News for 08-30-06

08-30-06 - Carter may make his peace with Khatami It is a meeting that could avert a clash of civilisations - conflict between Iran and America. If it goes ahead in the coming days, it would be a momentous and poignant encounter between two former presidents which could help Iran and the US overcome three decades of mutual hostility.


08-30-06 - Israel spewed cluster bombs over Lebanon in last days of war : UN UN Mine Action Coordination Center had assessed "nearly 85 percent of bombed areas in south Lebanon" and identified "359 separate cluster bomb strike locations that are contaminated with as many 100,000 unexploded bomblets." "What's shocking and I would say completely immoral is that 90 percent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict when we knew there would be a resolution, when we knew there would be an end,"



08-30-06 - Officials: Iran still enriching uranium


08-30-06 - Pressure for ban on cluster bombs as Israel is accused of targeting civilians Simon Conway, director of the British charity Landmine Action, condemned Israel's "cynical" use of the weapons. He said: "The premeditated targeting of residential areas with high failure-rate cluster munitions in the final days of the conflict means that the rubble-filled villages of southern Lebanon have been deliberately turned into minefields that will indiscriminately kill civilians for years to come."....Frank Cook, Labour chairman of the Commons all-party Landmine Group, added: "These weapons are totally indiscriminate. For them to be used by Israel among a civilian population is quite outrageously inexcusable."


08-30-06 - Where's the outrage? U.S. troops have been accused of committing atrocities in Iraq. Americans should care


08-30-06 - UN denounces Israel cluster bombs The UN's humanitarian chief has accused Israel of "completely immoral" use of cluster bombs in Lebanon.


08-30-06 - Iraqi Shiite: No interference from Iran


08-30-06 - U.N. may hold off on confronting Iran "They have until the 31st of August, but we've made it very clear unless we get an unequivocal acceptance of that condition in the Security Council resolution, that sanctions would follow," Bolton said.


08-30-06 - Israel rejects U.N. blockade appeal Israel rejected a call by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, saying it would end the seven-week-old siege only when all aspects of a ceasefire were in place.


08-30-06 - Lebanese gov't to compensate war victims Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has said his government would pay 40,000 dollars in compensation to families whose homes were destroyed in southern Lebanon during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.


08-30-06 - Americans back anti-terrorism racial profiling: poll Most Americans expect a terrorist attack on the United States in the next few months and support the screening of people who look "Middle Eastern" at airports and train stations, a poll showed on Tuesday. Neocons pleased. Mission accomplished!


08-30-06 - Lebanon refuses contact with Israel


08-30-06 - Iranian president: Sanctions won't work Iran has kept enriching uranium despite the threat of U.N. sanctions and a looming deadline to freeze such operations, U.N. and European officials said Wednesday. Iran's president, meanwhile, urged Europe against following the lead of the United States and resorting to sanctions, saying punishment would not prevent it from pursuing its nuclear program.


08-30-06 - Two Elephants in the Room - Israel and its amen corner Mearsheimer, the dean of American foreign policy "realists," and Walt, former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a distinguished member of the faculty, are not easily brushed aside, so the Lobby resorts to a smear campaign


08-30-06 - ADL Calls Amnesty International Report "Bigoted, Biased, And Borderline Anti-Semitic Pro-Israeli outfit smears human rights watchdog for daring to tell the truth. Next someone will discover whale feces at the bottom of the ocean.


08-30-06 - Doubt about official version of 9/11 widespread What's harder to discount are the truly resilient anomalies collected by independent researchers-the factual mass of contradictions, coincidences and discontinuities that respectable media and big government have chosen to ignore. The official story of 911 does not pass the smell test, and the MSM are too cowardly to 'go there'. Regardless, there are anomalies that are based on fact, not fiction.


08-30-06 - The Enemy of My Enemy While it may not sit well with the U.S. public discourse, neither Hezbollah nor Hamas are enemies of the U.S. other than by inferred extension of their enmity with Israel.


08-30-06 - Israel sidesteps calls to end blockade Syria has said it would consider the presence of international troops on its border a hostile act and Lebanon has said it would deploy its own forces there, but bar international troops. Annan has backed Lebanon in the dispute.


08-30-06 - Lebanon war emboldens Palestinians-security chief


08-30-06 - Russian FM, Hariri discuss Lebanon ceasefire Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Russia's call for all sides to meet their obligations under the UN-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon during a telephone conversation with Lebanese parliamentary leader Saad Hariri


08-30-06 - Led by unidentified relatives, Lebanese girl Lara Abdallah, 6, cries as she walks in the funeral procession Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006 for her mother, sister and four brothers


08-30-06 - IDF examining alternative technologies to U.S.-made laser gun


08-30-06 - Selective Prosecution of War Crimes In fact, the main difference between Saddam's war crimes and Israel's is that while Saddam denies them, Israeli officials indirectly admit them. Amnesty cites a comment by Israel's top uniformed military official that implied that Israel was trying to punish the Lebanese population and government to get them to oppose Hezbollah.


08-30-06 - Arabic T-shirt sparks airport row Mr Jarrar later told a New York radio station: "I grew up and spent all my life living under authoritarian regimes and I know that these things happen. "But I'm shocked that they happened to me here, in the US."



08-30-06 - Chavez: Venezuela, Syria united vs. U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in Damascus on Wednesday that he and Syrian President Bashar Assad shared a "decisive and firm" stance against U.S. "imperialism" and "domination."


08-30-06 - Cheney says court ruling on warrantless surveillance will be reversed


08-30-06 - Saudi urges world to help Lebanon Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has provided a 1.5-billion-dollar aid package for Lebanon, will present to the diplomatic missions a list of the country's needs in terms of rebuilding its infrastructure and rehabilitating its armed forces, the statement added.


08-30-06 - Ottawa pledges to help Lebanon's battered fishing industry Ottawa pledged two million Canadian dollars (1.8 million US dollars) to clean up oil spills caused by war off the coast of Lebanon and to help its fragile fishing industry recover.


08-30-06 - Jackson has plan for soldiers' release


08-30-06 - Annan to press Jordan and Syria on Lebanon truce U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan holds talks with Jordan on Thursday in a drive to cement a Hizbollah-Israel ceasefire before travelling to Damascus to press Syria to help stop arms smuggling across its border.


08-30-06 - Livni spared lawsuit Danish authorities turned down a request to prosecute Israel's visiting foreign minister for alleged war crimes.


08-30-06 - ADL blasts Annan for Iran visit The national director of the ADL, Abraham Foxman, said Wednesday that the U.N. secretary-general?s talks with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran this weekend would be akin to meeting with Hitler.



08-30-06 - Journalists blame Israel for war coverage "Journalists' access to the battlefield is controlled exclusively by the IDF," said Simon McGregor-Wood, Chairman of the Foreign Press Association, and Bureau Chief of ABC News. ....The New York Times bureau chief also said that Israelis "were not interested in whether 1,000 Lebanese civilians needed to die," adding that the question of "whether Israel fought a proportional war is not much of interest here (in Israel)." I had noticed that myself. The debate in Israel has not once covered the utter destruction that Israel did to civilian life and infrastructure in Lebanon. Some felt that Israel did not do enough damage. Preposterous.


08-30-06 - Hezbollah firm on swap Hezbollah says it won?t relent on its demand to release two captive Israeli soldiers only as part of a prisoner swap.


08-30-06 - Israeli Arabs: Israel committed war crimes in Lebanon


08-30-06 - Analysts see 'disaster' in U.S. position "It wasn't what we said" that sparked a firestorm, he said yesterday. "It was the fact that two card-carrying members of the American intellectual establishment finally pointed out the elephant in the room."



08-30-06 - Lebanese Have Little Faith in Peacekeepers 77.3 per cent of respondents think the soldiers will be unable to act as a deterrence force against a possible Israeli attack.



08-30-06 - Homegrown Terror Suspects Raise Concern Intelligence officials now fear that homegrowns pose as much of a threat to the U.S. as foreign terrorists. State and local police are being enlisted to watch for signs from people who in the past would have never gotten a second look.


08-30-06 - Source of C.I.A. Leak Admits Role, Lawyer Says Mr. Armitage did not return calls for comment. But the lawyer and other associates of Mr. Armitage have said he has confirmed that he was the initial and primary source for the columnist, Robert D. Novak, whose column of July 14, 2003, identified Valerie Wilson as a Central Intelligence Agency officer.


08-30-06 - U.S. Policies Hurt War on Terrorism, Say Americans


08-30-06 - In Mideast, remember the people The idea of Iraq as the laboratory in which all the neo conservative theories about transformational democracy could be proved has come unglued . Iraqis turned out not to be Poles , but then the actual people of the Middle East were never really considered.


08-30-06 - Hizbullah's victory has transformed the Middle East


08-30-06 - Aliases, disguises OK'd for witnesses at Chicago terror trial The ruling came in the case of Muhammad Salah, 53, of suburban Bridgeview and Abdelhaleem Ashquar, 48, of Alexandria, Va., both accused of funneling money to Hamas to pay for murders, kidnappings and other acts of terrorism aimed at the Israeli government. Here in the United States of Israel, you don't have the right to know your accuser.


08-30-06 - Other 6-year-olds worthy of coverage, too Are the uncounted 6-year-old Lebanese, Palestinian and Iraqi girls needlessly and violently killed just this year less deserving of our attention and focus than JonBenet?




08-30-06 - The Five Morons Revisited The "cakewalk" war has now lasted longer than World War II with Nazi Germany, and no end is in sight. It has cost the U.S. taxpayers $310 billion in out-of-pocket costs, with many additional hundreds of billions coming due in veterans' medical bills and other expenses yet to be paid. See last night's news (Neocon Watch) for story on Americans in poverty.


08-30-06 - More U.S. Adults See Israeli Government as an Ally or Friend Than They Do Twelve Other Middle Eastern Countries, According to The Harris Poll Good little sheepies.


08-30-06 - Has the Hegemon Been Humbled in Lebanon?


08-30-06 - Syrian group threatens abductions An obscure Syrian terrorist group threatened to abduct Israeli soldiers.

News for 08-29-06

08-29-06 - Support Our Troops, Read Their Stories


08-29-06 - U.S. data show one in eight Americans in poverty Hey I know. Let's attack Iran.


08-29-06 - Lebanese father mourns loss of family "The Lebanese people, the civilians, we are the losers," Abdallah said softly. "We have lost everything." And unfortunately, that was not a coincidence.


08-29-06 - UN faces rising anger in Lebanon


08-29-06 - The likely US course on Iran: Go slow The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, has suggested that the US will come up with a resolution that will answer the worries of those fearful of an Iraq-like scenario, where resolutions are later interpreted as opening the door to the use of force. But Mr. Bolton has opened the door to another alternative to Security Council sanctions. In that scenario, countries thwarted in the Council would join the US in imposing sanctions on Iran.


08-29-06 - Cooking Intelligence Again


08-29-06 - Thousands of Lebanese unable to go home Michael Bociurkiw of the U.N. Children's Fund said four children were injured by previously undetonated explosives over the weekend.


08-29-06 - Chavez bound for Syria as U.S. looks on


08-29-06 - UN chief calls for end to 'humiliating' Lebanese blockade


08-29-06 - Annan urges Israel to end siege Mr Annan also said Israel had committed most of the violations reported in the two-week-old truce with Hezbollah.


08-29-06 - Poll says Lebanese are spilt over Hezbollah disarmament


08-29-06 - Bigotry and Ignorance of Islam


08-29-06 - Bush Goes Retro to Avoid Prosecution Bush blocked the attempt to stop Israel's aggression and is, thereby, equally responsible for the war crimes. Indeed, a number of reports claim that Bush instigated the Israeli aggression against Lebanon


08-29-06 - Annan meets families of abducted Israeli soldiers


08-29-06 - Has the Bush doctrine failed? In a lengthy piece for Commentary magazine, Norman Podhoretz, one of the fathers of the neoconservative movement, argues that President Bush has not abandoned the principles of the doctrine, nor has it failed in Iraq.
That's because that neocon wants us to yet attack another Middle Eastern nation - Iran.


08-29-06 - 'Missing Israeli pilot' on film Lebanese television has broadcast footage of what it says is Israeli pilot Ron Arad, missing since he was shot down over Lebanon in 1986


08-29-06 - Italian troops head for Lebanon


08-29-06 - Today's 'Islamic Fascists' Were Yesterday's Friends


08-29-06 - TV star Nasrallah impresses people on all sides in hopeful Lebanon


08-29-06 - Report: Iranian schools teach hate Iranian schools teach hatred of Christians, Jews and the West, according to a new study.
I'd be willing to bet that the organization behind the study is of a pro-Israel nature.


08-29-06 - US to give visa to Iran ex-president Khatami


08-29-06 - U.N. hopes to double Lebanon force


08-29-06 - US targets Hezbollah fundraising arm The US government blacklisted a fundraising arm of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah which it said makes no pretence of hiding the deadly aim of its activities.


08-29-06 - Iran president wants TV debate with Bush The Iranian president also called Israel a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East. "The Zionist regime has deprived the Palestinian nation and other nations of the region of a single day of peace. In the past 60 years, it has imposed tens of wars on the Palestinian nation and others," he said.



08-29-06 - ADL: U.S. papers back Israel U.S. newspaper editorials and political cartoons backed Israel in its recent war against Hezbollah, the Anti-Defamation League found.



08-29-06 - Chabad dedicates new center in China


08-29-06 - Jesse Jackson: Kidnapped Israeli Soldiers Are Alive The Reverend Jesse Jackson says he's been told that the 3 Israeli soldiers captured this summer by Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants are alive.


08-29-06 - Aliases, disguises OK'd for witnesses at Chicago terror trial Two Israeli security agents expected to testify at the trial of two men accused of fundraising for the Palestinian militant group Hamas may wear disguises and use aliases on the witness stand, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Welcome to the United States of Israel.


08-29-06 - Health Ministry, WHO begin effort to disinfect ravaged neighborhoods


08-29-06 - Pronouncing Blame on the Israel Lobby Criticize someone that is Jewish - automatically get labelled an anti-semite in an article that actually PROVES the study by Walt and Mearsheimer is correct.


08-29-06 - 'Lebanon will be rebuilt before New Orleans is'


08-29-06 - Good deed meets cross-border challenge

News for 08-28-06

08-28-06 - 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for August 4 In 1996, they came up with the clean-break plan, which was an outline for how Israel would basically get rid of Iraq and Saddam Hussein and move into Syria, Lebanon, and on to Iran. I think they?re trying to carry out this plan.



08-28-06 - British ambassador explains troop movement near Iraq-Iran border The new British ambassador to Iraq said on Sunday that British troops taking up position near Iraq's border with Iran aren't preparing for military action against Iran, but were getting to crack down on weapons smuggling between the two countries.


08-28-06 - Right Hook - Conservatives rebel against the War Party Hagel, widely expected to launch a bid for the White House, isn't alone on the Right in opposing the neocons' war.


08-28-06 - Not So Clean Break ** the U.S. had given Israel a green light to attack Hezbollah and push its troops into southern Lebanon. There was an agreement between Israel and Uncle Sam that Iranian nuclear plants would eventually have to be bombed. Once this was done, Iran would most likely order Hezbollah to attack Israel. Thus the U.S. and Israel agreed in secret that at some point before the attack on Iran, Hezbollah would have to be disarmed and that as soon as a pretext became available, Israel should use force.


08-28-06 - Annan asks Israel to end blockade United Nations chief Kofi Annan has called on Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon and urged Hezbollah to free two captured Israeli soldiers.


08-28-06 - Iran dismisses U.S. threat of sanctions coalition "These remarks (by Bolton) are an obvious insult to the Security Council," Iranian government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a weekly news conference. "These remarks are just bullying and baseless remarks and show that they (the U.S.) are not competent to be a member of the Security Council."


08-28-06 - Iran called 'central banker of terror' ** "Iran is like the elephant in the room, if you will. ... They are the central banker of terror. It is a country that has terrorism as a line item in its budget," Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. Here we go again...


08-28-06 - Will the US Again Attack Iran ? This Time Without Saddam?


08-28-06 - Is Cheney Betting On Economic Collapse?


08-28-06 - AIPAC urges U.S. to shut Iranian Web site The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is urging the United States government to disconnect an Iranian news site from American Internet servers, charging that the site has ties to terrorist organizations. The allegation is based on a report published by Haaretz last month.


08-28-06 - Olmert orders limited war probes


08-28-06 - Lebanon's fishermen crippled by wartime oil spill "It's been almost two months since any of us worked," said Mohammed Kniwa, head of the fishermen's union at the Raouche port in Beirut, where an estimated 150 tonnes of oil is trapped.


08-28-06 - IDF replaced officer during fighting after he expressed doubts over operation The commander of an armored battalion of reservists was relieved from command during the fighting in Lebanon at his own request. Senior IDF officers are set to discuss whether he should remain in his post.


08-28-06 - Olmert: We could have only dreamed of such a scenario ** Prime minister says that if someone would have told him a month and a half ago about the current situation, he would said he was dreaming of unrealistic goals. Says cautiously, 'could be deterioration'


08-28-06 - French troops aid in Lebanon rebuilding


08-28-06 - Ahmadinejad says Holocaust 'made up to embarrass Germany' Merkel on July 21 indicated that she would not formally respond to the letter, saying it contained "totally unacceptable" criticism of Israel and "constantly put in question" the Jewish state's right to exist.


08-28-06 - An Ex-Official Offers Glimpse of Iranian Views of U.S. WE have in the past and continue to support Middle Eastern regimes with atrocious human rights records. The people therein know this all too well.


08-28-06 - State Department surprised by Hezbollah "It was a surprising statement for somebody who launched a war to say that he regretted launching that war," department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday. Israel launched that war, Sean, it was in the works for a year.. Sean McCormack is either a moron or a liar.


08-28-06 - Americans Foresee War Against Iran ** Do you think the nation of Iran is a threat to the security of the United States? Yes 73%


Good little sheepies.


08-28-06 - Americans Decidedly Reject Military Draft


08-28-06 - Beckett plays down Hezbollah cache find The letter concluded: "The equipment found by the IDF was not exported to Iran, as the media have speculated. Nor does it include night vision goggles."


08-28-06 - Israel urges Iran sanctions ** Israel's foreign minister urged the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran.



08-28-06 - UJC meets officials on homeland security Jewish community officials met with administration and U.S. Senate officials to ensure the release of Homeland Security money to nonprofits...More than half of the 2005 money, which is just now reaching its targets, was allocated to Jewish organizations. Does this seem WAY out of proportion to you?


08-28-06 - Lebanese army deployed to Syrian border Palestinian refugees in camps in the Litani area have refused the Lebanese government's instructions to disarm in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701


08-28-06 - Needs are huge for displaced families in Lebanon


08-28-06 - Palestinian issue at root of violence, says ex-Lebanon hostage


08-28-06 - Jewish groups blast Israeli actions Some U.S. Jewish groups signed onto a letter calling Israeli military actions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip "vastly disproportionate."


08-28-06 - Greece pledges to commit to Middle East peace process Bakoyannis also briefed Sharma over her recent trip and contacts in the Middle East, noting that "the time has come for vigorous diplomacy, both in terms of Lebanon as well as over the Palestinian issue."


08-28-06 - The Israel Lobby Stifles Another Israel-Questioner


08-28-06 - Harris clarifies statements on religion In Congress, Katherine Harris has consistently supported pro-Israel legislation


08-28-06 - Mearsheimer and Walt on C-SPAN John J. Mearsheimer and Steven M. Walt, authors of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy made an appearence on C-SPAN Monday to discuss those very things.

News for 08-27-06

08-27-06 - Iran test-fires 'long-range' naval missile Iran has successfully test-fired a "long-range radar-evading" sea-to-air missile in military maneuvers in southern Gulf waters, a top military official told state television.


08-27-06 - Annan to visit Iran amid dispute The visit will come two days after a UN deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and amid fears it is trying to develop a nuclear bomb.


08-27-06 - Nasrallah sorry for scale of war Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.


08-27-06 - Key US legislator says will block aid to Lebanon A key U.S. legislator said in Israel on Sunday he would block aid President George W. Bush promised Lebanon and free the funds only when Beirut agreed to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria Lantos is, not surprisingly, an Israel-firster.


08-27-06 - Israel deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure in both Palestine and Lebanon


08-27-06 - Reuters seeks Pentagon probe on journalist's death Reuters news agency urged the U.S. military on Sunday to investigate the killing of one of its journalists by American troops in Baghdad a year ago.


08-27-06 - Israelis still occupy nine positions in south Lebanon: military Israeli troops still occupy nine positions in southern Lebanon two weeks after a ceasefire between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah ended more than a month of heavy fighting


08-27-06 - Bully role won't help with Iran Meanwhile small nations that can vote, but not veto, at the Security Council are in an uproar over perceived U.S. bias toward Israel in the recent war with Hezbollah militants. It is unclear how much opposition those nations could raise to a U.S.-backed sanctions plan.


08-27-06 - Syria will talk peace 'when Israel is ready' "Peace would involve Israel returning occupied lands to their owners and restoring their rights," Assad said. "Israel is an enemy founded on the basis of aggression and hegemony.


08-27-06 - AP: U.S. aid stirs Venezuela's suspicion While USAID oversees much of the public U.S. spending on Latin America, President Bush's government also has stepped up covert efforts in the region.


08-27-06 - Displaced Lebanese race bulldozers to recover keepsakes In the ruins of Haret Hreik, a southern Beirut suburb, Shiite families tried to save keepsakes before they were lost amid debris being cleared away by bulldozers and dump trucks.


08-27-06 - Compliant and subservient: Jimmy Carter's explosive critique of Tony Blair


08-27-06 - Negotiated nuclear settlement a possibility


08-27-06 - Humbling of the supertroops shatters Israeli army morale ?For the last six years we were engaged in stupid policing missions in the West Bank,? he said. ?Checkpoints, hunting stone-throwing Palestinian children, that kind of stuff. The result was that we were not ready to confront real fighters like Hezbollah.?



08-27-06 - Hezbollah 'in talks' on prisoner exchange Sheikh Nasrallah has told a Lebanese television station that prominent politician Nabih Berri is acting as a middle man in negotiations aimed at exchanging the two Israeli soldiers for Lebanese prisoners held in Israel.


08-27-06 - Lebanese offical blasts NYC man's arrest "As a Lebanese citizen first, and as an official in the Lebanese government and information minister of Lebanon, I find this to be unacceptable," Ghazi Aridi told reporters in Beirut.


08-27-06 - I Want to Represent Israel in Congress California?s Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) asked himself how to better serve Israel and overlook American interests? Out of no where, the savior emerged as a hero: he suggested withholding aid from Lebanon.


08-27-06 - Canadians divided over Middle East conflict Almost half of Canadians blame the on-going conflict in the Middle East on Iran and Syria, and such groups as Hezbollah and Palestinian militias, according to a new national poll that says 19 per cent point the finger at Israel.
Good little sheepies.


08-27-06 - Israeli general plots war with Iran "Everyone is playing with dates and time frames, but the list of options is becoming shorter," he added. "I think we have one year open (to launch military action). Israel will have to decide." Israel will not launch a war on Iran. America will on her behalf - like it did with Iraq.


08-27-06 - Cluster bombs leave 'toys' that kill children The US State Department opened an investigation last week into whether Israel?s use of American-made cluster bombs violated an agreement that they would not be used in civilian areas.
And a US official stated that this investigation is just for show. The cluster bombs are courtesy of the United States of America.


08-27-06 - Saudi FM criticizes Arabs who favor foreign links Faisal's criticism appeared to be targeting Syria, which boasts strong relations with Iran, although he did not name it. The two Arab countries have exchanged implicit criticism over the war in Lebanon


08-27-06 - Hezbollah says won't resist UN troops


08-27-06 - Trickle of supplies reaches Lebanon Israel has blocked commercial cargo flights, letting about three planes carrying relief supplies land daily at the country's only international airport, along with seven passenger flights, airport officials said.

In a prison called Lebanon. How many Arab nations can Israel imprison at once?


08-27-06 - Annan to visit Beirut U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will discuss the deployment and role of a planned 15,000-strong peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon when he visits Beirut on Monday for the first time since the Israel-Hizbollah war.


08-27-06 - Jesse Jackson says Syria backs prisoners' release Syria backs efforts to free captured Israeli soldiers and Arab prisoners held by the Jewish state, U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said after meeting President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.


08-27-06 - UN will not stop Syria sending weapons to Lebanon Speaking in Brussels before heading to the region, Kofi Annan, pictured below, the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that the 15,000-strong force will not meet Israeli demands to police the routes used by the militia to smuggle missiles from Syria. "Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear,"


08-27-06 - Missing facts may have changed Israel/Lebanon poll results If you knew that Israel?s attack on Lebanon had been planned for over a year, and that the capture of two Israeli soldiers was just their excuse, would you still think their attack was justified?


08-27-06 - U.N. plans Lebanon 'exclusion zone'


08-27-06 - UN peacekeeping force not to destroy Hezbollah: Italian FM


08-27-06 - Berlin demands to board Lebanese ships Germany is offering to patrol Lebanon's coast rather than send ground troops as part of a UN peacekeeping force after the conflict between Israel and Lebanon-based Hizbullah.


08-27-06 - Japan arrests 5 in Iran nuclear case


08-27-06 - Flights bring bridges to Lebanon Two aid flights are due to take off from RAF Brize Norton for Lebanon, with bridges to replace crossings bombed in recent Israeli air raids.


08-27-06 - Muslims alarmed over redrawn map for Islamic world Muslim circles have expressed alarm and disgust at the publication of a redrawn map of the Islamic world in a journal closely linked to the US armed forces.


08-27-06 - Campaign to raise funds for children starts today A CAMPAIGN by Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) to assist Lebanese and Palestinian children affected by the recent crisis in the region will be officially launched at the City Center today


08-27-06 - Law Put to Unusual Use in Hezbollah TV Case, Some Legal Experts Say

News for 08-26-06

08-26-06 - Republican Report Hypes Iran 'Threat' ** The timing appeared designed to take maximum advantage of the media attention generated by Iran's response, which rejected the demand for immediate suspension but called for additional negotiations. Normally, a report of this kind is reviewed by the entire Intelligence Committee before it is published.....The fact that Frederick Fleitz, a former CIA officer, was the report's main author, however, suggests that his effort to undermine confidence in the intelligence community's estimates regarding Iran is part of a larger campaign that includes many of the same hawks who led the drive to war in Iraq.




08-26-06 - Is Iran Controlling Iraqi Militias? Iraq's most powerful politician has dismissed claims by U.S. officials and generals that Iran is interfering in Baghdad's affairs. Abdul-Azziz al-Hakim has told TIME that despite repeated requests from him and other Iraqi politicians, American officials have failed to show any reliable evidence of Tehran's interference. "[The U.S.] has been making such claims for a long time," he said, "and for three years we've told them, 'Show us proof.' But they never have."


08-26-06 - Another miserable milestone for Bush's war A miserable milestone was passed the other day. America's (and Britain's) disastrous war in Iraq has now lasted longer than the US involvement in the Second World War.


08-26-06 - Chavez eyes Syria visit to strengthen ties Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he planned a visit to Syria to bolster ties in a move likely to rankle Washington, which charges the Arab nation with sponsoring terrorism.


08-26-06 - Hizbollah vows self-restraint "We see how Israel is violating resolution 1701," Hizbollah deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem said in a statement. "Despite that, we as a party have decided to exercise self-restraint during this period to expose more of the U.S. and Israeli misdeeds."
This will prompt Israel to provoke them twice as much to try and get a response (something they do to the Palestinians all the time).


08-26-06 - UN welcomes Lebanon force pledges A senior UN spokesman says it is now close to achieving firm promises of troops to make up the full peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon


08-26-06 - U.S. May Curb Iran With increasing signs that several fellow Security Council members may stall a United States push to penalize Iran for its nuclear enrichment program, Bush administration officials have indicated that they are prepared to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade.....in case Russia and China do not accept it, the U.S. is working a parallel diplomatic track outside the U.N., Bolton said. John Bolton - Israel's man at the UN.


08-26-06 - The Cheney presidency Cheney has planted aides in major Cabinet departments, often over the objection of a Cabinet secretary, to make sure his policies are carried out. He sits in on the Senate Republican caucus, to stamp out any rebellions. Cheney loyalists from the Office of the Vice President dominate interagency planning meetings. And unfortunately for the US, Cheney has teamed up with the neocons and has implemented their policy - a Clean Break Strategy.


08-26-06 - Iraq War Distracted U.S., Say Americans


08-26-06 - 'I can't go to Iraq. I can't kill those children' - Suicide soldier's dying words to his mother


08-26-06 - Appeasement and War on Iran If Israel failed, the risk was that Hizbullah would be strengthened and Israel weakened. Now that Israel has lost and Hizbullah won, the loss has exposed Israel?s weak and vulnerable position. Israel is surrounded by foes with renewed spirit and hope. That fact alone may ensure some blitzkrieg type of attack by the US and/or Israel on Syria or Iran - in an attempt to restore the image of military might and dominance in the region. Neither Israel nor this administration can accept an image of weakness in that part of the world.


08-26-06 - Sailor faces espionage, desertion charges We are still not allowed to know for which country this man was spying.


08-26-06 - Bill for depleted- uranium screening passes Senate California veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces are one signature away from having mandated access to health screenings to determine their exposure to depleted uranium. This should be a federal bill.


08-26-06 - How Washington Goaded Israel Into War A July 23 article in Haaretz about an anti-war demonstration in Tel Aviv noted that "this was a distinctly anti-American protest" that included "chants of 'We will not die and kill in the service of the United States," That's rich, ain't it? Because they demand we do the such when they continuously lobby and even demand that our government take out their enemies for them. Steve Zunes is a known apologist for Israel, despite the fact he is a critic thereof. He still refuses to lay any blame on that nation.


08-26-06 - Israeli views on Shebaa Farms harden There is an abundance of water in the area, from the melting snows of Mount Hermon to the tributaries which flow into Israel from Lebanon, accounting in part for the farms' importance.... "What is unique in this specific area is that the Shebaa Farms has a strategic viewpoint over the water sources of the Jordan River in Israel, like the Wazzani and the Banias,"


08-26-06 - Blair's foreign policy is now a threat to national security Those same ministers must have been galled by this week's Guardian/ICM poll suggesting that 72% of the British people agree that our foreign policy has made us less secure, while only 1% accept the government's assurance that it has made us safer


08-26-06 - Lebanon's war may put Palestine on the agenda again The United States could solve this right now if it would withhold all support for Israel - both at the UN and financially - to force Israel to the negotiating table. Bush the first did the latter, though unsuccessfully, to force Israel to halt its illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Bush the second is unfortunately not like his old man.


08-26-06 - Rep. Harris' religious remarks draw ire U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws." Either Harris is one herself, or she is pandering to the Christian Right who wield considerable political power in this country.


08-26-06 - Iran opens nuclear reactor, defying U.N. A senior Israeli lawmaker warned in a statement that the plant inauguration marks "another leap in Iran's advance toward a nuclear bomb." Israeli legislator Ephraim Sneh of the Labor Party, a partner in the ruling coalition, said that the Jewish state must "prepare itself militarily."
Why, if they (via the neocons) can get America to do it for them?


08-26-06 - Why Bush will Choose War Against Iran Ray Close, member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. He worked for the CIA for 27 years


08-26-06 - Report says Lebanon's GDP will fall 10-percent The cost of material damages to Lebanon is not clear, the Council for Development and Reconstruction estimates losses at more than $3.6 billion. They should take it out of the billions we give to Israel in foreign aid each year.


08-26-06 - Cleanup of Lebanon's massive oil spill has barely begun


08-26-06 - Iran opens nuclear facility saying no threat to Israel


08-26-06 - Hizbollah expected "limited damage" Kassem told an-Nahar daily that Hizbollah had expected an Israel attack at some stage as part of a joint plan with the United States but it had no indication it would come in July.


08-26-06 - Yemen allocates 5% of fishing export profits to Lebanon and Palestine


08-26-06 - Week-long campaign to support Lebanese and Palestinian children


08-26-06 - Hoekstra's Hoax: Hyping Up the Iran 'Threat' The Hoekstra-issued draft bears the fingerprints of one Frederick Fleitz ? the principal drafter, according to press reports. Fleitz did his apprenticeship on politicization under John Bolton when the latter was Under Secretary of State, and became his principal aide and chief enforcer while on loan from the CIA.


08-26-06 - Lebanese recover from Kafkaesque trip to Israel


08-26-06 - Israel 'not fooled' by Iranian nuclear assurances


08-26-06 - Lebanese optimism begins to evaporate People are greeted with daily headlines about the continued Israeli blockade of the port and airport, reports of Israeli threats of a new round of fighting, and warnings that the security vacuum in Lebanon may not be filled for months.


08-26-06 - US hopeful of quick end to Lebanon blockade The United States wants a quick end to Israel's air and sea blockade of Lebanon but blames Syria and Iran for delaying the process by helping the Hezbollah militia, a US official said.


08-26-06 - Disarming Hezbollah put on hold ISRAEL has dropped its demand for the immediate disarming of Hezbollah and begun to focus on persuading UN forces to stop the flow of weapons into Lebanon...."It is not that we have given up on disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we see it as a process and the most important thing is ? to prevent their strategic rearmament," So that the US can attack Iran and not have fear that Hezbollah will in turn fire volleys of rockets at Israel?


08-26-06 - McCain Stresses Support for Iraq Mission


08-26-06 - Nuking Safeguarded Facilities


08-26-06 - German sub delivery postponed Two new submarines which Israel would receive under a deal it signed with Germany last month, will only start being delivered in 2010, German government spokesman Thomas Steg said Friday.


08-26-06 - Pressure on Olmert as poll shows Israelis want him to quit over Lebanon 'failure'

News for 08-25-06

08-25-06 - Russia rejects UN sanctions against Iran Russia rejected on Friday any talk for now of sanctions against Iran and France warned against conflict with Tehran, raising doubts whether it will face swift penalties for not halting nuclear work by an August 31 deadline.


08-25-06 - Chavez Eyes Syria Visit to Strengthen Ties


08-25-06 - Israel feels US will not attack Iran There is growing consensus within the defense establishment that the United States will not attack Iran, and that Israel might be forced to act independently to stop the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, a high-ranking defense official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. ...The defense official blasted the US for "not doing enough" to stop Teheran's race to the bomb. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he said, was leading the State Department in the direction of "appeasement." Where does it say in the American Constitution that we must wage war to please Israel? On behalf of the American people: GFY.


08-25-06 - Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs Several current and former officials said that they doubted the investigation would lead to sanctions against Israel but that the decision to proceed with it might be intended to help the Bush administration ease criticism from Arab governments and commentators over its support of Israel's military operations. Our government cares not for Arab civilians killed by these bombs, let there be no doubt.


08-25-06 - US rallying allies, partners on Iran


08-25-06 - Govt says forcibly disarming Hezbollah 'suicidal' Lebanon's government says it would be suicidal trying to disarm the Shiite militia Hezbollah by force.


08-25-06 - Study calls Iran 'biggest beneficiary' of US war on terror ** But even more worrisome, the report seems intended to signal the intelligence community that the Republican leadership wants scarier assessments that would justify a more confrontational approach to Tehran. It was not the work of any intelligence agency, or the full intelligence panel, or even the subcommittee that ostensibly drafted it. The Washington Post reported that it was written primarily by a former C.I.A. official known for his view that the assessments on Iran are not sufficiently dire......The leak destroyed a U.S. intelligence program to collect information about Iran's efforts to get nuclear weapons material. The leak to which that author was referring was the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. See how it all fits together now? The only intelligence on Iran that Cheney and the neocons want is that of the same brew cooked up by their own to justify their pre-emptive attacks on Middle Eastern countries that do not threaten us. They do however threaten Israel. Whose war is this?


08-25-06 - Olbermann Exposes Nexus Of Politics And Terror Olbermann overwhelmingly documents the staged timing of terror alerts spanning back four years and ends by scrutinizing the latest alleged liquid bomb plot - an operation infiltrated and surveilled for months by intelligence agencies, yet announced to the public on a carefully scripted pre-arranged schedule.


08-25-06 - US officer pleads guilty in Iraq fraud case A US Army Reserve officer has pleaded guilty to improperly steering millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction contracts as part of a conspiracy involving kickbacks, smuggling and sexual favours.


08-25-06 - Iran and Romania defuse oil row


08-25-06 - Russia denies Hezbollah arms link Last week Israeli officials said they had provided Moscow with proof that Hezbollah had been supplied with Russian weapons delivered to the Syrian Army. Mr Ivanov said that it was "laughable" to call the anti-tank weapons he understood to have been used by Hezbollah modern.



08-25-06 - Germany confirms sale of two submarines to Israel The German government confirmed reports that two German submarines have been sold to Israel, but said the vessels are not equipped to carry nuclear weapons.


08-25-06 - Chirac doubts Lebanon force size French President Jacques Chirac has said sending 15,000 peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon is "excessive".


08-25-06 - Threat of military action hangs over escalating tensions with Iran The steps to war could follow the same path that led to the invasion of Iraq: The U.N. passes a resolution demanding an end to Iranian nuclear-weapons development, then fails to enforce it. Bush prods the U.N. to support words with action. The U.N. dithers. Bush unleashes the U.S. military. ...."If George Bush is serious about denying Iran nuclear weapons and Iran doesn't respond to our diplomacy, then we're headed to a conflict," said Michael Rubin, an Iran expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a research center with strong ties to the "neo-conservatives" who shaped Iraq policy in the Bush administration.


08-25-06 - Halutz names officer to prepare for possible war with Iran


08-25-06 - Israel Prepares for the Next War Akiva Eldar has apparently heard the news about 2008 too. He sees a real possibility of ?an accelerated preemptive war against Syria, before Iran is equipped with a nuclear bomb and before Tehran completes the transformation of the Syrian army into a modern army rich in new types of weaponry


08-25-06 - Hezbollah warns Blair: you're not welcome in Beirut TONY BLAIR?S peace mission to the Middle East appeared in jeopardy last night after Hezbollah declared that the Prime Minister would not be welcome in Lebanon because of his support for Israel during the war.


08-25-06 - Chavez says Israel's action in Lebanon "worse" than Hitler "Israel often criticizes Hitler ... but they have done the same thing, perhaps even worse," Chavez told reporters Friday in a briefing during his six-day visit to China.


08-25-06 - Israel May Help Build U.S. Border Wall


08-25-06 - US probes Israel cluster bomb use A congressional investigation after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 found Israel guilty of intentionally dropping cluster bombs in civilian areas. A six year ban was imposed on further sales of the weapons to Israel.

But a senior White House official told the BBC that the current investigation is unlikely to lead to any serious repercussions.
Ronald Reagan imposed that ban. They don't make Republicans like they used to anymore. Those days went out with Bush the first.


08-25-06 - Italian FM: Harsh U.S. approach to Mideast failed D'Alema said that America's aggressive approach to the Middle East, which Israel shares, has failed, and has caused serious damage. Now, he said, Italy and Europe must prove to Israelis that only international intervention can bring them security. .....There was talk in the past about deploying a multinational force to the Gaza Strip as well.


08-25-06 - Hezbollah might "respond" to Israeli ceasefire breaches, says MP


08-25-06 - Poll: 18% of Israeli Arabs backed Hezbollah in war In regards to Jewish-Arab relations, the poll found that some 62% of the Jewish Israeli public would be unwilling to rent an apartment to Arabs prejudice: preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics


08-25-06 - At Funeral, a Sunni Village Condemns Hezbollah?s Presence


08-25-06 - Syria cuts off power flow, denies political message Syria announced on Thursday it had suspended the flow of electricity it supplies to Lebanon, citing technical problems with its own power grid. Syria's state-owned electricity company issued a statement which said it could no longer provide electricity through two separate lines.


08-25-06 - Islam poses a threat to the West, say 53pc in poll


08-25-06 - Let UN Handle Middle East, Say Americans 29 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should not become involved in the matter at all, while 14 per cent want their federal administration to take the leading role in the issue.



08-25-06 - News stories seen as hit to security That finding in a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll contradicts another finding from the same poll: Even more people think such news stories "told citizens something they should know about."


08-25-06 - Lebanese oil slick hits ancient Phoenician port


08-25-06 - Pakistan bigger threat than Hezbollah: Senior Israeli leader In a candid admission of churning that is taking place inside Israel, Dr Shlomo Ben Ami, foreign minister in Prime Minister Ehud Barak cabinet in 2000-2001, said Israel should not take on the burden of global war on terror waged by the United States and the West....he advised his country's leadership to separate its war against militant organisations Hamas and the Hezbollah and the global war on terror, headed by the United States and the West.....Ben Ami, however, claimed that Israel achieved its purpose after the war in Lebanon -- deployment of an international force and application of the UN Resolution 1559 of 2004.


08-25-06 - Cost of Iraq war: $1,075 each Send your bill to Perle, Feith, Wurmser, Wolfowitz, et al.


08-25-06 - Hezbollah's War Wins Support Among Arab Pro-Democracy Reformers Where the U.S. sees in Hezbollah a front for Iran's theocratic government, though, pro-Hezbollah advocates see it as altering the Middle East's political and military balance to Israel's disadvantage.


08-25-06 - U.S. built major Iranian nuclear facility


08-25-06 - IRC distributes needed supplies to displaced Lebanese at Shatila camp


08-25-06 - The Neocons Ride Again - Priming us for war with Iran


08-25-06 - Neocons attack Rice (again)


08-25-06 - Most Israelis oppose Olmert: poll A newspaper poll shows 63 per cent of Israelis want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign, in a sharp public backlash over his handling of the war in Lebanon.


08-25-06 - Hezbollah launches boy band to stardom Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the song is considered inflammatory and that tapes and CDs containing it will be confiscated. He said police in and around Jerusalem have found no copies of the song so far, but that officers have searched music stores and are on the lookout for contraband.


08-25-06 - US charges Hezbollah TV provider Javed Iqbal, originally from Pakistan, is accused by prosecutors of doing business with a terrorist entity.

News for 08-24-06

08-24-06 - 'Clear evidence' Iran is arming, training Iraqi extremists: US general


08-24-06 - World powers weigh Iran nuclear offer, US says it falls short World powers studied their options to Iran's response to their offer aimed at ending a nuclear crisis, and the United States warned it fell short of UN conditions to avoid sanctions.


08-24-06 - Amid ruin in Lebanon, families find aid


08-24-06 - US Marine call-up signals a long war It could also signify preparations for an impending attack on Iran.


08-24-06 - U.S air raid claims 8 lives in Afghanistan Eight civilians including a child were killed as the U.S. aircraft conducted air raid on a suspected hideout of Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province in early Thursday morning, according to a local official.


08-24-06 - U.S. warns Syria to observe arms embargo


08-24-06 - U.S. Spy Agencies Criticized On Iran Jamal Ware, spokesman for the House intelligence committee, said three staff members wrote the report, but he did not dispute that the principal author was Frederick Fleitz, a former CIA officer who had been a special assistant to John R. Bolton, the administration's former point man on Iran at the State Department. Bolton had been highly influential in the crafting of a tough policy that rejected talks with Tehran John Bolton, Israel's man at the UN.


08-24-06 - Group: US marching toward military draft


08-24-06 - Bush Ensured Iran Offer Bush's objective was to free the administration of the constraint of multilateral diplomacy. The administration evidently reckoned that, once the Iranians had rejected the formal offer from the P5+1, it would be free to take whatever actions it might choose, including a military strike against Iran.


08-24-06 - France boosts Lebanon peace force President Jacques Chirac has pledged an additional 1,600 French troops to the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon.


08-24-06 - Israel/Lebanon Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure


08-24-06 - EU countries under pressure for Lebanon troops


08-24-06 - Israelis keep civilians way in village At another house, a Star of David was spray-painted across an outer wall beside a slogan praising a Jewish sage. A skull and crossbones cardboard sign on the front steps warns people not to enter. It's unclear if Israelis wrote it, or if it was meant to point out unexploded ordnance. On an upper floor of Fares' house, family and marriage photos lay shredded. Fares said Israeli soldiers destroyed them. "Why?" he asked, holding a picture torn in two that showed him with his bride in her white wedding dress



08-24-06 - Washington takes aim at Iran as destabilizing force in Mideast ** One Washington analyst said Barbero's comments were part of a move by the US administration to prepare the US public for war on Iran. Iran is next in the Clean Break strategy imposed by the neocons onto the United States. See the related articles from today's and yesterday's (Neocon Watch) news about troop call-ups.


08-24-06 - Cluster bomb toll mounts as displaced return to south Lebanon Israeli cluster bombs dropped during a month-long blitz against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon are taking an increasing toll on civilians trying to return home more than a week after the fighting ended, the UN and rights groups say.


08-24-06 - Lebanon holds train bomb suspect A second suspect in last month's alleged plot to blow up German trains has been arrested in Lebanon, prosecutors in Germany say.


08-24-06 - Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's reconstruction of Lebanon is winning the loyalty of disaffected Shia Hizbollah has made it clear that it has no intention of disarming under the UN Security Council's 1701 ceasefire resolution and yesterday afternoon, Major-General Alain Pellegrini, the commander of the UN Interim Force in southern Lebanon - which the Americans and British are relying upon to seize the guerrilla army's weapons - personally confirmed to me at his headquarters in Naqoura that "the Israelis can't ask us to disarm Hizbollah".


08-24-06 - A weaker US hand in the Mideast Some specialists in the region say the brief but devastating Israel-Hizbullah war leaves the United States even more tarnished, particularly among moderate Arabs, because America was seen to be either ineffectual or snail-paced by design at stopping the fighting and destruction in southern Lebanon.


08-24-06 - Israel slams Amnesty International report on Lebanon conflict Israel's protests are for show. They (paragraph 21) deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure because they mistakenly believe that it will turn the public against Hizbullah. They do the (paragraph 3)same thing with the Palestinians - and it doesn't work there either.


08-24-06 - Lebanon plays down Israel-Syria dispute over troops Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, in an interview broadcast on Thursday, said the cabinet would have to discuss the matter but Lebanon had no intention of showing hostility towards Syria.


08-24-06 - Israel army chief admits failures


08-24-06 - Wasp bound for Lebanon The amphibious assault ship Wasp is set to begin an unscheduled ?surge? deployment to the waters off Lebanon, where its sailors will support the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and Pentagon-approved humanitarian assistance efforts. Message to our guys : watch your back!


08-24-06 - Annan plans Mideast trip to push Lebanon cease-fire


08-24-06 - Shebaa farmers present deeds in new hopes of reclaiming land After the 1967 war, Israel began to occupy their land, part of a 20-square-kilometer territory that rises from 400 to 2,000 meters in altitude, the farmers said.


08-24-06 - Syria: Israel should admit defeat Syria has called on Israel to acknowledge defeat against Hezbollah and seek a just peace settlement with Arabs based on trading land for peace.


08-24-06 - PA officials say Shalit's fate is in the hands of Syria


08-24-06 - US stands idly by applauding the despicable actions of Israel: Paper


08-24-06 - India cautious about joining UN force in Lebanon Given its commitment to the Palestinian cause and its stable ties with Israel, India has to be extremely cautious before making any troops commitment to the new force, official sources told IANS.


08-24-06 - Lebanese PM says army can patrol border Lebanon's prime minister sought Thursday to sidestep conflicting Israeli and Syrian demands over the deployment of international troops along his border with Syria, saying Lebanese soldiers already there pose no threat to the prickly Arab neighbor.


08-24-06 - US civil rights leader aims to broker Israeli prisoner swap On Tuesday Jackson, who has previously negotiated the release of US and foreign nationals being held in Cuba, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, took up the case of the Israeli soldiers by speaking with Israeli and Syrian diplomats in Washington.


08-24-06 - Time To Change the Tune And that raises the third wild card: whether the current President Bush is willing and able to do what has to be done. Right now he?s torn between the pragmatists in his administration, who favor dialogue, and the ideologues, who insist on seeing the world in blacks and whites and are willing to keep fighting to the last Israeli. Bush's own instincts are with the ideologues, though he's shown himself capable of acting pragmatically when he sees the need. The 'ideologues' are neoconservatives, and none of their policies benefit America in any way - in fact, they've achieved just the opposite effect. They should be run right out of our government, in the very least.


08-24-06 - Embattled Liberal MP resigns critic post The Liberals? deputy foreign affairs critic has resigned after an uproar over his statements that Canada should negotiate directly with Lebanon?s Hezbollah, which is on Canada?s list of terrorist organizations.


08-24-06 - Cairo mocks Damascus over comments by Assad

News for 08-23-06

08-23-06 - Americans separate Iraq from war on terrorism: poll For the first time since it began, a majority of Americans believe the Iraq war is not part of the war on terrorism, as US President George W. Bush keeps insisting it is, according to a poll just published.


08-23-06 - Iran nuclear offer 'falls short'


08-23-06 - Iraqi panel launches own rape-slay probe An Iraqi investigative panel has launched an independent probe into the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl allegedly by American soldiers currently in U.S. custody, who will be tried in absentia if necessary, an official said Tuesday


08-23-06 - Russia, China back Iran calls for talks


08-23-06 - UN force will police Lebanon arms embargo: France One of the main tasks facing a U.N. force in Lebanon will be to ensure that no arms are smuggled across the borders to Hizbollah, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Wednesday.


08-23-06 - Israel signs contract for nuclear capable submarines: reports Israeli newspaper reports say Israel has signed a contract with Germany for two new U-boats capable of launching nuclear weapons.


08-23-06 - Poll - Do you think the Bush administration misled Americans on the Iraq war?


08-23-06 - US sues Maine officials for probe on Verizon, NSA The U.S. government sued Maine officials on Tuesday to block their demand that Verizon disclose whether it gave the government's spying program access to its customer data, documents showed.


08-23-06 - Robert Fisk: Untold story of the massacre of Marjayoun leaves blame on both sides of the border Who flew the drones? An Israeli soldier of the invasion force? A nameless officer in the Israel Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv? The Israelis knew a civilian convoy was on the road. Yet they sent their pilotless machines to attack it. Why? Last night, the Israeli Defence Ministry had not responded to inquiries from reporters who asked for the answer last Friday.



08-23-06 - Government studies options to sue Israel for war crimes The Lebanese state has started to study the possible legal procedures to sue Israel and its political and military leaders within the international legal arena for crimes committed by Israel against Lebanon


08-23-06 - Iran Sanctions Could Fracture Coalition the West must tread carefully because any sanctions levied in the place that could actually hurt Iran ? its energy sector ? would ratchet up already high global oil prices and end up harming the West.


08-23-06 - Three Lebanese soldiers killed by cluster bomb blast Three Lebanese soldiers were killed trying to defuse an unexploded Israeli cluster bomb as the Jewish state lost a soldier to one of its own mines in Lebanon.


08-23-06 - LEBANON: Drinking water severely lacking "I have never seen destruction like this," said Unicef water and sanitation specialist Branislav Jekic in the statement. "Wherever we go, we ask people what they need most and the answer is always the same: water."


08-23-06 - US says nuclear-armed Iran would be 'dangerous'


08-23-06 - Bush faces revolt on Iraq


08-23-06 - World powers weigh Iran nuclear offer, US says it falls short World powers studied their options to Iran's response to their offer aimed at ending a nuclear crisis, and the United States warned it fell short of UN conditions to avoid sanctions.


08-23-06 - Report: Iran wields influence in Iraq Iran wields more influence than the United States in Iraq and has established itself as America's chief rival in the Middle East, a British think tank said in a report released Wednesday.


08-23-06 - Israel buys upgraded subs to counter Iran threat The report of the sub purchase came a day after a cabinet minister and former Mossad spy warned Israel should prepare for a ballistic missile attack by Iran, its arch enemy and one of chief supporters of Hezbollah, against whom Israel waged the month-long war in Lebanon.


08-23-06 - Israeli Flights Over Lebanon Violate Terms of Truce, U.N. Says Ongoing flights by Israeli warplanes over Lebanon drew rebukes Tuesday from international and local officials who said the sorties violated this nation's sovereignty and undermined its government.


08-23-06 - Committee: U.S. lacks Iran intelligence The report also cautions that "policymakers will need high-quality intelligence to assess Iranian intentions to prepare for any new round of negotiations."



08-23-06 - Peretz backtracks on proposal for talks with Syria


08-23-06 - Lebanese see scant hope in peacekeepers Youssef, the Naqoura resident, said peacekeepers would be "welcome - as long as they don't try to disarm Hezbollah."


08-23-06 - Max Boot: Israel Should Hit Syria First Shlomo Avineri, a former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, argues that his country fought the wrong war: Instead of targeting Lebanon, it should have gone after Syria. The Syrian armed forces are less motivated than Hezbollah, and they offer many more targets for Israeli airpower.
Max Boot = neocon.


08-23-06 - WFP revises down Lebanon appeal target


08-23-06 - Israel rejects Amnesty's war crimes allegations Naturally since the Israeli government feels it is above the law - and because of our government, they get away with it. Won't last forever.


08-23-06 - Iran wants Italy as go-between on soldiers Iran wants Italy to help negotiate the release of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped in Lebanon.


08-23-06 - A Lebanese boy stands in his parents' house, which was damaged during the recent conflict


08-23-06 - Lebanon stresses sovereignty in Syrian border issue "I have heard the remarks of the Syrian president and I respect his opinion but Lebanon acts with all means at her disposition to preserve her sovereignty, her independence and her interests," Siniora told a press conference.


08-23-06 - UN calls for new ME peace effort Declaring that the Middle East peace process has reached "a sorry juncture," the UN political chief called for a new international effort to settle decades of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.


08-23-06 - N. Texas men allege racial profiling They're Palestinian. And any Palestinian in this country should rightly feel concerned, since most of these 'terror' arrests seem to be targeting them. Why is THAT?


08-23-06 - New ruling in AIPAC case raises questions about 'foreign agents' Ruling on whether a wiretap order was legal, Judge T.S. Ellis III said there was "ample probable cause to believe" that two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were "agents of a foreign power." ..........Forcing AIPAC to register under the act, which has notoriously burdensome reporting requirements, would considerably restrict the group's ability to lobby and maintain its formidable reputation for secrecy. AIPAC IS a foreign agent and should register as such - something it is very much afraid of doing. "Reputation for secrecy"? Why is that? GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE?


08-23-06 - Reservists: Lebanese POWs were kept in bus for 4 days Five Lebanese citizens, including two elderly men, were imprisoned for four days in a bus, reserve soldiers serving in the Military Police told Haaretz Monday.


08-23-06 - Israeli arrested for spying for Hezbollah An Israeli Arab living in the North was arrested on suspicion of spying for Hezbollah, Ha?aretz reported.



08-23-06 - Assad rejects Israel's demand for UN troops on Syria-Lebanon border Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday rejected Israeli demands for the deployment of international troops on the Lebanese-Syrian border to stop what Israel says is the smuggling of arms to Hezbollah.


08-23-06 - U.S. aids weapons-clearing effort The U.S. State Department plans to provide an emergency grant of $420,000 to help clear explosives remaining from the war in southern Lebanon. Again, we sent Israel these bombs knowing that Israel was targeting civilian infrastructure, and like many times in the past - the US, NOT ISRAEL, is cleaning it up.


08-23-06 - BMD Watch: U.S. Navy to double BMD ships By the end of 2006, the U.S. Navy will have a total of six warships capable of tracking and shooting down ballistic missiles, the Navy Times reported Friday.


08-23-06 - Israel flights challenge in court The British government is facing claims it "aided and abetted" violations of international law by allowing US arms flights to Israel to use UK airports.


08-23-06 - China denies Hezbollah arms export Sun Bigan, China's special envoy to the Middle East, was asked to respond to media reports which alleged Hezbollah used weapons from Iran, whose technology originally came from China....The Los Angeles Times reported that the US and Israel had launched a diplomatic effort to prevent other countries from helping rearm Hezbollah.


08-23-06 - LEBANON: Oil clean-up small comfort for fishermen Hundreds of Lebanese families depend on the fishing industry and comprise one of the poorest sections of society, according to Jamal Alameh, president of the Fishermen COOP in the Ouzaei fishing port, south of the capital.


08-23-06 - UK cleared of aiding Israeli 'terrorism' A high court judge today dismissed a legal bid by a Muslim group to block the use of UK airports by American planes to supply weapons to Israel as "hopeless" and "misconceived".


08-23-06 - Cabinet divided over audacious plan to challenge blockade


08-23-06 - Hope and anger fill Arab street in wake of Israel-Hezbollah war There is anger at Israel for laying waste to Lebanon and bombarding its civilians. There is anger at the United States for giving Israel a green light and providing it with weapons used to devastate Lebanon. And there is anger at Arab governments for standing by while Lebanon was being destroyed.


08-23-06 - U.S. Jews protest Israeli actions Jewish protesters in the United States held small "die-ins" against Israel's actions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.


08-23-06 - British group works for Israel's image A group aiming to improve Israel?s image in the British media is set to launch in September. Britains beware.


08-23-06 - Bloomberg protested in Ireland Protesters in Ireland demonstrated against visiting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for supporting Israel?s war against Hezbollah.

News for 08-22-06

08-22-06 - Iran offers West 'serious' talks Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has said his country is ready to start "serious talks" with six world powers on Wednesday.


08-22-06 - Bush wants UN to act swiftly against Iran


08-22-06 - Iranian businessmen supplied Tehran with German drone technology: prosecutor


08-22-06 - Hezbollah official discusses blockade A Hezbollah Cabinet minister on Tuesday said the government may try to break the Israeli naval and air blockade of Lebanon by calling on ships and aircraft to travel to Lebanese ports without prior Israeli approval.


08-22-06 - Iran 'attacks Romanian oil rig' A Romanian oil company says one of its rigs stationed in the Gulf has come under fire from Iranian troops.


08-22-06 - Amnesty slams Israel 'war crimes' Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon...."The pattern, scope and scale of the attacks makes Israel's claim that this was 'collateral damage', simply not credible," said Kate Gilmore, Executive Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International...."Many of the violations identified in our report are war crimes, including indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks," said Ms Gilmore. Look at this before and after photo.


08-22-06 - Lebanon truce 'fragile', warns UN The security situation in Lebanon is likely to remain "fragile" for the next two or three months, a senior UN envoy has warned.


08-22-06 - Marines to issue involuntary call-ups The U.S. Marine Corps said Tuesday it has been authorized to recall thousands of Marines to active duty, primarily because of a shortage of volunteers for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.


08-22-06 - Palestinians: Soldiers more violent due to war In the past few days, more and more Palestinian testimonies have amassed that claim that IDF soldiers humiliated them at checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. The same Palestinians say that the soldiers are taking the frustration created by the war in Lebanon out on them.


08-22-06 - Bush says: "Iraq Had ?Nothing? To Do With 9/11" QUESTION: What did Iraqi have to do with that? BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what? QUESTION: The attacks upon the World Trade Center. BUSH: Nothing. . . . .Except for it's part of ? and nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack.


08-22-06 - On Iraq, US public trusts neither party Pessimistic about prospects for peace, yet wary about walking away from a war that has already cost many lives, the US public seems conflicted and worried about the future of American involvement in Iraq.


08-22-06 - Israel: No plans to end Lebanon blockade Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel has no plans to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon takes up positions along the Syrian border and at Beirut's airport.


08-22-06 - Plame considering suing Armitage


08-22-06 - Israel must be ready for any Iranian attack: minister


08-22-06 - Israel must respect ceasefire if Italy to join UN force: D'Alema "From Israel, we expect a renewed commitment... to respect the ceasefire," D'Alema told the newspaper, la Repubblica. "It is right to demand that Hezbollah gives up its weapons but we cannot send our soldiers to Lebanon while the Israeli armed forces continue to fire."


08-22-06 - Lebanon's development 'annihilated': UN Lebanon's 15-year economic and social recovery from civil war was wiped out in the recent Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, the UN development agency has said.


08-22-06 - Archbishop tells church to stay in Lebanon: 'You'll make it'


08-22-06 - Qatar hails Lebanese for 'first Arab victory' over Israel


08-22-06 - Lebanon Diary: Holding a Rock


08-22-06 - A month of living dangerously in south Lebanon we watched as the dusty bodies of children were extracted from a half-collapsed house struck hours earlier by aerial bombs. For those that believe that those pictures of the children being pulled out from the rubble were 'faked'.


08-22-06 - Kidnapping signals rising threat in Gaza They have not been heard from in more than a week. And in an unprecedented turn for journalists covering Palestinian affairs in Gaza, no group has stepped forward to claim responsibility or to set conditions for release..."Gaza needs journalists here," says Anita McNaught, the wife of Wiig and herself a broadcast journalist for the BBC. "These two men were here by choice and working very hard to tell the Palestinian story to a wider audience. I cannot for the life of me see what gains anyone makes by this. It's tragically misguided." Was it a case of the duvdevan, the elite Israeli forces that pose as Arabs? Nahh. Why would they do that?


08-22-06 - Hezbollah kit still a mystery One source at the company, which is a distribution firm, not a manufacturer, said: ?The kit we supplied was actually made in Russia, which makes some pretty rugged equipment. But they were not the sort of systems which the Israelis seem to be talking about.?


08-22-06 - Former Mossad boss steels West for 'third world war' "This is a third world war," Efraim Halevy, Mossad director from 1998 to 2002, told The Globe and Mail in an interview yesterday. "International Islamic terror has made its objectives and aims very clear." Islamic terrorists learned well from their Jewish counterparts. (Can't call them Israeli, because Israel didn't yet exist.)


08-22-06 - Hizbollah eyes recovery, not new war with Israel Israel, for its part, lost military prestige and credibility but got a U.N. resolution to end the war that implicitly allows it to take defensive actions in Lebanon. With no clear winner and an uneasy truce, that is a recipe for future escalation, analysts say.


08-22-06 - Lebanon spy agency led Germans to bombmaker Lebanon's military intelligence agency gave German authorities information that led to the arrest of a Lebanese man the Germans suspect planted suitcase bombs at two train stations, German prosecutors said on Monday.


08-22-06 - ANALYSIS: Policing in Gaza has blunted IDF fighting abilities


08-22-06 - Second-class compensation A fourth petition, submitted by attorney Samuel Dahwar from the Arab village of Fassouta in Galilee, reveals the fact that no Arab communities are included on the full-compensation list even though Arab towns and villages were in the range of the Katyushas and were hit by them.



08-22-06 - Who leaked the leak case? The judge in the classified information case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists ordered an investigation into the leak of the investigation two years ago


08-22-06 - U.N. Envoy: Israel May OK Prisoner Swap A senior U.N. envoy said Tuesday that efforts were continuing to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah and that Israel may be warming to the idea of trading Lebanese prisoners it holds in exchange.


08-22-06 - Group: Israel should protect its own The Israeli army ethical? What kind of drugs is this Rabbi smoking? Did he not see the unusually high civilian-to-Hezbollah death toll, or how about the total destruction of civilian infrastructure? These people are deluded.


08-22-06 - U.S. lawmaker drops links to Arab sites A U.S. lawmaker removed links to anti-Israel Arab American sites, the Detroit Jewish News reported. Lawmaker falls under the influence.


08-22-06 - Fleischer rips Carter in letter President Bush's former press secretary lambasted Jimmy Carter for saying Israel's military response to Hezbollah attacks had no legal or moral basis.


08-22-06 - Man Sentenced After Blowing Up Van A man who went to jail for six months for setting off an explosive device that wrecked a van belonging to a Palestinian American family was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to an additional 15 months in prison....the federal government plainly wanted to demonstrate that it would not tolerate acts of bigotry aimed at Arab Americans. It asked Kennelly to sentence Nix to as much as 87 months in prison but the judge refused.
If it was an Arab that was the perpetrator, you had better believe he would've been given the maximum.


08-22-06 - the world avoids Israel like the plague