Below, please find the latest articles to have appeared in print and electronic media about CSIS and its experts. For your reference, there is also a link to archived media coverage of CSIS.
A CSIS Statesmen's Forum with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was quoted by the Washington Post, "Justice Dept. Sees Surge in Global Crime Networks."
At least three times this year, from a computer station in Romania, a hacker nicknamed Vladuz posed as an eBay customer service representative in a bid to steal sensitive information from Americans who visited the popular auction Web site. The man, part of a fraud ring controlled by a foreign criminal syndicate, was captured by Romanian police last week with the help of agents from the FBI and the Secret Service. Justice Department officials cited the case of Vladuz, also known as Vlad Duiculescu, to sound an alarm yesterday about a resurgence in organized crime that recognizes no national borders. Speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey offered praise for the successful efforts by Robert F. Kennedy decades ago to break the back of the Italian American mafia but told listeners that the current threat from international syndicates poses even greater challenges. Read the article
April 23
A CSIS Statesmen’s Forum with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was quoted by Reuters, "'Mobsters Without Borders' are Global Threat: U.S."
Crime groups operating as "mobsters without borders" have gained significant footholds in global markets and provide logistic support to terrorists, the United States said on Wednesday. Launching a campaign against such international criminals, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said they were more adaptable and sophisticated than La Cosa Nostra and other syndicates the U.S. government set out to defeat half a century ago. "These international criminals pose real national security threats to this country," Mukasey said in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. He cited recent cases, many with links to the former Soviet bloc.Read the article
A CSIS Statesmen's Forum with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, "Attorney General Targeting International Organized Crime."
Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey offered a stark assessment Wednesday of a rising threat from international organized crime, saying that a new breed of mobsters around the world was infiltrating strategic industries, providing logistical support to terrorists and becoming capable of "creating havoc in our economic infrastructure." Launching one of his first new law enforcement initiatives since becoming attorney general last fall, Mukasey said he recently revived a multiagency group first established in the Johnson administration with the goal of identifying the most urgent organized crime threats around the world and developing strategies to combat them. Read the article
April 20
A CSIS Statesmen’s Forum H.E. Samir Sumada’ie, Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, was quoted by Bloomberg, "Rice Plans to Press Allies, Neighbors, to Support Iraq."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will urge Iraq's neighbors and Arab allies this week to bolster their diplomatic support of Baghdad, arguing that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is making progress on political reconciliation. "I think it's fair to say that the neighbors could do more to live up to their obligations, because I do think the Iraqis are living up to theirs," Rice told reporters traveling with her before a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland, on her way to Bahrain today and then on to Kuwait. Neighboring countries have "certain phobias and unrealistic expectations of Iraq," said Iraq's ambassador to the U.S., Samir Sumaida'ie, in a speech in Washington earlier this month. "Our Arab neighbors have disappointed us," he said at an event organized by the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think it's necessary for them to share some of the burden because a destabilized Iraq, a failed Iraq, would be a disaster for them." Read the article
A CSIS Statesmen’s Forum with H.E. Samir Sumaida’ie, Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Iraq Envoy Cites Need for Security Force."
The Iraqi ambassador to Washington is commanding only a fraction of the turnout accorded the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, who in Capitol Hill appearances is seeking to discourage growing sentiment for prompt withdrawal of most U.S. troops from the war. While Senate committees were questioning Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker, ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie was telling a few score journalists and scholars at a Washington think tank that his country wanted U.S. troops to leave, but not too quickly.Read the article
A CSIS Statesmen’s Forum with H.E. Samir Sumadaida’ie, Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, was quoted by CNN.com, "Iraqi Envoy: This is Wrong Time for U.S. to Leave."
Iraq's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that his country still needs the U.S. military to survive and predicted that the next U.S. president, whoever it is, will agree that the troops will have to stay for at least a while longer. "Now it is all about getting votes," Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie said of the presidential hopefuls and their views on Iraq. "When the candidate is successful and is in the White House, that candidate is going to have a different mind frame. At that point, most of the choices will converge." Sumaidaie, who made the comments after a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, added that he has been in contact with the U.S. presidential campaigns.Read the article
April 8
A CSIS Statesmen’s Forum with H.E. Samir Sumadaida’ie, Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, and Anthony Cordesman were quoted by Bloomberg, "Petraeus Says Iraq Too 'Fragile' for Removing Troops."
Army General David Petraeus told lawmakers today that progress in Iraq is too "fragile and reversible" to allow U.S. troop levels to fall below about 140,000 earlier than September. Petraeus, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, recommended a 45-day evaluation after the final brigade from last year's "surge" of troop reinforcements into Iraq is withdrawn in July. Only after that period can officials begin to consider further withdrawals, he said. [...] Iraq's ambassador to the U.S., Samir Sumaida'ie, said any candidate talking about troop withdrawal will be faced, as president, with the reality that seeing the mission through is in the interests not only of Baghdad but also of Washington. "This is a long recovery from what was a terminal illness," Sumaida'ie said today at a forum in Washington organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Consequences of Invasion Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Washington-based center, said the U.S. has a moral and ethical responsibility for the consequences of its invasion. About 10 percent of the country's population has come to adulthood in the past five years, and half a generation of Iraqis live with a lack of security and an unemployment or underemployment rate of 50 percent, he said at the forum. "Regardless of the reasons we went to war or what we may individually think of the war, we cannot afford to ignore the fact that our actions have impacted on an entire nation," Cordesman said.
February 28
Guy Ben-Ari, a senior fellow with the CSIS Defense Industrial Initiatives Group, was quoted by the New York Times, “Bush and Czech Leaders Close to Deal on Radar."
President Bush and the Czech leader said Wednesday that they were close to an agreement on a plan for the United States to install an early warning radar system in the Czech Republic, a key component of a missile defense system that has drawn stiff opposition from Russia. “There are only three words remaining to resolve,” said the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, speaking through an interpreter, after meeting with Mr. Bush in the Oval Office. He described the sticking points as “minor details” and said they had to do with environmental protection issues. [...] “At this point, I think they haven’t gotten the reassurances they are looking to get,” said Guy Ben-Ari, an expert in missile defense at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Assuming everything goes very quickly, and the Czechs give the green light, I think there will still not be a formal announcement made, because the Russians need some more placating.” Read the article
February 27
A CSIS Statesmen's Forum with H.E. Mirek Topolanek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Bush, Czechs Fail to Seal Radar Deal."
The United States and the Czech Republic failed on Wednesday to complete an agreement on basing a U.S. anti-missile radar facility near Prague because of a Czech demand for strict environmental rules. Both sides predicted the dispute could be settled quickly. "These aren't easy agreements to put in place," President Bush said after White House talks with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. ''But we feel optimistic that we will get this done." [...] Later at a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Topolanek said that he expected that Poland will complete its negotiations with the United States in the next few months. At Bush's side, Topolanek said "there are only three words remaining to be resolved and discussed." Bush refused to describe them, but the Czech leader later said they deal with environmental protection standards for the radar facility. Read the article
January 20
A CSIS Statesmen's Forum with Teo Chee Hean, the Minister of Defense of Singapore, was quoted by Defense News, "China, India Taking Lead in Emerging Asia Security Architecture."
China and India’s growing economic and military strength are driving profound changes in the region, said Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean in a speech given at the Statesmen’s Forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Jan. 15 in Washington. “The new economic realities in the region will have long-term strategic and security implications. China and India will naturally seek to secure their interests, and their growing economic might allows them to progressively develop the military capabilities and diplomatic influence necessary to do so,” said Teo. Read the article
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