The Cable

The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Briefing Skipper: Hatoyama, Netanyahu, G-20, Cuba, Iran

In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of today’s briefing by spokesman Ian Kelly: Congratulations to Yukio Hatoyama, the new prime minister of Japan! "We have every expectation that our bilateral relations and global partnership will flourish with the new government," ...

In which we scour the transcript of the State Department's daily presser so you don't have to. Here are the highlights of today's briefing by spokesman Ian Kelly:

In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of today’s briefing by spokesman Ian Kelly:

  • Congratulations to Yukio Hatoyama, the new prime minister of Japan! "We have every expectation that our bilateral relations and global partnership will flourish with the new government," said Kelly. We’ll see. Kurt Campbell is headed there today. Regarding the new Japanese defense minister’s comments that Japan might end its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, Kelly said, "It’s up to the government of Japan to determine what kind of contribution they want to make." Right, no pressure…
  • More "good" discussions between George Mitchell and Benjamin Netanyahu, Kelly said, and apparently it was so much fun that Mitchell will return Friday to meet again with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Abu Mazen in Ramallah. Kelly: "Clearly they need another round on Friday." No direct comment on Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of a total settlement freeze.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will take the lead at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will play the lead role at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, although President Obama will spend time at both events, Kelly said.
  • There will be technical talks with Cuba tomorrow in Havana to try to re-establish direct mail with that country, led by Bisa Williams, deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs. Cuban readers, please send cigars.
  • Turkey is at "the top of the list" for locations where EU High Representative Javier Solana will meet with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, although nothing is set in stone. Secretary Clinton will meet with a bunch of Iran experts tonight.

Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.

Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.

A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.

Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin

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