Evening all, Apologies for once again being very late, better than not getting the debates out at all like last week though! It shows that we have been busy that I have no idea what the main stories of the last week were - or perhaps it may just show that it was a slow news week! Alex The Afghan Government has to negotiate with the Taliban.It is becoming increasingly obvious that pouring more soldiers into Afghanistan is not the solution to Afghanistan's conflict. At some point the Afghan government will have to negotiate with parts of the Taliban if it is to survive when NATO forces do finally concede defeat. Is it better that negotiations begin soon or should the Karzai wait to try to gain more victories on the ground and restore its legitimacy that, at least in western eyes, it lost in the farcical election.http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/13/uk-karzai-negotiate-talibanhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/karzai-already-in-talks-with-allies-of-former-taliban-leader-764796.htmlhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21045198/ (to show its not new ;)) Does Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to seek re election threaten the peace process?The stalling of negotiations with Israel has prompted the moderate Fatah leader of the Palestinian Authority to state that he will not seek re election. As a moderate his decision both reinforces the impass in negotiations by showing that he no longer thinks it likely that he can be the one to bring peace and makes it more likely that someone more radical will come to power in the PA which would make peace with Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu much more difficult.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8344687.stm http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126169.html http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1257417381662&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull Obama one year in. Voters in the US have had their say for the first time since Obama was elected, in several gubernatorial the democrats went down to defeat. Even in New Jersey, normally core democrat territory the democrats were defeated. While opinion of Obama may have plummeted this is no reason to write off his first year. He has made little progress internationally but has made a start on numerous big issues such as reducing nuclear weapons. He has been concentrating on the economy and now the USA is pulling out of recession and Healthcare has just passed the first hurdle in the House. So far success or failure?http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/04/us/politics/obama-first-year.html?ref=politicshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/02/AR2009110202451.htmlhttp://www.gallup.com/poll/123806/obama-quarterly-approval-average-slips-nine-points.aspx
