News for 04-29-07

04-29-07 - Iran to attend key meeting on stabilizing Iraq Iran will attend a conference of key powers including the United States this week that will focus on stabilizing Iraq, a meeting Baghdad said might be a turning point for regional cooperation in easing the violence.


04-29-07 - US-Iran relations warm as Rice says talks 'not ruled out'


04-29-07 - Perle?s Swine Song One of the least gratifying pictures I have had the bad luck to view on television this week for the portly figure of Richard Perle expounding his vile views in The Case for War.? Even worse, it was on public television, which as everyone knows is paid for by our tax dollars.....Their policies have managed to turn Iraq into a Wild West for terrorists, there is a genocide in the making which will dwarf Darfur, there will be massive floods of refugees, and this creep Perle?along with the Kristols, Kagans and Podhoretzes of this world-- are looking for Uncle Sam to invade Iran.


04-29-07 - Iranian tip-off may have led Americans to al-Qaeda leader senior US intelligence officials told The Observer that the Iranian government has 'in some cases' been helpful in tracking and 'disabling' key militants crossing their national territory between Iraq and Afghanistan


04-29-07 - Pulling the Trigger on Iran ** Still, attacking Iran is on Tel Aviv?s wish list, as clearly evidenced by AIPAC?s "Policy Conferences" in Washington from the last 3 or 4 years, so something has to be worked out before Cheney and Bush leave office......It is entirely possible that a nuclear-armed Tel Aviv, acting "on its own" but in coordination with Dick Cheney, Elliot Abrams, David Wurmser and maybe even with George W. Bush, will initiate hostilities with a bombing run and/or cruise missile attack on Iran


04-29-07 - Countdown has begun ** Until recently, American intelligence estimated that this would only happen in 2015. Now US intelligence is falling into line with its colleagues in Israel and is estimating that an Iranian bomb can be expected as early as 2010. Imagine that?


04-29-07 - IRAQ: UNHCR warns of tragedies facing Palestinian refugees Hundreds of Palestinian refugees stranded in makeshift camps in no-man?s land between the desert borders of Iraq and Syria must be moved to a safer place to avoid any human tragedies, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said last week.


04-29-07 - Iran attack would be terrible mistake: Musharraf


04-29-07 - Washington Reporters In Meltdown, Damage-Control Freak Out Mode


04-29-07 - Poll Shows Security Imbalance In US By a large margin, Americans feel the Bush administration has tipped the balance of security against liberty too far towards security, a new UPI/Zogby polls shows.


04-29-07 - Hezbollah returning to south of Litani River: Israeli army chief The IDF chief dispelled rumors that Syria is planning to attack Israel in the summer and said that according to existing information the Syrian forces are deployed in a defensive formation.


04-29-07 - Student Gave His Life To Save Others


04-29-07 - Magazine pulls Olmert's Iran raid quotes The Jerusalem Post reported that Olmert had been speaking off the record; however the statements caused some consternation among Likud members who feared public-relations damage.

News for 04-28-07

04-28-07 - Mental health worsens as deployments lengthen Suicides are up among combat vets, mental health issues are worse among those who deploy often and for longer periods, and one out of 10 service members surveyed said they have hit or kicked non-combatant Iraqis or destroyed their property.


04-28-07 - Feingold: US troops are going to die in situation that doesn't make sense anymore


04-28-07 - Construction of separation wall continues in Baghdad The building of a five-km-long wall surrounding a Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad apparently continued despite the opposition of local residents and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.


04-28-07 - Our Captive Media I am glad to see Knight-Ridder News Service, now McClatchy News Service, getting a lot of credit as a swimmer-against-the-tide of public -and elite opinion From personal experience from doing the news here, I can offer that Knight-Ridder/McClatchy definitely doesn't go along with the rest of the BS in our MSM. Good for them.


04-28-07 - US withdrawal only solution for Iraq's dilemma, says Ahmadinejad


04-28-07 - Judge indicts 3 U.S. soldiers in 2003 death of Spanish journalist in Iraq A judge indicted three U.S. soldiers Friday in the 2003 death of a Spanish journalist who was killed when their tank opened fire at a hotel in Baghdad.


04-28-07 - House panel invites former CIA chief to testify The chairman of a U.S. House of Representatives investigative committee on Friday invited former CIA Director George Tenet to testify about prewar claims that Iraq sought weapons of mass destruction.


04-28-07 - Durbin kept silent on prewar knowledge The Senate's No. 2 Democrat says he knew that the American public was being misled into the Iraq war but remained silent because he was sworn to secrecy as a member of the intelligence committee


04-28-07 - Missiles could stall Iran nuclear programme: Olmert


04-28-07 - Saudis foil 'air attack plotters' Saudi Arabia says it has foiled a plot by militants to carry out suicide air attacks on oil installations and military bases.


04-28-07 - Wolfowitz opposition growing firmer


04-28-07 - Wolfowitz complains of shabby treatment: report


04-28-07 - Officeholding Liars Graham said Hussein sent checks to the families of suicide bombers in Palestine. This is a partial truth. Saddam had been sending checks to the families of all Palestinians killed in the struggle for independence before the suicide-bombing tactic was taken up. He was not subsidizing terror. He was subsidizing the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation


04-28-07 - Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Food, Water Supply At a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week, a government report was made public for the first time revealing that at sites in more than 25 states, perchlorate had leaked into the drinking water and soil. About 65 percent of that contamination was attributed to the Department of Defense and to NASA.


04-28-07 - Wolfowitz tried to cover his tracks over lover's job Documents released by the bank's ethics committee show that Mr Wolfowitz, controversially appointed to the World Bank from the Pentagon, where he was a leading architect of the Iraq war, tried to limit access to employee salary information after the bank launched an inquiry into the affair.


04-28-07 - Put Bush's 'puppy dog' terror theory to sleep nothing about our being "over there" in any way prevents terrorists from coming here. Quite the opposite, the evidence is overwhelming that our presence provides motivation for people throughout the Arab world to become anti-American terrorists. Great point.


04-28-07 - AIPAC Trial Likely to be Postponed


04-28-07 - Film-makers see Iraq, Palestine in different light Films like Children Under Occupation, Hoda and Hadeel raise serious questions before the international community about the plight of the Palestinian children, who have been killed and tortured for no crimes they have committed. Hadeel is the real life story of a Palestinian girl, who was crushed to death when her house collapsed in an Israeli bombing.


04-28-07 - A Saudi Prince Tied to Bush Is Sounding Off-Key Most bitingly, during a speech before Arab heads of state in Riyadh three weeks ago, the king condemned the American invasion of Iraq as "an illegal foreign occupation." The Bush administration, caught off guard, was infuriated, and administration officials have found Prince Bandar hard to reach since.


04-28-07 - From March: Israel PR Public Relations Pros Hold Syria, Iran War Exercise "As Israel's IDF Homefront command is presently holding exercises to protect Israel's civilian population in the event of conventional and non-conventional warfare, Israel must be prepared to win the image and digital battle as well," Know something we don't? One thing is sure - Israel cares more about and puts more effort toward covering up for its crimes than it does about the rule of law and actual democracy. This attitude and policy has been foisted upon our government via the neocons.


04-28-07 - EU Commissioner tours Palestinian, Iraqi refugee camps in Syria Michel visited Palestinian refugee camps and areas sheltering Iraqis who have fled their wartorn country, and projects implemented by their partners UNRWA, UNHCR and ICRC.


04-28-07 - Borders Spell Trouble for Arab-American More recent episodes that provoked concern include one in which border agents reportedly Googled the name of an Ohio man and then questioned him about a letter to the editor he had written to The Toledo Blade regarding events in the Middle East.


04-28-07 - US, Israeli firms to tap need for small satellites Northrop Grumman Corp. said Wednesday it had teamed with Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. to pitch small surveillance satellites to the U.S. government in a deal spurred by China's anti-satellite test in January. Just what we need.


04-28-07 - Regional powers fight over Lebanon "We are concerned that Lebanon would become a theatre for the actual conflict between Iran and the US.

News for 04-27-07

04-27-07 - US troops seize gang 'smuggling bombs from Iran' ** The statement also said that the gang had sent "militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training." Making the case for war.


04-27-07 - Solana urges US to talk to Iran


04-27-07 - Government Keeps a Secret After Studying Spy Agencies Concerned about the growing dependence of the nation?s spy agencies on private contractors, top intelligence officials have spent months determining just how many contractors work at the C.I.A., D.I.A., F.B.I., N.S.A. and the rest of the spook alphabet soup. How many of those contractors are FOREIGN NATIONALS (whose

homeland benefits from the results of the intelligence (be it cooked or otherwise) that they have supplied to

US)?


04-27-07 - Russia will counter U.S. missile shield: Putin President Vladimir Putin on Friday renewed criticism of U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe, saying Russia would take "appropriate measures" to counter the system.


04-27-07 - U.S. Officer Blasts Generals? Handling of Iraq War


04-27-07 - No 'serious debate' ahead of Iraq invasion: ex-CIA chief


04-27-07 - ?Mutual Destruction? Danger in US Anti-Missile Plan: Putin He scorned Washington?s claim that the role of the US interceptor missiles would be to shoot down missiles from countries such as Iran or North Korea, rather than from Russia. ?Neither terrorists, whom they are preparing to defend against, nor Iran, nor North Korea have such a system,? Putin said. ?To talk of terrorists is simply hilarious. They use other methods.?




04-27-07 - Intel Report: Iran Could Have Nuke Bomb by 2009 Officially, U.S. intelligence authorities say Iran faces technical difficulties and will not be able to become a nuclear power until 2015.
But weapons expert , president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said the U.S. is not giving Iranian scientists enough credit.



04-27-07 - Re: Sniveling Media Exposed ?Buying the War? by Bill Moyers is now online in its entirety here.


04-27-07 - Fisk Takes Western Officials - and Reporters - to Task


04-27-07 - Moving Beyond Anti-War Politics


04-27-07 - Investigate the War Party


04-27-07 - U.S. media have lost the will to dig deep Are there still aggressive, talented investigative reporters in the U.S.? There are hundreds. I'll mention two: Seymour Hersh, formerly of the New York Times, and Robert Parry, formerly of the Associated Press, who uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal.


04-27-07 - USS LIBERTY Survivors need your help Please call the Office of the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General at (202) 685-5493 to request they provide a speaker to address the crew of the USS Liberty during their June 2007 reunion. Call the members of your Congressional Delegation and ask that they contact the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General and request that they provide the speaker the USS Liberty survivors are requesting. Invite your Congressional Delegation and their staff members to attend that presentation


04-27-07 - DHS releases security funds The U.S. Homeland Security Department released $24 million in funds for securing non-profits. Friday's was the second such release of funds; most of an earlier allotment of $25 million went to securing Jewish institutions. The delay in releasing the funds, first earmarked in 2006, was caused by DHS bureaucrats who preferred to reserve the money for imminent rather than potential attacks. Jewish groups, backed by lawmakers in Congress, lobbied for the funds' use for potential attacks. Last year, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff intervened to release the money.


04-27-07 - Lebanese politicians in show of unity after sectarian murders another sectarian killing - the murder of a 12-year-old Sunni boy and his neighbour, their bodies dumped outside Sidon on Thursday night - was transformed into a reminder that the post-civil war Lebanese can remain united.



04-27-07 - Ban to raise issue of Shebaa Farms at UN


04-27-07 - Israel may get F-22s if nation at risk The F-22 has been forbidden for export by the Pentagon


04-27-07 - Crist's Visit To Israel Has Much At Stake The trip is at least in part a result of Crist's longtime friendship with U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, an ardent supporter of Israel and Israeli causes....Besides Wexler and Crist, those going to Israel may include state Reps. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach; Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach; and Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston


04-27-07 - Tensions Run High After Sunni Killings Lahoud's office issued a statement urging Lebanese people to be alert to conspiracies, and to stop anyone trying to play dirty. Past experience has shown that all confrontations followed provoking incidents, the statement said. Could be the work of someone who wants the Lebanese to hate the Shia.


04-27-07 - Lawmakers Want PBS to Air Spiked Film on Islam The film - co-produced by Burke, a Hollywood producer, and Frank Gaffney and Alex Alexiev of the Center for Security Policy - deals with the experiences of moderate Muslims who have fallen foul of Islamists. Frank Gaffney - neocon. Any film about Muslims made by a neocon is undoubtedly (pro-Israel) propaganda. PBS is now being commandeered by Zionists.


04-27-07 - Lebanon: One Unexploded Bomb Per Person According to the Belgians as many as 800,000 unexploded ordnance (UXO), and possibly more, still remain. Meanwhile, scores of Lebanese civilians have died from contacting cluster bombs. More than 200 have been wounded, most of them severely


04-27-07 - Three Ex-Terrorists 'Former terrorists' don't get to enter the country, let alone traipse around giving speeches at campuses nationwide. That is, unless they are doing so for propaganda purposes for the benefit of the Israeli lobby. Real terrorists are either jailed, deported, or barred from entering America at all - as has been the case in numerous recent examples dealing with Palestinians, among others. Americans are being deceived.


04-27-07 - Israel's military denies incursion into Lebanon The Lebanese army had said a 10-member Israeli patrol crossed the electronic fence on the Saddani hills between the towns of Kfarshuba and Shebaa and entered up to 50 meters and 100 meters (yards) into Lebanese territory. A unit from the UN Interim Force intervened and forced the Israeli patrol to withdraw, it said.



04-27-07 - Israel: Controlling Jewish Destiny Does not Require Controlling that of the Palestinians Contrary to some of the rhetoric emanating from Jewish organizations here, no one I spoke to in Israel likened Israel's situation today to that of European Jews in the 1930's, with Ahmadinejad playing the role of Hitler. Israelis find that kind of rhetoric both laughable and offensive. From admitted Zionist M.J. Rosenberg.


04-27-07 - Failing to Hold Israel Accountable for War Crimes in Lebanon In late January the State Department delivered a potentially explosive report to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The classified report asserts that Israel may have violated the Arms Export Control Act with its use of American-made cluster munitions this past summer in Lebanon. Multiple contacts to both offices indicate neither Biden nor Pelosi has any intention of pursuing the matter. In contrast, a congressional investigation 25 years ago helped persuade President Ronald Reagan to suspend cluster munitions to Israel for six years. This Congress, however, will not call Israel to account for its actions.
The US won't even hold Israel accountable for war crimes it committed against these guys.. Israel is almost never held to account by us or anyone for its flagrant violations of law, which only serves to encourage them to continue to do so.


04-27-07 - Robert Fisk: We are now in the firing line, sadly

USS LIBERTY Survivors need your help

 USS LIBERTY Survivors need your help

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2007


Contact: Joe Meadors
joe@...

On June 8, 1967 the USS Liberty was attacked by the combined forces of the Israeli air force and navy. Notified almost immediately that the ship was under attack, Sixth Fleet aircraft carriers quickly launched rescue aircraft. Two flights were launched—both were recalled on orders of The White House. The cost of abandoning the USS Liberty while the ship was under fire was horrific: 34 dead, 174 wounded and a U.S. Navy ship totally destroyed.

The U.S. Navy abandons the USS Liberty.

The U.S. Navy convened a Court of Inquiry to investigate "all aspects" of the attack.

• USS Liberty crewmen were denied the opportunity to testify;
• sworn testimony about the machine gunning of the Liberty's life rafts was removed from the official record;
• more than 65 written statements provided to the Court by USS Liberty survivors have been lost;
  both the Court's Legal Adviser and the Legal Adviser to the Convening Authority have condemned the Report as pre-determined, totally inadequate and in violation of U.S. Navy guidelines;
• the Court's own legal counsel has filed an affidavit certifying that the official record was changed in Washington after it was signed by Members of the Court.

The Congress of the United States abandons the USS Liberty.

For decades survivors of the USS Liberty have lobbied Congress to conduct an investigation of the attack on their ship. Congressional refusal to conduct an investigation leaves the attack on the USS Liberty
the only serious maritime incident in American history NOT to be the subject of congressional scrutiny.

The Department of Defense abandons the USS Liberty.

On June 8, 2005, after many months of agony caused by reliving the attack in the excruciatingly painful detail required to complete their task, USS Liberty survivors completed a War Crimes Report. They submitted that report to the Department of Defense knowing that the Department of Defense Law of War Program requires the DoD to ensure the allegations contained in the report are "investigated thoroughly." The Department of Defense has not yet responded to the USS Liberty Veterans Association regarding their submission.

Shortly after the USS Liberty Veterans Association made its submission an unrelated group, the Liberty Alliance, submitted the same report to the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense responded almost immediately to the Liberty Alliance.

The Department of Defense abandons the USS Liberty again.

As a result of an invitation included in the DoD response to the Liberty Alliance, USS Liberty survivor Joe Meadors entered into an e-mail exchange with Joe Baggett of the Office of the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General on the DoD's handling of the War Crimes Report. Mr. Baggett showed himself to be quite professional and expert at addressing all of the issues that were raised. Meadors subsequently contacted the U.S. Navy Speakers Bureau to request that the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General provide a spokesperson to address a public meeting during the June 2007 USS Liberty Veterans Association reunion near Washington, DC. The Department of Defense refused Meadors' request, claiming that there is no one in the DoD who can speak adequately to the subject—this despite the fact that Meadors and Baggett have been doing just that by e-mail.

USS Liberty survivors need your help.

Please call the Office of the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General at (202) 685-5493 to request they provide a speaker to address the crew of the USS Liberty during their June 2007 reunion. Call the members of your Congressional Delegation and ask that they contact the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General and request that they provide the speaker the USS Liberty survivors are requesting. Invite your Congressional Delegation and their staff members to attend that presentation.

Then e-mail Joe Meadors at joe@... so he can coordinate a follow-up.

For more information, or to read the War Crimes Report, visit the USS Liberty Web site: <
http://www.ussliberty.org/>

Please don't let the U.S. government abandon the USS Liberty again.

 

---

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, PO Box 53062, Washington DC 20009. Phone: (202) 939-6050, Fax: (202) 265-4574, Toll Free: (800) 368-5788, http://www.wrmea.com/ Published by the American Educational Trust, a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. Material from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs may be printed with out charge with attribution to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

 

 

News for 04-26-07

04-26-07 - Iranians backed Iraqi cell that killed 5 US soldiers: US general Why is it that all of these purported Iranian connections to Iraqi violence are suddenly turning up left and right four years into the war and coincidentally when US-Iran rhetoric has been escalating, mewonders?....


04-26-07 - Iran-EU talks near 'united' view "I think in some areas we are approaching a united view," Mr Larijani said.


04-26-07 - Iraqi civilians believed dead in U.S. strike: military Two Iraqi women and two children were believed to have been killed in a U.S. air strike aimed at al Qaeda militants north of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.


04-26-07 - Putin threatens Russian pull-out from landmark arms treaty President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened Russian withdrawal from a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty in a heightening of tensions over a planned US missile defence system in Europe.


04-26-07 - Taliban: Bin Laden Planned Cheney Attack


04-26-07 - AWB payment to Iran an 'administrative error' AWB has admitted it breached United States sanctions during an export deal with Iran last year.


04-26-07 - Ex-CIA chief says "slam dunk" Iraq quote misused


04-26-07 - IRAQ: Walls will increase violence, specialists say


04-26-07 - Pentagon urged to close secret database The Pentagon's new intelligence undersecretary is recommending the Defense Department shut down a controversial classified database that has been criticized for improperly collecting information on anti-war groups and citizens.


04-26-07 - Congress backs Iraq pull-out plan The US Senate has voted to approve a bill which requires US troops to start withdrawing from Iraq by October.


04-26-07 - Bill Moyers and the Fight for American Journalism That surrender of independence destroys the whole matter of a free press, just as it prevents citizens from gaining the information and insight needed to be functional players in America's democratic experiment. But even in this dark interregnum, there is hope for freedom of the press ? and for the democracy it sustains. Bill Moyers is back on the air.


04-26-07 - U.S. State Department Pushes for Palestinian Resettlement "These are already recognised refugees. The U.S. as the occupying power has the capacity to evacuate. They could put them on a plane and get them out of there," said Frelick. "The question is where that plane would land." They still can't go home - to Palestine.


04-26-07 - Rice rebuffs congress on Iraq war subpoena Why go after Rice? Why not go after the REAL culprits.


04-26-07 - Ayalon: I?ll reach agreement on Golan Heights In the pamphlet, Ayalon presents his plan to reach a peace agreement with Syria, according to which Israel will transfer control of the Golan but will lease it for 99 years. How is it Israel's land to lease?


04-26-07 - Top IDF officer: We knew war would not get abducted soldiers back "After a couple of hours it became clear that we would not get the kidnapped soldiers back through military means," Eisenkott told students at a Nahariya school. So then why did they continue on in their campaign to destroy Lebanon, bombing (sometimes fleeing) civilians in the process?


04-26-07 - 'Kidnapped' Lebanese found dead Lebanese police have found the bodies of a Sunni man and a boy in hills south-east of Beirut, three days after they went missing, feared kidnapped.


04-26-07 - House passes 'human shields' bill In remarks, Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) noted recent reports that Israeli troops had used Palestinians as shields, while Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) countered that in Israel, soldiers found guilty of doing so were punished. .....The American Jewish Congress lobbied strongly for the bill.
People were not 'held responsible'. The problem with this piece of legislation for Israel is that in its exhaustive research of that conflict, Human Rights Watch found no such evidence that Hezbollah was using human shields. In fact, Israel only recently was caught (on tape via AP) doing that very thing. Add to that the fact that Israel, knowing that a ceasefire was imminent (expected in 3 days), fired a million cluster bomblets into mainly civilian areas of Lebanon.


04-26-07 - In Ahmadinejad's Iran, Jews still find a space The irony of Israel's war of words and propaganda with regard to Iran and its alleged threats against Jews/Israel: Iran's Jews are safe and under no threat. In fact, Israel's refusal to make peace with her neighbors is the main exacerbating influence there (and elsewhere).


04-26-07 - Mr. Bush, Tear Down These Walls! by Scott Ritter History has rightly condemned both practices. The only modern nation that actively incorporates the construction of walls as an aspect of domestic and foreign policy is Israel, and its policy of apartheid regarding the Palestinians is morally indefensible


04-26-07 - Clinton: US might have to confront Iran ** Democratic presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that it might be necessary for America to confront Iran militarily, addressing that possibility more directly than any of the other presidential candidates who spoke this week to the National Jewish Democratic Council.


04-26-07 - The puppet who cleared the way for Iraq's destruction Before we conclude that Wolfowitz was the original author of the policies that destroyed Iraq, we should note that his entire career, at least up through his Pentagon service, has been in the service and at the direction of others. His early work in Washington promoting the dubious merits of an anti-ballistic missile programme, for example, was sponsored by Paul Nitze, a powerful insider who devoted a lifetime of intrigue to boosting east-west tensions and US defence spending. Nitze served as godfather to the neoconservative movement in the 70s, correctly calculating that a fusion of the pro-Israel lobby with the military-industrial lobby would create an alliance of unstoppable power. Among the early and most potent recruits was an old friend of Wolfowitz's, Richard Perle, known and feared in Washington as "the Prince of Darkness" for his ruthless bureaucratic skills and commanding position in the neoconservative forces.


04-26-07 - A Calculus: Will Israel strike Iran? ** Israel would prefer that Iran be struck and weakened -- by some other power. For Israel it would be best if the United States and a coalition of the West emasculated and neutered Iran of nuclear capabilities. Should that not occur, then yes, I believe that Israel will under certain circumstances strike Iran.


04-26-07 - Hezbollah taunts Israel with picture of captive soldiers


04-26-07 - No criticism from Condi Støre said Norway was not yet convinced by the US argument that the shield was urgently needed to pre-empt potential threats from Iran and North Korea.


04-26-07 - PM lauds Gandel, warns Iraq exit would embolden Iran WITHDRAWING Australian troops from Iraq would embolden Iran and further jeopardise Israel's security, Prime Minister John Howard has warned. In a speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) on Thursday, Howard said a premature exit from war-torn Iraq would unsettle moderate Arab states in the Middle East and undermine regional stability. His comments echo the warning last week from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the coalition's exit strategy from Iraq must preserve American prestige or it will boost the cause of global terrorism.


04-26-07 - Hagel: Support for Israel not 'automatic' Hagel (R-Neb.), who is considering a run for the presidency, told the Arab American Institute's annual dinner that he believes Israel and the United States have a "special relationship," but resented being told by a pro-Israel activist that if he wants backing from the pro-Israel community, his support for Israel should be "automatic." Hagel for President!!!


04-26-07 - 'Hate Crimes' Bill Moving to Full House The House Judiciary Committee passed a "hate crimes" bill Wednesday night, all 23 Democrats in favor, all 17 Republicans opposed. Every Republican attempt to amend the bill was defeated. Critics call it a "thought crimes" bill.



04-26-07 - Legislator blasts pro-Israel group "Well-publicized statements by Pastor Hagee demonstrate extremism, bigotry and intolerance that is repugnant," U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat, said in a two-page reply declining a form invitation from Pastor Mac Hammond. Good for her!


04-26-07 - The GE Presidential Debate Williams accused Obama of having said that the Palestinian people are suffering, and Obama assured him that he meant they were only suffering from their own leaders' failures and that Israel is not to blame. Obama has fully transformed into the asskisser of the AIPACers. Shame. Won't be getting my vote for that reason alone.


04-26-07 - Feinstein: Bush still can make Mideast peace Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, praised the Arab League for reviving a 2002 plan that offers Israel comprehensive peace in exchange for a return to 1967 borders and some sort of agreement on a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees. Israel has said it will consider the offer, but it considers a mass return of refugees as demographic suicide for the Jewish state.


04-26-07 - Congress considers Jerusalem resolutions Resolutions in both houses of Congress promote the unity of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Both resolutions are timed to commemorate 40 years of Israeli sovereignty throughout the city, which will be marked in June. .....The nonbinding resolution introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) calls on President Bush to stop exercising his waiver of a law that mandates moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and "calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to repeatedly affirm publicly, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel."
Move Capitol Hill to Tel Aviv. This is the fourth article dealing with Israel-related legislation in OUR government today alone. Let the Israelis pay their salaries.


04-26-07 - Resolution marks Israeli independence A U.S. Senate resolution celebrating Israel's 59th Independence Day is expected to pass unanimously. Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) introduced the resolution. .....In addition to praising the creation of the Jewish state, the resolution commends U.S.-Israel cooperation in defense, diplomacy and homeland security. It also commends the bipartisan support for Israel in the United States. I guess OUR representatives on Capitol Hill had no pressing AMERICAN matters to attend to this week?


04-26-07 - Dissidents, Western leaders to meet Dissidents and democratic leaders will convene in Prague at a conference co-hosted by a Jerusalem think tank.
Speakers will include President Bush, former refusenik and Israeli Cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Sending in the friends of the neocons to persuade Czech to go along with the missile defense program, are we?


04-26-07 - US diplomat says moderate Arab nations fear Iran over Israel The former defense secretary said he believed the United States' support of Israel was unwavering, regardless of administration changes in either country. He also noted that Washington was likely to respond positively to an Israeli request to purchase the US-developed F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet. Israel's Air Force has recently shown interest in the jet, which is equipped with uniquely advanced stealth technologies and weapons.



04-26-07 - Choosing Allies Over Principles Though many Jews support the genocide resolution, some of the biggest Jewish communal players, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (which has worked for years to build support for the Israel-Turkey alliance), are not. ADL head Abe Foxman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that "the Jewish community shouldn't be the arbiter of that history, nor should the U.S. Congress." Total hypocrite.


04-26-07 - Yikhrib Baythum, They're Commodifying Apartheid?!? Can anyone in the KABOB-o-sphere confirm the involvement of Israel's Zeef Belinksi in the construction of US-sponsored segregation walls in Iraq?


04-26-07 - Kravitz against war Recorded in Miami last week, 'We Want Peace' features Kravitz alongside Iraqi pop star Kadim Al Sahir, Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen and Lebanese artist Jamey Hadded.


04-26-07 - Tracking Jewish money How our 'democracy' really works.

News for 04-25-07

04-25-07 - EU and Iran to continue nuclear meetings after reporting progress The Iranian and EU nuclear negotiators reported progress in a new effort to resolve the crisis over Tehran's atomic ambitions and said they would meet again in two weeks.


04-25-07 - Iranian athletes invited to USA America has made a dramatic attempt to repair its relations with the Middle East by inviting Iranian athletes to train in the United States.


04-25-07 - We Just Marched In (So We Can Just March Out) by Rep. Ron Paul


04-25-07 - US Senators urge India to cease military co-op with Iran


04-25-07 - Europe Approves More Sanctions Against Iran


04-25-07 - U.S. denies mulling proposals to allow Iran to continue enrichment Earlier, foreign government officials said that the United States, Russia, China and key European powers may for the first time be ready to allow Tehran to keep some of its uranium enrichment program instead of demanding it be completely shelved.


04-25-07 - EU lawmakers call for Wolfowitz to step down The European Parliament on Wednesday called for the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, adding to the pressure on the head of the poverty-fighting institution to step down.


04-25-07 - Democrats authorize subpoena for Rice A congressional committee took steps Wednesday toward issuing a subpoena for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify about discredited assertions about Iraq's prewar nuclear intentions, but her spokesman said she would resist.


04-25-07 - Refugees severely burned in fire on Syrian-Iraqi border Three Palestinian refugees were severely burned and 25 others, mostly children, were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns in a refugee camp on the Syrian-Iraqi border


04-25-07 - Palestinian refugee and his Iraqi nephew, both killed in Iraq Palestinian sources reported on Wednesday that one Palestinian refugee died in an explosion in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, as he was heading with his Iraqi nephew to hospital to receive medication for a chronic disease he suffered from.


04-25-07 - Nader to Speak after Cheney Addresses Students at BYU


04-25-07 - Survey Finds Suspicion of US Pervasive in Islamic World And an average of two out of three respondents named "expand[ing] the geographic borders of Israel" as a third major U.S. policy objective in the region.


04-25-07 - Dodd Vows Support For Israel Dodd got a standing ovation from the 150 people gathered at a downtown meeting of the National Jewish Democratic Council, whose agenda vows to fight for "separation of church and state, a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and reproductive freedom."
if these folks believe in the separation of church and state than their support of Israel is oxymoronic. They want separation of church and state HERE (cake) but for Israel to remain a 'Jewish State' (and eat it too). Hypocrisy.


04-25-07 - U.S. Gov?t Discriminates Against Muslim Immigrants: Study Welcome to Israel! Err, I mean, America!


04-25-07 - Romney favors ambassador to deter nukes "What Jimmy Carter fails to understand is what so many fail to understand: Whether it is Hamas or Hezbollah or al Qaeda, there is an overarching goal among the violent jihadists that transcends borders and boundaries," Romney says. "That goal is to replace all modern Islamic states with a caliphate, to destroy Israel, to cause the collapse of the West and the United States, and to conquer the world."


04-25-07 - In Lebanon, Tempers Rise Over Reconstruction


04-25-07 - Rice to travel to Mideast, Russia next month "She's going to be traveling to Moscow to talk to (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov about issues related to Iran and U.S.-Russia relations," McCormack added

News for 04-24-07

04-24-07 - Iraq war brain trauma victims turn to private care Of the nearly 24,000 wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, about a third suffer from some degree of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, according to the General Accounting Office.


04-24-07 - Iran's leader proposes talks with Bush


04-24-07 - US missile defence chief warns of growing Iran threat ** The head of the US missile defence agency, General Henry Obering, warned of a growing Iranian threat as he sought to convince Czech officials to play host to a US anti-missile shield.


04-24-07 - Putin and US in missile shield talks Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, arrived in Moscow on Monday to hold meetings with Kremlin officials, including President Vladimir Putin, aimed at easing concerns about US plans to install a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.


04-24-07 - US urges Iran to join Iraq talks Condoleezza Rice is urging Iran to join her at a high-level conference on the future of Iraq next week, signalling that Washington is now ready for a serious exchange of views with Tehran after several months of resisting Iran?s advances in the region.


04-24-07 - IRAQ: Militants force Palestinians to leave Anbar


04-24-07 - Bill Moyers' "Buying the War" Exposes the Media's Failure to do Their Job. But - do-gooders take note - this week a devastating 90-minute documentary should be required viewing. This is the kind of work television can do brilliantly when given time and resources and the talents of a questioner like Bill Moyers.

do-gooder, my ass. Every single red-blooded American should be angry when our mainstream media is under lockdown. Rightly so. That's not democracy. That's not what this country was supposed to be about. If this nitwit thinks that an unfree (for lack of a better word) press should only concern do-gooders, then she's in the wrong country.


04-24-07 - Many troops not screened for brain injury


04-24-07 - Tillman's Brother Blasts Military's 'Intentional Falsehoods' Pat Tillman?s brother accused the military Tuesday of ?intentional falsehoods? and ?deliberate and careful misrepresentations? in portraying the football star?s death in Afghanistan as the result of heroic engagement with the enemy instead of friendly fire.?


04-24-07 - Office of Special Counsel to Investigate Rove The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.


04-24-07 - It's foreign policy, stupid! Dems have a brand new bag Marc Winkelman of Austin, Texas, expressed relief that the candidates focused on foreign policy. He had feared that an isolationist wing would draw the party inward. "This was a big concern," Winkelman said. "A lot of people believe we have no right to stick our nose in other people's business."



04-24-07 - Army chief: We shall not back down if war is forced on us "We are not an army that seeks war, but a defensive army. Which was why last year's war with Lebanon was in the works months before Hezbollah abducted the soldiers? Mmm k.


04-24-07 - Israeli jet fighters buzz Hezbollah's new bases


04-24-07 - Poll: Muslims show only partial support for Al Qaeda's agenda The PIPA poll, which was conducted between December 2006 and February 2007, also found that large majorities reject Al Qaeda itself and its core tactic of attacking civilians. More than 75 percent of those surveyed in the four countries ? Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, and Indonesia ? say attacks on civilians is un-Islamic.


04-24-07 - U.S. lawmakers protest U.K. boycott U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) wrote Monday to Sir David Manning about the National Union of Journalists' decision to boycott Israel How is that part of their duties on Capitol Hill?


04-24-07 - Obama tries to reassure Jewish voters Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Tuesday tried to reassure Jewish voters concerned about his Muslim ties, arguing that his commitment to Israel's security is unwavering.


04-24-07 - Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) to Host Briefing on the Growing Phenomenon of Holocaust Denial, May 1 The event, sponsored by Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ), will be timed to accompany Holocaust Remembrance Day......During the presentation, exclusive footage will be shown for the first time in the West.
The footage includes translated segments of statements by the most infamous Western Holocaust deniers appearing in Middle East media, as well as statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.




04-24-07 - Jailing of Syrian a 'sad commentary' on freedom under Assad: US Israel just shot an Irish Nobel peace prize winner, jailed a famous Puerto Rican peace activist, and we all know what israel did to RAchel Corrie. BUt Syrians are da bad guys. Israel good, Arabs bad.



04-24-07 - War With Iran Could Force the ?Silent To Act' ** The Israeli minister of housing, Meir Shetreet, downplayed the prospects of an Israeli attack on Iran. "I don't think Israel should be the one to take on Iran," he said. "This is a threat against the Western world." Right.


04-24-07 - Lieberman: Patience With Iran Wearing Thin ** "We have begun to work with reformers within Iran,? he said in remarks reported by the Montreal Gazette.


04-24-07 - Lawmaker urges accountability at Al-Hurrah U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), head of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, said Al-Hurrah has violated U.S. policy by airing live interviews with terrorist leaders such as Hezbollah chief Sheik Hasan Nasrallah.

News for 04-23-07

04-23-07 - Soldier: Honor troops like Va. Tech dead "I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member,"

04-23-07 - Pentagon may be shorting troop benefits


04-23-07 - Iraqi students saddened by Virginia Tech "We, the students of Technology University, denounce the attack at Virginia Tech. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims who faced a situation as bad as Iraq's universities do. The sanctity of campuses must be protected around the world." "We have lost many friends and professors," said Nazar. "But in spite of our wounds, we want to show our solidarity with the students of Virginia Tech who are our brothers in humanity and in pursuing knowledge."



04-23-07 - Iran does not wish to use oil as a weapon: president


04-23-07 - US cautions Austrian oil giant over gas deal with Iran


04-23-07 - US asks Tehran about reports missing FBI agent was detained Iran has officially denied any knowledge of Levinson, but US officials remain dubious, saying they have provided Iranian authorities with the American's flight number and time of arrival on the Iranian resort island of Kish -- a free trade area Americans can visit without a visa.


04-23-07 - Iran FM accuses US of supporting terrorism


04-23-07 - Ahmadinejad rejects nuclear suspension ahead of EU talks


04-23-07 - Who Grieves For Them?


04-23-07 - U.S. reconsidering plan to wall off Baghdad neighborhoods


04-23-07 - The Iraqi Crisis That Has No Name "The situation now is pushing Syria and Jordan to the maximum," the UNCHR's Wilkes told me. "Syria's 'open door' policy is extraordinary, but economically and socially we wonder how long it can be maintained.


04-23-07 - US hits Chinese, Syrian firms with sanctions over Iran, Syria dealings The US State Department announced sanctions Monday against 14 entities, including three Chinese firms and Syria's air force and navy, as part of a stepped up drive to halt banned military dealings with Iran and Syria.


04-23-07 - A U.S. soldier shakes hands with an Afghan girl during a patrol


04-23-07 - Gasoline at $4 Coming to a Pump Near You, Unfazed by Rising Tab


04-23-07 - Congressman Kucinich Will Hold Press Conference to Announce Introduction of Articles of Impeachment Relating To Vice President Richard Cheney Tell me something good, tell me that you like it, yeh.


04-23-07 - Trying to put an end to the Shiite-Sunni confrontation ** Members of the media often reason that if Washington's plan to attack Iran fails to meet support in the United States and Europe, it will try to win approval in the Muslim world -- primarily from Iran's rivals in the region. Many Muslim political scientists are convinced that the United States will do all it can to escalate the Shiite-Sunni conflict.



04-23-07 - Buying the war Wednesday April 25 at 9
(check local listings)


04-23-07 - Is the Media Sabotaging the AIPAC Spy Trial? A few of the same corporate news outlets filing the motion were willingly used by Weissman and Rosen to disseminate classified information to further AIPAC's policy objectives Is the author of this piece suggesting that there is an abundance of Israel-defenders in the mainstream media in America? Preposterous! ....


04-23-07 - Israel eyes Iran's aims nervously For now Israeli sources believe that diplomacy can defuse the situation. As one senior source told me, "2007 will be the year in which we bear the fruits of the sanctions against Iran".


04-23-07 - Levin Gives Cheney Reason To Smirk Levin may be concerned about things other than looking bad. Those taking part in last month?s meeting of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington heard stern warnings from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that America not show ?weakness? on Iraq ? warnings that a U.S. troop withdrawal would make the neighborhood far more dangerous for Israel.


04-23-07 - The right to strike John Kennedy's assassination and the rise to power of Lyndon Johnson improved Israel's status in Washington. For American Jewry, the political and personal channels to Johnson were more open, warm and influential. Johnson did not share Kennedy's intransigent opposition to the reactor at Dimona.....the new president appointed to three key positions officials who were more sympathetic to Israel than their predecessors Interesting. Read the last few articles with respect to the Liberty. Israel still refuses to admit that the attack was deliberate.


04-23-07 - Fadlallah: Lebanese 'addicted' to 'foreign forces' Senior Shiite cleric Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said the Lebanese had given up control of their own affairs and "merely following up on foreign stands taken by regional and international forces ... planning to use the Lebanese arena to serve their strategic interests."


04-23-07 - The President of Iran Is Not Hitler Another piece in Israel My Glory quotes Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that ?unless the United States stops Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, America has only two to five years left.?


04-23-07 - What do Israelis think about America's role in the world? a remarkable total of 82 percent of Israelis say that the United States takes their interests into account. A mere 14 percent disagree. No kidding? Why we NEVER would've guessed that the US takes Israel's interests into account. Will wonders never cease?!

News for 04-22-07

04-22-07 - Update: Soldier health scare back in news


04-22-07 - The US president's men in dire straits To date, none of the neocons currently in or who have already left the Bush administration have been held accountable for their role in deceiving the American public into believing that Iraq was a threat to us, that Iraq had ties to 911, and that Iraq had WMDs.


04-22-07 - Russia and Iran sign protocol on nuclear plant The Russian contractor building Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station said on Sunday the two sides had signed a protocol outlining what measures should be taken to guarantee payments for the project.


04-22-07 - 'Devastating' Bill Moyers Probe of Press and Iraq Coming This Week The most powerful indictment of the news media for falling down in its duties in the run-up to the war in Iraq will appear next Wednesday, a 90-minute PBS broadcast called "Buying the War," which marks the return of "Bill Moyers Journal." A reminder. This will evidently be broadcast this Wednesday.


04-22-07 - Analysis: Iraq surge may be extended Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, whose January report on changing the U.S. military strategy in Iraq was largely adopted as part of Bush's new approach to the war, said in an interview Thursday that it appears the administration believes it will have to sustain the troop buildup much longer. Another neocon.


04-22-07 - NATO chief cannot confirm Iranian arms in Afghanistan


04-22-07 - Germany says Wolfowitz situation unacceptable "The situation, as it is, is no longer acceptable," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, told the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), in an early release of an article to run in its Monday edition.


04-22-07 - EU ministers to weigh Iran moves Possible further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear enrichment programme are on the agenda as EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg.


04-22-07 - U.S. Iraq Coordinator arrives to persuade Turkey not to fight PKK in North Iraq U.S. Coordinator for Iraq David Satterfield arrived in Ankara on Friday in a bid to persuade Turkey not to launch cross-border operations against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in north of Iraq, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.


04-22-07 - Two-Thirds of Americans Question Iraq War


04-22-07 - Olmert: Iran 'not as close as it pretends' to nuclear capability "I hear the declarations of Iran's leaders from time to time, and I am telling you that Iran is far from crossing the technological line" into nuclear capability.


04-22-07 - Washington awaits a CIA chief?s revenge Tenet is also out to settle a few scores with Vice-President Dick Cheney and his office and neoconservative former Pentagon officials such as Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith. They fought long and hard to discredit the CIA?s belief that there was little evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein?s Iraq and Al-Qaeda, and ran their own separate intelligence-gathering operation at the defence department.


04-22-07 - Iraqi PM orders halt to Baghdad wall Mr al-Maliki, who has often been at odds with his US backers over security policy in the capital, said that ?this wall reminds us of other walls?, in an apparent reference to the Israeli wall running through the Palestinian West Bank.


04-22-07 - ISRAEL-LEBANON: UN envoy asks for records of cluster bomb strikes By last month, 30 people had been killed and 191 injured by mines or unexploded ordnance (UXO) in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire last August. The UN?s Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC) in south Lebanon estimates it has cleared about 10 percent of the estimated one million unexploded cluster munitions lying on the ground.


04-22-07 - Analysis: Preparing for a French revolution in Mideast policy This challenge to France's historic pro-Arab policy could lead to a new vision for the Middle East. Under this alternative approach, France could play a major role in the defense of Lebanon's independence, containing the Iranian threat, combating terrorism, building strong relations with Israel, playing a truly central role in peacemaking efforts, and even cooperating with the United States.


04-22-07 - Hezbollah deputy chief: Prisoner swap talks with Israel 'serious'


04-22-07 - Olmert: Iran can be stopped peacefully "I believe the international efforts will achieve the goals," Olmert said. "There is no need to get caught up in any apocalyptic prophecies that have no basis in reality."


04-22-07 - U.S. had operational plans to fight against IDF in 1967 In the 1960s, the U.S. Defense Department drew up operational plans calling for a military confrontation with the Israel Defense Forces to prevent Israel from occupying territory in Egypt and other Arab countries.


04-22-07 - Why I am not a moderate Muslim

News for 04-21-07

04-21-07 - Soldier forced to leave dying mother for war


04-21-07 - Iran: West should build nuclear plants An Iranian official invited Western nations Friday to help build nuclear power plants across Iran, reiterating his country's insistence on pursuing an atomic program as a European official said the two sides had agreed to discuss the standoff next week.


04-21-07 - Military grants immunity to 7 Marines in Haditha killings Military prosecutors have granted immunity to at least seven Marines connected to an attack that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the deadliest criminal case against U.S. troops in the Iraq war.


04-21-07 - US marines 'devalued Iraqi lives' The US Marine Corps fostered a climate that devalued Iraqi lives, a US general investigating the 2005 killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha has said.


04-21-07 - Waxman threatens to subpoena Card, Rice Waxman wants to know what Rice knows about the administration's claim, later discredited, that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.


04-21-07 - Jordan seizes tape of royal's interview Ghassan Ben Jeddou, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon, interviewed Prince Hassan in Amman. On the tape, the journalist said the prince had also cited U.S. reports that a national security adviser in Saudi Arabia was financing Sunni militants to fight the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.


04-21-07 - Iran signs major gas deal with Austria's OMV: reports


04-21-07 - Senior IDF officer confirms Iran training militants in Gaza Galant said he believes a large number of Iranian terror experts are operating in the Gaza Strip, receiving know-how, money and equipment from abroad, mainly from Iran, to carry out attacks on Israel. Beware- more Zionist BS headed our way.


04-21-07 - EU sees no urgency on Iraqi refugees European Union nations said Friday there was no urgent need to accept more Iraqi refugees, agreeing only to consider sending more humanitarian aid to Syria and Jordan to take in Iraqis.


04-21-07 - Hitchens' Kurdish Sojourn Hitchens and his fellow neocons hail Kurdistan as a model for the rest of the region, and quite openly overlook its blemishes, knowing full well that its value - to them - lies in its status as a staging ground for the next round of wars in the Middle East


04-21-07 - Wolfowitz's girlfriend problem Despite this newest scandal, it would worry me if he exits the World Bank. Where will Bush put him next, is the question? Maybe it's best to keep him there.


04-21-07 - Wolfowitz skips appearance as bank board meets World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz canceled an appearance at a major health conference on Thursday as the bank's board prepared to discuss an escalating controversy over the promotion of his girlfriend


04-21-07 - Syrians march to mark the Arabs' detainee day Some 100 Syrians from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marched Saturday to the office of the International Red Cross to mark the Arabs' Detainee Day.


04-21-07 - GIULIANI BANDWAGON BRANCHES OUT TO ISRAEL In some past elections, planeloads of Israelis with American citizenship have flown to the United States to vote. Should not be allowed. With Israel being the recipient of the most US foreign aid, clearly there is a direct conflict of interest.


04-21-07 - Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows On Wednesday -- less than 48 hours after the shootings -- the same Charles Krauthammer went on Fox News to explain why the Virginia Tech shootings and the killer's "manifesto" are connected to Al Jazeera, the Palestinians and other Muslim Enemies who dominate Krauthammer's political agenda


04-21-07 - WE HAVE THE SMOKING GUN! We have known for years that communications between the attacking Israeli jets and their headquarters were intercepted as the aircraft approached our ship. The Israeli pilots were clearly told by their controllers to find and quickly sink "the American ship" which was USS Liberty. Those communications were almost simultaneously translated and broadcast from a US Air Force C130 near the scene to an intelligence site at Crete where they were sent to Washington and to other stations as "Critical Intelligence," the fastest and most secure means available. Known as CRITICs, these reports routinely arrived in the White House, State Department and Pentagon within ten minutes or less.


04-21-07 - "America at a Crossroads" veers to the right One episode, a virtual infomercial for Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative theorist and architect of the Iraq war, is so laughably biased -- and so unbalanced by any film giving equal time to a corresponding perspective on the left -- that it taints the entire series Since when does PBS favor neocons? Since this individual and those like her stepped into the fold. As soon as these people (Israeli lobby) infiltrated the place, the BS starts. PBS was supposed to offer something a little different than the mainstream media. Turns out, it does not. It was a nice idea though. To be fair, what the author of this piece describes on page 3 regarding what SHOULD have been included in this series was in fact included in the series Lawrence of Arabia by PBS. It was a great series. PBS should rerun it sometime so that Americans get the truth as to what really happened to Palestine, and consequently what motivates such hatred of the US (due its support of Israel's colonial project in the region). Knowing the motivation for the attacks on the US does not justify the attacks. But not investigating the causes is like the police not investigating the motives for serious crimes. It has to be done, folks. There are those in this country that do not want you to know why. Here's my message to them.


04-21-07 - Israeli Giuliani groupies to bring votes The thousands of eligible absentee voters in Israel could have a significant impact on who will win the Republican and Democratic nominations. Should not be allowed.

News for 04-20-07

04-20-07 - Kuwait readies for possible US-Iran war ** US ally Kuwait is to form an emergency team to draw up contingency plans for any conflict between the United States and Iran, a senior minister said in comments published Friday.


04-20-07 - Rice to attend Iraq talks, maybe meet Iranian counterpart


04-20-07 - Iran needs several years to produce nuclear fuel: official


04-20-07 - 'Devastating' Moyers Probe of Press and Iraq Coming The most powerful indictment of the news media for falling down in its duties in the run-up to the war in Iraq will appear next Wednesday, a 90-minute PBS broadcast called "Buying the War," which marks the return of "Bill Moyers Journal." .....At the close, Moyers mentions some of the chief proponents of the war who refused to speak to him for this program, including Thomas Friedman, Bill Kristol, Roger Ailes, Charles Krauthammer, Judith Miller, and William Safire. Neocons.


04-20-07 - Iraq suicide bombs show apparent Iran tie BS alert.


04-20-07 - Mystery of missing FBI agent in Iran deepens


04-20-07 - Disseminate Information, Protect Democracy


04-20-07 - Rice wants to work with Russia on defense shield The United States wants to deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland by 2012 as part of a new multibillion-dollar system designed to shoot down missiles that could be fired at the United States and its allies by states like Iran and North Korea.


04-20-07 - Broad Coalition Unites to Protest Unfair Postal Rates A broad coalition of small and independent publishers sent a letter to the Postal Board of Governors last night, opposing a plan that burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates and unfairly locks in the best prices for the largest media companies


04-20-07 - US attorney general 'must resign': House speaker


04-20-07 - Vermont Senate: Impeach the president Vermont senators voted Friday to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions have raised "serious questions of constitutionality."


04-20-07 - U.S. eyes potential $65 million bomb sale to Israel "It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Israel in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defense capability," the Pentagon added. In the words of Col. Wilkerson from the video (of the Israeli lobby) of today's news batch: Bullsh#t. It's actually just the opposite.


04-20-07 - Heck of a Job, Wolfie


04-20-07 - Cheney Does Africa by Philip Giraldi


04-20-07 - Syrian Expeditions


04-20-07 - McCain's 'Dean Scream'? McCain declared that, after all, Israel is being threatened, and we can?t allow that.


04-20-07 - EU to help refugees fleeing Iraq


04-20-07 - U.S. to sell Saudis 'smart bombs' ? report The United States reportedly will sell "smart bombs" to Saudi Arabia, despite Israeli objections. Gates was seen whispering in Olmert's ear 'these weapons will be used by the Saudis for when we attack Iran. It's all good, homey!'


04-20-07 - Top Jewish Dems 'appreciate' Olmert Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who both chair committees in the U.S. House of Representatives, were quoted in this week's Forward about Democratic anger at the Israeli prime minister, who accused Pelosi, speaker of the House, of misrepresenting him after she delivered a purported message from Olmert to Syria.



04-20-07 - Israel denies helping Iraqi Kurds, sees one Iraq When asked by a reporter in a group of visiting journalists from Turkey if Israel was providing assistance to the Iraqi Kurds, National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said: "As far as I know, there's nothing.".....Ben Eliezer, who overlooks the country's energy and water matters, said a plan to bring oil, natural gas and water to Israel through a triple pipeline system from Turkey could be finished in three years if ongoing feasibility studies supported the project.......One pipeline is planned to carry Azerbaijan's oil that reaches Turkey via a pipeline through Georgia. Ben Eliezer said the oil then can be pumped to Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat through an existing pipeline system and then part of it could be exported to countries, including India, Japan and China. There's this, this, and this.


04-20-07 - Fighting Terror Takes Pro-Active Military Approach, Experts Say Thursday's event was hosted by the Israel Project


04-20-07 - Video about the Israeli lobby This is that same video that I had linked to a week or so ago, but noted that someone had inserted some anti-Semitic bs in the beginning (for whatever reason, could be to discredit the entire message of the video ) - minus the anti-Semitic crap. This is likely the ORIGINAL. It came from this page, but I had trouble seeing the picture from the page, so I linked to the clip itself. This is a very well made video that features Walt, Mearsheimer, Earl Hiliard, Tony Judt. This version is longer than the previous one. Beware of those that seek to lump together criticism of Israel with genuine anti-Semitism. As to the statement by Judt at the very end of the clip, one may ask themselves: why is that? The answer to the question lies with the very theme of the clip.


04-20-07 - US walls off warring Sunni district Several residents likened the project to the massive barriers built around some Palestinian zones in Israel. "Are we in the West Bank?" asked Abu Qusay.
Has your land been stolen yet by the wall for the Israeli-only settlements?


04-20-07 - Hizbullah Criticizes as 'Inaccurate' U.N. Reports of Arms Smuggling Hizbullah lashed out at the U.N. Security Council, saying reports of illegal arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon were "inaccurate," and assuring that the group has enough weapons that it need not be re-supplied.



04-20-07 - UN urges Lebanon to hasten Hariri murder court


04-20-07 - The Virginia Tech Tragedy this tragedy at Virginia Tech touched families from not just America, but all over the globe. From Lebanon, to Egypt, to Israel, to Palestine, to Peru, to Puerto Rico and beyond


04-20-07 - Video: Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran **


04-20-07 - 'Bomb, bomb, bomb' Iran, US senator sings ** "That old Beach Boys song, 'Bomb Iran'?" McCain said in response to a question about US policy on its diplomatic pariah at an electoral campaign meeting in the state of North Carolina......"Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel," McCain went on in a serious tone, however.
"That alone should concern us, but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the president (George W. Bush) when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel."



04-20-07 - Kirchner laments lack of justice Earlier Thursday, American Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne met with DAIA leaders and stressed the importance of Holocaust education.


04-20-07 - Panel discusses Holocaust's role in Middle East conflict She explained that "evoking the Holocaust" is a tool often used by what she deemed "right-wing" groups. As examples she pointed to the David Project Center for Jewish Leadership. According to Rothchild, the David Project has equated the threat of a nuclear Iran with Hitler's Final Solution and the current times with the 1930s.

News for 04-19-07

04-19-07 - Congress Discusses KBR Abuse Lawmakers and the U.S. inspector general have accused KBR, formerly a division of Halliburton Co., which was once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, of abusing federal rules in record-keeping on the current contract. Nearly $2 billion in overpricing on the contract has been identified by Pentagon auditors and government investigators, lawmakers said.


04-19-07 - Iran's latest nuclear work seen as only test-scale "The current feeding is at a very, very low level, only to condition the new centrifuges. No enriched product is being made now," said a Vienna-based diplomat close to the IAEA.


04-19-07 - Iran denies US claims on weapons in Afghanistan Iran on Thursday vehemently denied claims by a top US general that Iran has sent mortars and explosives to Afghanistan destined for the Taliban, Iranian media reported.


04-19-07 - Tehran denies holding missing ex-FBI agent


04-19-07 - Flight from U.S. dollar gathers strength The assault against the U.S. dollar intensifed yesterday as the greenback slumped to historic lows against currencies as diverse as the U.K. pound and the Polish zloty amid growing conviction among investors higher returns lie beyond U.S. borders.


04-19-07 - VA rejects proposed fixes for case backlog


04-19-07 - No plan to attack Iran, says US naval chief ** Admiral Michael Mullen, who is visiting Pakistan for talks with officials, said efforts were focused on a diplomatic solution to resolve the ongoing row over Tehran's nuclear programme. "There is no plan for an attack on Iran,"


04-19-07 - Russia hopes for U.S. understanding on missile shield The U.S. secretaries of state and defense are expected in Russia in the next few weeks to discuss a planned anti-missile defense system that Moscow sees as a threat, a Kremlin official said on Tuesday.


04-19-07 - US under fire for anti-Iran tactics John Bruton, the European Union ambassador to Washington, expressed concern on Thursday that Treasury officials touring Europe might be threatening European companies with application of extra-territorial US legislation.


04-19-07 - US warns Russia in line of fire of 'Iranian missile threat' US officials on Wednesday warned Moscow that it was in the line of fire of "the missile threat from Iran" and urged it to cooperate with plans to base a US missile defence system on Russia's doorstep.


04-19-07 - Bush draws up list of candidates to replace Wolfowitz


04-19-07 - Another Victim of the Anti-Neocon Revolution?


04-19-07 - CREW Chief on Fitzgerald and the Missing Emails Fitzgerald revealed that his investigative team "learned that not all email of the Office of the Vice President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system,"


04-19-07 - Unusual Trip to Iraq in ?03 for Wolfowitz Companion The Defense Department directed a private contractor in 2003 to hire Shaha Ali Riza, a World Bank employee and the companion of Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense, to spend a month studying issues related to setting up a new government in Iraq, the contractor said Monday. The contractor, Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC, said that it had been directed to hire Ms. Riza by the office of the under secretary for policy. The head of that office at the time was Douglas J. Feith, who reported to Mr. Wolfowitz


04-19-07 - INTERVIEW-Israel urges tough diplomacy this year on Iran ** There is still time this year to deal with Iran diplomatically to halt its nuclear program, but a military option may await if such pressure fails, Israel's envoy to the United States said on Wednesday.


04-19-07 - Elliott Abrams' Repeat Performance just as he worked with Reagan hardliners to undermine the Arias plan 20 years ago, so too he appears to be doing what he can to undermine recent efforts by Saudi King Abdullah to initiate an Arab-Israeli peace process and, for that matter, by Republican realists, and even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to push it forward.


04-19-07 - 'Miscalculation' could lead to Israel-Syria war: Olmert


04-19-07 - Is a Very Public Love Affair Headed for the Rocks? Olmert sang Bush's praises during a recent televised address to American pro-Israel activists, echoing the tune of his predecessor, Ariel Sharon. Both admired Bush most for his hands-off approach; they were satisfied that the administration was all talk and no action when it came to the Palestinian cause.


04-19-07 - Local women's caucus endorses Clinton's presidential bid . Ruskin spoke of the rising prominence of Jewish Republicans, whose strong voice within the current administration compensates for the relatively small percentage of Los Angeles' -- and the nation's -- Jewish vote.....She said she fears that as appealing as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama may appear, "people know his name is Barack Hussein Obama. Fair or not, those things matter when you get people in the booth."....As for national support, Ziman had been to the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference and noted that many "believed she's the best for Israel."
That's strange, because I thought Clinton was campaigning to serve the AMERICAN people?


04-19-07 - U.S. presses Lebanon on Red Cross "Israel allows visitation rights by the ICRC to people who are identified as Lebanese that are in Israeli captivity," David Welch, the top State Department envoy to the Middle East, testified Wednesday in Congress, referring to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Thus does the US government continue to do Israel's bidding.


04-19-07 - Former Mossad chief not against taking out Ahmadinejad According to Amit, Israel's nuclear plant in Dimona provides a deterrent against Ahmadinejad's intentions. "I think that this will be the reason they don't attack us," he said.


04-19-07 - The victory won't be American A Shi'ite victory will also affect Israel's security. And we all know what that spells out for America, and the American military presence in Iraq.


04-19-07 - Hariri trial a bellwether of Mideast clout Hizbullah charges that the tribunal no longer represents international justice, but has become a political club wielded by the US to threaten Washington's enemies in Syria and Lebanon. "The Americans are pushing the political conflict in Lebanon," says Nawaf Mussawi, Hizbullah's foreign affairs adviser. "The Americans and Israelis are dreaming of pushing Lebanon into a civil war to beat us."



04-19-07 - Iran nuclear threat: What to do? ** As the wild ride known as the Bush Administration careens toward its end, the only question remaining is whether the president will order an attack on Iran.....Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) has been attacking the Bush administration for being too easy on Iran. Other Jewish members of Congress, and Israel's supporters, have been highly critical of the Iranian regime. There is clearly a Jewish constituency for a tough line with Iran, and the Bush administration knows that the Israel card is a powerful motivator. The neoconservatives, some of whom are Jewish hawks, seem hopeful that they can salvage their Iraq disaster with an Iran success.


04-19-07 - To Russia, With Hate The War Party targets the Kremlin


04-19-07 - America and Israel are asking the impossible of Arab diplomacy the United States voiced its disappointment with the Arab decision to limit the circle of exploratory talks until Israel makes a few concessions of its own and shows a modicum of good will. This criticism is especially ironic coming from the United States, which has adamantly refused to have any contact with Iran and Syria until they meet various conditions that Washington says are needed to regain the confidence of the international community.



04-19-07 - Le Pen courts Jewish vote Le Pen also said there is no proof that Tehran intends to develop military nuclear capacity. "And even if this is Tehran's intention, one can not prohibit Iran what its neighbors, Pakistan, India, Israel and China already have." Asked about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declarations that Israel should be destroyed, Le Pen answered, "He did not say how."


04-19-07 - Syrian president meets Putin's envoy on Mideast issues On the Palestinian issue, Muallem called for a lift of the unfair siege on the Palestinian people and support to the Palestinian national unity government to enable the Palestinians to restore their rights and establish their independent state


04-19-07 - We can sell, but you can't As always, Israel wants both to limit the supply of American armaments to countries that endanger it and to have the freedom to sell Israeli weapons to countries that directly endanger the United States - and indirectly, Israel too.