AMPHI TV

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Iran must not shy away from addressing the concerns of  diplomats from six countries(The 5 permanent UN Security council members along with Germany) who will meet Iranian nuclear negotiator Saaed Jalili on Oct. 1. This is response to Iran refusing to talk about its nuclear ambitions. So far Iran has stonewalled any request to discuss the nuclear issues. Clinton said that unless the concerns about uranium enrichment are addressed there will be no further talks. This is taking quite a hard line on the issue. Previously Clinton had stated that the U.S. was open to unconditional talks with Iran. In April the US had offered incentives if Iran gives up its uranium enrichment program and sits down for negotiations. Though they were initially lukewarm to the proposal nothing came out of it finally. Iran still maintains it has the right to develop nuclear weapons. She said that the U.S. was not going to engage in “talking for the sake of talking”.  She threatened to make sanctions against Iran tougher. However it remains to be seen whether she can make good on her threat as Russia is opposed to further penalties. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said that Russia would veto more penalties.

President Barack Obama addressed a joint sitting of Congress on Wednesday night. This was probably the most detailed speech made by the President in congress about the proposed Health care legislation.  Views on the legislation are strongly divided on party lines. All democrats are uniformly in favor of the legislation whereas the Republicans think otherwise. He attempted to reach out to the Republicans in his speech. He said the current system was causing a great burden on many middle class Americans and that it had to change. He said that it was a source of shame that the US was the only wealthy nation in the world that allowed its people to face so many burdens regarding health care. He said that it was not time to play party politics over the reform. He urged the republicans to reconsider their strong opposition to the bill. Democrat sources called the speech “a game changer”. The critics felt that the speech had done little to address their concerns. They said he stated nothing new in the speech and just reiterated what he said earlier. One of the main concerns the Republicans have is that people who are happy with their current insurance providers will be forced to switch to government provided insurance.

The U.S. state department has said that a legitimate election in Afghanistan is crucial to the U.S. – Afghanistan relationship. The comments were made in context of the widespread reports of fraud in the August 20 Election. The state department wants further efforts to be made to make the election legitimate. With further release of vote tallies comes further evidence of the possible fraud. There are certain polling booths in which all the voters have cast their votes and all the votes have been in favor of the incumbent President Hamid Karzai. The afghan Independent Election commission is seen to be pro-Karzai. The state department said patience was very important in the process of verifying the claims of fraud which could take even a few months. There have been concerns that the brother of the incumbent President is actively involved in the drug trade. These are allegations that have been denied by the President and his brother. There was also concern about how the exiled warlord Abdul Dostum was allowed to return on the eve of the elections. He threw his lot behind Karzai.  In such an atmosphere of mistrust and fear it remains to be seen how an election can be called credible. However we will have to wait for the final results before making any calls on the election.

After an iftar dinner hosted at the White house to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramzan (Also known as Ramadan), the President Barack Obama lauded the contribution made by Muslim Americans. He called Muslims an integral part of the Cultural fabric of the US. He praised the contributions made by a few specific members. The only two Muslim Congressmen – Keith Ellison and Andre Carson were in attendance. He quoted the great Muhammad Ali   ‘Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams — they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do — they all contain truths’. He said he sorely missed the absence of the great boxer who could not be there for the dinner. There were representatives from all religions at the dinner. Even the Israeli Ambassador, Michael Oren was present.  The president spoke about the personal stories of a few invited guests.  Iftar dinners are nothing new at the White House. President Bush had them all the eight years he was in office.  The president also released a video message in which he talked about the importance of engagement and respect. He also talked about the various similarities between Christianity and Islam like justice, progress and dignity of all Humans.