Briefing Skipper: Argentina, Venezuela, Israel, Iraq, Russia,
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Wednesday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Wednesday with Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and they discussed the dialogue between Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and Venezuelan President ...
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Wednesday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Wednesday with Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and they discussed the dialogue between Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. "The United States appreciates the constructive, positive role that Argentina is playing in encouraging a peaceful resolution of the issues between Colombia and Venezuela," Clinton said.
- Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela met with Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco and Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez. State is not backing off their effort to place Larry Palmer as the next U.S. envoy in Caracas, despite that Chavez is refusing to accept him. "He remains our nominee. And we are hopeful that he will be confirmed by the Senate, and will be someone who can be an effective interlocutor between the United States and Venezuela," Crowley said,
- Clinton spoke Wednesday with Special Envoy George Mitchell, who was Israel to try to get Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to direct talks with the Palestinians. The State Department believes progress is being made but there are still details to work out, despite that Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the talks were deadlocked. Clinton also spoke Wednesday with Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh of Jordan. "I’m sure there will be ongoing consultations within the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government over the next few days," Crowley said.
- Assistant Secretary Jeff Feltman is on his way to Paris to consult with the French about the Middle East, after which he will go to Iraq to talk to leaders there. Crowley rejected the notion that Feltman is going there to "crack skulls," saying, "Ultimately we can be helpful, but we can’t make these decisions for Iraqi leaders." Congress gave State $600 million less than requested in supplemental funds. "We will be able to perform our mission in Iraq, but obviously resources matter in terms of the breadth of those programs,’ Crowley said.
- The revelation that Russia is deploying S-300 air defense missiles to the Georgian territory of Abkhasia is not news, said Crowley. "There have been systems in Abkhazia for two years. We can’t confirm whether they have added to those systems or not. So we will look into that. But just this by itself is not necessarily a new development. That system has been in place for some time," he said. Russia also announced that its company Lukoil will be resuming refined petroleum shipments to Iran.
- The remains of four U.S. aid workers killed in Afghanistan arrived at Dover Air Force Base Wendesday, brought home on military aircraft. The other two killed will be laid to rest in Afghanistan.
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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