News for 11-29-05

11-29-05 - 5 Westerners abducted in new wave of kidnappings In Baghdad, the team ranges from four to seven people at a time. For the past 1 1/2 years, the team has been researching the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the hands of coalition forces. Iraqi families seek out the team, tell their stories, and then Peacemaker Team members help them obtain information about detained family members and legal support. Which is why it makes no sense that they would be kidnapped by insurgents.


11-29-05 - U.S. Detention Policies Justified by War on Terror, Rice Says


11-29-05 - Four members of Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Baghdad abducted & taken hostage.


11-29-05 - Wilkerson Airs Doubts About Prewar Intel


11-29-05 - US 'to reduce its forces in Iraq'


11-29-05 - Iran refuses to negotiate under UN threat


11-29-05 - Syria denies any Hariri murder role, calls Mehlis report 'faulty'


11-29-05 - UN official predicts disaster if US delays budget To make his point, Bolton has suggested a three- or four- month interim budget so that members can focus on reform plans


11-29-05 - Iran Seeks to Master Space Technology


11-29-05 - Spate of scandals causes concern among US conservatives Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham from California, a decorated Vietnam veteran who had served in the House of Representatives for 15 years, resigned in tears after pleading guilty to taking 2.4 million dollars in bribes from military contractors to influence the award of defense contracts


11-29-05 - UN set to grill top Syrian officials: reports


11-29-05 - U.S., Israel discuss Iran Iran was a focus of the renewed Israel-U.S. strategic dialogue.


11-29-05 - EU May Suspend Nations With Secret Prisons


11-29-05 - RUSSIA-TURKEY GAS PIPELINE PROJECT MOVES AHEAD


11-29-05 - Jewish leaders meet new German official Leaders also raised the issue of Iran?s nuclear ambitions

News for 11-28-05

11-28-05 - Syria wants UN report changed after witness recants


11-28-05 - Witness says he implicated Syria in Hariri murder Hosam Taher Hosam said a report by chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis to the Security Council implicating Syrian and Lebanese officials in the February 14 assassination of Rafik al-Hariri was based mainly on his false allegations.


11-28-05 - Video prompts probes into security in Iraq A video appearing to show private security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the Internet.


11-28-05 - Scooter's Motive We're getting closer to the truth


11-28-05 - EU tests waters for resuming nuclear talks with Iran


11-28-05 - UN applaudes Syria?s Role In Helping Palestine


11-28-05 - China marks International Day of Solidarity with Palestinians The United Nations designated November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people in a resolution adopted in 1977


11-28-05 - Is Defeat Now an Option? by Patrick J. Buchanan


11-28-05 - Blair accused as summit on anti-terrorism ends in failure A Spanish foreign policy adviser was caught on an open mike yesterday accusing Tony Blair of preparing to "throw the towel in" and blaming the Israelis for being intractable at a summit on countering terrorism which ended in failure.


11-28-05 - US plays down planned contacts with Iranians


11-28-05 - Arabs should not exclude Islamist parties - Albright


11-28-05 - Syria, Lebanon vow 'new page' in relations


11-28-05 - Ex-Powell Aide Criticizes Detainee Effort A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that "the president of the United States is all-powerful" and the Geneva Conventions irrelevant.


11-28-05 - A History of Violence Dreyfuss also reveals how Israel helped to create and empower the forerunners of Hamas as a bulwark against Palestinian nationalism (as embodied by Yasser Arafat and the PLO). The Likud-Hamas link - with both organizations thriving in unstable, warlike environments - is sure to be one of the book's most controversial points


11-28-05 - Israel-U.S. dialogue resumed The United States suspended the dialogue in recent years because of Israeli arms sales to China

News for 11-27-05

11-27-05 - Britain opposes Bolton tactic on UN reform Britain has rejected a proposal by John Bolton, America's combative ambassador to the United Nations, to block the upcoming UN budget as a tactic to push throughdisputed reforms.


11-27-05 - US to reach out to Iran in effort to subdue unrest in Iraq


11-27-05 - Rolling Back Syria Syria is expected to eliminate any influence it might still maintain over Lebanon, expel Palestinian factions that oppose the Israeli occupation and prepare to accept Israel?s own interpretation of a suitable resolution to the Occupied Golan Heights conflict.



11-27-05 - US Report Calls on Israel to Begin Nuclear Disarmament This is the correct URL for that PDF file


11-27-05 - WHEN SHARON SAYS JUMP BUSH SAYS HOW HIGH?


11-27-05 - Saudi mediation led to UN-Syria deal: Abdullah


11-27-05 - Analysis: Egypt Elections May Worry West For months, the Bush administration has said it is serious about pushing for democracy in the Middle East. It's about to get a serious test of that resolve.


11-27-05 - 2nd Time Reporter to Testify in Leak Case


11-27-05 - Russian analyst: Israel had motivation in the Hariri crime Bogdanov underlined that Israel intends to destabilize Lebanon, replace it with a financial center in the Middle East. It also aims at weakening the positions of Syria and Iran who are two regional states that have big influence in the region.

News for 11-26-05

11-26-05 - Abuse in Iraq as bad or worse than in Saddam's day: Allawi


11-26-05 - Nuking Iran Without the Dachshund If you are Dick Cheney and you want to draw up plans to nuke Iranian installations, how will you go about it? You need a "reasonable" scenario to convince people that you are not mad


11-26-05 - Syria claims victory after UN Hariri probe deal


11-26-05 - Iran President: Charge Bush for War Crimes "You, who have used nuclear weapons against innocent people, who have used uranium ordnance in Iraq, should be tried as war criminals in courts,"


11-26-05 - UNRWA plans to construct 600 new homes for refugees Neocon John Bolton wants to abolish UNRWA


11-26-05 - Iranians show support for nuclear program


11-26-05 - Outing Brewster Jennings


11-26-05 - Bush war critics find their voice


11-26-05 - UN Amb. John Bolton And Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is pleased to announce that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton will be the Keynote Speaker at the annual ZOA Louis Brandeis Award Dinner. He will also receive ZOA?s Defender of Israel award Defender of Israel award? Why would that be? Because John Bolton is ISRAEL'S new ambassador to the U.N., that's why.

News for 11-25-05

11-25-05 - A Feast of Scandal Gee, do you think there may have been something to speculation in this space that Feith's sudden retirement was due to an investigation into possible illegal activities engaged in by his department?


11-25-05 - Iran stands by nuclear enrichment ambition


11-25-05 - UN confirms deal with Syria in Hariri probe


11-25-05 - Uranium enrichment - new red line in Iranian nuclear showdown


11-25-05 - Syria to let UN quiz officials


11-25-05 - Ex-Lebanese Security Head Quizzed in Death


11-25-05 - Aoun: no Palestinian refugees Speaking Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, Aoun said he favored repatriating the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to their original homes, a solution Israel flatly rejects and that Palestinian officials have backed away from in recent years.



11-25-05 - Al Jazeera seeks answers to US bombing report


11-25-05 - Report: US didn't want Al Qaeda members to testify in Padilla case No citizen taken into custody in the United States should be deprived of those rights as Padilla has been. So the Supreme Court should accept the appeal filed on his behalf last month and answer the question it posed: "Does the president have the power to seize American citizens in civilian settings on American soil and subject them to indefinite military detention without criminal charges or trial?"


11-25-05 - Rafsanjani welcomes IAEA decision


11-25-05 - Arab journalists protest Bush's Al-Jazeera 'bomb plan'


11-25-05 - Hizbollah says has duty to abduct Israeli troops


11-25-05 - Israeli held as Hezbollah spy


11-25-05 - Presbyterians meet with Hezbollah MEMRI said that a delegation of families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks also met with Hezbollah officials. MEMRI=an Israeli-run outfit.


11-25-05 - Egypt's ties with Israel bolster Islamist campaign In Egypt's textile heartland, popular support for the opposition Muslim Brotherhood in the parliamentary election has also fed off anti-Israeli sentiment since the government developed a trade agreement with the Jewish state.

News for 11-24-05

11-24-05 - Lesser Neocons of L'Affaire Plame Wurmser handed out yet more free advice in a similar study published in 2000 by neocon Daniel Pipe's Middle East Forum and Ziad Abdelnour's U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon; it "advocated a wider U.S. role in Lebanon":

"The study, 'Ending Syria's Occupation of Lebanon: The U.S. Role?' called for the United States to force Syria from Lebanon and to disarm it of its alleged weapons of mass destruction.


11-24-05 - Russian plan for Iran unites IAEA


11-24-05 - Arab TV staff blast Bush 'threat' Staff at Arabic news broadcaster al-Jazeera have held protests over UK media reports that US President George W Bush wanted to attack its Qatar HQ.


11-24-05 - Iran preparing to start nuclear enrichment-diplomats


11-24-05 - Blair 'double crossed' by Bush aides over Iraq war: Wilson


11-24-05 - Iran: A-bomb data available on Net


11-24-05 - Euromed to send 'clear signal' to Syria on UN cooperation


11-24-05 - EU Alleges Iran Possesses Nuclear Designs For months, Iran has relied on Beijing and Moscow to fend off a U.S.-backed push to have it hauled before the Security Council. But the Russians are now working with the Americans and Europeans to push a compromise enrichment plan, and officials recently told AP that China also is moving closer to the Western position.


11-24-05 - Iran confident of 'victory' at IAEA meet


11-24-05 - Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq.


11-24-05 - U.N. Faces New Political Threats From U.S. "It is obvious," Jim Paul of the New York-based Global Policy Forum told IPS, "that Washington has once again threatened the United Nations with its usual warning: 'Do what we say, or we will send you into oblivion"'. He said Bolton's message is clear, "If you don't, we will wreck you."


11-24-05 - Lebanon fighting shows UN-Beirut rift over Hezbollah Highlighting the differences in perspective, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salukh complained that "the aggressor (Israel) is being treated as if it were the victim" by international organisations such as the United Nations


11-24-05 - EU agrees to back off from taking Iran to Security Council


11-24-05 - Hundreds of Israeli spies in Lebanon: Syria press charges "You have to recognize the danger of having more than 400 men from Israel's Mossad in Lebanon who are working with the other (Lebanese) agents who once supported the Zionist enemy and its militias,"


11-24-05 - Russia beset by foreign spies: official So is America.


11-24-05 - Inside Iran Part III: The Jewish Question


11-24-05 - Israel agrees to return Hezbollah remains


11-24-05 - Tense situation in Lebanon's south sparks fear The fear among the southern villagers was sparked by the latest clashes that took place on Monday between militants of the Shiite group Hezbollah and Israeli troops

News for 11-23-05

11-23-05 - Bush informed in 2001 of lack of Iraq-Qaeda ties Bush was also informed that there was some credible information about contacts between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda that showed that the Iraqi dictator had tried to establish surveillance over the group


11-23-05 - Talabani says Iran promises support against insurgents


11-23-05 - China Closer to Supporting U.S. on Iran


11-23-05 - Israeli parachutist falls inside Lebanon There was also dispute over the parachutist's identity, with the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah telling AFP he was a soldier and Israeli military sources insisting that he was a civilian.


11-23-05 - Syria wants Israel expelled from UN over its "terrorist" policy "The international community, with the United States at its leader, should apply Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to Israel and if necessary expel it to force it to renounce its terrorist policy and preserve global security."


11-23-05 - Abramoff and the Israel Connection That an Israeli firm should be given such a contract through a selection process that was described as "deeply flawed and unfair" is inexplicable, particularly as there were American suppliers of the same equipment, and it suggests that the private conversations of some of our congressmen might not be so private after all


11-23-05 - Russian Lawmakers May Restrict Groups Foreign-funded groups say the bill, approved by a 370-18 margin, could effectively terminate their Russian operations if it is eventually enacted.


11-23-05 - Jordan's pro-Western stance fuels attacks: report


11-23-05 - Israel drops anti-Hizbollah leaflets over Beirut Reda Nemeh, a 41-year-old security guard who saw the leaflets on his way to work in downtown Beirut, slammed them as an Israeli attempt to terrorize Lebanese citizens


11-23-05 - UN set to back new EU drive on Iran atomic plans


11-23-05 - Israel's message to Lebanon from above only adds insult to injury Imagine if the Lebanese flew combat aircraft deep into Israeli airspace and littered messages for the people of Tel Aviv, Haifa and northern Israel. How would the citizens of Israel and the international community react to such a blatant intrusion?


11-23-05 - Rice talks of Iraq troop reductions


11-23-05 - A plague on both their houses by Patrick J. Buchanan


11-23-05 - Syria sanctions extended President Bush signed a bill that extends sanctions already in place against Iran to Syria as well


11-23-05 - U.S. favors Europe-Russia plan on Iran The United States favors a plan that would allow Iran to use uranium enriched in a third country


11-23-05 - Israeli-Hezbollah Clashes Erupt Again Israeli soldiers clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas Wednesday to cover the escape of an Israeli hang glider who had inadvertently floated into Lebanon and landed across the border


11-23-05 - AIPAC seeks Iran sanctions ?It will be very disappointing if the IAEA fails this week to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council,? the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said in a statement Wednesday.


11-23-05 - Campuses team up against terror Israeli and American universities plan to cooperate on national-security issues.

Abramoff and the Israel Connection

From the December 5, 2005 edition of The American Conservative (which is not yet available on the website), typed up from hard copy by me:

Deep Background
by Philip Giraldi

One of the more intriguing aspects of the federal investigation into the activities of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff is his Israeli connections.
His large $2.2 million bail is reported to be due to fears that he would flee to Israel, as some of his business associates have already done, to avoid prosecution. Abramoff, an Orthodox Jew and ardent Zionist, set up a charity called Capital Athletic Foundation, which illegally provided $140,000 worth of weapons and security equipment to hard-line Israeli settlers. Abramoff also allegedly convinced Congressman Robert Ney, House Administrative Committee chairman, to award a contract worth $3 million to a start-up Israeli telecommunications firm called Foxcom Wireless. The contract was for the installation of antennas in House of Representative buildings to improve cell-phone reception. Not surprisingly, such equipment can be designed to have what is known as a "back door" to enable a third party, in this case Mossad, to listen in. That an Israeli firm should be given such a contract through a selection process that was described as "deeply flawed and unfair" is inexplicable, particularly as there were American suppliers of the same equipment, and it suggests that the private conversations of some of our congressmen might not be so private after all. In a previous scandal in 2001, FBI investigators strongly suspected that two Israeli companies, AMDOCS and Comverse Infosys, which had been allowed to obtain U.S. government telecommunications contracts, were able to use back-door technology to compromise the security of the DEA, Pentagon, and White House phones.


http://www.amconmag.com/

News for 11-22-05

11-22-05 - Multinationals, not Iraqis, to reap oil fortune: report


11-22-05 - US troops kill five civilians in Iraq


11-22-05 - Iran's leader wants timetable for US Iraq withdrawal


11-22-05 - Iran president confirms retaliation if sent to UN Iran's president on Tuesday confirmed his government would start enriching uranium and end U.N. snap inspections of nuclear facilities if its case were referred to the U.N. Security Council


11-22-05 - Annan: Arab Leaders Worried Over Syria


11-22-05 - Syria seeks Annan help on Hariri probe But "the secretary-general is not getting involved in it," chief U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. How Mehlis conducts the interviews is "up to Mehlis," he said


11-22-05 - Bush al-Jazeera 'plot' dismissed


11-22-05 - US wraps up Iraq border assault US forces have concluded a major counter-insurgency operation near the Syrian border, the US military said.


11-22-05 - Report: Bush Talked of Bombing Al-Jazeera A civil servant has been charged under Britain's Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said Tuesday suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.



11-22-05 - US tells Syria to stop delaying Hariri murder probe The United States' UN ambassador John Bolton dismissed as "delaying" tactics Syria's request for an accord setting out ground rules for the UN investigation of the killing of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. Why is this our problem?


11-22-05 - Plame, Pakistan, a Nuclear Turkey, and the Neocons The leak had wider effects, therefore, than just ruining one woman's career. It had serious national security implications, which have astonishingly enough been ignored by red-blooded backers of Washington's war party.


11-22-05 - Iran 'not ready' for nuclear fuel: Russia A nuclear plant being built by Russian engineers in Iran is not yet ready to receive its first shipment of nuclear fuel, a senior Russian official said


11-22-05 - Israeli Warplanes Hit Targets in Lebanon


11-22-05 - Lebanon celebrates Independence Day amid border bloodshed Siniora blamed the Jewish state for the latest clashes, saying that Israeli aircraft "have never stopped violating Lebanese airspace in the past weeks", fuelling tension at the frontier


11-22-05 - SYRIA: Palestinians from Iraq seek shelter in Syria


11-22-05 - EU may resume Iran nuclear talks: diplomats


11-22-05 - Israel talks tough after border clash Israel blamed Syria and Iran for a fierce clash with Hezbollah militiamen on its northern border.


11-22-05 - Bribe plea cites Israeli deal A guilty plea in a congressional bribery scandal included allegations that an Israeli high-tech firm played a role.


11-22-05 - Israel maintains its strategic advantage, says Jaffee Center The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University has determined that the strategic balance in the Middle East clearly favors Israel No kidding? Who would've guessed it?


11-22-05 - Annan condemns Lebanon-Israel border clash

News for 11-21-05

11-21-05 - Cheney renews attack on Iraq war critics


11-21-05 - Germany: CIA knew 'Curveball' was not trustworthy There was Ahmed Chalabi, who brought to US attention defectors that "proved to be false, as was his claim that US invaders would be met with bouquets


11-21-05 - The spoils of war Iraqis face the dire prospect of losing up to $200bn (£116bn) of the wealth of their country if an American-inspired plan to hand over development of its oil reserves to US and British multinationals comes into force next year.


11-21-05 - Iraq asks Russia for help against Iran, Syria interference


11-21-05 - Iraq war weakens US human rights clout: Robinson The Iraq war has weakened the moral authority of the United States and its allies to tackle the likes of China and Russia over their poor records on civil liberties, human rights campaigner Mary Robinson said on Monday


11-21-05 - EU, US defer UN action on Iran: diplomats They said a meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Thursday would shelve a resolution to refer Iran for possible U.N. sanctions in favor of a statement demanding Iran come clean on its atomic work, focusing on a suspected bomb-making document


11-21-05 - Britain presses Iran over nuke sites


11-21-05 - Three Hezbollah men killed in cross-border fighting The violence erupted when the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah launched an intense bombardment of Israeli positions in a disputed border area, firing as many as 300 shells in an hour and triggering retaliatory Israeli air strikes.


11-21-05 - The malady recurs by Patrick J. Buchanan The tragedy is that we did not do, voluntarily, 15 years ago, what a foolish, failing neoconservative foreign policy may now force us to do in the not-too-distant future.


11-21-05 - Talabani confident of Iranian help against insurgency


11-21-05 - Exiled Iranian Says Nation Hides Materials And we all know how much we can trust these exiles?


11-21-05 - German spies under fire over Syria case


11-21-05 - UN Council fails to agree on Hizbollah-Israel clash The United States wanted the reference to Israel deleted


11-21-05 - The clash of civilizations that today defines our world His book is not simply about 9/11 and its repercussions. It's an account that takes readers from the breakup of the Ottoman Empire through the relentless terrorism and wars that have plagued the region ever since.

News for 11-20-05

11-20-05 - Security adviser named as source in CIA scandal THE mysterious source who gave America?s foremost journalist, Bob Woodward, a tip-off about the CIA agent at the centre of one of Washington?s biggest political storms was Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser, according to lawyers close to the investigation.


11-20-05 - Powell aide: Torture 'guidance' from VP


11-20-05 - White House used 'gossip' to build case for war


11-20-05 - Iran votes against nuclear checks Iranian lawmakers voted on Sunday to oblige their government to stop allowing snap U.N. checks of its atomic sites and to resume uranium enrichment if Tehran is referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions


11-20-05 - Woodward rebuked over leak case


11-20-05 - Why Iraq war support fell so fast In fact, "I'm impressed by how high support still is," Professor Mueller says. He notes that some Americans' continuing connection of the Iraq war to the war on terror is fueling that support.


11-20-05 - Iran says military site off-limits to UN nuclear probe


11-20-05 - Tim Collins trained troops to fight with white phosphorus


11-20-05 - Rumsfeld says he did not 'advocate' invading Iraq


11-20-05 - Unforgivable


11-20-05 - Faking the Case Against Syria Mehlis's case revolves around a series of questionable phone conversations and intersecting calling card numbers allegedly dialled by the perpetrators. It contains no definitive forensics on the car bomb explosives used.


11-20-05 - Syria studies UN proposals on probe questioning site


11-20-05 - The Man Who Sold the War


11-20-05 - Iran may have handed over nuclear core plan by accident


11-20-05 - Philip Giraldi / Bob Dreyfuss's Interview Scott discusses the Libby indictment, Niger uranium forgeries, etc. with former CIA agent Philip Giraldi and veteran reporter Bob Dreyfuss.


11-20-05 - Israel: Syria will 'likely' give up terror Mofaz told the weekly meeting of the Israeli cabinet that the broad international pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad, following allegations that officials of his government were implicated in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, was beginning to bear fruit


11-20-05 - Jordanian tribe disavows Zarqawi


11-20-05 - DeLay Ex-Aide to Plead Guilty in Lobby Case


11-20-05 - American Christian Fundamentalist Leader Calls For Global War For Evans, and numerous other rabid Christian fundamentalist preachers of hate like him, one of the most crucial purposes of America's invasion of Iraq is the 'defence' of Israel, which he regards as a solemn Christian duty.


11-20-05 - Flashback 2002: Secret Israeli-Iranian Ties Resurface Over Ship Seizure Germany's impounding of Israeli military equipment headed for Iran points once again to the shadowy relations some Israeli companies have with the Islamic republic, a country the Jewish state has often branded its worst enemy.


11-20-05 - Australians quizzed on Syrian detention


11-20-05 - Bush aide says Iraq withdrawal bad for Israel In remarks prepared for delivery to the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) summit, Stephen Hadley said building democracy where Saddam Hussein's regime once stood would help that staunch US ally.


11-20-05 - Remarks By President Bush to The Troops If they're not stopped, the terrorists will be able to advance their agenda to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, and to break our will and blackmail our government into isolation. I'm going to make you this commitment: This is not going to happen on my watch


11-20-05 - America still hasn't learned to know enemies instead of hating them: Matthews When asked what caused the U.S. to invade Iraq, he said it was a combination of factors......"Our friendship with Israel (is part of it) and 9-11 created a kind of crazy zeitgeist in the country.."

News for 11-19-05

11-19-05 - Breaking News: Fitzgerald Convenes New Grand Jury Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in court filings that the ongoing CIA leak investigation will involve proceedings before a new grand jury, a possible sign he could seek new charges in the case


11-19-05 - Lawmakers Reject Immediate Iraq Withdrawal


11-19-05 - British-trained police in Iraq 'killed prisoners with drills'


11-19-05 - Iran says disclosing suspected bomb blueprint shows good faith


11-19-05 - Iran hands over suspected atom bomb blueprint: IAEA


11-19-05 - Justice Dept. May Pursue Halliburton Probe


11-19-05 - Cracks emerge in US - S. Korea unity on Iraq, other issues


11-19-05 - Syrian ambassador to UN warns Mehlis' work 'can take years'


11-19-05 - 'A Conspiracy So Vast?'


11-19-05 - Reform criticize Iraq war The Reform movement passed a resolution criticizing the handling of the Iraq war and seeking a partial troop withdrawal.
They should be directing their criticism to the neocons that pushed for, plotted and crafted this war.


11-19-05 - N.C. Man Charged In Iraqi Kickback Scheme Has Shaky Past


11-19-05 - The compromise of the U.S. government by Israeli interests


11-19-05 - Stalwarts Working on Libby's Defense Fund Some distinguished Republican stalwarts are working to raise millions of dollars for the legal defense fund of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in the CIA leak scandal


11-19-05 - US urges Iran to reconsider Russia nuclear proposal


11-19-05 - Galloway praises Syrian president "The Arab world is ruled by dictatorships, almost without exception. Most of them are dictators who are slaves of ours. "The Syrian regime is independent of us and that is why our government, and more particularly the US government, wants to destroy it."


11-19-05 - Shalom shook hands with Lebanese president Lebanon's pro-Syrian president shook hands with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom earlier this week in Tunis where both men were attending a technology conference, Israel's foreign ministry said on Saturday


11-19-05 - The Palestinians and the Party Line The real problem with Halper's view is that he believes it is America that is victimizing Israel in its quest for Middle East hegemony. But the fact is, is that it was Israel and her neocon cohorts in and around our government who have imposed this view on us in the first place via their 'Clean Break' strategy.

Reform criticize Iraq war

Reform criticize Iraq war

The Reform movement passed a resolution criticizing the handling of the Iraq war and seeking a partial troop withdrawal.

The Union for Reform Judaism on Friday became the first Jewish denomination to speak out against the war at its biennial in Houston. The resolution, launched at the behest of several congregations, called for more transparency and a clear exit strategy, including a partial troop withdrawal after Iraq’s parliamentary elections next month.

“This is not a just war,” Vietnam veteran Michael Rankin of Arlington, Va. said in calling for the resolution’s passage. “Was it worth the billions of dollars it cost, when the world so desperately needs food and health care for the poorest of the poor?”

Delegates had been expecting a heated, prolonged discussion prior to the vote , but less than a dozen people lined up to address the issue, and URJ officials cut off debate quickly. The measure passed overwhelmingly by a voice vote.

http://jta.org

News for 11-18-05

11-18-05 - UN accuses Iran of extensive rights abuses


11-18-05 - Syrian aide meets U.N. investigator in Spain


11-18-05 - US more cautious than wary as China's reach grows As China's submarines and destroyers begin to navigate the Pacific Ocean currents, US forces in Asia are becoming more robust and watchful - even as the Pentagon seeks better ties with the PLA


11-18-05 - UN nuclear agency finalizing Iran report UN atomic inspectors were putting the final touches on a report on Iran's nuclear program as EU negotiators rejected an offer by Russia to host a meeting aimed at resolving the standoff, diplomats said


11-18-05 - Iran still blocking access to crucial military sites: IAEA


11-18-05 - Diplomats: Iran Got Info From Black Market The diplomats requested anonymity in exchange for discussing the confidential report seen by The Associated Press Mm k.


11-18-05 - CIA leak prosecutor raises prospect of new testimony


11-18-05 - Index ranks Middle East freedom Lebanon is free in a very particular sense: it is no longer under military occupation. Most Palestinians do not enjoy that freedom, and yet they have just had local elections and are preparing for parliamentary ones in January, our correspondent says



11-18-05 - Al-Zarqawi Tape Threatens Jordan's King He said he was targeting Jordan because it is serving as a "protector" for Israel, helps the U.S. military in Iraq and has become a "swamp of obscenity," with alcohol and prostitution in its tourist sites


11-18-05 - Friendly fire and the US in Iran


11-18-05 - Zarqawi: Jordan bombings targeted Israelis The terrorists who struck Amman?s Radisson Hotel last week were targeting Israeli intelligence officials, terrorist mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi said. Which is why those bombs killed many Palestinians including a PALESTINIAN intelligence official, as well as three other Palestinian Authority officials?


11-18-05 - Syria sees Peretz selection as positive: Arab Israeli MP


11-18-05 - Russia's Putin sees second Black Sea gas pipeline "Blue Stream gives us an opportunity for shipping gas to other third countries... There is the opportunity for building new oil and gas transport systems delivering to southern Italy, to the south of Europe as a whole and to Israel," Putin said.


11-18-05 - China to invest in Israel complex


11-18-05 - Perle says out with the Saudis Former Department of Defense adviser Richard Perle, the immensely influential godfather of the neo-conservative movement, launched a public broadside against the alleged corruption of the Saudi Arabian government


11-18-05 - U.S.: Iran threat a disqualifier Iran?s threat to destroy Israel disqualifies it from achieving nuclear-weapons capability, a senior U.S. official said.



11-18-05 - Committee: Treat Israel fairly A powerful congressional committee passed a resolution calling on the United Nations to treat Israel more fairly. More legislation for Israel.

News for 11-17-05

11-17-05 - Bring troops home from Iraq, demands US congressman US congressman John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, argues the presence of US soldiers in Iraq can no longer be justified.


11-17-05 - Pentagon agrees to probe Feith's role in Iraq intel


11-17-05 - Bolton: Mehlis probe running out of time Bolton, who hoped the investigation "doesn't take too long to resolve," said he was concerned the probe's mandate might expire before it arrives at a conclusion. Why is America suddenly ever so concerned with the internal affairs of Lebanon? Because the road to Damascus runs through Baghdad.


11-17-05 - Tortured men look like 'Holocaust victims'


11-17-05 - Assad Takes New, Harsher Tone With U.N


11-17-05 - The next CIA leak case The story caused a commotion, not so much about the secret prisons as about how the story got out. The leak even became an issue in the US Senate. The CIA has asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the leak



11-17-05 - Israel wants US to pull out from Iraq Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak today called upon the United States to reduce its forces in Iraq, saying Washington had ''made mistakes'' and its continued presence in that country would complicate the problem with fallout in the entire West Asia


11-17-05 - Evidence Mounts That Bush Wants New Wars The prudent assumption is that not much of it is bluff, and that Bush, the radical Christians, the Christian Zionists, the nation's military-industrial conglomerates, and their Israeli allies -- all of whom today call the tune in U.S. foreign policy -- are willing and in some cases actually wish to involve the United States in further wars.



11-17-05 - Bush, Putin to Try for Unity on Terror War Putin has refused to support Bush in his eagerness to go to the U.N. Security Council with suspicions Iran is trying to build a nuclear arsenal. Over U.S. objections, Russia is building a nuclear reactor for a power plant in Iran, an $800 million project the United States fears could be used to help develop nuclear arms.


11-17-05 - Israeli Says Rockets Shipped to Hezbollah Iran has supplied Hezbollah with more than 10,000 short-range rockets, most of which are deployed in southern Lebanon within reach of Israel, an Israeli diplomat said Thursday. Syria also provided some of the weapons, which have a range of up to 68 miles, said Jeremy Issacharoff, the new deputy Israeli ambassador to Washington. Israel - still trying to build the case for (US) war on its enemies.


11-17-05 - Basketball in the 'axis of evil' Iran has always said it has a problem with the American government, not with its people, and this is an example of that.


11-17-05 - Bush backs Cheney: says Democratic questioning not patriotic but "irresponsible"


11-17-05 - Russia to donate military equipment to Palestinians A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday that Russia will donate military equipment including two helicopters to the Palestinian National Authority ( PNA).


11-17-05 - Al-Qaida, Hamas hurting for funds ?Anecdotally, what we?re seeing is that we are having a real impact on Al-Qaida and Hamas, both in terms of putting pressure on them financially but also in terms of creating deterrents both for donors to give money to them and how they?re able to move money,? Stuart Levey, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a speech Wednesday in Washington.


11-17-05 - Israelis smear Condi for brokering border deal It is widely assumed that President George Bush appointed Rice as US Secretary of State because of her longtime association with the oil industry


11-17-05 - Arab opinions of US: good news and bad news The poll also produced another finding that may have long term implications for US policy in the region: China, India, and Russia scored higher positive ratings than the US

News for 11-16-05

11-16-05 - Australian women detained in Syria: media "The authorities in Syria now, according to our sources, are concerned that they may have foiled a hijacking and they are looking into it to try and see what was behind it,"


11-16-05 - The Weekly Standard?s War With the fledgling Fox News network, the Standard soon emerged as the key leg in a synergistic triangle of neoconservative argumentation: you could write a piece for the magazine, talk about your ideas on Fox, pick up a paycheck from Kristol or from AEI


11-16-05 - Discovery of abused Iraqi prisoners sparks outrage Sources say Iraqi PM and US forces had been told about 'torture cells' months ago.


11-16-05 - Iran starts new round of uranium conversion: diplomats


11-16-05 - Iraq probes US phosphorus weapons


11-16-05 - Woodward Says His Plame Source Not Libby Woodward and editors at the Post refused to identify the official to reporters other than to say it was not Libby.


11-16-05 - Bill Clinton Calls Iraq 'Big Mistake'


11-16-05 - Senate GOP Blocks Dems on Iraq Timetable


11-16-05 - Iran Now Says Satellite Can Spy on Israel


11-16-05 - Syria proposes Hariri interviews on Golan Heights


11-16-05 - Saudi Arabia Silent on Trade With Israel


11-16-05 - Syria Opposes U.N. Bid for Beirut Queries "All files of internal security, communications and intelligence have been opened under the pretext of investigation," Raad said in an interview with the TV channel New Television. He said the files "have now come into the hands of the Mossad."


11-16-05 - Saudi Arabia annuls embargo on Israel


11-16-05 - Nevzlin: Putin won't free tycoon Russia has asked Israel to extradite Nevzlin to face charges that include contract murder, charges he called "bogus."


11-16-05 - US advocates for jailed Syrian


11-16-05 - Did Israel have Prior Knowledge of the Amman 11/9 Terror Attacks?


11-16-05 - Israel officials at two-day U.S. security session Americans have not experienced terrorism to such a degree that they are willing to have shopping malls and other public areas protected by metal detectors and armed security patrols, an Israeli security expert said Tuesday. "You're not ready yet," The continuation of the Israelization of the United States.


11-16-05 - Bomb trigger Besides killing the Palestinians, the bomb was intended to send a message to the Chinese that they shouldn't be dealing with the Palestinians (I'll leave it up to you to guess the identity of the only country in the world that might want to send that kind of message).

News for 11-15-05

11-17-05 - Bring troops home from Iraq, demands US congressman US congressman John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, argues the presence of US soldiers in Iraq can no longer be justified.


11-17-05 - Pentagon agrees to probe Feith's role in Iraq intel


11-17-05 - Bolton: Mehlis probe running out of time Bolton, who hoped the investigation "doesn't take too long to resolve," said he was concerned the probe's mandate might expire before it arrives at a conclusion. Why is America suddenly ever so concerned with the internal affairs of Lebanon? Because the road to Damascus runs through Baghdad.


11-17-05 - Tortured men look like 'Holocaust victims'


11-17-05 - Assad Takes New, Harsher Tone With U.N


11-17-05 - The next CIA leak case The story caused a commotion, not so much about the secret prisons as about how the story got out. The leak even became an issue in the US Senate. The CIA has asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the leak



11-17-05 - Israel wants US to pull out from Iraq Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak today called upon the United States to reduce its forces in Iraq, saying Washington had ''made mistakes'' and its continued presence in that country would complicate the problem with fallout in the entire West Asia


11-17-05 - Evidence Mounts That Bush Wants New Wars The prudent assumption is that not much of it is bluff, and that Bush, the radical Christians, the Christian Zionists, the nation's military-industrial conglomerates, and their Israeli allies -- all of whom today call the tune in U.S. foreign policy -- are willing and in some cases actually wish to involve the United States in further wars.



11-17-05 - Bush, Putin to Try for Unity on Terror War Putin has refused to support Bush in his eagerness to go to the U.N. Security Council with suspicions Iran is trying to build a nuclear arsenal. Over U.S. objections, Russia is building a nuclear reactor for a power plant in Iran, an $800 million project the United States fears could be used to help develop nuclear arms.


11-17-05 - Israeli Says Rockets Shipped to Hezbollah Iran has supplied Hezbollah with more than 10,000 short-range rockets, most of which are deployed in southern Lebanon within reach of Israel, an Israeli diplomat said Thursday. Syria also provided some of the weapons, which have a range of up to 68 miles, said Jeremy Issacharoff, the new deputy Israeli ambassador to Washington. Israel - still trying to build the case for (US) war on its enemies.


11-17-05 - Basketball in the 'axis of evil' Iran has always said it has a problem with the American government, not with its people, and this is an example of that.


11-17-05 - Bush backs Cheney: says Democratic questioning not patriotic but "irresponsible"


11-17-05 - Russia to donate military equipment to Palestinians A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday that Russia will donate military equipment including two helicopters to the Palestinian National Authority ( PNA).


11-17-05 - Al-Qaida, Hamas hurting for funds ?Anecdotally, what we?re seeing is that we are having a real impact on Al-Qaida and Hamas, both in terms of putting pressure on them financially but also in terms of creating deterrents both for donors to give money to them and how they?re able to move money,? Stuart Levey, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a speech Wednesday in Washington.


11-17-05 - Israelis smear Condi for brokering border deal It is widely assumed that President George Bush appointed Rice as US Secretary of State because of her longtime association with the oil industry


11-17-05 - Arab opinions of US: good news and bad news The poll also produced another finding that may have long term implications for US policy in the region: China, India, and Russia scored higher positive ratings than the US

News for 11-14-05

11-14-05 - U.S. Operation Near Syria Kills 37


11-14-05 - The crisis of the GOP by Patrick J. Buchanan What killed the first Bush presidency and is ruining the second is the abandonment of Reaganism and embrace of the twin heresies of neoconservatism and Big Government Conservatism, as preached by the ideologues at the Weekly Standard and the Wall Street Journal.




11-14-05 - US refuses to rule out use of torture The comment, by US national security adviser Stephen Hadley


11-14-05 - Thousands mourn Syrian producer He died two days after suicide bombers hit his hotel, killing 57 people. His daughter Rima Akkad Monla, also died.


11-14-05 - 'I treated people who had their skin melted'


11-14-05 - Iran lends support to Syria over US pressure Both Syria and Iran accuse the United States of seeking to force regional backing for its policies that aim at furthering Israeli interests at the expense of Arabs and Muslims.


11-14-05 - Palestinians condemn arrest of militia leaders "We never and will never trust the UN and its Security Council as long as the implementation of international resolutions are subject to double standards and are fabricated to serve the U.S. and Zionist interests," he said.


11-14-05 - Baffled by triple hotel blasts, Jordanians harden views against al-Zarqawi Most of those killed in the triple hotel bombings were Arabs and Muslims ? and the targets included a Jordanian-Palestinian wedding reception.


11-14-05 - Ahmed Chalabi's excellent adventure Mr. Chalabi was in Washington, hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Not surprisingly, Hadley is a neocon.


11-14-05 - Bush's vision fails to win over Middle East Her veiled threats against Syria may have reinforced fears that the US will again resort to force if it does not get its way


11-14-05 - Don't Blame the Italians "If the objective was to make money, it's curious that the documents were dumped on Panorama after the request for a payment was refused."



11-14-05 - Who Needs Syria? No One Does Real, effective pressure on Assad would also benefit Israel because it would surely take the Golan Heights out of play as a bargaining chip in any road map negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.


11-14-05 - Groom to Remember a Wedding Day of Carnage


11-14-05 - Rice visits Jordan to show solidarity Rice had no condolences for the 27 Palestinians killed in those bombings?...


11-14-05 - Israel to launch spy satellite from India If all goes according to plan Israel will have the advantage of being able to monitor enemy countries like Iran and Syria.

News for 11-13-05

11-13-05 - Jordan shows 'would-be bomber' Police say the woman is the wife of one of three Iraqi male suicide bombers who attacked the three hotels, and that she too had wanted to blow herself up.


11-13-05 - Carter 'Disturbed' by Direction of U.S. 'What has happened to the United States of America? We thought you used to be the champion of human rights. We thought you used to protect the environment. We thought you used to believe in the separation of church and state,'"


11-13-05 - Iran confirms rejection of nuclear compromise


11-13-05 - Iran rejects US claim on atomic weapons work "The information did not seem conclusive, the 'smoking gun'. No one has augmented this data since, and we are in no position to know whether the data indeed came from the Iranians."


11-13-05 - Al-Rubaie says most suicide bombers in Iraq travel via Syria WE CAN'T EVEN CONTROL INSURGENTS yet we expect SYRIA to control the insurgents. If the insurgents are crossing OVER FROM Syria TO Iraq, and Syria cannot control this, then why don't we MANAGE THE BORDER FROM THE IRAQ SIDE? Or, is that not possible either? Then why would we expect that Syria could do the same?


11-13-05 - PM Sharon: The US Must Pressure Syria And by coincidence, we are. Imagine that?


11-13-05 - Sharon blasts Syria-Iran 'axis of evil' Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has lumped Syria and Iran in his own "axis of evil" and urged stepped-up international efforts to contain the two regimes. Sharon = Bush's puppeteer.


11-13-05 - Syria says investigator rebuffs proposals


11-13-05 - FEATURE-Palestinian groups source of new Lebanon tension "Who will guarantee us the massacres won't happen again?"


11-13-05 - Relying on Computer, U.S. Seeks to Prove Iran's Nuclear Aims doubts about the intelligence persist among some foreign analysts. In part, that is because American officials, citing the need to protect their source, have largely refused to provide details of the origins of the laptop computer beyond saying that they obtained it in mid-2004 from a longtime contact in Iran


11-13-05 - China to build 'Jewish neighborhood' China may build a "Jewish neighborhood" in Shanghai, Chinese media reported.

News for 11-12-05

11-12-05 - A 'Legal' US Nuclear Attack Against Iran The IAEA resolution of September 24 2005 allows the United States to carry out a nuclear attack against Iran "legally." Remember this report from the August 2005 edition of the American Conservative?


11-12-05 - US says new evidence of Iran nuclear arms ambition The data, which in recent months was shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency and key countries, is "not definitive (but) it is strongly suggestive that Iran has made significant advancement toward weaponization," one U.S. official told Reuters. Thus does another case of cherrypicking-for-neocons begin.


11-12-05 - Official: Bombers Were 'Non-Jordanians' Marwan Muasher said the three were males and that no females were among them


11-12-05 - The Niger Uranium Deception and the "Plame Affair" The inescapable conclusion we must draw is that the Bush administration policy leading into the Iraq War was dominated by officials, grouped under Cheney and Rumsfeld in particular, principally neocons and including Wolfowitz, Libby, Feith, Perle, Abrams, Shulsky, Luti, Bolton, Joseph, Hadley, Wurmser, Franklin, Cambone, Ledeen, Card, Hughes, Rhode, Rove and others who as a matter of policy, and without any moral qualms, deliberately practiced deception to build their case for war.


11-12-05 - 27 Palestinians Killed in Amman Bombings


11-12-05 - UN can quiz Hariri suspects 'anywhere' in Syria: FM "We told Mehlis that he can come with his team to any place in Syria," Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara told reporters on the sidelines of a democracy conference in Bahrain


11-12-05 - Rice takes new swipe at Syria


11-12-05 - Assad speech reignites Syria-Lebanon tensions Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's vitriolic speech against Lebanon's leadership has renewed tensions between Beirut and Damascus and will further isolate Damascus internationally, commentators said.


11-12-05 - Status of Reported Iran Deal Still Unclear


11-12-05 - Report: Jordanian spy agency replaces Mossad as key CIA ally


11-12-05 - Russia denies Iran nuclear deal


11-12-05 - Mideast Democracy Summit Ends in Rancor

News for 11-11-05

11-11-05 - Bush says critics 'rewriting history' over Iraq war US President George W Bush has accused critics of the Iraq war of trying to rewrite history over the faulty intelligence that preceded the March 2003 invasion.


11-11-05 - First results from Iran site show no nuclear activity: diplomats


11-11-05 - Iraqi PM Urges Syria to Tighten Border


11-11-05 - Group: Four Iraqis Carried Out Bombings


11-11-05 - Iran wants to enrich uranium on own soil


11-11-05 - 'Halloween' film producer killed in Amman bombings


11-11-05 - Married couple, 2 others behind Jordan attacks: Qaeda The claims' authenticity could not be verified.


11-11-05 - Bush warns Syria to work with UN


11-11-05 - Foreign Influence Libby was also part of the trio of neoconservatives who pushed the phony intelligence in order to get the U.S. to go to war. Another member of that trio, John Hannah, has now replaced Libby as Vice President Dick Cheney's national-security adviser.....Clearly, their passionate support of Israel influenced their policy positions vis-a-vis Iraq, Syria and Iran. According to Cole's article ? which is excellent, as is his blog ? Chalabi won over the neocons by promising that if he came to power in Iraq, he would recognize Israel.


11-11-05 - US vows not to impose reforms on Middle East No, the neocon-driven administration just wants to invade and replace non-Israel friendly regimes.


11-11-05 - Lahoud meets Hariri murder team


11-11-05 - Controversial WMD Reporter and NY Times Divorce her "entanglement" with Libby, as Keller once put it, suggested that she was particularly close to the hawks and seen by them as a reliable conduit to the media.


11-11-05 - Look Who's Joined the Antiwar Chorus


11-11-05 - Who died, and who didn't, in Jordan


11-11-05 - Dozens held over Jordan bombings The BBC's Jon Leyne in Amman says it is unusual for the group to put out additional statements justifying its actions.


11-11-05 - President: Syria Will Cooperate With U.N. "The Israeli factor was suspiciously present in all the events witnessed by the region, and the developments proved that Israel was the most prominent and the major benefactor from these events,"


11-11-05 - Halliburton violated pension law: NYT


11-11-05 - Al-Libi's Tall Tales


11-11-05 - Jordan terrorists: Israel next "Al Qaida in Iraq" claimed responsibility in a statement on a Web site. The group said the attack proved that Israel "was within range" and that "it would not be long" before Israel was targeted. Strange, because the victims of the attacks in Amman were Palestinians.


11-11-05 - 30 years since 'Zionism=Racism' Bolton, who was instrumental in pushing for the measure's repeal. John Bolton - ISRAEL'S new ambassador to the UN.


11-11-05 - Experts debate Mideast policy Daniel Pipes, director of the conservative Middle East Forum, agreed with Gerecht that Islamist groups were gaining popularity in the Middle East, but argued the United States should slow down the democratic process so as to not allow Islamist governments to come to power. Oops, 'democracy' won't make the Middle East any more friendly to Israel, which was the goal of that neocon policy now being reconsidered by neoocon 'experts'.

News for 11-10-05

11-10-05 - Haaretz does complete about face on report Israelis were given advanced warning of Amman bombings But the LA Times corroborates their original story


11-10-05 - Four Palestinian Senior Officials Killed in Amman's Bombings General Basheer Nafie, chief of military intelligence in the West Bank, Mr. Jihad Fatouh, the commercial agent in the Palestinian embassy in Egypt, and Abed Elwan, the general director of the Ministry of Interior were killed in the bombing.


11-10-05 - Suicide Attacks Kill at Least 57 at 3 Hotels in Jordan's Capital The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israelis staying at the Radisson on Wednesday had been evacuated before the attacks and escorted back home "apparently due to a specific security threat."



Amos N. Guiora, a former senior Israeli counter-terrorism official, said in a phone interview with The Times that sources in Israel had also told him about the pre-attack evacuations.



"It means there was excellent intelligence that this thing was going to happen," said Guiora, a former leader of the Israel Defense Forces who now heads the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "The question that needs to be answered is why weren't the Jordanians working at the hotel similarly removed?"
Haaretz has since tried to back out of their original article from yesterday. See my related post on this in today's news. If this LA Times link doesn't work (may require login), try via Google News.


11-10-05 - Jordan Attacks Claim 17 From One Family In this Palestinian village, the Akhras clan mourned 17 relatives killed by a suicide bomber in Jordan - the first time Palestinians have been a target in a suicide attack.


11-10-05 - Marines report civilian casualties in border offensive US forces involved in an offensive against insurgents near the Syrian border found civilian casualties in a house that was destroyed two days ago in a US air strike, the US military said.


11-10-05 - Pentagon probes treatment of 'Able Danger' officer The Pentagon inspector general is investigating the Defense Intelligence Agency's treatment of an Army colonel who was the first to claim publicly that the government knew about four September 11 hijackers long before the 2001 attacks, officials said on Wednesday.



11-10-05 - Defiant Assad hits back at pressure on Hariri probe If Assad "continues to refuse to listen, or understand, then it will become necessary to move to another level, which is that of sanctions", Chirac said. ..."Whatever we do or say to cooperate, the response is just going to be in a month that Syria is not cooperating. We have to be realistic, Syria is being targeted."


11-10-05 - U.S., Europe Ready to Compromise With Iran


11-10-05 - UN investigator refuses invitation to Damascus: Assad


11-10-05 - America's Arab Allies Under Attack


11-10-05 - US tells Syria to drop conditions


11-10-05 - US denies Iran nuclear compromise


11-10-05 - Anthrax whodunit: Is it a cold case file? The failure to apprehend or even identify a suspect represents a major failing for law enforcement and points out a serious problem in the investigation.


11-10-05 - Angry Jordanians Rally to Protest Bombings


11-10-05 - LEBANON: PALESTINIAN CAMPS ON ALERT AFTER ISRAELI AIR VIOLATIONS "The Israeli aircraft did not just cross the borders but are also using sonic bombs, forcing the population in many locations to leave their homes and spend the night in air raid shelters,"


11-10-05 - IDF choppers in service of drug cartel The American government has recently demanded Israel clarify how five U.S.-made helicopters sold to Israel in the mid-70s found their way into the hands of a Columbian drug cartel.


11-10-05 - Hezbollah denies Argentina bomb Argentine, US and Israeli officials have all said that Iran is to blame - a charge Tehran denies. Independent investigators are sceptical, correspondents say.



11-10-05 - Assad expects showdown with UN


11-10-05 - Scores dead in three Amman hotel bombings; Israelis evacuated before attack A number of Israelis staying yesterday at the Radisson SAS were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel. There's the excerpt from the article Haaretz backed off of.


11-10-05 - Strengthening Israeli ties "She still wants to be identified as a champion of peace, which is why she's meeting Sharon, but this is an election year and her first priority is to announce allegiance to Israel," he said. "her first priority is to announce allegiance to Israel," Says it all.


11-10-05 - Rumsfeld: Seems like old times Israel and the United States are on their way back to an ?appropriate? defense relationship, Donald Rumsfeld said.
Does Rumsfeld not know about this?

News for 11-09-05

11-09-05 - Blast bloodies wedding reception The head of the Palestinian intelligence services, Bashir Nafeh, was among those killed in the blasts


11-09-05 - Syria invites UN investigator for Hariri talks


11-09-05 - Iran warns of 'consequences' over nuclear issue


11-09-05 - Senate asks Pentagon to probe Feith role on Iraq The Pentagon's inspector general has been asked to investigate the prewar intelligence role of a planning office headed by former U.S. defense policy chief Douglas Feith, a main architect of the Iraq war, officials said on Tuesday Feith was one of the Spies Who Pushed for War.


11-09-05 - Is US planning an Iraq-style 'regime change' in Syria? Mr. Arkin writes that internal intelligence documents and conversations with military officers involved in the planning show that US Central Command was directed last year to prepare a "strategic concept" for Syria, "the first step in creation of a full fledged war plan. "


11-09-05 - US, Iraqi forces secure border town US and Iraqi forces have secured the restive town of Husayba on the Syrian border after several days of


11-09-05 - FBI may be checking on you, but you have no way to know


11-09-05 - Jordan hotel blasts kill dozens


11-09-05 - Syria bans officials cited by UN Syria has imposed a travel ban on officials named in a recent United Nations report on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
A spokesman said officials had already started questioning the six men.



11-09-05 - 'Nine lives' Chalabi resurfaces in Washington Chalabi, in his latest incarnation as an Iraqi deputy prime minister, is due to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday, and deliver his first speech in the US capital for two-and-a-half years


11-09-05 - Lies of the Neocons: From Leo Strauss to Scooter Libby


11-09-05 - Syria talks to foreign firms for oil projects Syria is engaged in negotiations with French, Chinese and Russian firms for oil projects worth 4.4 billion dollars, a Syrian government minister said during a conference in Manama


11-09-05 - Fake Al Qaeda


11-09-05 - The Return of Chalabi


11-09-05 - U.S. and Britain Lied to Justify Iraq War, Say Americans


11-09-05 - Israelis evacuated from Amman hotel hours before bombings A number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel Watch this story disappear/metamorphasize, which is why I archived it.


11-09-05 - Congress May Curb Some Patriot Act Powers


11-09-05 - Israel Used White Phosphorous Lest We Forget


11-09-05 - Israel in talks to give troops for UN peacekeepers Israel can't keep the peace in its own backyard, how do they expect to do so somewhere else?


11-09-05 - Interfaith group rallies against Iranian pres. American Jews and leaders of other faiths demanded that Iran?s president be held accountable for calling for Israel?s destruction.


11-09-05 - Report: Israeli may help build security barrier for Russia


11-09-05 - Saudis Urge More U.S. Mideast Diplomacy Saudi Arabia's ambassador prodded the Bush administration Tuesday to step up its Mideast diplomacy, saying the Arab-Israeli conflict was an "open wound" and the biggest cause for the hatred that leads to terrorism.



11-09-05 - Israel Waits for Diplomacy to Work on Iran Nuclear Threat while Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is careful to say Israel is not considering any military option "today," he does not rule out a military strike in the future if diplomacy fails. ..."Israel has good levers for applying pressure on Iran," he says, "for example, by aiding the Kurds and the mujahedin who oppose the regime.''

News for 11-08-05

11-08-05 - Democrats Don't Want Libby to Be Pardoned The Senate's top Democrats challenged President Bush on Tuesday to rule out a pardon for I. Lewis Libby, a former top White House aide who faces trial on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury in the CIA leak case.




11-08-05 - U.S. severs most contacts with Syria, officials say The United States has cut off nearly all contact with the Syrian government as the Bush administration steps up a campaign to weaken and isolate President Bashar Assad's government, according to U.S. and Syrian officials.
Coincidentally, "Ha'aretz political analyst Aluf Benn quotes security officials as saying that the best scenario for Israel would be a weakened Assad succumbing to American pressure"



11-08-05 - Poll: Libby Indictment Hits Major Nerve Four in five, 79 percent, said the indictment of former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges is important to the nation


11-08-05 - Iran says it's not afraid of Security Council


11-08-05 - Annan, Bolton clash on Syrian cooperation with UN


11-08-05 - Palestinians Slam Israeli Call to End UN Mandate in Gaza Senior Palestinian officials on Tuesday slammed an Israeli call to suspend activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip. Bolton was pushing for this not too long ago. Bolton - Israel's new ambassador to the UN.


11-08-05 - Speaking truth to the powerful (who would not listen) Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to the first President Bush, quietly but insistently argued the folly of military action against Iraq before the invasion.


11-08-05 - Ledeen Smears Himself Michael Ledeen is whining about reports that supposedly accuse him of forging the fake Niger documents. There's just one problem, though: no one that I have read on the subject is making any such accusation.


11-08-05 - Annan seeks to allay Arab fears over Syria Annan has suddenly become a puppet of the neocons. Does it has anything to do with the oil-for-food scandal?


11-08-05 - How the FBI Spies on You and Me


11-08-05 - EU snubs Syria with EuroMed invite


11-08-05 - Syrian probe into Hariri murder open to 'useful information' The head of the Syrian-led probe into the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri said that she welcomed outside assistance and was open to "receiving any useful information."


11-08-05 - Local Muslims outraged by Homeland official's comments "I never dreamt in my life that a day would come where it would be suggested that I disclose my personal data to the government to facilitate my travel in a free country,"


11-08-05 - Syria blasts Israel Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ruled out peace talks if Syria maintains preconditions such as the return of all of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.


11-08-05 - FBI called in on Hill The victim is the chief investigator looking into the Abramoff scandal.

News for 11-07-05

11-07-05 - The Lie Factory Feith, a former aide to Richard Perle at the Pentagon in the 1980s and an activist in far-right Zionist circles, held the view that there was no difference between U.S. and Israeli security policy and that the best way to secure both countries' future was to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem not by serving as a broker, but with the United States as a force for "regime change" in the region This will make the blood of true patriots boil. Three Likudniks were put in charge of an office in the Pentagon whose purpose was to cherrypick intelligence to mislead/stampede us into going to war with Iraq.


11-07-05 - US forces 'used chemical weapons' during assault on city of Fallujah Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon


11-07-05 - EU demands nuke compliance from Iran


11-07-05 - Iran to convert more uranium


11-07-05 - Iran Protests Illegal U.S. Overflights According to the letters, during illegal overflights an American Shadow-200 aircraft crashed on July 4 about 38 miles inside Iranian territory in the province of Ilam, and an American Hermes aircraft crashed 125 miles inside Iranian territory in the Khoram Abad area on Aug. 25.



11-07-05 - EU demands nuke compliance from Iran


11-07-05 - US intel on Iraq-Qaeda ties 'intentionally misleading': document


11-07-05 - Disturbing Questions Raised by Cover-Up Timeline why did the White House delay telling Congress and the American people that the president's uranium charge was spurious until after the war, when it knew it was underpinned by counterfeit documents before the war?


11-07-05 - UN nuclear watchdog chief says Iran must be more transparent


11-07-05 - FBI Use of Patriot Act Concerns Lawmakers


11-07-05 - Prewar report cast doubt on Iraq-Al Qaeda connection CNN reports that Levin charged that the new evidence showed that the administration continued to accuse Iraq of giving biological and chemical weapons training to Al Qaeda members long after the source of that information had been discredited


11-07-05 - Iran Says Contracts With Russia Could Reach $10Bln


11-07-05 - Russian Company to Build Two Billion Dollar Oil Refinery in Syria


11-07-05 - Syria keen to cooperate with UN probe: report


11-07-05 - Blame It on Rocco "I've heard about this investigation for, you know, several months now. And you know it is ? it actually is tied into the forged memo regarding the sale of uranium to Iraq from Niger. What I've been told is that there's a strong belief that the forgery was carried out by Israel in an effort to help build up the evidence to allow the United States to justify going to war. So, this whole thing that started with the outing of Valerie Plame, the CIA officer, started growing and expanding when they saw that there's this forged memo and then people linked to the office of ? in the office of Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith at the Department of Defense were seen as having some very close contacts and sharing information with the Israeli intelligence sources."


11-07-05 - Syria mulls UN interview request


11-07-05 - McCain says Israel "doesn't torture" ? but is that so? But is this borne out by the facts? Not so, according to the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), which notes that despite improvements following the 1999 decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice to ban torture, because of a clause allowing for so-called "moderate physical pressure" in the case of "ticking bombs," it's still a problem in Israel:


11-07-05 - From 2003: Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq "It is bonkers, insane. Here we are - we're already being compared to Sharon in the Arab world, and we've just confirmed it by bringing in the Israelis and setting up assassination teams."


11-07-05 - Sharon Says No to Negotiations with Syria Because Israel has no intention of giving back the land.


11-07-05 - Iran to propose Mideast peace solution to UN


11-07-05 - McCain: Israelis don?t torture Sen. John McCain cited Israel as an example of a nation that successfully combats terrorism without resorting to torture. BS alert. Where do you think the term 'Palestinian hanging' came from? And I wonder who taught our boys that?