Briefing Skipper: Israel, West Bank, China, the Internet, Pakistan
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of Monday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley: Special Envoy George Mitchell announced that both the Israelis and Palestinians and have agreed to indirect talks he will go back to the region next week, but ...
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department's daily presser so you don't have to. Here are the highlights of Monday's briefing by spokesman 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 Monday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:
- Special Envoy George Mitchell announced that both the Israelis and Palestinians and have agreed to indirect talks he will go back to the region next week, but Crowley couldn’t seem to decide whether or not those talks have already begun. "I would think that you could say that the indirect talks are underway," he said at first, later modifying it to, "Both sides have agreed to indirect talks. Now you’ve got – one of your colleagues is saying they’ve already started." Finally, he decided he first instinct was correct. "I believe they’ve started. Okay? That – so, I think they’re underway."
- Crowley declined to say whether the U.S. Is objecting to 112 new Israeli settlement houses to be built in the West Bank. "Ask me again tomorrow," he told the press corps. "It happened today. It’s news today. It’s not news tomorrow," a reporter pressed. "I understand. I understand. I understand that," repeated Crowley, finally settling on a no comment and then later saying, "It does not violate the moratorium."
- Deputy Secretary Jim Steinberg came back from China and Japan and had a "constructive" discussion on a range of issues, according to Crowley. "Did we solve all of the differences regarding Iran in one meeting? We did not," he said. The Cable reported is was mostly about Chinese desires to talk about Taiwan.
- State is joining Treasury’s effort to lift some export restrictions for internet service providers to help them operate in censored countries. "So the license will help people in Iran, Sudan, Cuba use web-based chat services to better keep in touch with each other in the outside world," he said, "I wouldn’t say it’s directed specifically against one country."
- Pakistani lawmakers, two of which were body scanned at a Washington airport, were not specifically targeted, Crowley said. " They were subject to the same aviation procedures that many of us have been subjected to on a random basis." That didn’t stop them from cutting off their trip to the U.S. To protest the procedures.
- Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman met with the Libyan ambassador in Washington in part to get past their objections to remarks Crowley made last week. "We talked about the situation and pledged, as indicated publicly, that we were committed to the relationship and that we would move forward with the ongoing dialogue," Crowley said.
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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