Meanwhile at Foggy Bottom....

Foggy Bottom (That's the location of the State Department in Washington for all you UC-Santa Cruz Community Studies majors. Don't feel bad. She doesn't know where it is either. She's never there.)






Just for chuckles, I checked out the State Department's web site today to see what "action" they are taking on the world's problems.


North Korea

Ambassador Susan E. Rice: "North Korea sanctions which are now the toughest sanctions on the books against any country in the world today, and they have been actively and forcibly implemented by member states all over the world, and so North Korea is feeling far greater pressure to halt its nuclear weapons programme than it has in the past and it is indeed giving various indications that it is feeling that pressure and perhaps responding to it.

"So when Ambassador Bosworth, the president's special envoy, travelled to North Korea earlier this month it was not to open a separate bilateral track but to communicate very clearly from the US to North Korea that we expect it to return constructively to the six party talks and that it is in its interest to do so and to approach those talks seriously with the aim of meeting its prior commitments rather than simply another round of talking for talking sake."






Iran


Press Spokesman Philip Crowley: "(We) will take stock at the end of the year, see what has been accomplished on the track of engagement. But we have always indicated that available to us would be additional steps and – that would increase the pressure on Iran."

Sudan

Press Spokesman Ian Kelly: "The United States is deeply concerned about reports that the National Assembly passed the Southern Sudan referendum bill with language added by the NCP that is different than that agreed to by NCP and SPLM leadership. Reneging on the agreement negotiated on December 13th by the two parties undermines the peace process, jeopardizes CPA implementation, and risks sparking renewed political hostilities between the parties. We call on the parties to pass the remaining bills, including the Abyei referendum bill, using the text as agreed, and to restore the Southern Sudan referendum bill to the agreed-upon language before it is signed into law.

The United States is also deeply concerned about the passage of a revised National Security Act on Monday that contains no new measures of accountability for the security services. For elections to be credible, it is incumbent on the regime to demonstrate in word and in deed that this law will not be used to arrest and detain political opponents. The Government of Sudan must also make immediate and significant improvements to the electoral environment, including permitting peaceful demonstrations, ending press censorship, and allowing opposition voices to be heard. The high voter registration signals the clear desire of the people of Sudan to participate in the process of democratic transformation as proposed in the spirit and letter of the CPA. The United States calls on all parties to work together to ensure the upcoming elections and referenda are conducted in a credible manner."





Who gave that Nigerian guy on the Northwest flight a US visa?