Obama Had Hand in Secret Talks With Iran

(AP) - Barack Obama and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, stood together today on thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions and furthering a Mideast peace that provides for separate Israeli and Palestinian states. "We want peace. We want dialogue. We want to help them develop. But we do not want military nuclear weapons to spread," said Sarkozy of Iran, adding that he worries about "insane statements" from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. More»

Manages to get Russia and China to cooperate

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama scored two significant victories at the UN yesterday, cajoling Dmitry Medvedev into saying he would get behind tougher nuclear sanctions against Iran, and convincing both Russia and China to support a resolution strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Publicly the administration wouldn’t acknowledge any quid-pro-quo, but several official tell the New York Times that the US won Russia over in part by ditching its plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. More»

Kissinger, Powell, Baker call on Senate for 'essential' vote

(NEWSER) - The New START treaty got some serious firepower behind it this morning, with the past five Republican secretaries of state writing a Washington Post op-ed in its support. "Although each of us had initial questions about New START," write Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Colin Powell, "administration officials have provided reasonable answers" and concessions, resulting in "compelling reasons Republicans should support ratification" More»

That nuclear summit looked a lot like a waste of time, didn't it?

(NEWSER) - President Obama convened the biggest meeting of world leaders on US soil since the founding of the UN in 1945. And what did this week's historic gathering accomplish? Well, it generated a nonbinding statement saying that Ukraine, Chile, Mexico, and Canada will get rid of some enriched uranium. “What a relief,” writes Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post . “I don’t know about you, but I lie awake nights worrying about Canadian uranium.” More»

Iran won't change its nuclear ways, US can't 'do a damn thing'

(AP) - Iran's hardline president today ridiculed President Obama's new nuclear strategy, which turns the US focus away from the Cold War threats and instead aims to stop the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists. "American materialist politicians, whenever they are beaten by logic, immediately resort to their weapons like cowboys," Ahmadinejad said in a speech before a crowd of several thousand in northwestern Iran. "Mr. Obama, you are a newcomer. Wait until your sweat dries and get some experience." More»