Word: diplomatic
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...diplomat too. Perhaps the most important military action in the region isn't happening in Afghanistan but across the border in Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan, McChrystal says, are "unique situations that are linked inextricably." Islamabad's fitful offensive against the Taliban in Pakistan has successfully drained resources from the Taliban in Afghanistan. "Money is drying up," Colonel John Spiszer, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, along the border, said on June 23. Over the past year, the going prices for guns and ammo "have almost doubled," he noted. "That's a great sign." Such pressure...
...Under this scenario, say the diplomats, Zelaya would be immune from prosecution when he's back in Honduras. Likewise Micheletti, who last week had insisted he that he would never negotiate Zelaya's return, and other Zelaya foes, including the military leaders who ousted the President, would not face trial for the coup. "It's designed to keep the potential for violence at a minimum when Zelaya is reinstated," says one diplomat in Washington, who asked not to be identified...
...During his first meeting with Than Shwe, Ban asked for permission to see Suu Kyi. Than Shwe refused. The U.N.'s top diplomat said the success or failure of his mission should not be judged solely on the benchmark of meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, though he lamented that it would have been "an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement" that would lend credibility to the elections. Ban said his mission served the purpose of allowing him to convey what the international community and the United Nations expects from the regime...
...optimism going into last week's meeting probably sprung from his limited success with Than Shwe during a previous meeting in 2008, convincing him to allow outside humanitarian assistance into the country after Cyclone Nargis. But he is far from the first diplomat to fail to persuade Burma's generals to entertain any serious notion of real political reform. Going forward, Ban said he would brief the U.N. on the visit, and the organization would monitor the regime's progress on his proposals, which he did not outline in detail, save for saying election laws and an election commission should...
...Iranian government has been weakened and tainted by the events," an Arab diplomat told me. The international implications of that weakness are unknowable, for now. "I could give you very convincing arguments either way," an Obama Administration official told me, speaking of the prospects for negotiations with the regime. The prevailing view was that the Iranians would withdraw for a time and attempt to get their house in order. But it is also possible that the regime will move aggressively toward negotiations with the U.S., in order to convey the impression of stability and international legitimacy to its people...