Foreign Policy

Mike Huckabee's (R) Monday speaking engagement at an East Jerusalem hotel has sparked a series of protests both for and against Israeli policy in the area.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the 2008 presidential hopeful's appearance at the Shepherd Hotel will attract protests from two groups; Peace Now and Im Tirtzu, who will hold simultaneous protests for and against the Israeli government's building rights in East Jerusalem, which is a disputed area between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Shepherd Hotel itself has attracted controversy of its own this year. The U.S. government recently requested that the development company overseeing the site halt construction on additional apartments being built at the Shepherd.

Huckabee, who is a former Arkansas governor and a likely 2012 presidential candidate, is holding a dinner with Jewish and Republican leaders.

"Our protest is aimed at voicing our objection to the attempts of right-wing groups to exert control over east Jerusalem," Peace Now official Yariv Oppenheimer told the Post on Sunday. "We believe that these moves will only breed more anger and distrust among Arabs in the capital, and we see these attempts as nothing more than a provocation meant to undermine the possibility of a future peace agreement in the capital."

"We want to safeguard a unified Jerusalem and express that the vast majority of Israelis are against making concessions in the capital. We're talking about the Temple Mount, we're talking about the Old City, the historic sites in Jerusalem," Amit Barak, an Im Tirtzu official said.

"These are the places that the Jewish people have yearned for throughout thousands of years in exile. We're not talking about Malha Mall," he added.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly became annoyed after an audience member at a town hall in Congo asked her what her husband thought about an international relations issue.

"My husband is not secretary of state, I am," the AP reported an "obviously annoyed" Clinton said. "If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband."

A male Congolese student asked her what "Mr. Clinton" thought of World Bank concerns about a multi-billion-dollar Chinese loan offer to the Congo.

"You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?" the AP said she "incredulously" replied.

Before Secretary of State Clinton traveled to Africa, former President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea on what the White House described as a "private humanitarian mission" to secure the release of two captive American journalists.

In what seems to be significant news that didn't get too much attention on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shifted the U.S.'s position with regard to the two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea.

Clinton said that the U.S. is now seeking "amnesty" for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two journalists who were arrested in March at the border on North Korea and China.

"The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened," Clinton said Friday morning to State Department employees, according to the New York Times. "What we hope for now is that these two young women would be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible."

The administration's response to the conviction has largely taken place behind closed doors. Until these remarks, Clinton had said only they the state department is pursuing "all possible channels" to free the journalists.

Lee and Ling were reporting on refugees along the border when they were arrested. They were working for Current TV, former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco based news organization.

The two journalists were tried in North Korea's highest court in June, meaning there was no possibility of an appeal. They were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison or labor camps.

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How is President Obama's relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel?

There have been several rumors that the two's relationship isn't quite as chummy and Merkel and President George W. Bush's was. And this weekend Bild Magazine of Gemany, referencing this older story from the Washington Post, provides some evidence that they are not getting along.

To Bush, Merkel was practically a heroine. Her long road from growing up in communist East Germany to Chancellor of a unified country was proof to Bush that freedom always won.

He listened to her with fascination when she told him about her life.

Merkel has struggled to reach this level of closeness to Obama, and is often an awkward ally for him.

*HE wants a large offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan. SHE does not want to send German soldiers to the unstable south and refuses to call the operation a war.

*HE wants to send former Guantanamo Bay inmates to Germany. SHE has not agreed to the plans.

*HE wants to save the world economy with a massive rescue package worth billions of dollars. SHE fears inflation and talks openly about her "great skepticism" of government support for ailing economies.

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Here is the prepared text of President Obama's speech in Ghana on Saturday, per the White House.

Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana. I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I've received, as are Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana's history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States.

I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well.

This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America's. Your health and security can contribute to the world's. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere.

So I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world - as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility, and that is what I want to speak with you about today.

We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans.

I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.

My grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade - it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year. Read more...

We're more than half way through President Obama's speech to Ghana's parliament and, so far, it looks like Obama's calls for an uncorrupt government and fair elections.

"This is about more than holding elections," Obama said, "it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers."

"No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery," he added. "That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end."

Obama went on to call for transparent institutions, "honest police forces, independent judges and journalists."

Obama's focus on these tenets - what he would likely call universal human rights - has been a theme during this trip abroad.

In his speech in Moscow earlier this week, Obama emphasized the importance of free elections other rights such as an independent media.

The theme may also be interpreted as a reference to the unrest in Iran following that country's election last month. After initially saying very little about the protests, Obama eventually criticized Iran's crackdown on the protests and said the right to peacefully organize is a universal human right.

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Presisdent Obama was interrupted several times and appeared to be very well received as he delivered remarks at Ghana's parliament on Saturday.

Obama is delivering a speech titled "A New Moment of Promise," and, through the grainy and green-tinted video currently streaming over the cable news networks, it looks like Obama has been very well received.

Early on in the speech, Obama described his ties to Africa and Ghana.

"I have the blood of Africa within me," Obama said.

He went on:

My grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade - it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year.

My father grew up herding goats in a tiny village, an impossible distance away from the American universities where he would come to get an education. He came of age at an extraordinary moment of promise for Africa. The struggles of his own father's generation were giving birth to new nations, beginning right here in Ghana. Africans were educating and asserting themselves in new ways. History was on the move.

Obama said that Africa is "too often overlooked" by the rest of the world and praised Ghana for working to put democracy "on firmer footing."

In particular, Obama also got a healthy round of applause when he discussed elections in Ghana.

"The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections," Obama said.

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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made more comments on the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya today, saying that he supports the U.S. -- backed mediation effort lead by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

The 2008 GOP presidential nominee tweeted:

Met with Honduran political leaders -- President Arias is the right man to resolve this crisis.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Zelaya yesterday in D.C. and agreed to a political reconciliation process. President Barack Obama had previously condemned the military coup which occurred on June 28.

Yesterday, McCain challenged the administration's position on Zelaya himself. Today, he's lauding the prospects of mediation with Arias, a plan that emerged from Clinton's meeting with Zelaya yesterday. But the problem-solver seems to be a universally accepted choice, with Honduras' interim president Roberto Micheletti going along with the plan for talks as well.

Cross posted to Twitter Room

Speaking about the recent coup in Honduras, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said President Manuel Zelaya clearly "was in violation of his country's constitution." McCain made his comments on Twitter this afternoon:

Violence and unrest in Honduras & China - we need to continue to stand up for human rights and democracy around the world!

I regret the military takeover in Honduras, but it's clear President Zelaya was in violation of his country's constitution.

McCain's statement runs in direct conflict with the Obama administration's position on the coup. Last week, the president said that the coup was "not legal" and that Zelaya is still the president of the Latin American nation.

Members of Congress have generally been mum on the situation, but some tensions are beginning to show, especially amongst Republicans. Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) said that Zelaya "trampled on the Honduran constitution" and called the Honduran president's effort to extend his term a "blatant power grab."

Zelaya proposed a constitutional referendum that would allow him to seek reelection, superceding term limits layed out in the country's constitution. Members of the Honduran military arrested him and forced him into exile on June 29.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the ousted president today.

Cross posted to the Twitter Room

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the U.S. will support mediation efforts in Honduras, CNN reports.

Clinton met with exiled leader Manuel Zelaya on Tuesday in D.C. after Zelaya's efforts to return to Honduras on Monday were foiled and he was forced to land in Nicaragua.

The mediation efforts would be led by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. It appears that interim president Roberto Micheletti is willing to participate.

"We hope this process can begin as soon as possible," Clinton said.

Zelaya was thrown out of the country in a military coup on June 28. President Obama has denounced the ouster.

Not all U.S. lawmakers have condemned the coup, though, because they say Zelaya was violating the constitution. Most recently, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted this on Tuesday:

I regret the military takeover in Honduras, but it's clear President Zelaya was in violation of his country's constitution.

And Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has also defended Zelaya's ouster.

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