BRITNEY ZAPATERO: Oops, he did it again. First Iraq, now Kosovo. Spain is unilaterally pulling its troops:

Spain will withdraw its hundreds of troops from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in the next few months, an official said Thursday.

Defense Minister Carme Chacon made the announcement during a visit to the Spanish base at Istok in Kosovo.

"After 10 years of great work, the mission has been completed and it is time to return home," the ministry quoted Chacon as saying.

The alllies are jumping mad:

NATO appeared annoyed on Thursday at Spain's withdrawal decision, which came with little warning to Spain's allies.

NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero told The Associated Press in Brussels that the alliance's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, had been informed of the Spanish decision prior to its announcement but felt that such a move "should have been taken as a result of a decision within the alliance."

She added that NATO does "not yet" consider that "political and security conditions are in place" in Kosovo.

What a disgrace.

BEFORE I BELIEVE IT, I'd like to see some confirmation of this, not from the Spanish government, but from someone at Gen. James Jones' office (previously in Barcepundit, here):

Spain's government said Saturday it had cleared up a misunderstanding with Washington over the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Kosovo.

"Once it was it was explained that (the withdrawal) was going to be done in a fully coordinated manner, the reaction of the United States and our allies was one of complete understanding," said Bernardino Leon, the top aide to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"A page has been turned... this little storm has passed," he told private radio Cadena Ser.

Considering that the Cadena Ser is almost a house organ of the Socialist party and Zapatero's government, it wouldn't be surprising if this was just damage control after the general uproar in Spain about how badly handled this thing was. Spanish press is reporting today that Bernardino Leon, nor the army chief of Staff, nor the Foreign Minister, nor the Spanish ambassador to the US or NATO knew anything about Spain's Kosovo pullout. Spain's defense minister hadn't told anything to NATO's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer nor to US Defense secretary Robert Gates, not even during a courtesy phonecall. It's been said that León and the army chief of staff learned about it in a layover during their trip to DC for a pre-scheduled meeting with Gen. Jones. The meeting's agenda had to change quickly to discuss this, apparently.

Why I suspect it's damage control? Well, because after announcing the withdrawal, the Spanish government is already backpedaling furiously:

Spain's timetable for the withdrawal of its 600 troops from Kosovo is flexible, the prime minister's spokesman said on Sunday, reacting to NATO criticism of Spanish plans to withdraw the troops by the end of summer.

"Defence Minister Carmen Chacon will meet NATO's secretary general next week to explain the reasons for the withdrawal and to reach a joint decision on a timetable," the spokesman said.

"The decision to leave has been made, but we can be flexible over the timetable, be it one year, 18 months or eight months."

The spokesman's comment marked a shift from the remark by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Friday that the troops would leave Kosovo within the next four or five months.

Zapatero had been confirming Chacon's announcement of the withdrawal plan on Thursday.

What a bunch of amateurs.

UPDATE. More here.

THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE:

When Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain withdrew Spanish peacekeepers from Iraq in 2004, he got the cold shoulder from former President George W. Bush. So ever since the election of Barack Obama, Mr. Zapatero has relished the prospect of working with a U.S. leader with whom he shares not only a birthday but also, in his view, a progressive agenda and a desire to resolve conflict through dialogue.

But Spain's unexpected announcement last week that it would withdraw its troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo has marred the nascent relationship with the Obama administration and raised questions about Spain's reliability as an ally, diplomats and foreign policy experts say.

Spain informed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.S. officials of the decision less than 24 hours before Carme Chacón, the Spanish defense minister, announced it during a visit Thursday to a Spanish military base in Kosovo.

[...] The problem, analysts and experts said, was not so much Spain's decision to withdraw troops as the abrupt way it was announced. According to a report in the newspaper El País, Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos was one of several senior diplomats who were unaware of the decision before it became public. On Monday, in a show of unity, Moratinos said that the whole government backed the Kosovo withdrawal.

But diplomats and experts said they were baffled by Mr. Zapatero's decision to announce a potentially controversial decision just before the Group of 20 meeting in London on April 1-2 and the NATO summit meeting in Strasbourg a day later — meetings that are keenly anticipated in Zapatero's inner circle as an opportunity to work with Mr. Obama.

Good job, Zapatero.

Defense minister Carme Chacón ridiculously defended the fact that she didn't discuss the decision with hardly anyone saying that she felt that the right thing to do was to tell first the people more directly affected: the Spanish troops on the ground. Which I'm not sure if this makes me laugh or cry? How old is she, sixteen, dealing with her high school pals? They're soldiers, for chrissakes. They're not kids, they're grownups whose work is basically getting orders. It's so patronizing that military associations are fuming.

Plus, it's obvious that others are as directly affected by the move as the Spanish troops; namely, the Italians. The Spanish troops are in the Western area of Kosovo, under Italian command. What do you think they feel about having learned about the pullout from the media?

But wait, there's more! She said that she wanted to tell soldiers first, right? Well, as further evidence this is a transparent PR stunt -- to revive the past 'glory' of the Iraq pullout, and to create a controversy to divert the citizen's attention from the desparate economic times --, it turns out (link in Spanish) that she was so interested that the news was shown on TV newscasts that, on the day of her trip, she first taped the announcement before the cameras only, with the exact same words she used when telling the troops ("the job is done; it's time to go home"), pretending she was talking to the soldiers. She wasn't sure the videotape would reach the TVs news department on time for the 3pm newscast, so she told them they could use the enactment in case they needed it.

Welcome to the Fluffy Democracy.

"WHAT IS GOING ON in Kosovo today is the future of Europe tomorrow":

International intervention to halt the persecution of Christians in Kosovo is a "complete failure," according to a former diplomat and other political analysts who briefed Capitol Hill staff late last week, pointing to the destruction of 150 churches and the simultaneous construction of 200 mosques.

Cybercast News Service obtained video of the burning and desecrating of the churches by ethnic Albanians, most of them Muslim.

The new mosques are funded by "Wahhabist nations," the diplomats said, raising the specter of radical Islam incubating on the doorstep of Europe in a province rife with illegal arms and narcotics trafficking.

The religious persecution is also part of a political strategy of violence, which if rewarded in the granting of independence to Kosovo, could trigger similar violent secessionist movements throughout neighboring states and countries, they warned.

What a fine job the UN is doing over there after several years, don't you think? We should definitely give them the task of Iraq; it will be all fine and dandy in a couple of weeks.

(via blog in Spanish Desde el Exilio)

UPDATE. Here's a video of the dessecration (thanks to reader Tom Pechinski).

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WHILE AMERICA WAS SLEEPING I fixed a 'news breakfast' for you -- ready each weekday morning at 6am Eastern to satisfy your media craving [feature permalink here]. These must-reads will kick start your day!

U.S.

Jumbo Spending Bill Stuffed With Earmarks: " Weeks after swearing off earmarks, many senators stand to gain tens of millions of dollars for pet projects in a massive spending bill that could be their last chance at the money before a more conservative Congress begins next month. The $1.2 trillion bill, released on Tuesday, includes more than 6,000 earmarks totaling $8 billion, an amount that many lawmakers decried as an irresponsible binge following a midterm election in which many voters demanded that the government cut spending." (WaPo)

'A Total Mess': "Republicans poring over a 1,924-page overarching spending bill proposed by Democrats to cover the rest of the fiscal year are threatening to grind the legislation to a halt, citing massive earmark spending, which, if passed, would be enacted into law without debate in the full Senate. . . . But the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said he believes the legislation must pass." (Fox News)

Miller Appeals: "U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court after a lower court ruled against his challenge of write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Superior Court Judge William Carey last week ruled Miller, a Tea Party-supported Republican, offered no evidence to support his claim of election fraud, and said election officials used the correct standard when they accepted ballots where Murkowski's name was misspelled but a write-in vote for her was clearly intended." (UPI)

Tax Deal Is Shaping 2012 GOP Campaign: "The tax deal now before Congress has kicked off the first real debate of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign, with several prospective candidates heralding the package as a victory for taxpayers and others criticizing it as a costly stimulus bill in disguise. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have both come out sharply against the measure, which President Barack Obama hammered out last week with Senate Republican leaders. Both cite the deal's price tag, with Mr. Romney saying it will heap billions more onto the nation's debt load. Supporting the package are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, all of whom praise the deal as good for the economy and the only way to spare Americans the jolt of a sudden tax increase that otherwise would take effect on Jan. 1." (WSJ)

House Dems to Amend Estate Tax Deal? "As the Senate prepared Tuesday to push through a sweeping tax package negotiated by the White House and congressional Republicans, House leaders were looking to amend the measure to satisfy the concerns of angry liberals without unraveling the deal altogether." (WaPo)

Reid to Steal Senators' Christmas? " Senate majority leader Harry Reid wants to take up a slew of important issues after the tax deal is passed – from a $1.2 trillion budget bill to a repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell.'" (CSM)

White House -- Ruling Won't Affect Obamacare Rollout: "'There's no practical impact at all as states move forward in implementing ... the law that Congress passed and the president signed,' White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that, as expected, the department would appeal Monday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in Virginia. Hudson declared that a central provision of the law - the requirement for nearly everyone to carry health insurance - was unconstitutional." (AP)

Obama Planning Big Staff Makeover: "President Barack Obama has delayed the most significant staff shuffle of his presidency until after New Year’s — but the changes may be more sweeping than anticipated and could include the hiring of high-profile Democrats defeated in the midterms. . . .  Obama’s thinking on other specifics of his reconfigured West Wing — as well as a new campaign operation and Democratic National Committee structure — is largely unknown. But changes are expected across the administration, with familiar faces moving into new roles, both inside and outside the White House, and some unfamiliar ones joining the ranks." (Politico)

Keeping the Faith: "Bon Jovi joins a long list of big names, including eBay President and CEO John Donahoe and Starbucks Executive VP Paula Boggs, on the president’s newly formed White House Council for Community Solutions." (CNN)

Why Scott Brown Isn't As Vulnerable As Dems Think: "From his well-formed centrist brand, to his proven ability to raise money, to the lack of a well-funded Democratic challenger, it's becoming clear that Brown is no dead man walking in the halls of the Senate." (National Journal)

Holbrooke Last Remarks on Afghanistan Revisited: "It used to takes decades for legends about the supposed last words of famous people to seep into the culture and morph through constant repetition, until some enterprising scholar would look for hard evidence and soberly conclude that the well-known observation was most likely a myth or misunderstanding. In the case of Richard C. Holbrooke, the hard-charging diplomat who died on Monday, in the Internet age, that process took less than 24 hours." (NY Times)

Money

The 20 CEOs Coming to Washington: "Twenty CEOs will meet with President Obama on Wednesday for a discussion that will cover trade, clean energy, the deficit and tax code reform. . . . The CEOs come from a wide range of industries, and the list includes a few surprises." (CNNMoney)

Fed Sticks to Bond-Buying Policy: "The Fed stuck to its policy of buying $600 billion in Treasury bonds and keeping short-term interest rates near zero amid signs that the recovery is gathering steam." (WSJ)

American Workforce Grayer than Ever: "The portion of people ages 16-24 in the labor market is at the lowest level since the government began keeping track in 1948, falling from 66% in 2000 to 55% this year. There are 17 million in that age group who are employed, the fewest since 1971 when the population was much smaller. By contrast, people in their 50s, 60s or 70s are staying employed longer than at any time on record. For example, 55% of people ages 60 to 64 were in the labor market during the first 11 months of 2010, up from 47% for the same period in 2000." (USA Today)

Russia, China Phasing Out Dollar in Int'l Trade: "On Wednesday, a Moscow securities exchange is scheduled to open direct trading between the Chinese currency, the renminbi, and the Russian ruble. If the market develops, it could eventually cut the dollar out of a portion of Russian and Chinese trade. Although China’s business with Russia is only a sliver of what it does with the United States, there is room to grow: Russia is the world’s largest energy exporting nation, and China a big consumer as the world’s second-largest economy, behind the United States. And yet when a railroad tanker of Russian oil crosses the border into China, the transaction is settled in dollars. The new currency exchange is meant to start changing that." (NY Times)

Moody's Threatens Spain Downgrade: "Ratings agency Moody's put Spain on review for a possible downgrade on Wednesday, highlighting concerns over a looming funding crunch next year and prompting the euro and bank shares to slide." (Reuters)

... And S&P Warns on Belgium: "Europe's debt woes have moved closer to the core of monetary union after Standard & Poor's threatened to downgrade Belgium over the failure of Flemings and Walloons to form a government. " (Daily Telegraph)

World

Wikileaks Founder Still in Jail as Sweden Appeals Bail Decision: "Sweden has decided to contest the granting of bail to Assange, who is being held pending an extradition hearing, on the grounds that no conditions imposed by a judge could guarantee that he would not flee" (Guardian)

USAF Blocks Sites Who Posted the Secret Cables: " When Air Force personnel on the service’s computer network try to view the Web sites of The Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, the German magazine Der Spiegel, the Spanish newspaper El País and the French newspaper Le Monde, as well as other sites that posted full confidential cables, the screen says “Access Denied: Internet usage is logged and monitored,” according to an Air Force official whose access was blocked and who shared the screen warning with The Times. Violators are warned that they face punishment if they try to view classified material from unauthorized Web sites." (NY Times)

Where's the Money? "A mutiny within WikiLeaks has former associates of leaker-in-chief Julian Assange charging that he's turned the web site into a cult of personality, and asking what has happened to the money." (ABC)

Classified Reports Counter Optimism on Afghan War: "The intelligence assessments contend that large swaths of the country remain at risk of falling to the Taliban and that Pakistan still supports militants, officials say." (LA Times)

Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens at Mosque in South Iran: "IRNA said the attacker struck outside Imam Hussein Mosque in the city of Chahbahar near the border with Pakistan on Wednesday. Dozens were also injured. The bombing appeared to target a group mourning Ashoura, which marks the 7th century death of the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad." (Newser)

Dozens of Asylum Seekers Die in Boat Accident in Australia: "A wooden boat packed with around 70 asylum seekers smashed apart on jagged rocks in heavy seas off an Australian island Wednesday, flinging screaming women and children into churning whitewater and killing at least 27 people." (CBS)

Stuxnet Set Back Iran's Nuclear Program by 2 Years: "'It will take two years for Iran to get back on track,' [top German computer consultant] Langer said in a telephone interview from his office in Hamburg, Germany. 'This was nearly as effective as a military strike, but even better since there are no fatalities and no full-blown war. From a military perspective, this was a huge success.'" (JPost)

Silvio Not Booted From the Island: "Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday as demonstrators opposed to his rule clashed with police in street protests that essentially closed the center of Rome.  The 314 to 311 vote in the lower house of Parliament will allow Berlusconi to continue dominating the nation's politics but leave him struggling to govern with a slim majority. At the same time, it dealt a blow to opposition leaders and Berlusconi's ambitious former allies, who had considered it their best chance yet to remove the 74-year-old media mogul from power." (WaPo)

Bill 'Valium' Richardson on Mission to North Korea: "Mr Richardson, who has been to Pyongyang several times in recent years, said he hoped to persuade the North Koreans to 'calm down a bit'." (BBC)

Kosovo PM Head of Human Organ Ring: "Kosovo's prime minister is the head of a "mafia-like" Albanian group responsible for smuggling weapons, drugs and human organs through eastern Europe, according to a Council of Europe inquiry report on organised crime. Hashim Thaçi is identified as the boss of a network that began operating criminal rackets in the runup to the 1999 Kosovo war, and has held powerful sway over the country's government since." (Guardian)

Cuba Denies Exit Visa for Fariñas: "The Cuban authorities have refused an exit visa for a leading Cuban dissident to travel to France to receive the EU's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. " (BBC)

Tech, Science

First Person Cured from HIV? "Researchers in Germany are reporting that they may have cured a man of HIV infection. If true, that would represent a scientific advance . . . But AIDS researchers predicted the report will have little impact on practice." (CNN)

There Is Such a Thing as Beauty Sleep: "Researchers claim getting eight hours a night really does make you appear more attractive."

THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT'S coverup of a swine flu outbreak is unacceptable not only in itself, but also because it may have endangered more than 100 kids. This level of incompetence is hard to imagine, even in Zapatero's government. And it makes clear they have taken the transparency lessons from Obama...

Here's the story: On Monday, the medical services in one of the main barracks outside Madrid detected some cases of possible swine flu. It was particularly worrying since none of the affected had been in Mexico or other affected areas. Without reporting it to anyone outside the military -- not even the health authorities who have been monitoring the illness since it all started in Mexico --, the army isolated the sick soldiers in one building; they were not even allowed to let their families know what was happening. The next day, some of the results came out positive for H1N1 (sources differ on how many, but they could be up to 11); the infected soldiers were sent to a hospital and about 600 were quarantined. Still silence, until a Spanish online newspaper broke the news almost at midnight on Wednesday.

But the worst thing is that the Health ministry was so intent on raising any red flags that they didn't cancel two field trips by schools, who visited the barracks on Monday and Wednesday. In all, 130 11-and-12-year-olds who were recklessly exposed to the virus, although the army is now saying that they were kept at least 500 yards from the building were the quarantined soldiers were being kept Guantanamo-like. Even if you think that there's at least some alarmism and exaggeration surrounding swine flu you have to admit that this is outrageous. If swine flu is nothing, why hide it and not letting parents decide whether they wanted their kids to go on the field trip. If swine flu is really dangerous, than it's obviously much, much worse.

The uproar in the country today is inmense, and rightly so. Young media-darling Defense minister Carmen Chacón, as any teenager would do, has been in hiding since news broke, relying on others like the deputy prime minister and the health minister -- who as I said she hadn't informed and learned about this when questioned by journalists yesterday -- to give explanations for her. She had already shown her incompetence on the Kosovo pullout, and hadn't been as shy when she was showing off her pregnant tummy; now even leftists as asking her to resign. Stay tuned.

UPDATE. Deputy PM, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, has just confirmed there's 11 tested positive with H1N1, 9 of them still in hospital and 57 under observation.

EVEN THE SOFT-SPOKEN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION has unusually harsh words against Spain's decision to flee Kosovo. The move hasn't been well received in Spain either, even in pro-Zapatero press. Madrid daily El Pais has a strong editorial today (link in Spanish)

I CAN'T BELIEVE the Spanish government is so clueless. Turns out that they were bragging that Obama was going to be at the meeting of the Alliance of Civilization in Turkey at the end of this week, but no, Obama is voting present (unclear whether he bailed out or he simply hadn't confirmed 100%). So, what do Zapatero's people do? Well, blame the neocons and the jooooos, of course!

Charlemagne has it right:

In other words, Mr Obama has not even landed yet, and we are straight back to the same old same old. It is true that some prominent conservative commentators had issues with Mr Obama going to the Alliance event in Istanbul. But imagine you were a Spanish "government source" preparing your prime minister's first ever meeting with Mr Obama, especially a few days after Spain annoyed NATO mightily by announcing it was pulling its troops out of Kosovo without telling its allies first. I would hesitate to brief the local press that the man is a patsy of neocons and shadowy Jewish lobbyists.

Maybe this is the Jews' fault too...

KOSOVO, an example of a really moderate Muslim country.

CAN'T AGREE MORE:

My friends in Spain chalk this one up to what they call "la gran gilipollez" of Spanish foreign policy - the great jackass-ness.  Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and FM Jimenez have put themselves in the business of manufacturing excuses.  When they discover that Hugo Chavez is providing safe haven and training to seriously dangerous members of ETA, they politely pretend like it's no big deal - and even go out of their way to declare that Venezuela has no political prisoners.  When Cuba restricts the travel rights of dissidents, Jimenez talks about the need for reflection.  When Morocco commits genocide in the Western Sahara, Zapatero simply demures, while on issues of global importance such as human rights, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism, he is simply at a loss.  Other than some notoriety for their vocal opposition to recognition of Kosovo (thanks to the Basques, Spain should be a natural ally of Georgia?), the biggest criticism of Spanish foreign policy is that it does not exist, having created such a low profile that isolationism is interpreted as cowardice - hence "la gran gilipollez."

IT'S ALWAYS DIFFICULT to know whether a war -not just Iraq, but any other war- has been worth it, writes Robert Kagan:

Serious scholars still debate whether the Civil War was necessary, never mind the more obvious "wars of choice" such as World War I, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, the Korean War, wars in Vietnam and Kosovo, and the Persian Gulf War. To a certain brand of American isolationist, even World War II was unnecessary and counterproductive. So there is nothing remarkable about polls showing Americans wondering whether the recent Iraq war was "worth it." It is a great American myth, voiced by John Kerry last year, that the nation goes to war only when there is no question about the necessity of going to war. There's always a question. Even if the Iraqi insurgency disappeared tomorrow, George Ibrahim al Washington became president of Iraq and every liter of Saddam Hussein's onetime stockpile of chemical and biological weapons suddenly appeared in the desert, historians would still spend the next century debating whether the war was "worth it."

Wars remain subjects of debate not just because their "necessity" is in doubt but also because their results are mixed. No war has produced unmitigated successes. The Civil War did not completely "free" African Americans, who remained oppressed for another century. World War I destroyed Europe, and helped pave the way for the rise of Hitler and the Soviet Union. World War II defeated Hitler but enslaved half of Europe behind the Iron Curtain and introduced the world to nuclear warfare. The Persian Gulf War drove Hussein out of Kuwait but helped produce the Osama bin Laden we know today. Add to that the millions of innocent lives lost, and the toll of these wars, generally regarded as "successful," is high. Does that mean those wars were not "worth it"? Demanding unmixed results and guarantees against the unintended consequences of war is as unrealistic as demanding absolute confidence in the "necessity" of going to war in the first place.

Don't miss what follows.

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