News for 06-29-07

06-29-07 - US soldiers kill 4 Afghan civilians: rights group


06-29-07 - Bush looks to his father to mend relations with Putin


06-29-07 - British public urged to stay alert after bomb find London's counter-terrorism police chief says a bomb found in a car in central London could have caused significant injuries or deaths if it had exploded.


06-29-07 - US missile shield a waste of money: Clinton Mr Clinton said the defence system, parts of which are to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, had created unnecessary difficulties with Russia, which denounces the plan as an attempt to undermine its defence capabilities.


06-29-07 - House Narrowly Defeats Measure to Defund Vice President?s Office The measure was defeated 209-217, with most Republicans and 24 Democrats siding with Cheney. GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas and Walter Jones of North Carolina voted in favor of defunding Cheney?s office.


06-29-07 - Bargaining with Tehran ** The prospect of U.S. military action against Iran is making headlines ? again


06-29-07 - Lebanese troops kill 3 Palestinians Lebanese troops killed three protesters after firing on Palestinian civilians demanding to return to their homes at a besieged refugee camp.


06-29-07 - UNHCR calls for seriously ill Palestinian children in Iraq to be medevaced The Palestinians are being attacked or trashed in other states as well. They are the new Jews.


06-29-07 - UN closes Iraq WMD inspectorate


06-29-07 - Petrol pressure drives oil price


06-29-07 - India, Iran, Pakistan closer on gas pipeline deal


06-29-07 - Fitzgerald eyed perjury early for Libby Midway through his CIA leak investigation, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was pretty sure of two things: First, he wasn't going to charge White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby with revealing a covert operative. And second, he thought Libby's testimony was a bunch of lies.


06-29-07 - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Welcomes Israeli Homeland Security Groups 6/28/2007 In an effort to continue building the Illinois Department of Homeland Security and the state?s partnership with Israel, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is welcoming a group of Israeli homeland security firms. 'Welcome to Israel! Err, I mean welcome to America!'


06-29-07 - Groups call on U.S. to press Israel on cluster data Thirty-three organizations are calling on the U.S. to obtain site information on Israel?s cluster bomb strikes against Lebanon last summer.



06-29-07 - Bush proclaims some Syrians non grata President Bush banned travel to the United States for Syrian and Lebanese individuals deemed to support terrorism or the undermining of Lebanon's government.


06-29-07 - Senate considers cluster bombs restrictions The bill is likely to be referred to the full Senate sometime next week and includes $2.44 billion appropriated for Israel by the U.S. House of Representatives last week..... A standalone bill with similar restrictions, sponsored last year by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), who is Jewish, was defeated, reportedly after strong lobbying against by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.


06-29-07 - Palestinians back Iran bomb The survey, taken by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, found that 58 percent of the Palestinian public are in favor of Tehran acquiring atomic weapons, making Palestinians the only Middle Eastern population not opposed to an Iranian bomb.


06-29-07 - EMET honors five Arab Americans A Washington pro-Israel think tank honored five Arab-Americans who have spoken out against radical Islam.
Also honored at the June 20 Endowment for Middle East Truth dinner on Capitol Hill were Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), as well as counterterrorism investigative journalist Steven Emerson. Lackeys of the Israel lobby.


06-29-07 - Standing his ground and then some Shouting Hedges down and hurling profanities at audience members who chided him for his support for the Iraq war, the celebrated author reached his crescendo ahead of schedule and stalked off the stage


06-29-07 - US Elites Can't Decide Who Should Rule Palestinians "We are enabling their hatred when we provide support without insisting that the Palestinian people - not just Abbas and Fatah, but the people -convincingly forswear revolution, terrorism, violence, ethnic-cleansing, and the goal of eliminating Israel." 200 + years later, we're telling another people to accept the harsh rule of an occupying power and all the atrocities that it entails. Further, the Palestinians were the ones that were ethnically cleansed from the region to make way for Israel - this Israeli policy still goes on to this day.


06-29-07 - Bantustans for the Palestinians Not surprisingly, neocons and other elements in the far right flank of the pro-Israel community are celebrating what they hope is the end of the two-state solution.


06-29-07 - Siege or no siege, Lebanon's Ziad and Amal wed "The Palestinians are an oppressed people... We have lived all our lives fleeing from one place to another and now it is the turn of the new generation. This is our fate," sighed Ziad's aunt, Khaldieh, 58.


06-29-07 - J'lem: Bolton is too pessimistic on Iran "It is possible that his comments were meant to expedite the process," the official said 'Pipe down, Johnboy! We didn't give you the cue yet!'

News for 06-28-07

06-28-07 - White House asserts executive privilege President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.


06-28-07 - U.S.: Iran, NKorea missile threat rising The top U.S. missile defense official warned Thursday that the ballistic threat from Iran and North Korea was rapidly growing and defended Washington's plans to base parts of its anti-missile shield program in Central Europe. But NATO called for more evaluation of the potential danger, saying there was "no assessment of the immediacy of that threat to NATO and Europe."


06-28-07 - Richardson: No preconditions for Iran talks "If we want Iran to improve its behavior, we would do well to stop threatening to attack them,"


06-28-07 - Officials: Soviet-Era Caches, Not Iran, Arming Taliban


06-28-07 - Libby becomes inmate No. 28301-016 For years he was known as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and assistant to President Bush. On Wednesday, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby became federal inmate No. 28301-016.


06-28-07 - Russia to keep contacts with Hamas - diplomat


06-28-07 - Iran says not favouring Hamas


06-28-07 - New Iran sanctions would cover gasoline Under the Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act of 2007, announced Thursday by Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Rob Andrews (D-N.J.), sanctions would be placed on any company or individual that supports Iran?s ability to import gasoline after Dec. 31


06-28-07 - Turkish general seeks Iraq raids The head of the Turkish armed forces has repeated his view that a military incursion into northern Iraq would help to defeat Kurdish rebels based there.


06-28-07 - Cheney, master of stealth, readies himself for the final act of 'imperial' vice-presidency Cheney will have his heart pacemaker installed next month and even with mortality knocking on the door, there is every possibility he will engineer yet another foreign policy surprise, possibly against Iran......It is the fresh details of Cheney's secretive and loyal coterie of officials at work that provides the most telling insight into how he pulls the strings of the federal government. Cheney, not Bush, wears the pants.


06-28-07 - Lessons in counterterrorism This week, Zaryk and a dozen other law enforcement officers representing police departments from Maryland to California are here to learn from their Israeli counterparts about methods and techniques for preventing bombings, securing airports and border crossings and performing mass rescue operations. The trip is sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based, pro-Israel, Jewish advocacy group that has trained hundreds of law enforcement officials about domestic and international terror.
The Israelization of America continues.


06-28-07 - Israel model for Iraq, says Bush LOL.


06-28-07 - Fresh fighting in north Lebanon Military officials say the clash occurred near the village of Qalamoun, five kilometres south of Tripoli.

News for 06-27-07

06-27-07 - Iran helping to plan attacks in Iraq - US Iran is training fighters in Iraq and helping to plan attacks there despite diplomatic pressure for change, U.S. officials said on Wednesday Making the case for war.


06-27-07 - White House, Cheney's Office, Subpoenaed The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush's warrant-free eavesdropping program.


06-27-07 - Iran not keeping its word on stabilizing Iraq: US


06-27-07 - House panel passes Iran restrictions The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill to tighten sanctions against Iran.


06-27-07 - Rep. Tancredo: Let Ron Paul Into Forum "The Republican party is better because he is one of us and he has earned the right to be in all presidential forums and debates."


06-27-07 - Senate Republicans Block Conference on Lobbying Overhaul Legislation Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has blocked appointment of Senate conferees on the stalled lobbying bill, casting doubt on the future of the biggest overhaul of ethics and lobbying legislation in a dozen years.


06-27-07 - Clinton, Richardson fault policy on Iran Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson on Wednesday urged the Bush administration to continue a dialogue with Iran as the U.S. tries to thwart the country's pursuit of nuclear weapons.


06-27-07 - Anti-Lieberman rally contrasts with film ** "Lieberman heard we're coming so he moved to Stamford Friday," quipped Heller, a West Haven native. "The point is we are demonstrating against his calls for an attack on Iran." .....Lieberman acknowledged that "people are getting restless" but said foreign policy should not be made on the basis of public opinion polls. Oh? What should foreign policy be made on then? The security of a foreign nation?


06-27-07 - Lawyers Make Final Plea To Save Libby From Jail


06-27-07 - Tom Lantos, Warmonger ** Americans oppose an attack on Iran 2-to-1. By almost every measure, they want negotiations, rather than confrontation, with Tehran. Yet the House Foreign Affairs Committee recently gave its approval to a bill that, in effect, would fire the first shot at the Iranians, imposing draconian sanctions similar to those enacted against Iraq in the run-up to the invasion and occupation of that country Lantos is one of Israel's top agents on Capitol Hill. I would expect nothing less from him.


06-27-07 - Murdoch expects Dow Jones decision within weeks Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he has no plans to raise his $6 billion bid for media group Dow Jones and expects final approval from the controlling Bancroft family within two to three weeks, "if at all". Murdoch is owner of Fox News (neocon central).


06-27-07 - Russia argues against US missile base plans


06-27-07 - Neoconned Again? by Philip Giraldi ** Many of the advocates of a muscular policy against countries regarded as outside the pale or perceived as a threat to Israel come from the same circle of neoconservatives, "resident scholars," and sound-bite experts who move seamlessly from think-tank to advocacy group to academia and back again.


06-27-07 - Bush to name Muslim nations envoy The role of the envoy will be to bolster relations between the Muslim world and the US. The single greatest move toward that end would be getting the Israelis out of our government(foreign policy).


06-27-07 - Bolton: Stop Iran by force ** The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the American approach to Iran is doomed to failure and that force is necessary.
I'm afraid Bolton is under the impression that anyone actually gives a rat's about his opinion and his love for a nation other than this one.


06-27-07 - Mubarak sees no Israel-Syria war Hosni Mubarak played down speculation that a war between Israel and Syria could be imminent.


06-27-07 - Congressional letter urges UNIFIL empowerment "We write with serious concern over the continuing illegal transfer of arms to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across the Syrian-Lebanese border," said the letter initiated by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Steve Israel (D-N.Y.). Which has ZERO to do with American national interests.


06-27-07 - Bush Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency" in America: Building a Justification for Waging War on Iran? ** Long.


06-27-07 - House panel wants information on Americans' killers A key Congressional committee approved a bill requiring regular reviews of Palestinian efforts to catch the killers of three Americans murdered on a diplomatic mission in Gaza. But they do NOTHING about those Americans that ISRAEL has killed.


06-27-07 - Lugar: Arab-Israeli conflict, oil, key in Iraq "Credibility and sustainability of our actions depend on addressing the two elephants in the room of U.S. Middle East policy: the Arab-Israeli conflict and U.S. dependence on Persian Gulf oil," Lugar said. "These are the two problems that our adversaries, especially Iran, least want us to address." Add Lugar to the list of true patriots.


06-27-07 - Giuliani: Retreat from Iraq will create Gaza situation Telling the audience at a Maryland synagogue that Israelis and Americans are now bound in the same war against Islamic militants, Giuliani stressed the need to be "on offense against terrorism" to warm applause.


06-27-07 - Bolton: I'm 'very worried' for Israel Bolton said he was "very worried" about the well-being of Israel. If he were in Israel's predicament, he said, "I'd be pushing the US very hard. I am pushing the US [administration] very hard, from the outside, in Washington." Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.


06-27-07 - Likud Leader Looks the Part of Prime Minister on Tour of Washington The discussions this week ostensibly focused on the need to block Iran?s nuclear program by using economic sanctions and divestment. But for Netanyahu, who is soaring in Israeli polls, the talks about divestment from Iran had a distinctly forward-looking bent. "It is important for Israel that whoever leads the United States in the future will be supportive of these actions," Netanyahu said following his meetings in Washington.



06-27-07 - Former Ambassadors Call on DNC to Remove Jimmy Carter The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) today sent a letter signed by six former U.S. ambassadors to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, asking him to remove former President Jimmy Carter from his position as Honorary Chairman of Democrats Abroad, an arm of the DNC.


06-27-07 - Excluding U.S. from peace process could help Middle East settlement - Zhirinovsky Someone benefits from this continuing conflict. "It mainly benefits the U.S. because it allows them to interfere in the situation. The point is that it is a region with enormous oil and gas deposits," he said.



06-27-07 - Global opinion increasingly wary of major powers: survey Pew said support for the UN was strong in sub-Saharan Africa, but strikingly negative in the Middle East, especially Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, the Palestinian Territories and Israel. Nearly 70 percent of people in the Palestinian Territories, where the UN has long played a role, had a poor view of the institution, and 27 percent saw it favorably.


06-27-07 - 'Safe haven' for trapped refugees in Lebanon battle camp A safe haven has been set up inside a bombed-out refugee camp in Lebanon for civilians trapped by almost 40 days of fighting between the army and Islamist militiamen, a Palestinian camp official said.


06-27-07 - Lebanese PM says Syria sending arms across border Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Syria on Wednesday of sending arms to Palestinian camps in his country and said he would raise the issue with the Arab League.


06-27-07 - Does Tony Blair bring baggage or assets to his new role? some of Olmert's advisers are believed to see a Blair appointment as dangerous. Bush until now has been unquestionably pro-Israel, but he also trusts Blair implicitly. The worry is that Blair could nudge Bush into pressuring Israel into making security concessions to allow greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians......Although nominally answerable to the entire Quartet, Wolfensohn took his orders from Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state. That left him subject to the machinations of Elliott Abrams, the deputy national security adviser who is the Bush administration's last word on Israel issues, and who has resisted any concessions to the Palestinians.


06-27-07 - Ron Paul on Neil Cavuto Show 6-26-07 Neil Cavuto desperately tries to make Paul out to be the bad guy here. He failed.


06-27-07 - Jewish ophthalmologist helps Syrians improve their vision "I was worried that there would be a safety issue, and there wasn?t," said the doctor, whose wife, Tilly, accompanied him to the Middle East. "Truthfully, I would be more afraid going to Israel, where there is violence."

News for 06-26-07

06-26-07 - Iran blames Iraq insecurity on US


06-26-07 - Some Senate Republicans join Lugar on Iraq withdrawal Some Senate Republicans are suddenly pushing the White House to begin withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq, apparently deciding that they can?t wait for a September report to call for changing course.


06-26-07 - Iran launches English satellite channel Iran's state broadcasting company is launching an English-speaking satellite television channel to counter the West's influence in covering news, the network's Web site said.


06-26-07 - Cheney role as power broker in spotlight again The Post series portrays Cheney as bypassing top officials at the State Department, Justice Department and the National Security Council to gain the upper hand in battles over the handling of terrorism suspects at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and other issues.


06-26-07 - Harsh Comments on Iraq Could Cause More GOP Defections From Bush ?Unless we recalibrate our strategy in Iraq to fit our domestic political conditions and the broader needs of U.S. national security, we risk foreign policy failures that could greatly diminish our influence in the region and the world,? said Lugar.


06-26-07 - US Congress moves to attack foreign oil firms linked to Iran The committee's vote means the legislation can move to debate in the full House, where Lantos said it enjoyed support from about 300 of the 435 members


06-26-07 - Iran says new Palestinian government is a "lackey" regime


06-26-07 - Dying children among Palestinians trapped in Iraqi border camps: UN Children in need of urgent medical care were among more than 1,400 Palestinian refugees still stranded on the Iraqi- Syrian border after fleeing Baghdad, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday.


06-26-07 - 'Jews worldwide should fight back' People criticize Israel not for its apartheid-like policies but because of 'anti-Semitism'. For anyone else to mention the power of the Israeli lobby - despite the fact that this overwhelming influence has been duly noted by this community itself- it's anti-Semitism. For British institutions to boycott those of Israel due to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians - you guessed it, anti-Semitism. The anti-Semite cazd has been long played out. The lobby doesn't seem to understand that, to their own detriment. It's only going to get worse.


06-26-07 - Israel moves closer to NATO missions


06-26-07 - Israel's influence of US policy & the Israeli lobby Scott Ritter on BookTV.


06-26-07 - Galloway on Israel and lebanon 06/08/2006 A rather comical interview.


06-26-07 - Divide and rule, Israeli style If they are all at each other's throats, how can they be a threat to poor lil Israel? Meanwhile, the settlement-building goes on. The Middle East needs its own William Wallace. Our policies therein do not serve to secure the American national interest. To the contrary - they've made us less secure. Our policies are being driven by a group of neoconservatives that have made their centcom in the office of the vice president. These policies are geared towards the security of a nation other than this one.


06-26-07 - Russian FM says weapons sales to Syria strictly controlled


06-26-07 - Turkey leases Israeli spy plane to combat PKK It will be stationed in Batman and operated by an Israeli squad, defense officials in Ankara said.


06-26-07 - Lebanon needs help to stop arms from Syria: UN In a report which UN chief Ban Ki-moon forwarded to the UN Security Council Tuesday, the team called for the deployment "of international border security experts" to back up a new Lebanese "multi-agency mobile force" that would be tasked with doing a better job of stemming the arms smuggling.


06-26-07 - UN refugee agency urges aid for Palestinians facing Iraq 'hell' "Several refugees begged our team not to forget them and leave them in this hell," said Jennifer Pagonis, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).


06-26-07 - Iran says U.S. hurting Iran-Iraq ties Iran's supreme leader accused the United States of damaging relations between Iran and Iraq and charged that American and Israeli agents were behind the Iraqi insurgency, state-run Iranian television said Tuesday.


06-26-07 - Hezbollah probing attack on Lebanon peacekeepers The Hezbollah source said members of the movement were helping the Lebanese army seek information on a Mercedes car which was seen driving around the area the day before the booby-trapped Renault car was placed next to the roadside and detonated by remote control when the peacekeepers drove past.


06-26-07 - Does Bloomberg spell doom for Hillary? by Patrick J. Buchanan On Iraq, securing the border and halting the export of American jobs, where does he stand? Anyone know? Does he?


06-26-07 - U.S. praises Siniora's resilience in face of crises

News for 06-25-07

06-25-07 - Iran invites IAEA team to help ease nuclear fears Iran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to send a team to agree how to resolve long-standing IAEA questions about Tehran's nuclear program, the U.N. watchdog said on Monday.


06-25-07 - Iran supplied missile that hit UK helicopter Browne went further than any British official on Iranian support for the Taliban. He said: ?It is a changing pattern in that the Iranian influence is very important. We have evidence to suggest that they support the Taliban.? Making the case for war.


06-25-07 - Cheney's moves on secrecy stir storm over office's dual role Is Vice President Dick Cheney's office an executive branch agency? Or is it a Washington hybrid that works for both the executive and legislative branches of the US government? That's the underlying issue in a new controversy over Mr. Cheney's lack of cooperation with a government office charged with safeguarding national security information.


06-25-07 - Iranian forces crossed Iraqi border: report Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have been spotted by British troops crossing the border into southern Iraq, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday.


06-25-07 - Calling Cheney's Bluff Under federal legislation enacted in 1995, members of the executive branch must work with the Archives to preserve classified documents. The law was backed up, at least in part, by an executive order issued four years ago by President Bush. But Cheney and his staff have refused for five years to file reports that are required as part of the oversight process. Why? Because the vice president -- that's the vice president -- claims he is not exactly a member of the executive branch.


06-25-07 - Hard Realities of Soft Power State Department officials admit that the great bulk of the funds has not left the United States. A handful of Beltway-based think tanks and institutions have announced new ?Iran desks? in the past year. Other institutions have invested the money in Web zines, training sessions, workshops and exchanges


06-25-07 - German prosecutors want CIA agents extradited Prosecutors in Munich, Germany, are requesting the extradition from the United States of 13 suspected CIA agents they say took part in the 2003 kidnapping of a German citizen.


06-25-07 - Number of Americans who believe Saddam-9/11 tie rises to 41 percent Perhaps most alarmingly, 41% of Americans answered 'Yes' to the question "Do you think Saddam Hussein?s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?"


06-25-07 - Ron Paul Interview On FOX News (June 16, 2007)


06-25-07 - Iran says 'zero chance' of US attack ** An Israeli press report said that the Jewish state's army was in training for long distance missions, after agreeing a timetable with the US for sanctions against Iran's nuclear program to work. The Israelis are going to do their darndest (and that goes for their minions, the neocons, also) to get America to strike Iran.


06-25-07 - Looking at Thompson's lobbying past Republican Fred Thompson, who likes to cast himself in the role of Washington outsider, has a long history as a political insider who earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government.


06-25-07 - First big wave of Iraqi refugees heads for the US


06-25-07 - Syria's alliance with Iran in the balance Syria has expressed readiness to help curb Middle East instability in exchange for peace with Israel but will not easily give up its alliance with Iran as demanded by the Jewish state


06-25-07 - Marines to train at new Israeli combat center In a new, elaborate training center in the Negev desert, Israeli troops ? and someday, U.S. Marines and soldiers ? are preparing for the wide range of urban scenarios they may confront......Moskovich said Baladia City would eventually host Army and Marine Corps units for training before they head to Iraq. Why is it always only us? Not the British, French, Germans, Aussies, etc etc etc. It is always only the US involved in this shit because America is wholly Israeli-occupied territory.


06-25-07 - Spanish defence chief in Lebanon Hezbollah issued a statement describing the incident as very dangerous and said it was aimed at undermining the stability of southern Lebanon, a sentiment echoed by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud as he "strongly denounced" the blast.


06-25-07 - Al-Qaeda seeks unity with Hamas Hamas leaders, who espouse a more moderate brand of Islamist politics, have always shunned al-Qaeda advances.


06-25-07 - Egypt nuclear engineer gets life An engineer at the Egyptian atomic energy agency has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of spying for Israel.


06-25-07 - UN peacekeepers vow to stay in Lebanon


06-25-07 - Lantos: Include Israel in NATO The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee called for Israel's inclusion in NATO. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.)



06-25-07 - Ron Paul Gets the ?Colbert Bump?


06-25-07 - Rice: Democracy will come to Middle East Western and Arab reporters questioned Rice sharply Sunday about statements she made nearly a year ago, in which she referred to "the birth pangs of a new Middle East."


06-25-07 - Lebanon points finger at Islamists over UN attack Information Minister Ghazi Aridi pointed the finger at the Islamists for the UN attack, based on confessions extracted from Fatah al-Islam gunmen captured during fierce fighting at a Palestinian refugee camp which is now in its sixth week.


06-25-07 - Israel is determined to dig its own grave the trend to which Israel should perhaps pay the greatest attention is that its main ally, the US, is bogged down in an unwinnable war, waged in large part because Israel's American friends, the Washington neoconservatives, thought that if America smashed Iraq, Israel would no longer have anything to fear from the east.



06-25-07 - Letters from readers : Seek the truth It has been suggested that the attack on the USS Liberty was a deliberate plan to sink the ship and blame it on Egypt, which was under attack by Israel at the time. That the truth behind this 40-year-old tragic event has not yet been discovered is a travesty.



06-25-07 - Gaza could become Al Qaeda refuge: US US policies helped create this mess.

News for 06-24-07

06-24-07 - Wounded GI endures blindness, paralysis "We always have hope. One day at a time - that's the way we live our lives," the elder Briseno said. "We're so lucky to have him. He was a very good son from the very beginning. God gave Jay to us and he's a blessing to us."


06-24-07 - Rice cool to any partial nuclear suspension by Iran "I don't know what partial suspension means," she added. "It doesn't seem to me to be a very wise course."


06-24-07 - NATO admits civilian deaths in Pakistan At the weekend, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused NATO and US-led militaries of using extreme force, which had resulted in the deaths of about 90 civilians in the past 10 days.


06-24-07 - Generals campaign against war "These troops are not expendable commodities to fulfill the pipe-dream vision of a group of people trying to remake the world in our image," Gard said. "It's time for us to get the hell out of there." .....The generals also think the United States should renew efforts to broker a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "the main bone of contention that gets support for al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists," Johns said. Right on!


06-24-07 - POLITICS-US: Neo-cons Spinning Hearts and Minds Intent on fixing what American Enterprise Institute (AEI) fellow Joshua Muravchik termed Bush's "public diplomacy mess," right-wing hawks have gained control of the weapons in the "war of ideas" -- U.S. government-funded and supported media outlets such as Voice of America (VOA), Al-Hurra, and Radio Farda, which broadcast to the Middle East and aim to offer an alternative view of the news.
While many have been ousted from the Bush admin or other places of prominence, the neocons have decided to take control of the media as a substitute. They've always been given prominent placement and much airtime in our mainstream media - particularly on Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and most recently - PBS.


06-24-07 - GOP Ron Paul Rally On Exclusionary Iowa Debate GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul's voice will be heard at the Iowa debates on June 30, even though the event organizers have excluded him for not being a "serious" or "electable" candidate.


06-24-07 - Iran denies financial assistance to Hamas Iran on Sunday denied rendering any financial assistance to the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas and reiterated once again that its support for the group was merely of a 'spiritual' nature.


06-24-07 - Senior Iran envoy 'regrets' Hamas-Fatah conflict Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Rida Bakery following talks in Damascus on Sunday expressed "regret" over the situation in the Palestinian Territories.


06-24-07 - MEMRI Loss MEMRI, according to Norman G. Finkelstein, employs ?the same sort of propaganda techniques as the Nazis. They take things out of context in order to do personal and political harm to people they don?t like,? or people Likudniks and neocons want the United States military to mass murder.


06-24-07 - A Congress Voters Can't Buy


06-24-07 - Muslims uniting against Israel: report "I agree with (Mousselmani) that the state of Israel has ... consistently engaged in acts of terror which have brought a great deal of pain to the poor Palestinian population and the Lebanese population."


06-24-07 - Lebanon Islamist clashes spread Two civilians, one soldier, a policeman and at least six Islamist gunmen are said to have been killed in the fight.


06-24-07 - Lebanon blast kills UN soldiers Sunday's explosion took place between the towns of Khiyam and Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel in the area of operation of UN peacekeepers.


06-24-07 - Perle Prefers Military Intervention to Islamic Party Election Sweep in Turkey


06-24-07 - Outsiders pull the strings in Lebanon, say analysts


06-24-07 - Blowback in Lebanon


06-24-07 - Australian cleric backs Hezbollah "If Australia supports Israel, they are defending terrorism because we believe terrorists come from Israel ? not from our people. I support Hezbollah," he said in the interview. "Our opinion is that Hezbollah is not a terrorist group."

News for 06-23-07

06-23-07 - Army sees spike in accidents, suicides


06-23-07 - INTERVIEW-Iranian weapons still flowing into Iraq -US general


06-23-07 - More EU-Iran talks next month: Solana


06-23-07 - EU-Iranian talks 'constructive'


06-23-07 - New Photos Show Secret Pakistan Plutonium Plant; Fear of More Weapons Being Made


06-23-07 - Cheney in Dispute on Oversight of His Office For four years, Vice President Dick Cheney has resisted routine oversight of his office?s handling of classified information, and when the office in charge of overseeing classification in the executive branch objected, the vice president?s office suggested that the oversight office be shut down, according to documents released today by a Democratic congressman.


06-23-07 - Neocons aren?t running the show: White House?s attitude adjusted But unfortunately, the neocons still have favor with the Vice President. You need to subscribe to and read (online, if necessary) the Deep Background column (by former CIA Philip Giraldi) of the past several issues of The American Conservative to understand where we are going (Iran) next.


06-23-07 - PTSD expert says Navy trying to silence him


06-23-07 - Syria closes Lebanon border post because of camp siege The closure decided by the interior ministry will stay in place "until calm has returned to northern Lebanon", it said late Wednesday. It was designed "to protect Syrian and Lebanese citizens".


06-23-07 - Report: Rice quashed Pollard release proposal "Pollard's release is out of the question," Maariv quoted her as telling Ayalon. "Danny, I'd advise you not to pursue this any further. Pollard betrayed his country and that issue is taboo in Washington."


06-23-07 - Serving America's 'Muslim army'


06-23-07 - Troops die in Lebanon camp clash Four Lebanese soldiers have been killed in fighting with Islamist militants in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon


06-23-07 - Freedom suffers in backlash to Bush agenda Summer 2005 was a high point in the Bush administration?s ?freedom agenda?, as stirrings of democracy appeared across the Arab world. Three examples were held up as models: Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian ­territories.


06-23-07 - IAF, USAF greatly upgrade cooperation ** The Israel Air Force has significantly upgraded the level of its cooperation with the United States Air Force and now receives regular updates on American procurement decisions, The Jerusalem Post has learned.


06-23-07 - USA Today and the USS Liberty While AP did have a story on the Liberty on June 8th, the report, oddly, was filed from Israel and was sent out only internationally; US editors never saw it. Where the US media did produce stories, almost all (like the above AP story) gave the Israeli invention --that "investigations" showed it was accidental. Glad someone else picked up on this.

News for 06-22-07

06-22-07 - Iran denies minister's comments on 'uranium stockpile' Iran on Friday denied local media reports that the interior minister announced the Islamic republic had ramped up its nuclear capacity and built up a significant stockpile of enriched uranium.


06-22-07 - IAEA and Iran agree to draw up action plan Larijani also spoke of "good progress," but they reported no breakthrough in the core dispute -- Iran's defiance of U.N. demands to stop uranium enrichment.


06-22-07 - Have We Forgotten 2003 Already? by Rep. Ron Paul ** This resolution is an exercise in propaganda that serves one purpose: to move us closer to initiating a war against Iran.


06-22-07 - Afghan air strike kills 25 civilians, 20 Taliban


06-22-07 - Commander: U.S. did not know children were at raid site


06-22-07 - Time Is Running Out For U.S. In Iraq According to the latest (June 1-3) Gallup polling data, 71% of the U.S. public believes the campaign in Iraq is going "badly or very badly," a record high, and a majority now support a timetable for withdrawal.


06-22-07 - Iran has 'no preconditions' for US talks


06-22-07 - Report: IAF preparing for Iran strike **


06-22-07 - Justice Dept. opts out of whistle-blower suits Justice Department has opted out of at least 10 whistle-blower lawsuits alleging fraud and corruption in government reconstruction and security contracts in Iraq, and has spent years investigating additional fraud cases but has yet to try to recover any money.


06-22-07 - MiG Sales to Syria Denied Russia is not planning to supply fighter jets to Syria, the head of the state-run arms exporter said, denying a Kommersant article about such sales.


06-22-07 - Obama promises strict White House ethics rules


06-22-07 - Invite Ron Paul to Iowa on June 30th


06-22-07 - Whistleblower: Halliburton cooking its books


06-22-07 - Jewish groups back travel insurance law "We urge you to act to protect travelers to lawful foreign destinations from unfair and discriminatory insurance practices," said the letter, signed by, among others, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and representatives of the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist streams.


06-22-07 - Lebanese army rings refugee camp


06-22-07 - Jewish settlers fear Golan withdrawal A major water basin lies under the Golan Heights providing Israel with about a third of its water supplies. No kidding?!


06-22-07 - GOP writes AIPAC to explain 'no' vote The Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives is sending a letter to AIPAC explaining why the party voted against a foreign aid funding bill that includes $2.4 billion for Israel.


06-22-07 - Wexler queries EU failure to ban Hezbollah A top Jewish congressman held hearings on the European Union's refusal to place Hezbollah on its terrorist list.


06-22-07 - Footlik gets Jewish backing in House bid Signatories include Mort Zuckerman and Shoshana Cardin, both former chairmen of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Alan Solomont, a backer of the Israel Policy Fund now leading fund-raising for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination; Steve Grossman, a past president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and now a lead-fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), also seeking the presidency; and Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor and writer.


06-22-07 - Clashes at Lebanon siege camp ease as clerics meet militants Lebanese troops used artillery, tanks and machine guns against Islamists holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp on Friday despite the government saying the offensive had ended.


06-22-07 - Israeli attack was deliberate The order to abandon ship was given and life rafts were put over the side. The torpedo boats then closed and machine gunned all the rafts, sinking them.


06-22-07 - USS LIBERTY - 'A lie told well is immortal' "If it was an accident, it was the best planned accident I've ever heard of."


06-22-07 - Anti-Pelosi measure defeated A measure that would have kept the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from using State Department funds to visit Syria was overwhelmingly defeated.

News for 06-21-07

06-21-07 - Four Decades of Twisting Facts About Israel?s Attack on the USS Liberty By James Ennes as preparations were being made to abandon ship, they machinegunned the ship?s empty life rafts which had been lowered into the water awaiting survivors?a clear violation of Geneva conventions.


06-21-07 - US terror charges against Iran are 'lies': top official Iran rejected as "lies" Thursday US allegations that it is arming Shiite extremists in Iraq, and alleged that some NATO powers are supplying weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan.


06-21-07 - Iran threatens 'longer stride' for nuclear drive


06-21-07 - Iraqi orphans moved to better facilities


06-21-07 - Iran says talks, not sanctions, only way in atom row Iran's chief nuclear negotiator told major powers on Thursday that talks, not more sanctions, offered the only way forward for resolving an escalating standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.


06-21-07 - Bush, Senate head for showdown on domestic spying The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the subpoenas in a 13-3 vote following 18 months of futile efforts to obtain documents related to Bush's contested justification for warrantless surveillance begun after the September 11 attacks.


06-21-07 - US-IRAN: New Arms Claim Reveals Cheney-Military Rift ** The use of the phrase ?irrefutable evidence? suggested that the Burns statement was scripted by the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. The same phrase had been used by Cheney himself on Sep. 20, 2002, in referring to the administration?s accusation that Saddam Hussein had a programme to enrich uranium as the basis for a nuclear weapon......Given the very small scale of the arms in question, Cheney?s interest in the issue appears to have much less to do with Afghanistan than his aim of ensuring that President Bush goes along with the neoconservative desire to attack Iran before the end of his term.


06-21-07 - Iran 'unable to take Australians' Iranian naval forces in the Gulf tried to capture an Australian Navy boarding team but were vigorously repelled, the BBC has learned.


06-21-07 - Waxman decries Cheney security exemption


06-21-07 - Is WP's Cohen Dumbest Columnist? Cohen accuses special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald of violating longstanding Justice Department guidelines on when to bring a case; he denounces the trial ? over Libby?s lying about his role in unmasking covert CIA officer Valerie Plame ? as ?a mountain out of a molehill?; he asserts that there was no ?underlying crime?; he even pokes fun at Americans who thought the invasion of Iraq might have been a bad idea. Sounds to me to be a part of the Israel lobby that includes neocons such as Libby. The WP, like so many other rags, gives ample airtime to neocons, and has allowed Fitzgerald to be viciously attacked therein, in the not so recent past. It's why I no longer link to it. The WP is on the wrong side of justice.


06-21-07 - Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don?t Apply to Him


06-21-07 - Brazil to resettle Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq About 100 Palestinians who fled Iraq more than three years ago and lived in squalid conditions at a refugee camp will be resettled in Brazil, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.


06-21-07 - Nihilism and Neoconservatism With the presidential primaries of both parties effectively rigged against the possibility of a credible antiwar candidate arising to wrest the nomination from the pro-war front-runners, and the War Party's propaganda machine revving up its motors for another go, this time at Iran, we are in for a very explosive next couple of years. The reason is because the political system lacks any effective safety valves: there is no way for ordinary people to have any real impact, and therefore the special interests ? and the War Party is just a collection of very special ideological and corporate interests ? have taken over.


06-21-07 - Lebanon army 'wins camp battle'


06-21-07 - Who runs American Foreign Policy?


06-21-07 - ZOA lobbies to isolate Iran, Abbas More than 300 ZOA activists from 20 states had almost 200 meetings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, and leading lawmakers -- including Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), a long shot contender for the Republican presidential candidacy -- addressed the group. The lead item for the ZOA delegates was strengthening sanctions against Iran, the signature issue for many pro-Israel groups now that Israel assesses the Islamic Republic may be less than two years away from a nuclear weapon.



06-21-07 - Netanyahu pushes Iran isolation Netanyahu met Thursday with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a leading candidate for her party's presidential candidacy, and Fred Thompson, a former Tennessee senator who is set to announce his bid for the Republican candidacy, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.


06-21-07 - Lebanon: Rights group calls for probe into Palestinian abuse claims "It would be unfair to say all Palestinians who leave the camp are being beaten up, but there are enough cases to cause us to be very alarmed," said Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch, as he gathered testimony in Badawi camp.


06-21-07 - The End of Dissent? With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington to ramp up the Lobby's ferocious campaign to get the US to attack Iran ? or at least credibly threaten to ? the pro-Israel forces on Capitol Hill were out in full force, herding their congressional supporters into a massive display of obedience with a whopping 411-2 vote in the House.


06-21-07 - Family: Ex-professor to remain imprisoned for refusing to testify Nahla al-Arian said her husband will not bow to pressure to testify, and showed his resolve with a two-month hunger strike earlier this year.


06-21-07 - Slain activist's legacy fulfilled as refugees from Iraq reach Ottawa Two Palestinian families fleeing war-torn Iraq via a Syrian refugee camp are finding refuge in eastern Ontario, fulfilling one of the last requests from a humanitarian worker taken hostage and slain in the Middle East more than a year ago


06-21-07 - US does not want Syria involved in Mideast peace: VP Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara charged on Thursday that the United States and Israel do not want Syria or the Palestinians involved in any Middle East peace settlement.


06-21-07 - Jewish spectrum of issues on display in meeting with Democratic senators Howard Kohr, executive director of the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who spoke about the threat that Iran and its nuclear program posed to the region;

News for 06-20-07

06-20-07 - Help Sought for Hurt Soldiers' Families


06-20-07 - Report: Veteran Homelessness on the Rise


06-20-07 - Iran poses no missile threat, Russia tells US ** Russia on Wednesday bluntly told the United States it saw no threat from Iran's ballistic missiles and was perplexed how Washington could use this to justify a planned US defence system in Europe....... The Islamic republic insists it would never be the first to attack although it has warned it would hit back with force if the United States launched an military strike against Iran. Well, if a country was planning on attacking Iran, and having the backing of the EU for said attack, then yes, there may be a potential missile threat, mmm?


06-20-07 - Kidnappers of British contractors in Iraq were backed by Iran: US General The kidnappers who snatched five British contractors last month were funded, trained and armed by Iran, the US commander in Iraq said in an interview published late Wednesday. Iran backing Al Qaeda, Iran behind the grassy knoll, Iran arming the Taliban, Iran arming Sunnis in Iraq, Iran arming shiites in Iraq. The bull feces is getting ever thicker.


06-20-07 - More Bad Intelligence on Iran and Iraq


06-20-07 - Iran nuclear chief to meet ElBaradei on Friday


06-20-07 - Bin Laden may have arranged family's US exit: FBI docs


06-20-07 - Netanyahu departs for U.S. in bid to increase pressure on Iran Opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday will embark for the U.S. on a visit aimed at increasing financial sanctions against Iran to get it to drop its nuclear program.


06-20-07 - Bush to send top diplomat to Israel for military aid talks "I am strongly committed to Israel's security and viability as a Jewish state, and to the maintenance of its qualitative military edge," Bush said in a statement after White House talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "During our meeting today, I told prime minister Olmert that I am committed to reaching a new 10-year agreement that will give Israel the increased assistance it requires to meet the new threats and challenges it faces," he said



06-20-07 - Split Looming On Israel Pressure "Iran has been the No. 1 issue, but it was pushed down to No. 2 or 3 by the Gaza issue," said Foxman. "That has a significant cost for Israel.".....Instead of negotiating and pumping money into Fatah coffers, she said Washington and Jerusalem should work with Jordan to "rescue the Palestinian people, and to find ways of bringing about quiet on the West Bank until we figure what we are going to do long term."......Klein admitted that the deck is stacked against Jewish opponents of aid for Abbas forces ? in large measure because the major pro-Israel groups can?t be seen as opposing policy of the Israeli government.
Geez, I thought the Israel lobby wasn't acting on behalf of a foreign nation, lest they have to register as such? Really now. And who knew that the US Israel lobby gets to decide "what we are going to do long term"? Another very interesting article that details who pulls the strings with regard to US foreign policy in the Middle East. Note the source.


06-20-07 - Sarkozy will invite Hezbollah to France


06-20-07 - As FBI fights terrorism, other prosecutions drop The drop in prosecutions has also caught Congress's attention. At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs in May, Sen. Joseph Biden (D) of Delaware said that since 9/11, the number of violent-crime investigations by the FBI has dropped 60 percent ? even though cities across the country are seeing an increase in murders and other violent crime, after a decade of steady declines. THe FBI is too busy chasing Israel's enemies (and that includes emigrants from the Palestinian territories) in the US who fall under the umbrella of the 'war on terror' to take care of OUR criminals.


06-20-07 - Palestinian mediators bring hope of ceasefire to Lebanon


06-20-07 - Houses urges charges against Ahmadinejad ** "I am unequivocal in my support for the security and survival of Israel, and I do have serious concerns with the remarks made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran," said Kucinich, a long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. "But I object to resolutions that lay the groundwork for an offensive, unprovoked war." ...Kucinich and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a long-shot contender for the Republican presidential nomination, were the only votes against.


06-20-07 - Olmert, Bush discuss Pollard "The Pollard issue came up," was all the Israeli prime minister would tell JTA after his meeting Tuesday with Bush.


06-20-07 - ADRA Observes World Refugee Day According to the UNHCR, in 2006 there were more than 14 million refugees, including those Palestinian refugees registered and assisted by the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA).


06-20-07 - Lebanese army pounds Islamists after seizing key posts An AFP photographer said the Palestinian Red Crescent delivered a truckload of medicine and supplies to the southern sector on Wednesday.


06-20-07 - After Iraq, Palestinian refugees find peace amid Indian squalor "Our parents were uprooted from Palestine in 1948 and settled in Baghdad thinking we would have a better future there,"


06-20-07 - Palestinian refugees determined to rebuild Nahr al-Bared lives As ever in such a conflict, it is the civilians who suffer most. Of the camp's estimated 31,000 inhabitants before the conflict erupted on May 20, only about 2,000 have stayed put. Their fate remains unknown. Western (that includes Israel) policies have made millions of people in the Middle East refugees.


06-20-07 - Jews meet top Senate Dems Groups in the meeting included the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia, Agudath Israel of America, National Jewish Democratic Council, American Jewish Congress, Americans for Peace Now, B'nai B'rith International, Chabad-Lubavitch, Orthodox Union, Union of Reform Judaism, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Anti-Defamation League, United Jewish Communities and Hillel.

News for 06-19-07

06-19-07 - Iran says Russia may not let U.S. use Azeri radar


06-19-07 - Iran says won't rule out using oil as a weapon Iran will not rule out using oil as a weapon if the United States resorts to military action against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, an Iranian oil official said in remarks published on Tuesday.


06-19-07 - Outside View: Iran arming the Taliban? Had a reporter not asked about the charges, literally in the last three minutes of the briefing, the truth might never have come out at all...... Iran was a major supplier of the Northern Alliance, which drove the Taliban from power. The Iranians have provided massive numbers of weapons and massive amounts of supplies to various Northern Alliance groups. As a result, the country is flooded with Iranian materiel. A very interesting article.


06-19-07 - US finds neglected Iraqi orphans The children were discovered last week by a US military advisory team that was out on patrol with Iraqi soldiers.
The emaciated boys, some near death, were left naked and covered in their own excrement on concrete floors, images broadcast by CBS News showed......Lt Duperre said the soldiers found three members of staff cooking for themselves when they entered the orphanage. Inside was a kitchen full of food and a storeroom stocked with piles of brand-new clothing. The soldiers believed it was being sold to local markets instead of giving it to the disabled children.


06-19-07 - Republican Thompson highlights serious Iran threat ** Military action must always remain an option and world powers must agree on the nature of what Thompson called the "very, very serious threat" from Tehran.


06-19-07 - Video: Remembering the USS Liberty: Four Decades Later


06-19-07 - Navy mistakes are blamed for capture of hostages by Iran The capture of British sailors and marines by Iran in the Gulf was the result of a series of mistakes by the Navy, and the decision to let the freed hostages sell their story to the press was a "collective failure of judgement" by the Ministry of Defence, two official inquiries have concluded.


06-19-07 - U.S., Russia: Iraq had no WMDs


06-19-07 - Olmert to ask Bush to neutralize Hamas Olmert met with members of AIPAC and National Security Council advisor Steve Hadley shortly after his arrival in Washington.




06-19-07 - Bush says all options on table on Iran ** At the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Bush was asked if military action remained an option for dealing with Iran.


06-19-07 - Olmert plays down prospects for Syria talks "I don't think that if someone wants to speak directly, he needs the involvement of America in order to allow these negotiations to take place," Olmert told reporters at the start of a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. Why does Israel keep using the US as an excuse not to initiate peace negotiations with Syria?


06-19-07 - Russian fighter planes sale to Syria alarms Israel


06-19-07 - MEMRI is ?propaganda machine,? expert says

News for 06-18-07

06-18-07 - COUNTY HONORS SIX DAY WAR NAVY VETERAN FRANCIS BROWN, KILLED IN SERVICE ABOARD THE USS LIBERTY It was for Brown?s aggressiveness, composure under fire, and courageous actions in the tense waters off the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the early afternoon hours of June 8, 1967, an engagement which at the time was the second deadliest event impacting a United States warship since the end of World War II, that he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart Medal. It is strange that nowhere in the article does it mention just who attacked the USS Liberty.


06-18-07 - Seven children killed after air strike on school in Afghanistan Massive battles were reported to have killed more than 100 people in southern Afghanistan in the past three days, as officials revealed that seven children had died when their religious school was bombed by the United States-led coalition.


06-18-07 - Iran open to new Iraq talks with U.S.


06-18-07 - Iraq deployment could last a decade: US


06-18-07 - Bush and Rumsfeld 'knew about Abu Ghraib'


06-18-07 - The General?s Report


06-18-07 - Iran says U.N. ignores Israeli threats to Tehran Iran accused the U.N. Security Council of ignoring Israeli threats to attack the Islamic Republic and called on the body, in a letter made public on Monday, to demand that the Jewish state desist.


06-18-07 - Failing With Fatah The $86 million plan, masterminded by Elliott Abrams of Iran-Contra fame, didn't work out as planned. Hamas easily routed Fatah in Gaza last week. It was both a diplomatic and military failure for the United States.


06-18-07 - Iraq conflict pushes global refugee total near 10 million: UN


06-18-07 - Three soldiers killed as Lebanese army battles militants


06-18-07 - Olmert Seeking New Palestinian Policy With Bush In preparation for tomorrow's White House talks with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Olmert, 61, meets today with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley to develop a joint strategy aimed at strengthening Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. They orchestrated this coup in Palestine to bring about and 'make peace' with the Palestinians in order to win a US strike on Iran before Bush/Cheney leave office. My guess.


06-18-07 - Iran calls on comprehensive solution Palestinian crisis


06-18-07 - Olmert, Giuliani meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Rudy Giuliani, a Republican candidate for the presidency.



06-18-07 - Lebanese forces battle militants The Lebanese army has resumed shelling a besieged Palestinian refugee camp, a day after it said important militant positions had been destroyed.


06-18-07 - Lebanese army says it prevented additional attack on Israel According to Lebanese army, its forces discovered rocket set to be launched at Israel and prevented it from being fired. Meanwhile, IDF, defense officials contemplate response to strike

News for 06-17-07

06-17-07 - Gulf Arabs won't be base for attack on Iran: Saudi **


06-17-07 - Backlash feared to US funding in Iran The survival of Iran?s fragile pro-democracy movement is being threatened by the US administration?s continuing attempts to fund the country?s civil society, leading activists have warned.


06-17-07 - Lieberman defends comments on Iran **


06-17-07 - Britain feared US would 'nuke' Afghanistan: ex-diplomat Britain joined the United States' invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001 because it feared America would "nuke" Afghanistan, the former British ambassador to Washington reportedly told a television documentary to be screened Saturday.


06-17-07 - Some doubt U.S. claims Iran arming Taliban "True, some intelligence states that (the) Iranians may have supplied (the) Taliban with low-level, (and a) small amount of training. On the other hand, the Taliban openly train, recruit, rest, and raise funds in Pakistan ... and the media seems to be essentially oblivious to that."


06-17-07 - Kirk: Force World Bank to cut off Iran "I will offer legislation requiring the Secretary of Treasury to reduce the U.S. contribution to the bank in any year by the same amount as the Bank's disbursements to Iran in the previous year," Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said in a June 14 speech to the American Enterprise Institute. Kirk - neocon stoolie.


06-17-07 - What do liberal hawks actually want to do regarding Iran? Baer did not take the opportunity to argue against my position. "Israel is again staring down a possible existential threat," he wrote, "and the United States is once more facing a serious challenge to its interests in the region." So the threat is to Israel, as well as to unspecified American interests in the region that face a "serious challenge."


06-17-07 - Study looks at diplomats' well-being A large percentage of U.S. diplomats who have returned from hazardous overseas postings report experiencing serious mental and emotional problems, according to preliminary results of a survey by the State Department.


06-17-07 - Russia suspects Britain of espionage The Russian intelligence service announced on Friday that it had opened a criminal investigation into British espionage in Russia based on statements and undisclosed evidence provided by a businessman who is accused of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer and Kremlin critic.


06-17-07 - CAIR reports bias rise


06-17-07 - Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel The Lebanese group Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for it.


06-17-07 - The US role in Mideast travails For a growing number of analysts, if the past year has brought any clarity, it is that US policy has largely backfired and added to the region's downward spiral of violence and economic troubles. Divide and conquer.


06-17-07 - Nancy Pelosi or Why War With Iran May Be Inevitable ** Hagee is probably the least known yet most dangerous man in America. He wields enormous political clout, using his powerful connections to encourage nuclear conflict with Iran, all for the ultimate goal of hastening End Times


06-17-07 - Bush stresses Iran to Jewish leaders ** Bush emphasized the importance of containing Iran's nuclear ambitions through sanctions, participants said. Bush is to meet with Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday, and Iran will top their agenda. Israel wants to set an end of year deadline for Iran to retreat from its enrichment of uranium. The White House meeting followed discussions with congressional leaders. Conference representatives met with House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the House Republican leadership.


06-17-07 - Israel shells south Lebanon after rocket attack Israeli troops fired five shells at south Lebanon where the army was searching for the guerrillas who fired rockets earlier Sunday on northern Israel, security forces said


06-17-07 - Israel says Palestinian group fired rockets from Lebanon A Palestinian organisation in Lebanon fired the rockets which slammed into northern Israel on Sunday without causing casualties, Israeli radios quoted defence officials as saying.


06-17-07 - Palestinians long for battered camp "Over there we were living with our dignity intact. But is this a life?"


06-17-07 - MySpace Censoring Ron Paul Supporters *WATCH IN FULL SCREEN*


06-17-07 - Attack was 'intentional' A recent letter defending Israel's deliberate and unprovoked attack on the USS Liberty is full of distortions of recorded events and misrepresentation of facts


06-17-07 - 1967 Attack Still Haunts USS Liberty Survivors NPR gives the Israeli side of the story a little too much airtime.


06-17-07 - Ron Paul On Tucker Carlson (06/06/07)


06-17-07 - Bush Met With Jewish Leaders: Session Was Unannounced The conversation touched largely on foreign policy issues, including the situation with Iran and Syria, the fight against Islamic extremists and -- especially -- the situation in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas's seizure of power this past week has further complicated Bush's faltering efforts to help settle the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.



06-17-07 - AIPAC Buys Fred Thompson

News for 06-16-07

06-16-07 - Mail sent to Walter Reed never delivered The Army said Friday that it has opened an investigation into the recent discovery of 4,500 letters and parcels - some dating to May 2006 - at Walter Reed that were never delivered to soldiers


06-16-07 - Afghan minister dismisses U.S. claims Afghanistan's defense minister on Thursday dismissed claims by a top U.S. State Department official that there was "irrefutable evidence" that the Iranian government was providing arms to Taliban rebels. Won't be long before the attack-Iran crowd will be floundering in a pool of their own (bull) feces - they can't seem to get it to stick each time they hurl some.


06-16-07 - Capitol Hill probes White House role in firings


06-16-07 - NATO image problem: civilian deaths


06-16-07 - Private US security companies involved in Iraqi hostilities


06-16-07 - U.S. hometowns strained as police go off to war Communities across America have been especially hard-hit by the deployment of some 24,000 police officers since September 11, 2001. Police officers make up 5.1 percent of the National Guard and military reserve -- one of the top civilian occupations, according to Defense Department data.


06-16-07 - More on That Meeting in Prague? Last week?s speech in Prague?and the participants before whom it was given?is yet one more indication that, while the realists in the administration have made great headway on a number of foreign-policy fronts over the past year and a half, the neo-conservatives and other hawks in the White House and Cheney?s office are a long way from defeated when it comes to the Middle East.


06-16-07 - Scooter's Fate: I Say Torture Him


06-16-07 - Lying Us Into War, Again ** The drumbeat for war against Iran has begun again, led by Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent Democrat from Connecticut, and the usual pro-Israel crowd. Lieberman seems to be under the impression that the U.S. can bomb Iran and not get into a full-fledged war.


06-16-07 - Bill Moyers: Begging his pardon We have yet another remarkable revelation of the mindset of Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites-the people who took us to war from the safety of their Beltway bunkers


06-16-07 - Iran voices its readiness to help resolve Palestinian differences


06-16-07 - 'Hizbullah not rearming in S. Lebanon' Dismissing claims that Hizbullah has returned to its former strength in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL commander Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview on Thursday that the guerrilla group was practically non-existent south of the Litani River and that if the peacekeeping mission continued, the threat of war would be completely removed within three years.


06-16-07 - US, Israel reach smart bomb deal Barring the implementation of these restrictions, Israeli officials have expressed interest in acquiring the F-22 stealth bomber - a plane that can avoid radar detection and is the world's most advanced fighter jet. The US has not yet agreed to sell this plane to any foreign country. Looks like they may have done just that.


06-16-07 - Syria condemns killing of Lebanese lawmaker "Syria strongly denounces this crime and condemns the campaign of lies by some Lebanese used to accuse Syria after any killing and before an investigation even starts," a statement by the Foreign Ministry said.


06-16-07 - 40 years Later, Veterans of the USS Liberty Refuse to Give Up the Ship


06-16-07 - Lebanese army pounds Islamist positions as toll rises


06-16-07 - Ron Paul Internet Success May Reflect Deeper Trend, Study Results Suggest

News for 06-15-07

06-15-07 - US administration debates new Iran strategy ** Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said the debate has pitted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputies against the few remaining hawks inside the administration, especially those in the office of Vice President Richard Cheney. Cheney's aides are pressing for greater consideration of military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, the report said.....Only a few weeks ago, one of CheneyÂ?s top aides, David Wurmser, told conservative research groups and consulting firms in Washington that Cheney believed that RiceÂ?s diplomatic strategy was failing, and that by next spring Bush might have to decide whether to take military action, according to The Times.
Wurmser - another neocon.


06-15-07 - Pace says he refused to quit voluntarily In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out.


06-15-07 - Joints Chief Choice Worried About Iran ** The Navy must stay in the Persian Gulf to reassure allies and maintain its ability to act quickly in a crisis, he said.


06-15-07 - NGOs unveils scathing report on impact of US-led war in Iraq A coalition of non-governmental groups on Wednesday took the UN Security Council to task for its "shocking silence" on alleged violations of international law by US-led forces in Iraq and urged an early end to their mandate.


06-15-07 - US military prepared for 'worst' with China: official


06-15-07 - America's undisclosed vice president Dick Cheney has been keeping secrets. Among other things, he can now hide the names of his visitors.


06-15-07 - How to Sell a War The Bush claque of neocon hawks viewed the Iraq war as a product and, just like a new pair of Nikes, it required a roll-out campaign to soften up the consumers. Same people behind same BS - this time, Iran.


06-15-07 - Far From War, a Town With a Well-Used Welcome Mat About 9,000 Iraqis made it to Sweden in 2006 ? almost half of the 22,000 who sought asylum in the entire industrialized world. This year, when the United States has promised to take in 7,000 Iraqis, around 20,000 are expected to seek asylum in Sweden.


06-15-07 - On the escalator to war with Iran by Patrick J. Buchanan ** What is going on? The most logical explanation is that the White House is providing advance justification for air strikes on camps of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that are allegedly providing training for and transferring weapons to Afghan and Iraqi insurgents. And if the United States conducts those strikes, Iranians will unite around Ahmadinejad, and Tehran will order retaliatory strikes against U.S. targets in Iraq and perhaps across the Middle East. President Bush will then have his casus belli to take out Natanz and all the other Iranian nuclear facilities, as the Israelis and the neocons have been demanding that he do.



06-15-07 - Why we must break with the American crazies ** While Mr Brown and the British media are still fretting about who said what to whom about WMD intelligence, the talk in American policy circles is about an article, The Case for Bombing Iran, published two weeks ago in Commentary and The Wall Street Journal and cited approvingly to anyone who cares to listen by officials close to Dick Cheney. Its author, Norman Podhoretz, is an intellectual mentor to the people who took America into Iraq......It is significant that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, travelled to Washington at about the same time as the article was published to plead with congressmen ?not to tie President Bush?s hands over Iran?. Why do you think Israel just launched that spy satellite (when we already have some that provide adequate intel, I'm guessing)? Paragraphs 2 and 4.


06-15-07 - Israel satellite sends images from space Israel launched the Ofek-7 satellite into orbit Monday, giving it a new tool in its efforts to collect intelligence on Iran and other regional adversaries. Israeli space officials said the information gathered would be shared with the United States. Israel's images will no doubt contribute to the case for war (to be fought by the US - AGAIN).


06-15-07 - Supply fears push up oil prices Instability in Gaza has raised concerns over wider conflict in the Middle East, which supplies a quarter of world oil. The Israel-driven policies in the Middle East are really costing the American people - in more ways than one.


06-15-07 - Israeli, American air forces in joint exercises ** The weeklong exercises began Sunday in the southern Negev desert. Dozens of aircraft simulated bombing targets on the ground and dog fights.


06-15-07 - Israeli company wins Marine contract An Israeli armor protection manufacturing company won an international bid to supply the U.S. Marine Corps.


06-15-07 - GOP maverick pitches candidacy In a meeting with the editorial board of The Kansas City Star, Paul advocated many of the positions that have made him a heretic within the Republican Party. He blasted the war in Iraq, chided the government for its saber-rattling against Iran and criticized entitlement programs that both parties have supported. Paul scolded the government for interfering in Palestinian affairs and in relations between Israel and Syria
That's my guy, right there :)


06-15-07 - Booby trap kills 6 soldiers at Lebanon camp Six Lebanese soldiers were killed on Friday by an explosion in a building booby trapped by Islamist militants at a Palestinian camp in north Lebanon, security sources said.


06-15-07 - Thirty-One Groups Call for Israel to Release Cluster Bomb Data A coalition of 31 groups including the Council for the National Interest presented a letter to Secretary Condoleezza Rice this week calling for U.S. government intercession with Israel to obtain detailed site information on Israel's cluster bomb strikes in Lebanon in the summer 2006 war.


06-15-07 - Presidents conference meets with Bush Representatives from virtually all the umbrella group?s 50 member organizations met with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and other top officials Thursday. The hour-long meeting included discussion of immigration, energy policy, the Iranian threat and deterioration in the Palestinian territories, according to participants.