Briefing Skipper: Todd Stern, Valerie Jarrett, Goldstone Report, Ahmadinejad
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 Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley: The Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate starts today! Led by Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic ...
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 Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley:
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 Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley:
- The Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate starts today! Led by Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, and Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change, the talks will "focus specifically on areas of mitigation, adaptation and technology," Crowley said.
- Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president and under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs Maria Otero met with the Dalai Lama in India today, but no comment on whether the administration is going to push the Chinese to let him visit Tibet. (Doubt it.)
- There are still "concerns" about the Goldstone Report, which accused both Israel and the Palestinians of war crimes, Crowley said, and State is consulting with both sides and human rights groups to figure out a response. "There was a one-sided, unacceptable mandate for this fact- finding investigation, and that mandate was set forth before we joined the Human Rights Council," Crowley said.
- The U.S. did not participate in any way or give any information that contributed to the shootout and raid that killed Indonesia’s top terror suspect Noordin Mohammad Top in Java today.
- High-level officials are in Eastern Europe today to talk missile defense (no kidding!). The overhaul of the Bush administration plan is not an abandonment of Poland and the Czech Republic, Crowley said. "You know, there have been some suggestions that we are abandoning missile defense. We’re doing nothing of the kind." No additional help from the Russians on Iran to announce.
- The Swiss ambassador, on behalf of the U.S., again demanded Iran give him consular access to three hikers that have been held captive there since July. Their mothers wrote a letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking him to bring them with him to the U.N. General Assembly opening.
- The "the de facto regime" in Honduras will probably not participate in the UNGA, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with meet with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias "on the margins" of the conference. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly just returned from the region.
- There will be no decision until after UNGA about whether to meet with the North Koreans.
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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