New US Africa Command Not for Combat, Says Defense Official

By Al Pessin Washington 21 June 2007

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A senior defense department official says the planned new U.S. military command for Africa is not being organized with combat in mind, and will not immediately result in any changes in U.S. military activity on the continent. The official spoke to reporters at the Pentagon Thursday and VOA's Al Pessin reports.

Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry, right, and Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, Director of the Joint Staff, discuss establishment of US Africa Command (file photo)

The senior official, Ryan Henry, says the creation of the Africa Command later this year will simply re-organize existing U.S. military training and counter-terrorism efforts on the continent, and will not include any new initiatives.

"We don't plan on fundamentally changing anything or our approach to start with. After the commander has had some time to look at the situation and work with it, then he might choose to make some choices," he said. "But going into it, this is basically a realignment of our activities on the continent."

The principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy has just returned from his second consultation trip to the continent to discuss the Africa Command plan. This time, he visited Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Egypt in North Africa, and Djibouti in the east, which hosts a U.S. task force involved in humanitarian and counter-terrorism efforts. Henry says the top security concern for those countries is fighting terrorism, but he says the defense department already has counter-terrorism cooperation programs in place.

"We think that we have a cooperative arrangement with them," continued Henry. "They appear to be satisfied with that. We appear to be meeting with some successes. And so we don't see a compelling need to change right now, and they don't see the compelling need either."

U.S. officials have previously made clear that Africa Command will have a strong contingent of diplomats and aid officials, and will take a long-term, inter-agency approach to improving security, governance and development on the continent. But Ryan Henry went a bit further on Thursday when pressed at his news conference on whether Africa Command might end up overseeing increased U.S. military activity on the continent.

"This command is not optimized for war fighting," he continued. "We're optimizing it for engaging in security cooperation activities. And that's where the planning effort is going. The intention is not to use it for intervention in any African affairs."

But Henry says the command would be involved in emergency humanitarian relief efforts, as needed.

Africa Command is to come into existence in a limited way by October 1, and is scheduled to become fully operational a year later. But Henry indicated those timing targets might slip. President Bush has not yet nominated a commander, and Henry says there has still been no decision about where in Africa to put the command's headquarters.

Henry says consolidating U.S. military efforts in Africa under one senior commander will provide more focus and efficiency to American military and civilian aid programs. But he says the new U.S. command will work closely with existing African security structures, particularly the African Union.

"Who Africans should look for for their security needs are their own nations," added Henry. "They have a security structure that they're building with the African Union and the five regional components of the African Union. And AfriCom would look to support them in their success of building that capability. But they should not look to the United States for the solution of their security problems."

Henry says there is no plan to build U.S. bases in Africa, or to permanently station more U.S. troops there, except for the new command's headquarters staff.

Rice to Discuss Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan in Paris

By David Gollust State Department 21 June 2007

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flies to Paris early next week for meetings with top French officials and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. Middle East issues and Sudan will be on the agenda for the three-day Rice visit to the French capital, beginning Sunday. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Condoleezza Rice (file photo)

Paris was to have been only the first stage of a more extensive trip by the secretary involving stops in the Middle East.

Her schedule was pared back after last week's takeover of Gaza by the militant Palestinian Hamas movement. But the Middle East will be a prime topic in Paris meetings with the new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora, and others.

Rice has conferred by telephone on the Gaza events with her counterparts from the international Middle East Quartet, which also includes Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

Officials here say an effort was made to convene a ministerial-level meeting of the Quartet during Rice's Paris visit but that scheduling problems will prevent it.

They say Quartet emissaries plan to meet in the Middle East in the coming week or two as a prelude to a ministerial meeting sometime in July.

Mahmoud Abbas (file photo)

In a telephone conference call late last week, the Quartet ministers expressed support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to dissolve his mainstream Fatah movement's unity cabinet with Hamas, and also ended a 15-month embargo on direct aid to the Palestinian government.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack announced Rice's travel plans at a news briefing in which he also welcomed, as very positive, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's invitation to Mr. Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah for a meeting Monday in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

McCormack said Rice has no plans to join that meeting and that the Bush administration encourages peace efforts initiated by the Middle East parties themselves.

"We don't have to participate in every meeting," McCormack said. "Just as Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas get together, we encourage that sort of dynamic, encourage that dialogue. It's important. Just because we aren't at every meeting doesn't mean we aren't intimately involved with the effort to try to bring about a more peaceful Middle East."

McCormack said Rice will discuss developments in Lebanon with Prime Minister Siniora, who will be in Paris on a previously-scheduled visit.

On Monday the secretary will join foreign ministers from China and several European and African countries in a French-initiated meeting of an expanded international contact group on the situation in Sudan's western Darfur region.

McCormack said the priority on Darfur is moving an expanded African Union and United Nations peacekeeping force into the region as quickly as possible, now that the Sudanese government has given its assent to the deployment.

New York Mayor's Decision to Leave Republican Party Fuels Speculation on Presidential Run

By Jim Malone Washington 21 June 2007

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg caused a political stir this week with his decision to leave the Republican Party to become an unaffiliated independent. Bloomberg's move has fueled speculation that he might run as an independent candidate for president next year. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Michael Bloomberg speaks at a press conference in New York, 20 June 2007

Bloomberg is popular in New York but not well known nationally. But there are some political experts who believe his conservative approach to spending public money combined with more liberal social views could appeal to centrist voters in next year's election.

At a recent news conference, Bloomberg insisted that he intends to finish out his second term as mayor that runs until 2009.

But he also seemed to leave open the possibility of involvement in national politics sometime in the near future.

"But I am confident that this country will have options," Bloomberg said. "I do think that the more people that run for office, the better."

Public opinion polls at the moment show a large majority of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track and that many people have tired of the political bickering that has dominated Washington in recent years.

Bloomberg says one of his major concerns is that important issues like pension reform and environmental safeguards have been given little attention because of the political partisanship in Washington.

"I do not think that we are addressing those issues," he said. "I am particularly upset that the big issues of the time keep getting pushed to the back and we focus on small things that only inside the [Washington] beltway are important."

New York-based political consultant Joseph Mercurio says Bloomberg's decision to cast himself as an independent could set the stage for a third party challenge for the White House in 2008.

"I think this is pretty clear that he is certainly keeping his option open to run as a candidate for president," he said. "He did it because there are some states that require you not to be a Democrat or a Republican when you file independent nominating petitions."

If he decided to run as an independent, Bloomberg would most likely try to appeal to a large group of discontented voters in the middle of the political spectrum who find the two major political parties too polarizing.

Bloomberg could also tap into his considerable personal fortune, worth billions of dollars, to finance his bid for the White House.

"This is somebody who has a great deal of his own money and somebody who would run, theoretically, as not a Democrat, not a Republican, somebody who is going to come in and address folks in the middle who feel they are frustrated with what they are getting from either side," said Amy Walter, editor of the Hotline political newsletter and a guest on the C-SPAN public affairs cable television network.

Some Democrats fear an independent presidential bid by Bloomberg would draw votes from the Democratic Party's presidential nominee and could help the Republicans in the general election in November of 2008.

If Bloomberg decided to join the race, he would be the third prominent New Yorker to launch a bid for the White House.

It is a source of pride and amusement for some long time New York political observers like Maurice Carroll, who now directs the polling institute at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

"As a former New York reporter who still stays in touch with New York politics, I have to wonder. Suppose the Republicans nominated [former New York City Mayor Rudy] Giuliani and the Democrats nominate Mrs. Clinton, both obviously with a lot of support if they get nominated but also with big negatives," Carroll said. "Could Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City run as an independent? It has never worked before, but hey [you never know]."

The recent history of third party presidential candidates suggests Bloomberg would be taking on a long shot challenge if he decided to run.

Independent candidate Ross Perot received 19 percent of the popular vote in the 1992 race won by Bill Clinton over then President George H.W. Bush. But Perot failed to win a single vote in the electoral college that decides presidential elections.

Senior US Diplomat Makes Unannounced N. Korea Visit

By Kurt Achin Seoul 21 June 2007

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The senior U.S. diplomat in charge of negotiating an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programs has made an unannounced visit to the North Korean capital. Just hours after he arrived, however, North Korea appeared to backtrack on its pledge to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors to visit next week. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.

Christopher Hill, left, shakes hands with Ri Gun, vice director of North Korean Foreign Ministry's U.S. Affairs Department, 21 Jun 2007

Before departing Tokyo for Pyongyang Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said it was important to make up for lost time on the North Korean nuclear issue.

"We have to catch up on some of the timelines, because we really fell behind this spring, and I think we have to do everything we can do to accelerate the timelines," he said.

Hill is Washington's chief delegate to six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. The talks also include Japan, China, Russia and South Korea.

Pyongyang agreed in February to shut down its main nuclear facility, a preliminary step toward full nuclear disarmament, by mid-April. But Pyongyang then delayed taking action for months because of delays in transferring North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank.

A man talks on a mobile phone in front of the headquarters of Banco Delta Asia in Macau, 16 March 2007 file photo

The problem appeared to have been resolved early this week, and things began to move again. The North Koreans invited United Nations nuclear inspectors into the country, and the inspectors have been planning to visit next week to arrange the shutdown.

However, on Thursday, a North Korean diplomat in Vienna said the date of the visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had not been confirmed. He said that the money from Macau had not yet been returned to North Korea, and until it was, no date for the IAEA visit would be set.

Hill, who has been on an Asian tour, arrived in the North Korean capital from Tokyo Thursday afternoon. Jeffrey Hill, a press attache at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, says the envoy will spend the night in Pyongyang, and depart North Korea on Friday.

"He's going to stop in both Seoul and Tokyo before returning to Washington," he said.

Tong Kim is a professor at Seoul's Kyungnam University. In his former job as a high-level interpreter for the U.S. State Department, Kim escorted then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to North Korea in 2000. He also accompanied Hill's predecessor, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, in 2002, the last time any high-level U.S. government official was in the country.

Kim says he doubts Hill will get the chance to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on this trip, because it is too early in the diplomatic process. He also says Hill is not senior enough, and the North Korean leader would wait to meet Hill's boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I think Kim Jong Il will certainly meet with [Secretary of State] Rice if she comes over there, but not at this point, because there's so much more Kim Jong Il will have to be sure of before really making the move," he explained.

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon on Thursday praised Hill's decision to visit the North Korean capital, and says the South can now "move fast" on its promise of 400,000 tons of rice for the impoverished North. Seoul has been holding back on the shipment until the North carries out the shutdown as promised.

South Korean officials say both the shutdown, and the rice shipment, may be completed by next month.

Malian Authorities Fail to See Humor in Satirical Essay, Jail Journalists

By Naomi Schwarz Dakar 21 June 2007

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Activists in Mali are protesting the arrest of several newspaper directors, a journalist and a high school teacher for printing a satirical essay about the sexual exploits of a fictional president. Journalists and media freedom activists say the arrests, which they say threaten Mali's democracy, are a surprise in a country that has a good track record in protecting civil liberties. Naomi Schwarz has more from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Five journalists and a high school teacher are now in jail over what began as a literary exercise and a joke.

The teacher, Bassirou Kassim Minta, asked his students to write an essay about the escapades of a president of a fictional country.

When Seydina Oumar Diarra, a journalist with the independent daily Info-Matin, published his humorous essay, called "The Mistress of the President," he and Minta were arrested and charged with committing an "outrage to the president."

Other media organizations protested, saying the arrests were unfair.

An editor of the newspaper Les Echos, Moussa Bolly, says its director was arrested, because he chose to re-publish the article to show it contained nothing to justify an arrest.

Two other newspapers, which, like Info-Matin and Les Echos, are seen as tilting toward the opposition, also re-published the essay. The directors of all four newspapers, along with Diarra and Minta, are in jail.

Bolly says the press and civil society are mobilizing to fight this attack on civil liberties to show that Mali's young democracy will not accept setbacks.

Multi-party democracy came to Mali in the early 1990s, following the overthrow of the previous, authoritarian president, Moussa Traoré.

Leonard Vincent, head of the Africa desk for the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, says Mali has been seen as a model for freedom of expression.

"For several years now Mali has been seen as an example in West Africa in terms of political freedom and especially press freedom," he noted. "The press is very free. There are a lot of opposition newspapers, a lot of independent newspapers, private radio, and no major problem has occurred for something like four years now. "

He says the arrests appear due to the action of a single magistrate.

"The magistrate has used a procedure where he decided alone to open a procedure against the journalists," Vincent added. "So we have no indication whatsoever that there was a political order."

Bolly says he does not believe the now-infamous article is the real reason for the arrests.

He says many observers believe the journalists were arrested as retaliation for opposition papers' coverage of the recent presidential elections. Some in the president's camp felt the coverage was unfair.

Vincent, of Reporters Without Borders, says whether or not the president was involved in the decision to arrest the journalists, it is imperative that he act.

President Amadou Toumani Toure votes on Sunday 29 April 2007

"He has to intervene," he explained. "He has to say I am not offended. There is no point in pursuing the procedure. Obviously, he has to say that in Mali it is possible to criticize the president. He should be proud, as the president of a democracy, that people can criticize the president without going to jail."

The trial is scheduled for Tuesday. President Amadou Toumani Toure was recently re-elected by a wide margin in an election observers deemed free and fair.

VOASE0621_Economics Report

21 June 2007

What's Up in the Bond Market?
Why borrowers and stock markets worry when bond yields rise as they have recently.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Bonds have been in the news a lot in the last few weeks. Yields on the ten-year United States Treasury note jumped to their highest level in five years, before easing.

Bonds are debt owed by a government or a company. The holder of a bond is paid interest until the date when the bond matures. Then the amount of the bond, its face value, is paid back.

Investors can buy a new bond and keep it until it matures. Or they can buy and sell existing bonds. The return on a bond is called the yield. Yields and prices of existing bonds can change as investors trade them.

Yields fall when investors seek the security of bonds and are willing to pay higher prices. Yields increase as prices fall.

This month, yields on the ten-year Treasury note rose above five percent for the first time in close to a year. Higher yields raise the cost for individuals and businesses to borrow money at interest rates that are tied to the ten-year note.

Rising yields can also hurt stock prices. When yields rise, investors often sell stocks in order to buy bonds. If investors can get high yields holding low-risk bonds, or simply keeping money in the bank, they will do it. Yet holding bonds can also have risks as values for new and existing bonds change in the market.

Bond prices can also drop on signs of inflation. But inflation does not seem to be a threat with the current softness in the American housing market. New housing starts fell more than two percent in May.

Most experts believe the United States central bank will keep interest rates unchanged when policy makers meet next week. But many investors are concerned about pressure for higher interest rates in Europe and Asia.

Another influence on the bond market is the willingness of foreign countries to buy United States government debt. In Asia there have been signs that some countries that hold a lot of low-yield debt want greater returns on their investments. China, for example, recently announced it will invest three billion dollars in the Blackstone Group, the private-equity company in New York.

For much of the last year, bond yields have been inverted. Short-term debt returned higher rates than long-term debt. In the past, an inverted yield curve was thought to signal a possible recession. Now things are back to what is considered "normal" with long-term debt paying higher yields.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0621_American Mosaic

21 June 2007

'Titanic' Was a Movie Record Breaker. But How True to History Is It?
Also: Community gardens in the United States. And music by three British singers popular on this side of the Atlantic: Lily Allen, Corinne Bailey Rae and Amy Winehouse.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our show:

We answer a question about the movie "Titanic" ...

We also have music by three British singers who are popular in the United States ...

And we look at the growing interest in community gardens.

Community Gardens

HOST:

There are thousands of community gardens in the United States. Some are planted in parks. Others are on top of buildings -- anyplace where space is available. As we hear from Barbara Klein, people share these gardens to grow food, flowers and friendships.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Community gardens appeal to people who not only love to make things grow, but also

A community garden in Sacramento, California

enjoy learning from other gardeners. Shared gardens also give people the outdoor space they might not have where they live, especially if they live in cities.

The National Park Service operates a community garden in Washington, D.C., near busy museums and government buildings. Across the street is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

On a warm recent Saturday, Keith Goodman is working in his space in the garden. He rode his bicycle from the nearby apartment building where he lives. He says most of his vegetables are doing fine. Not far away from his cucumbers and carrots are three shades of red roses being grown by someone else.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, community gardens produce more than one and one-half million dollars worth of food each year. The gardens are planted on city land that was once empty and going to waste. People in Philadelphia are growing four hundred sixty-five vegetable gardens and one thousand flower gardens this summer.

In Chicago, Illinois, residents and neighbors are continuing a tradition of growing gardens at the Vista Homes apartment building. That tradition goes back at least sixty-five years. The land they use for their flowers and vegetables was once planted with Victory Gardens.

Almost twenty million Americans planted Victory Gardens in the nineteen forties during World War Two. These gardens helped feed their families, friends and neighbors. That way, more food could go to the troops fighting in Europe and the Pacific. During the war, Victory Gardens provided as much as forty percent of the American food supply.

Titanic, The Movie

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Burma. Tharr Naing wants to know about the historical truth in the movie “Titanic”.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in 'Titanic'

The nineteen ninety-seven movie “Titanic” is a record breaker in several ways. Ten years ago, it was the most costly movie ever made. "Titanic" has earned more money than any other movie in history. And, it received eleven Academy Awards.

The film tells the tragic story of the huge British passenger ship that sank in nineteen twelve. The Titanic was built to be a fine example of modern technology. It was the largest ship ever made. It was considered unsinkable. It was sailing on its very first trip from England to New York with many rich and famous people on board. The Titanic hit a huge piece of ice near Newfoundland, Canada. The ship sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

More than one thousand five hundred of its two thousand two hundred passengers died. Many movies, books, and plays have been produced about the disaster.

The movie "Titanic" is loosely based on historical facts. The director James Cameron worked hard with the movie crew to recreate historically correct clothing and rooms. Experts helped recreate the ship and the action of its sinking in as truthful a way as possible.

The images of the shipwrecked Titanic at the bottom of the ocean are real. And several of the people in the movie were real people, such as the boat’s captain and Molly Brown, who survived the disaster. She later became known as the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown. It is also true that the watchman did not see the large iceberg in time to save the ship. And it is true that there were not enough lifeboats on the ship to save all of passengers.

What most people like best about the movie is its love story. But the two lovers, Rose and Jack, were not real people. There was also no diamond called the Heart of the Ocean.

However, another small love story in "Titanic" is based on fact. The movie shows an older man and woman who chose to die together instead of being separated. Isador and Ida Straus were offered a place on a lifeboat. Isador would not get in the boat as long as there were women on the Titanic who could be saved. So, Ida refused to leave her husband. Witnesses remember hearing her say to her husband, “Where you go, I go." The two were last seen sitting side by side on a chair on the ship holding hands.

Three Hits By Brits

HOST:

Today we tell about three young women from Britain whose music has become very popular in the United States. Lily Allen, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Amy Winehouse make music that is filled with great energy, imagination and skill. Katharine Cole has more.

KATHARINE COLE:

Lily Allen

Twenty-one-year- old Lily Allen sings smart, popular music that captures the lifestyle and feelings of young people. Allen combines a sweet sound with a sharp, street-wise spirit. Her album “Alright, Still” is influenced by the many kinds of music she likes. Fans love her rebellious actions, wild clothing, and often surprising songs. Listen to the reggae beat of “Smile." In this song, Lily Allen tells about being happy about ending a relationship with an unfaithful lover.

(MUSIC)

Corinne Bailey Rae first started singing in her Christian religious center in Leeds,

Corinne Bailey Rae

Britain. In college she worked in a jazz club where she was sometimes permitted to sing. Now she is twenty-eight years old. Her first album has sold millions of copies. She says she did not want to make the words to her songs sound literary. She wanted her songs to sound as if she were talking with someone. Listen to Corinne Bailey Rae's warm voice singing the hit song “Like A Star.”

(MUSIC)

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse has a deep, rich voice that is not what you would expect from a singer who is only twenty-three. She is known for acting wildly, drinking Champagne wine and saying whatever is on her mind. Her second album “Back to Black” is influenced by popular music from the nineteen fifties and sixties. Amy Winehouse says she likes how the songs from that time were simple and direct. Her expressive voice and songs tell about the good and bad experiences of love. We leave you with “Wake Up Alone.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Be sure to tell us your full name and where you are from. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Our program was written by Dana Demange and Jerilyn Watson. Caty Weaver was our producer. Transcripts and audio archives of our shows are available at voaspecialenglish.com.

I hope you can join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.