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Jim Fine, Legislative Secretary for Foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), discusses the effort to add an exit strategy and withdrawal deadline to the Afghanistan supplemental spending bill in the Senate, the US push for Iran sanctions despite broad agreement they won’t work, Hillary Clinton’s tough talk on Pakistan and Gen. McChrystal’s admission that nearly nine years of US occupation has only produced a draw in Afghanistan.

MP3 here. (24:24)

As Legislative Secretary for Foreign Policy, Jim coordinates FCNL’s Iraq Peace Campaign, which is focused on working with Congress to set a date for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Iraq, to promote negotiations to bring armed groups fighting the Iraqi government back to the negotiations table, to participate in a regional peace process involving all of Iraq’s neighbors, and to fund the reconstruction of Iraq. A long-time Middle East scholar and peace activist, Jim has extensive knowledge about sources of conflict and cooperation within the region.

Jim has lived in Beirut, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and, briefly, in Baghdad. For over three decades he has traveled extensively throughout the region meeting with political, social, and religious leaders and developing relationships of trust and confidence. He has served as the American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) International Affairs representative in the Middle East traveling to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. He has also worked with a Quaker high school in Ramallah, and with the Middle East Council of Churches.