By Al Kamen
Friday, December 1, 2006
Forget the Iraq Study Group and its much-anticipated report on what to do in Iraq. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department has figured out what's needed to improve the situation: the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP).
The idea is to pick 20 to 100 Iraqi high school kids and bring them to the United States for a month next summer "to learn about the U.S., to develop their leadership skills, and to develop friendships," according to a "funding opportunity" announcement. How big an opportunity? How about $2.3 million and change?
There's to be a "civic education week" here in Washington to watch true democracy in action. The kids are to spend a "week at a camp" or maybe a campus to hang with American kids and get addicted to PlayStations. Then there's two weeks with a family in a typical community so they can see grass-roots democracy at its finest.
Then the kids will go back to places such as Anbar province and Sadr City and see other, slightly different, grass-roots organizations in action. The goal, the grant proposal tells us, is to "promote mutual understanding" between Americans and Iraqis, and to "develop a sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community development among youths," and to "foster relationships among youths from different ethnic, religious and national groups." This should counter what appears to be a slight deterioration of such relationships in recent years.
The first group is to come over next summer, the second in the summer of 2008. After that, there may be an "All-Alumni Conference" in a "third country" for those graduates who are to make it.
Remember, though, you'll have to recruit the Iraqi kids "without reliance on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad," the announcement says. Try to do this in the Green Zone -- otherwise, you'll have to hire security guards, and that will eat up profits.
Application deadline is Dec. 13, so act quickly.
Note: The announcement talks only about Iraqi kids coming here, but maybe there's to be a full cultural exchange in which American kids -- not just those in uniform -- will be able to go to camp in Iraq?
'Misguided World Leaders' for $400, AlexQuick Loop Quiz! Name the author of this paragraph and the world leader he's talking about.
"The information he receives is undoubtedly skewed by his small circle of . . . advisers, coloring his actions and interpretation of reality. His intentions seem good . . . but the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests [he] is . . . ignorant of what is going on [or] misrepresenting his intentions . . ."
Ah. You guessed it: national security adviser Stephen Hadley, talking about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a recent memo to President Bush. (Some of you cynics might have had someone else in mind, but you would have been wrong.)
Handicapping Venezuela's Election: The SequelMost of the polls in Venezuela say president and annoying blowhard Hugo Chavez is cruising to reelection in Sunday's voting. But the Venezuelans are a bit leery of pollsters.
They recall that back in August 2004, during a presidential recall referendum, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, using exit polls, hailed a major victory for anti-Chavez forces. Hours before the voting was over, the pollsters said exit polls showed 59 percent in favor of recalling Chavez.
The actual votes, certified by all manner of independent groups -- former president Jimmy Carter, the Organization of American States, the European Union -- came out just the opposite, with Chavez crushing the opposition and getting 59 percent of the vote. (Well, they got the 59 right.)
Penn, Schoen folks indicated they thought the voting, not their polling, was flawed. That inflamed Chavez's opposition, which claimed election fraud. Things were tense there for a while.
On to this election. The Associated Press last week found Chavez up by 32 points. Zogby showed him up 29. Penn, Schoen, which does a lot of work for the Clintons, on Nov. 15 also had Chavez up, but only by six points, with indications he was "vulnerable" and the race was tightening.
Stay tuned.
Block That Subpoena!Beefing up the defensive line at the White House? The White House counsel's office, anticipating a blizzard of subpoenas from Democrats for what we all know are top-secret or constitutionally protected "deliberative process" records, is filling slots on the legal team.
Christopher G. Oprison, a senior litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and former Marine Corps prosecutor, has signed up, as has Cheryl Stanton, who had been at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C.
Buzz is that WilmerHale partner Paul Eckert is being talked about as well. More to come, we're hearing, including possibly the addition of a proven heavy hitter should things get rough.
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