Obama"s Secretive Ways Pay Off With Iran Deal

(Newser) – President Obama has a “secretive, cerebral style of governing” that doesn’t always pay dividends, writes David Ignatius at the Washington Post. Sometimes, however, it’s just the thing—as with the newly struck deal with Iran on its nuclear program. Months ago, Obama sent two top aides to work with Tehran secretly on an agreement. “It was a classic magic trick,” writes Ignatius. “While the eye was distracted by the show of the P5+1 talks, the real work was done elsewhere—and presented to the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in Geneva two weeks ago almost as a fait accompli.”

It was a classic compromise, with both sides getting something to crow about. But the bottom line, writes Ignatius, is that the world is now a safer place because of the deal. Sure, it can unravel and Iran could renege. But to Ignatius, this “looks like the beginning of a long turn away from revolutionary isolation to an Iranian nation that is engaged with the West in a security framework for this volatile region.” And as for Obama, the deal proves once again that the man “acts most effectively out of sight.” Click for Ignatius’ full column.

Newser

Obama"s Secretive Ways Pay Off With Iran Deal

Guantanamo Bay Lawsuit Shows Gitmo"s Still As Secretive As Ever

Guantanamo Bay Lawsuit Shows Gitmo’s Still As Secretive As Ever
© AP

The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has long been a secretive base, whetherit be  Colonel Nathan Jessup covering up murder in A Few Good Men or President Obama’s administration refusing to answer questions regarding Camp 7 to a Miami Herald reporter.

The Herald’s Carol Rosenberg has been covering the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since it opened in 2002, and is currently suing the the Pentagon under the Freedom of Information Act over the refusal to disclose how much it Camp 7 cost to build and to operate. Camp 7 is where 16 of the high-value detainees, including alleged 9/11 conspirators, are being held. According to the lawsuit, all other construction and operating costs have been revealed for the rest of the camp. The Pentagon claims that the information is classified and that it would cause an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, despite releasing it for all other areas.

If the president and the Pentagon are serious about transparency at the detention center than it must finish releasing the documents on the operational and construction costs for Camp 7. If the detention facility is going to remain open then it has to be transparent. Any number published regarding the housing of alleged 9/11 conspirators could be justified by the president’s team, and those who support the facility on the right. The refusal to reveal this information when it has been revealed in all other contexts is confusing, especially considering the ease by which this policy could be justified by both sides of the aisle supporting the continuation of the detainment policy. Hopefully Rosenberg’s lawsuit is successful so that at least we understand more about this facility that has gained such a negative reputation.

PolicyMic

Guantanamo Bay Lawsuit Shows Gitmo"s Still As Secretive As Ever

"Flush the TPP!": Protesters Scale Trade Building in Protest of Secretive Deal

Those negotiations, which have been brokered entirely behind closed doors, are certain to put corporate profits ahead of both human rights and environmental concerns, opponents of the pact have argued.

Today’s banner drop comes as part of a series of actions that started with a rally on Fridayoutside of the trade office and will continue throughout the next several days.

Groups involved in the ongoing protests include FlushTheTPP.org, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Earth First!, Communications Workers of America, Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

“Regulating Wall Street is what we need. It’s time to flush the TPP,” Melinda St. Louis, international campaigns director for Public Citizen, said to the crowd on Friday as she stood in front of a large cardboard-constructed roll of toilet paper labeled the TPP Death Star.

“Protecting workers is what we need,” she said.

“Americans cannot afford another back-room deal that offshores manufacturing and service jobs, reduces tax revenues and pushes down wages and benefits in the jobs that remain,” Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign said Friday. “Unless exposed to the light of day and real public participation, the TPP is poised to enrich corporate interests at the expense of the economy, the environment and public health at home and abroad.”

While the U.S. public and the press have been locked out of TPP meetings, corporate “trade advisers” have participated and been given copies of the agreement.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday he will push fast-track legislation, otherwise known as Trade Promotion Authority, which will allow him to push through trade agreements while taking away congressional powers to amend.

“This is the grand-daddy of trade deals, a very destructive project, and it is happening completely under the radar,” Chris Townsend, political director for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), told Common Dreams on Friday.

Watch below for an interview with Public Citizen’s Melinda St. Louis at the protest on Friday.

(Photo provided by protest organizers)

BlackListedNews.com

"Flush the TPP!": Protesters Scale Trade Building in Protest of Secretive Deal