NSN Daily Update: 6/11/09 Posted by The National Security Network

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What We’re Reading

Political rallies crowd Tehran’s streets ahead of tomorrow’s election.

A draft resolution that condemns North Korea’s recent underground nuclear test and would impose greater sanctions on the rogue nation was approved at the United Nations.

The World Health Organization is set to declare the Swine Flu a pandemic, the first such declaration in over 40 years.

Ahead of next month’s summit, Russia is closely exploring a proposal to host a portion of U.S. missile defense on Russian territory, which would represent a significant thaw in tensions over the contentious issue.

Commentary of the Day

Roger Cohen is on the ground in Tehran previewing tomorrow’s elections, taking the opportunity to lambast “the foolishness of anti-Iran hawks.” Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi calls the election a moment where Iranian human rights are also at stake.

David Ignatius explores the growing turf war between DNI Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta over which agency decides America’s overseas intelligence chiefs, saying broadly that the “CIA should run operations; the DNI should run analysis and intelligence community coordination.”

Comments

[Don Bacon]

Senator Kerry has flipped on the Iran nuclear program, calling US policy "ridiculous".

from the Financial Times:
One of the most senior Democrats in Washington has dismissed a key element in the west’s long standing strategy on Iran’s nuclear programme as “ridiculous”. His comments throw open the debate about how far the US and its partners should go in seeking a compromise with Tehran after Friday’s presidential election.

John Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee, told the Financial Times in an interview that Iran had a right to uranium enrichment – a process that can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons grade material.

“The Bush administration [argument of] no enrichment was ridiculous . . . . because it seemed so unreasonable to people,” said Mr Kerry, citing Iran’s rights as a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. “It was bombastic diplomacy. It was wasted energy. It sort of hardened the lines, if you will,” he added. “They have a right to peaceful nuclear power and to enrichment in that purpose.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d5c6395e-55e6-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html