and violence" against Albanian Kosovars in Kosovo.
Crimes triable before the Tribunal (with possible charges against Clinton in brackets) include:
* "Willful killing" of civilians [targeting civilian areas; bombing people who could not be identified as combatants, some of whom were Albanian Kosovar refugees; striking the TV station in Belgrade knowing civilians would be inside].
* Extensive destruction of property "not justified by military necessity" [destroying Serbia's civilian infrastructure].
* "Employment of poisonous weapons or other weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering" [use of depleted uranium, which can cause lingering death from cancer; use of cluster bombs, which litter the landscape and kill unsuspecting children and other civilians].
* "Wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity" [speaks for itself].
* Attacks on undefended towns or buildings [the Serbs had almost no defense against NATO planes; bombing of the Chinese Embassy and Belgrade TV station; strikes that hit hospitals, nursing homes, etc., etc.].
British law professor Glen Rangwala asked the Tribunal in May to indict Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying "There is now overwhelming evidence that NATO is consciously violating cardinal principles of humanitarian law."
The Tribunal is not the only forum under which Clinton and other US and NATO leaders could be charged.
The US War Crimes Act of 1996 makes war crimes punishable in US federal courts, with penalties up to and including death. (The Tribunal for Yugoslavia has no death penalty.)
Under the UN Charter, initiating the war against Yugoslavia could be a "crime against peace", a charge used in the Nuremberg trials against Nazi war criminals.
Former Nuremberg prosecutor Walter Rockler says, "The Nuremberg Court found that to initiate a war of aggression, as the US has done against Yugoslavia, is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime." Only the UN is allowed to intervene militarily. Countries can only use military force legally in self-defense.
An unofficial "Independent Commission of Inquiry to Investigate US/NATO War Crimes Against the People of Yugoslavia" convened July 31 in New York City to indict Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German leader Gerhard Shroeder and others for war crimes.
The Commission's charges range from humanitarian (deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure) to political (the "drive by US imperialism to conquer all of Eastern Europe and the former southern republics of the USSR").
Led by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and the International Action Center (IAC), the commission will hold hearings around the world, including (in late Oct.) San Francisco and other West Coast cities culminating in a "War Crimes Tribunal" with an international panel in New York City.
For more information: call the International Action Center (IAC) in San Francisco at 415-821-6545 or visit its website at www.iacenter.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_RangwalaEXCERPT:
Glen Rangwala is a University Lecturer and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University in England. Trained in political theory and international law, he completed a doctorate on political and legal rhetoric in the Arab Middle East. His academic work focuses on Palestinian politics from 1967 to 1977, and the rhetorical relations between the West Bank resident population and the leadership of the Palestinian resistance movement in exile. He has co-written a monograph, Iraq in Fragments (Cornell University Press, 2006), on the fragmentation of the Iraqi polity following the invasion of 2003. He has also published on international humanitarian law, comparative human rights law, Iraq and nuclear weapons.
He is involved with Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq (dissolved and replaced by Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq in October 2003) and Arab Media Watch. His website Middleeastreference.org.uk contains information about Middle Eastern history and politics, in particular Palestine and Iraq. He is an editor of Labour Briefing.
In the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war Rangwala wrote articles in newspapers and appeared on British TV, especially in the context of the "dodgy dossier" prepared by Tony Blair's government. Rangwala had discovered that this dossier was mostly plagiarised from a postgraduate student's thesis and articles in Jane's Intelligence Review (with minor falsifications) [1] and traced back the people who had edited the dossier [2]. He submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs when it investigated the British government's information policy leading to the Iraq war [3]. He has since published a number of articles on the Iraq war, especially in The Independent [4].
Together with Dan Plesch, he contributed an article to A Case to Answer, a report commissioned by MP Adam Price on which impeachment procedures against Tony Blair are based. The report assembles evidence that Blair misled the British Parliament and people over reasons for the 2003 war on Iraq mainly from the PM's own statements and evidence disclosed by the Hutton Inquiry and the Butler Report.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/bill-clinton-s-russian-immigrants-are-obstacle-to-peace-comment-draws-fire-in-israel-1.315244
Bill Clinton's 'Russian immigrants are obstacle to peace' comment draws fire in
Israel
Former U.S. President tells press that Russian immigrants and settlers are those
least interested in peace in Israel.
By Jonathan Lis and Natasha Mozgovaya
Tags: Israel news Israel immigration Israel Russians Israel US
Former United States president Bill Clinton came under fire from Russian-born
Israeli politicians on Wednesday, a day after he told the media that the Russian
immigrant population in Israel is an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton makes introductory remarks at the Clinton
Global Initiative in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010
Photo by: AP
"An increasing number of the young people in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] are
the children of Russians and settlers, the hardest-core people against a
division of the land. This presents a staggering problem," Clinton told a
roundtable with press in New York. "It's a different Israel. Sixteen percent of
Israelis speak Russian."
Foreign Policy magazine quoted Clinton as saying that Russian immigrants are the
Israelis least interested in a peace deal with Palestinians. "They've just got
there, it's their country, they've made a commitment to the future there,"
Clinton said. "They can't imagine any historical or other claims that would
justify dividing it."
The magazine said that Clinton also mentioned a conversation with former Soviet
dissident turned Knesset member Natan Sharansky, who, according to Clinton, was
the only Israeli minister to reject the comprehensive peace agreement the former
president proposed at the Camp David Summit in 2000.
"I said, `Natan, what is the deal [about not supporting the peace deal],'"
Clinton was quoted as saying. "He said, `I can't vote for this, I'm Russian... I
come from one of the biggest countries in the world to one of the smallest. You
want me to cut it in half. No, thank you.'"
Clinton reportedly replied, "Don't give me this you came here from a jail cell.
It's a lot bigger than your jail cell."
But Sharansky denied Wednesday that such a conversation with Clinton ever took
place. "A report of President Clinton's comments has been brought to my
attention which I hope is inaccurate. I appreciate President Clinton's
commitment to peace and talent for political analysis" he said.
"However, as to the basic facts, I was never at Camp David and never had the
opportunity to discuss the negotiations there with President Clinton. It may be
that he had in mind our conversations at Wye Plantation years before, where I
expressed my serious doubts, given the dictatorial nature of the PA regime,
whether Mr. Arafat would be willing to bring freedom to his people, an essential
element of a sustainable peace," said Sharansky.
"History has shown that these concerns were justified. If the reports of
President Clinton's comments are accurate, I am particularly disappointed by the
president's casual use of inappropriate stereotypes about Israelis, dividing
their views on peace based on ethnic origins. I must add that these are
uncharacteristic comments from a man who has always been a sensitive and
thoughtful listener and conversation partner," said Saransky.
Yisrael Beitenu, the ultra-right wing party comprised mainly of Russian
migrants, condemned Clinton's statement Wednesday.
The party released a statement criticizing Clinton for meddling in Israel's
internal affairs and for his "crude generalizations".
"The people of Israel are one, and the Russian immigrants, as the other citizens
of Israel, yearn for true peace based on recognition of Israel as the nation
state of the Jewish people," said the statement.
"It seems that Clinton has forgotten that it was the [former] chairman of the
Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat who refused to Clinton's peace offer, which
included unbearable concessions on the part of Israel," said the statement.
Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver from Yisrael Beiteinu, said Wednesday
in response to Clinton's comments that any external attempt to create division
within Israeli society is wrong.
"The Russian immigration contributed to the development of Israel in every
field, including science, culture, sports, economy and defense. This year, the
entire country is celebrating the Twentieth anniversary of this immigration…
reflecting the fact that the Israeli people are united," said Landver.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he regretted Clinton's
remarks.
"As an old friend of Israel, Clinton surely knows that the immigrants [from the
former Soviet Union] have made a huge contribution to the strengthening and
development of Israel and the IDF," said Netanyahu
