An Arms Dealer’s U.S. Ties | Newsweek Periscope

FACTCHECK.ORG
Distorting the DHL Deal
Joe Miller 8/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
There's at least some truth in both ads: German-based DHL announced a deal that could result in 8,200 lost jobs in Wilmington, Ohio. And McCain did in fact oppose an amendment that would have kept DHL from buying Wilmington-based Airborne Express. McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, was also a DHL lobbyist charged with easing the merger through the Senate.
The Editor’s Desk
Jon Meacham 8/9/2008 12:00:00 AM
A few years ago—I cannot recall exactly when, but suspect it was 2005, after President Bush won his second term—I was on a plane from Nashville to New York and found myself in a conversation with a middle-aged, somewhat beefy man. He asked what I did; I said I was a journalist. He asked where I worked; I said NEWSWEEK. His eyes lit up. "Hey, you all in the media like to surprise folks, don't you?" I said yes, we did. "Well, I got an idea for you," he replied. "Why don't you put a picture of George Bush on your cover and say, HEY: 'HE'S NOT SATAN'—that would surprise folks."
WORLD VIEW
How Obama Could Tame Iran
7/26/2008 12:00:00 AM
Assume that Barack Obama is elected U.S. president this fall and makes good on his promise to negotiate with Iran without preconditions. How will Tehran respond? Recent interviews I've held with three authoritative Iranians suggest that Tehran will have preconditions of its own. Before coming to the table, these Iranians say, the United States would first have to end its "hostile policies" toward their country. The most important step pushed by all three is one already promised by Obama: setting a timetable for the complete withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq. Other moves, however—like ending economic sanctions—would conflict with Obama's campaign pledges and be even more controversial in Washington.
IRAQ
When the Good Guys are the Bad Guys
Babak Dehghanpisheh 7/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
Mohammed Waeli was furious. The powerful governor of Basra had heard that Iraqi Army soldiers were looking to use city bulldozers to clean up the streets of his unruly metropolis. If anyone was going to get credit for improving life in Basra, he was. In a late-night phone call last month, he tore into the top Army commander in Basra, Gen. Mohammed Huweidi. "We want to use [the bulldozers] to serve the city," the general protested. "We're not asking any money for this service." Waeli wasn't mollified. Huweidi's men were interfering and should back off, he warned. "Let me explain," Huweidi said, as the governor continued to berate him. Finally Huweidi relented. "Yes, you're the governor," he said. "I will ask them to pull back."
BARACK’S POINT GUARD
The Aide Who Went to War
Richard Wolffe 7/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
Mark Lippert is hardly the kind of man most people would expect to find as Barack Obama's longest-serving foreign-policy adviser. The buzz-cut Navy reservist has just returned to his civilian job at the senator's office after a year's deployment in Iraq. His boss may have made his name with his antiwar stance, but Lippert has spent far more time on the ground in Iraq than most of Obama's right-wing critics ever will.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Mediterranean Bridge Building
Eric Pape 7/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
In the name of diplomacy, leaders sometimes play little tricks. That's what French President Nicolas Sarkozy did as he hosted the extravagant Mediterranean Union's inaugural summit in Paris on Bastille Day weekend. After offering a glowing report on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, he simultaneously shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as cameras snapped away. Then he slyly drew his own hands together, and theirs with his—leading to a richly symbolic three-way handshake. Abbas smiled discretely, and Olmert—who in other circumstances might have scowled at the move—broke into a broad, toothy grin.