Neocon Watch

Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik is pro-Israel

2011-07-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

There are reports that the Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik is pro-Israel and a fan of anti-Islam commentators Pam Geller and Daniel Pipes –who are also staunchly pro-Israel. The mainstream media isn’t picking up on Breivik’s pro-Israel sentiment which isn’t a surprise. Thus is this fact relegated to these mostly third party news outfits:

www.jta.org
Mondoweiss
washingtontimes.com
srilankaguardian.org
albawaba.com
opednews.com
wakeupfromyourslumber.com

It's not a coincidence that most of the virulently anti-Islam bloggers and anti-Islam radio/news personalities are pro-Israel. Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch a staunch Christian Zionist, is a noted anti-Islam news outfit. It's probably the most egregious example in the United States.

Neoconservative thinktanks, newspapers and commentators are all pro-Israel and anti-Islam. Their goal is to get Americans to take care of Israel's enemies. The neoconservatives pushed for the Iraq war (at an opportune time, just after 911) because at that time, Saddam Hussein was Israel's number 1 enemy . But his removal wasn't enough. The next war they have been pushing for is for a US attack on Iran because at this time Iran is Israel's number 1 enemy. Exhibit A. Exhibit B.

The goal of the anti-Islam crusade put forth by the pro-Israel camp is to conflate Israel's enemies, who happen to be Muslim, with America's enemies, who also happen to be Muslim.

But the reason that America has Muslim enemies at all, the reasons given by the 911 attackers/mastermind/Osama Bin Laden had to do with US support for Israel. This fact was only grudgingly included in the 911 Commission’s report, but it is not well known to most Americans. We are told time and again that we were attacked because we were free - an outright lie.

Quite frankly, it’s surprising that an attack like the one in Norway hasn't yet happened in the United States, given the current hostility toward Muslims largely due to the aforementioned anti-Islam individuals and groups in the Israel-friendly mainstream American media.

On the message boards related to the Norwegian attacks, this writer encountered people who are only upset that the children killed in Norway were not Muslims. This is the same rhetoric put forth by pro-Israelis when it comes to Palestinian children. They believe that it's ok to kill them because 'nits make lice'.

It's not a coincidence to see this sentiment in both places because these are basically people of the same camp.

Divide and conquer is a strategy that is employed here in the United States. If we are so focused on being at war with each other – via liberal vs conservative issues, or Democrat vs Republican issues, non-Muslims vs Muslims – then we aren’t focusing on the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that it wasn’t the Muslims that have looted the wallets of Americans via the Wall Street/mortgage scandals. Nor was it the Muslims that cooked up the intelligence to start a very costly and unnecessary war with a nation that had no ties to Al Qaeda and had nothing to do with 911. It isn’t the Muslims that are pushing for and succeeding in getting the American government to tilt its foreign policy such that it greatly endangers the American national interest.

The real threat to this nation is not Islam. And the sole goal of the blogs that this writer maintains is to raise awareness of the issue so that American taxpayers can take the customary measures at the polls and by way of their elected officials in Congress to change this situation. Unfortunately, it would likely take the entire American taxpaying public to affect this change since Congress is beholden to the same special interest that has already been described above.

So remember kids, while you are drinking the koolaid at the Fox News and listening to the likes of Peter King, Daniel Pipes, John Bolton, Pam Geller etc, the US treasury is being drained and America is being bankrupted while fighting unnecessary wars being put forth by these same people. This, not Islam, is the greatest threat to America today, in the opinion of this writer.

Michelle Bachmann lies about Americans' support for Israel

2011-07-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

07-17-11 - Watch this video of Michelle Bachmann groveling and kowtowing to Israel

For which country is she seeking to serve? Bachmann is dead wrong on Israel and America sharing the same values. America is a nation that affords liberty and justice FOR ALL.

Bachmann is also LYING when she said that Americans support her view on Israel. She evidently didn't see these two polls from 2010 which state that only 2/3 of the American people want to take Israel's side in that conflict.

What's also interesting is that one cannot embed the link to that YouTube video - it won't work unless you're on some kind of 'in' list. Oh really? What's the matter 'teamBachmann', afraid Americans (who aren't Israel-First!) might see this?

June 8, 1967 - Americans have no idea what happened on this date

2011-06-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

It's when Israel killed 34 Americans in an attack by air and by sea that lasted for 75 minutes.

In honor of the unsung heroism of those aboard the USS Liberty.

Glenn Beck: Israel never shot protesters like the Syrians - an outright lie

2011-06-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

I happened to catch a few minutes of the Glenn Beck show, a show I never watch, two nights ago. He was discussing Israel and expressing consternation that anyone would dare criticize that nation, particularly when neighboring countries such as Syria shoot their own people (protesters). He then went on to allege that Israel never shoots protesters.

Oh really?

During the first intifada, Israel killed hundreds of children, and maimed 40,000 more.

During the 50's, in a place called Kafr Kassem, Israel had imposed a curfew on the villagers - unbeknownst to them - and then gunned down those in violation thereof - including children, killing 49.

Then there's the time that Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in 2000. The Israelis killed 13 Arab protesters a few days later.

There are numerous examples of Israel's killing of civilians - protesters or otherwise. For example, Rachel Corrie, an American citizen, was protesting the home demolitions along the Rafah border. An Israeli bulldozer ran her over - twice. No action was taken by the American government.

Glenn Beck - get your facts straight next time you open your mouth. No one at Fox News (owned and operated by Christian Zionist Rupert Murdoch) will correct you, but rest assured, this Republican writer is more than up to the task.

Sarah Palin, Neocon

2010-11-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

A great article out this week by former CIA Philip Giraldi deals with a recent letter Sarah Palin penned to Congress, evidently on behalf of her Neocon puppetmasters:

Straight Talk from Sarah

Neoconservative policies are not in the interests of the AMERICAN people. They in fact endanger us.

None of the 911 hijackers, nor the 911 mastermind Khaled Shaikh Mohammed, and not even OBL himself gave Islam, American freedoms, or the liberation of our women as their motivation for the attack.

Most of them gave US support of Israel as the primary motivation (for KSM and many of the hijackers, it's also one of the main reasons for OBL's 1990's fatwa against the US). See the 911 Commission report, pages 1-80 of The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America by James Bamford, and OBL's fatwa against the US (available online) for more information.

Anyone that tells you that we were attacked because of our freedoms, or because we're infidels or any other such nonsense is either grossly misinformed or a liar.

Does this mean that we should cease support of Israel to appease terrorists? NO.

Israel's wholesale violation of international and humanitarian law is reason enough to stop supporting them.

'No Taxation Without Representation' - the Treason on Capitol Hill

2010-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

09-30-10 - According to a new poll, 2/3 of the American people want to stay neutral, and not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Yet, just about the entire Congress and Senate are squarely behind Israel almost all of the time, often putting Israel's interests AHEAD OF OUR OWN.

They DO NOT REPRESENT US. Do you remember the slogan 'No taxation without representation'? Where are the Tea Partiers on this issue? They are conspicuously SILENT on one of the biggest threats to American democracy this nation has ever seen.

Ever.

This is unbelievable.

Israel's Power Over the United States of America

2010-09-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

These 2 new articles by former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Giraldi should make the blood of every true American patriot boil.

Wake Up, America!

A Bipartisan Look at the Israel Lobby

Espionage - Israel Strikes Again?

2010-08-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

What other country would be afforded such anonymity, one has to wonder?

Pentagon computers attacked with flash drive

This incident has Israel written all over it.

Similar story: Spies behind 2008 cyber attack, U.S. official says.

Philip Giraldi is a former CIA counterterrorism official and writes extensively about Israeli espionage.

You can find his columns at The American Conservative website and blog and also the Antiwar website.

I encourage all of my fellow Americans to get in the know about this subject, which is a grave threat to the American national interest.

Congress, on behalf of Israel, about to declare war on Iran

2010-07-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

08/05/10:
Update - Phil Giraldi writes another article about Congress' probable approval of an Israeli strike on Iran. The mainstream media has still thus far ignored any mention of this story and its grave implications for our troops and missions in the region should Israel indeed attack Iran.

08/04/10:
Update - the mainstream media has thus far failed to report this issue to the American people. So alarming is this move by Congress, that more former intelligence officials have stepped forward to warn Americans of the impending strike on Iran. For how much longer will the press ignore this? Until Israel stages its casus belli, thus 'justifying' the strike on Iran, and therefore making it easier for our mainstream media to feed us lies from the Israeli Foreign Ministry (which it basically does now)?

07/27/10:
According to this report at The American Conservative by former CIA counterrorism officer Phil Giraldi, Israel's representatives (they're certainly not ours) on Capitol Hill are taking us to war again, this time with Iran. How? By OK'ing an Israeli strike on Iran, they are effectively ensuring American participation in said strike, because it would automatically imply American involvement. This puts our troops in the region in grave danger.

While we're on the subject of The American Conservative, please donate if you can. They are in need of your support.

Sean Hannity Displays His True Colors - Blue and White (Israeli Flag) When Caller Mentions USS Liberty

2010-07-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

A friend told me that a week ago today on June 25th, Sean Hannity had a caller on his radio program that brought up the USS Liberty. Sean Hannity evidently went full throttle into 'defend Israel' mode and proceeded to repeat the Israeli propaganda regarding that incident, rather than stick up for the AMERICAN (sailors) that were viciously attacked.

I Googled around and found some forum posts that referred to this Hannity program, but they have since disappeared.

Here is the audio clip and you can decide for yourself.

The alleged Iranian threat

2010-03-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

We gave warnings just before the invasion of Iraq, and when we did so, we were treated as traitors because, 'either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists'. But within one year after the invasion, the rest of America learned that there were no WMDs in Iraq. Nor was there any link between Iraq and 9/11. In short, we were right. And anyone can look back into the pages of this website to bear this out.

For the past several years, the same crowd that got us into Iraq has been beating the war drums for an attack on Iran, and lately, they have been beating ever louder. Here we go again. The results of the gallup poll cited in this article demonstrate that the American people now believe that Iran in fact is a threat to us.

How did that happen? It happened because the politicians and the media are once again pandering to the interests of the Israeli lobby, who have worked tirelessly to make Israel's problems our problems. It's evident in this video(over half way through) depicting Monica Crowley groveling to and along with Mort Zuckerman (a known pro-Israeli) and the AIPAC crowd when she displays her near-hysteric concern over Iran's alleged nuclear program (which, according to our own intelligence officials, is still not off the ground, let alone producing nuclear weapons).

One man - as was the case back in early '03 with the article Whose War? - stands alone in asserting America's interests- rather America's non-interests- in Israel's wars. Patrick J. Buchanan gets the last and best word about the matter ('Iran is no threat whatsoever to the United States of America') in that video from last weekend's edition of The McLaughlin Group.
Buchanan further describes why Iran is not a threat to us in this article.

So, when the bombs start falling on Iran, and the price of gas becomes prohibitively high (jeopardizing an already delicate American economic recovery) , as more Americans become homeless and jobless, don't say we didn't tell you so this time. Take a step back from your American Idol and take a look at what this nation has become; a stoolie for Israel. George Washington is rolling in his grave.

Palin: Obama Should Attack Iran for Israel

2010-02-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

02-11-10 - Palin: Obama should attack Iran for Israel. Similar article found at the American Conservative blog here.

Palin’s passion (for America’s best interests) is as genuine as her belief in the ‘hopey changey’ stuff. God bless her for capitalizing on her newfound fame and good looks, she has every right. She should take the ride for as long as she can.

But let’s call a spade a spade. Palin is out for #1, and she panders to the usual corners. That’s the difference between Palin, and the likes of Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul (and Philip Giraldi, Michael Scheuer, and several others).

And speaking of wars fought on Israel's behalf, you really need to take the time to read this thorough article by one of the author's of the Israeli Lobby, Stephen Walt.

The article can be found found here.

A Tale of Two Articles

2010-02-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

02-05-10 - A tale of two articles on the respected Jewish news website, The Forward.

In this article, the author suggests that pro-Israel money only merely 'steers', not drives, US foreign policy. Oh. Ok.

Now read this article. Hmm. We have Abe Foxman (of the ADL - another agent of Israel) gloating about getting the Obama administration to stop putting pressure on Israel. Note the about face by Clinton as well when faced with this influence by the Israeli lobby.

So to respond to the first article. No, the Israeli lobby does not 'steer' US foreign policy. It is planted square in the driver's seat. And the rest of us Americans (the majority having no real vested interest in Israel) are being taken along unwittingly and unwillingly and to our detriment - on a ride that has cost us in more ways than one.

But shhhhh.. this lobby is just a myth... it doesn't really exist, and if it does, it merely 'steers'...

The Truth About the US - Israel Relationship as told by former CIA

2010-02-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

01-23-10 - If you haven't yet seen it, you can catch former CIA Michael Scheuer on this recent CSpan program on terror threats to America. He gives you the truth that you aren't getting from the politicians or the media. I know it's long but do yourself a favor - watch the whole thing.

In the future, to get the whole truth about our foreign policy in the Middle East, and just how detrimental it can be to the American national interest (thanks to the fruits of the Israeli lobby, and others), here are some excellent starting points:

*Former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Giraldi's articles on the blog at The American Conservative found at this link.

*Philip Giraldi also often writes articles, and pens the column Deep Background available in the pages of The American Conservative found at this link.

*Philip Giraldi's column at Antiwar.com found at this link.

*Former CIA counterterrorism official Michael Scheuer's articles at Antiwar.com found at this link.

These guys likely learned (perhaps even the hard way) of the truth about Israel both on the job and off. Their views are spot on. Please do yourself a favor, get the facts that you aren't getting from the mainstream media and American politicians (who long ago sold us out to the Israeli lobby). And then, spread the word.

The survival of America depends on it, lest we keep getting bled dry sending billions of dollars overseas and participating in wars based on bogus and cherrypicked intelligence (and those that cooked that intel, the neocons, are part of this Israeli lobby).

Scheuer said it best in the aforementioned CSpan video - support for Israel is not a strategic interest to the United States. To the contrary, our support of Israel is actually a detriment to the American national interest. And this support is largely due to the efforts of the Israeli lobby. This writer does not believe in appeasement of terrorists - that's not what this is all about. We shouldn't be supporting Israel and its policies of apartheid, terrorism and colonialism irrespective of any terrorism against us. These policies do not comport with the ideals upon which this nation was founded - those being liberty and justice for all.

Philip Giraldi, Michael Scheuer and a host of others, myself included, have the interests of the American people at heart - not some other foreign nation or entity. Our interests MUST come first. It's too bad that our politicians in Washington do not take this view - not when it comes to Israel.

No taxation without representation - remember that slogan? Well it pertains now. We are shoveling billions of dollars to the Middle East - in many different ways, some peripheral - in support for Israel and its policies. That money frankly could be better spent at home. It garners us hatred and vitriol in that region and beyond. It is wholly unncessary. Israel needs to learn to get along with its neighbors - stop stealing the land, and occupying the people by denying them freedom - if it wants to survive and flourish. Anyway, it is really not our problem. Our problem is America, and we need to take care of business here at home, and stay out of foreign entanglements that have cost us dearly - in more ways than one.

Heed George Washington's words in his famous Farewell Address, and be warned of the perils of the passionate attachment to a foreign nation, and all of the evils it brings. Some of us are just trying to look out for America - the ONLY country we've got.

Post script:

To further the points made in the Scheuer video linked in the next entry, here is yet another example of why 'they hate us' - it has nothing to do with 'our freedoms'.

Former CIA official Ray McGovern also points out the real reason for enmity against the US in this recent article.

Lastly, an article out today in the Israeli Haaretz paper headlines "Bin Laden: Attacks on U.S. to go on as long as it supports Israel".

Anyone that tells us Americans that we are attacked for our freedoms is either grossly misinformed, or a liar.

Sarah Palin: I support war crimes

2009-11-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

Israeli settlements are a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions, which states:

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies

Source.

Because Israel is, according to international law, an occupier, not owner, of Palestinian territory (Gaza and the West Bank), Israel is in violation of the aforementioned article of the Fourth Geneva Conventions.

In effect, Israel is commiting war crimes.

Sarah Palin has expressed support for these war crimes in a November, 2009 interview with Barbara Walters:

“I disagree with the Obama administration on that,” Palin said. “I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon....

Support for Israeli settlements is not in America's best interests. Frankly, this settlement policy is not in ISRAEL'S best interests, but that's not the point.

The point is, Sarah Palin supports war crimes.

This blogger is a registered Republican female who is a card-carrying member of the NRA, who would be delighted to see a Republican female succeed in politics, provided she puts the interests of THIS country, AMERICA, first - where they belong. Sarah Palin is not doing that. In fact, with this kind of support for Israel, she would endanger the American national interest if she were to ever hold office again.

America needs another Independence Day

2009-07-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

independence from ISRAEL.

Our politicans and would-be presidents utterly kowtow to agents of a foreign nation - and sell America's interest down the river in the process - as they have been doing for decades now. It has gotten worse, and worse and worse.

As the economy goes right down the tubes as a result of the foreign policies brought to fruition by the actions of this foreign influence, I urge my fellow Americans to pay heed to George Washington's wise words in his farewell address about the evils of a passionate attachment:

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and Wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification: It leads also to concessions to the favourite Nation of priviledges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom eql. priviledges are withheld: And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favourite Nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition corruption or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful Nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real Patriots, who may resist the intriegues of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

Source.

If we free AMERICA of this chokehold on our government, the rest will follow. America would be a lot richer, there would be no need to keep pouring money into the Middle East - with little to show in return but the enmity of millions of people around the world for our support of Israel's colonialist and apartheid policies. This has tarnished America's once pristine image, almost irreparably at this point. If you love America, you will be outraged at the overwhelming influence that Israel and its lobby have on Capitol Hill, and consequently our foreign policy.

I urge you to get in the know and take action before it's too late. As more jobs are being cut, oil prices soar ever higher, and the squeeze is being put on the American taxpaying public, ask yourself: what the hell is our tax money doing over there? Why are we still in Iraq? And will we be attacking Iran next? If so, it would be even more of a disaster. Has Iran threatened us, in the absence of any threats we've made ? Whose war is this?

Get angry, America. And then do something about it. The future of this nation depends on it. FREE AMERICA, and the rest will follow. If we don't start taking care of THIS nation first, there won't be much left to take care of.

Last but certainly not least, we owe it to the soldiers and their families who were wounded, maimed, or killed in Iraq to bring to justice all of those responsible for getting us into that war. The neocons and their friends in this administration told half-truths, lies, and outright bullshit in order to get us to go there in the first place.

Justice MUST be served. Never forget.

Israel committed war crimes

2009-07-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

07-02-09 - Amnesty International: Israel committed war crimes in Gaza

Israel also committed
war crimes against US military - which have gone unpunished for over 40 years.

See also:
Israel used human shields

Colin Powell in Obama's administration?

2008-11-06T20:08:00.001-08:00

11-06-08 - Let's hope Obama gives Colin Powell a place in his new administration.

Powell backed Obama - some believe solely because Obama is African American. But I believe Powell backed Obama largely because of what the Bush administration did to Powell which culminated in that infamous speech at the UN just before the Iraq invasion. Many Republicans have become disillusioned with their party and didn't vote at all in this election, according to a news broadcast I heard today on the radio.

Watch the PBS Frontline series "The Dark Side" online (for free) - it details how Powell was duped into making that infamous speech, and features Paul Pillar, Michael Scheuer, and others.

America has spoken

2008-11-05T18:07:00.001-08:00

11-05-08 - Americans wholeheartedly and categorically rejected the policies of the Bush administration in an election of historical purportions - the vote heard around the world.

Let's hope Obama keeps the neocons and their disastrous policies at bay.

And fellow Republicans, Obama IS the better choice rather than McCain whose administration would have likely mirrored that of Bush.

If you want more Bush policy, vote McCain/Palin

2008-11-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

If you want more of the same neoconservative-crafted Bush administration policy, then vote for John McCain, who has surrounded himself with neocons such as Randy Scheunemann, and who also has ties to Douglas Feith. What the hell are neoconservatives, you ask? The ones that brought you the Iraq debacle.

As a white female registered Republican white-collared civil servant 2nd Amendment sister, I say don't vote for McCain or Palin unless you want to continue to see your hard-earned taxpayer dollars expended and the blood of your sons and daughters shed for more wars on behalf of a nation other than this one.

I can't endorse a vote for Obama, since he too has been kissing the proverbial AIPAC arse. But given the continued and ever-increasing warmongering on the part of the neocons, who seek to start a third war in the Middle East (with Iran- a nation that has not attacked us or threatened to in the absence of any threats we've made, a point on which Gates, Mullen and several Pentagon brass are in agreement) to protect Israel, a vote for McCain is almost a guarantee of more American blood and treasure being expended for the security of a nation other than this one.

Since I can't vote for Ron Paul (my personal favorite), then I'm voting Ralph Nader (third party) as I have in the last election. No presidential candidate that prostrates himself or herself to agents of a foreign nation to the detriment of this one, and who would endanger my fellow Americans by putting forth a foreign policy that not only does not benefit US , but actually endangers US Americans, gets my hard-earned vote. Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin have all made the necessary kowtow to the Israeli lobby, each side trying to outdo the other in their loyalty to that nation - supporting policies that are not in the American national interest.

My cause is the American cause - liberty and justice for all. And I stand up for all of my fellow Americans - who have been duped and deceived into backing wars that have drained this country of resources, and who have seen their relatives coming home from overseas in caskets. Our nation isn't doing so hot right now. It's time to exit the nation that had nothing to do with 911, and which had no ties to Al Qaeda, else they become sitting ducks when the Israelis decide to attack Iran or dupe us into doing so, thereby making our men and women in Iraq targets of Iranian forces. It's time to take care of our own here at home. We are seeing some of the hardest economic times in decades. And if we don't remedy this situation ASAP, there will be no more America as we know it.

If you love America, take heed. Vote Palin and McCain for more of this same neocon madness. OR
put the American national interest back where it belongs -- ON TOP. Let's get this nation back in order.

Soldier on.

'Attack Iran!' crowd new internet ad campaign

2008-09-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

As of 09-18-08 - As I was perusing the most popular stories on Yahoo News just now, I noticed this ad in the upper right corner advising to 'Stop Nuclear Iran'. I went to the website - http://unitedagainstnucleariran.com/ - and also looked up the whois information. The individual who runs the site out of Rockefeller Center in NYC, Henley MacIntyre, is also mentioned in this blog post. You may want to note the neocon/pro-Israel ties that are naturally involved when it comes to groups such as this that want to 'stop Iran'.

At this writing (09-20-08), these ads are still all over the Yahoo! website, and most likely are being shown on other major websites. Be warned - you are being propagandized.

Treason on Capitol Hill

2008-09-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

All those representatives on Capitol Hill that supported this legislation are traitors to the American people. These traitors have taken orders from the agent of a foreign nation (AIPAC) to craft legislation that is essentially implementing an act of war, setting the stage for military action against Iran - action that is not only NOT in the best interests of this nation, but that also gravely threatens American interests in the region - namely our troops in Iraq. Attacking Iraq wasn't enough for the neocons and AIPACers. They want us to attack Iran next, no matter the (continued) cost in blood and treasure to Americans.

Congress is about to pour lighter fluid on Iran

By William O. Beeman

September 3, 2008

The U.S. Congress may inadvertently lay the foundations for war against Iran when it reconvenes in Washington this month.

Two essentially identical nonbinding resolutions call upon President Bush to "immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities."

The House resolution has more than 200 cosponsors, including Minnesota Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Jim Ramstad. The Senate resolution has more than 30 cosponsors, including both Minnesota senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar.

The methods for increased pressure differ slightly in the two resolutions. The House resolution calls for "stringent inspection requirements" of all goods entering or leaving Iran. The Senate resolution does not call for the inspection of all goods but joins the House resolution in calling for an embargo of refined petroleum products to Iran, which lacks the refining capacity to meet its need for gasoline. Achieving either goal would require a naval blockade — a de facto act of war on the part of the United States, though paradoxically both resolutions explicitly exclude authorization for military action.

Other provisions call for an economic embargo of banking operations, with the House resolution adding a prohibition of international movement on the part of Iranian officials.

Both resolutions have begun to cause alarm throughout the United States, and have caused several representatives to withdraw their cosponsorships. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., summed up the concerns in an article for the Huffington Post: "It is clear that despite carefully worded language in H. Con. Res. 362 that ‘nothing in this resolution should be construed as an authorization of the use of force against Iran’ that many Americans across the country continue to express real concerns that sections of this resolution will be interpreted by President Bush as ‘a green light’ to use force against Iran."

According to the Jewish Daily Forward, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., offered an apology to a representative from the antiwar group Peace Action, saying, "I regret the fact that I did not read this resolution more carefully." He further told the Valley Advocate of Northampton, Mass., that he’s "all for stricter sanctions against Iran, but the blockade part goes too far. I’m going to call the sponsors and tell them I’m changing my vote."

Both Wexler and Frank are assuming some risk, because they are opposing the powerful American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which had a strong hand in the drafting of both resolutions. Just days before the resolutions were introduced, AIPAC issued a memo outlining what should be done to put more pressure on Iran. The language of the memo mirrors the language of the resolutions. The introduction of the resolutions also conveniently coincided with AIPAC’s annual policy conference during which it had more than 7,000 people on Capitol Hill to lobby. Its top legislative priority was for cosponsorship of the resolutions. AIPAC is careful to avoid direct calls for military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities but makes no secret that it would support such an action by the United States or Israel.

The most unfortunate aspect of the two resolutions is that they contain numerous outright falsehoods, misinformation and alarmist exaggeration about Iran and its nuclear development program. Of the 23 clauses in the Senate resolution, only five present incontrovertible statements of fact. The many legislators who have signed on as cosponsors, having subscribed to this false information, could be attacked by the Bush administration if they oppose a later request for military attack, as happened in the Iraq invasion.

Sadly, these resolutions make it clear that the battle to stop a war with Iran is not over.

William O. Beeman is a professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and is president of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association. He has lived and worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years. His most recent book is "The ‘Great Satan’ vs. the ‘Mad Mullahs’: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other."

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Michael Savage rebroadcasts NewsMax extremist Ken Timmerman's warning on Iran

2008-08-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

With respect to my previous post on Michael Savage, the same friend who informed me previously about the activities on Savage's radio program has just now informed me that Michael Savage decided to rebroadcast Ken Timmerman's hysterical warnings that Iran will nuke America - if they get nukes.

Please.

First off, NewsMax is a neocon-sympathetic 'news' website that makes FoxNews look like liberals. And secondly, Kenneth Timmerman evidently has an agenda - come on, "Foundation for Democracy in Iran"? That sounds an awful lot like the neocon 'thinktank' Foundation for Defense of Democracies. This guy has it out for Iran, and based on the title of one of his books listed there on Wiki, he's got it out for Islam too. This guy would appear to be a classic card-carrying neocon.

More from Wiki:

He has been accused of stoking conflict with Iran (a charge which his supporters deny), by misrepresenting the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, as well as denouncing the National Intelligence Estimate which clearly states that Iran had ended a project to design nuclear warheads some years ago, although they increased their efforts on the more important parts of their program for building nuclear weapons. Timmerman denounced the misleading way in which the unclassified summary of the report described the report's conclusions.

Really now? So given all that, why should we trust him to tell us - in contravention of what our own CIA is telling us - that Iran is a grave threat to the continental United States? What do Gates and Mullen think about the 'Iran threat'?

Whom should we believe?

And the whole point being is this: beware of those who are trying to ram the 'Iran threat' down our throat. There is one nation that will do and say anything to get us to attack Iran. And evidently, Michael Savage is becoming one of their number one shills.

Michael Savage - Still a Shill for Israel

2008-08-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I've had some suspicions over the years as to if Michael Savage uses his radio program to shill for Israel. Something that happened last night has confirmed these suspicions once again: I was at a friend's house who was listening to Savage's program - and I happened to catch Savage turning over the airwaves/citing Aaron Klein in Jerusalem.

Aaron Klein, in my opinion, is himself a suspicious character. He writes for World Net Daily, and his stories are also printed by Ynet News, an Israeli news service. But, I've seen many stories over the past few years that were penned by Klein that appear to be factually dubious - and I'm not the only one. In an article from March of this year, The Nation has a small write up on Klein (paragraph 11).

It's also worth noting that World Net Daily, owned by Arab Christian Zionist Joseph Farah, is described as 'disreputable' in the aforementioned article. While I largely agree with that assessment, WND's only saving grace is the fact that they host Pat Buchanan's Creator's Syndicate columns - a political commentator with whom I am in much agreement on all matters of foreign policy.

That said, that Savage would use Klein as a reliable source for information is a little strange. And the same friend that had Savage's radio program on, informed me that Savage recently had someone on the program alleging that Iran was test firing missiles from ships. This commentator was evidently asserting that these missiles pose a threat to the continental US. Come again? Ridiculous. In fact, it sounds to me like Savage is using his radio program to stir up fears in Americans over the 'Iranian threat'. Iran has not threatened the US in the absence of any threats we've made to them. And let us not forget who is pulling the strings behind this belligerence.

Not so long ago, Savage was airing on his program a former AIPAC official who was disparaging Jimmy Carter for alleged bias toward Nazis, going so far as to liken him to Hitler. If I had any doubts then as to if Michael Wiener Savage has a passionate attachment to Israel, I don't now.

Savage listeners: Beware. You are being propagandized. Israel wants us to attack Iran. And its minions in the US, including Savage, are going to make sure that the sheep toe the line.

How bad does Israel want the United States to attack Iran?

2008-07-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Pretty badly, according to this blog post by former CIA counterterrorism official, Philip Giraldi:

If Iran is Attacking It Might Really be Israel

Posted on July 24th, 2008 by Philip Giraldi

The Benny Morris op-ed in the NYT last Friday should provide convincing evidence that Israel really really really wants an attack against Iran sooner rather than later. Morris is close to the Israeli government and his case that Iran must be bombed soon and with maximum conventional weaponry to avoid using nukes later was clearly intended to push the United States to do the attacking. The likelihood that Dick Cheney is almost certainly supportive of a US pre-emptive strike and might well be pulling strings behind the scenes, possibly without the knowledge of the Great Decider, makes the next several months particularly significant if a war is to be avoided.

Some intel types are beginning to express concerns that the Israelis might do something completely crazy to get the US involved. There are a number of possible “false flag” scenarios in which the Israelis could insert a commando team in the Persian Gulf or use some of their people inside Iraq to stage an incident that they will make to look Iranian, either by employing Iranian weapons or by leaving a communications footprint that points to Tehran’s involvement.

Those who argue that Israel would never do such a thing should think again. Israel is willing to behave with complete ruthlessness towards the US if they feel that the stakes are high enough, witness the attack on the USS Liberty and the bombing of the US Consulate in Alexandria in the 1950s. If they now believe that Iran is a threat that must be eliminated it is not implausible to assume that they will stop at nothing to get the the United States to do it for them, particularly as their air force is only able to damage the Iranian nuclear program, not destroy it.

Iran test fires missile - Pat Buchanan weighs in

2008-07-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Buchanan weighs in on today's Iranian missile test and Israel's desire for us to attack that nation on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC show :

America needs another Independence Day

2008-07-03T16:05:00.001-07:00

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and Wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification: It leads also to concessions to the favourite Nation of priviledges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom eql. priviledges are withheld: And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favourite Nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition corruption or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful Nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real Patriots, who may resist the intriegues of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

Who's planning our next war? by Patrick J. Buchanan

2008-06-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

Who's planning our next war?

Pat Buchanan: Israel-encouraged Bush attack on Iran would be 'criminally irresponsible'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 27, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

By Patrick J. Buchanan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of the Axis-of-Evil nations named in his State of the Union in 2002, President Bush has often said, "The United States will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."

He failed with North Korea. Will he accept failure in Iran, though there is no hard evidence Iran has an active nuclear weapons program?

William Kristol of The Weekly Standard said Sunday a U.S. attack on Iran after the election is more likely should Barack Obama win. Presumably, Bush would trust John McCain to keep Iran nuclear free.

Yet, to start a third war in the Middle East against a nation three times as large as Iraq, and leave it to a new president to fight, would be a daylight hijacking of the congressional war power and a criminally irresponsible act. For Congress alone has the power to authorize war.

Yet Israel is even today pushing Bush into a pre-emptive war with a naked threat to attack Iran itself should Bush refuse the cup.

In April, Israel held a five-day civil defense drill. In June, Israel sent 100 F-15s and F-16s, with refueling tankers and helicopters to pick up downed pilots, toward Greece in a simulated attack, a dress rehearsal for war. The planes flew 1,400 kilometers, the distance to Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.

Ehud Olmert came home from a June meeting with Bush to tell Israelis: "We reached agreement on the need to take care of the Iranian threat. ... I left with a lot less question marks regarding the means, the timetable restrictions and American resoluteness. ...

"George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on the matter before the end of his term. ... The Iranian problem requires urgent attention, and I see no reason to delay this just because there will be a new president in the White House seven and a half months from now."

If Bush is discussing war on Iran with Ehud Olmert, why is he not discussing it with Congress or the nation?

On June 6, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened, "If Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, we will attack it." The price of oil shot up 9 percent.

Is Israel bluffing – or planning to attack Iran if America balks?

Previous air strikes on the PLO command in Tunis, on the Osirak reactor in Iraq and on the presumed nuclear reactor site in Syria last September give Israel a high degree of credibility.

Still, attacking Iran would be no piece of cake.

Israel lacks the stealth and cruise-missile capacity to degrade Iran's air defenses systematically and no longer has the element of surprise. Israeli planes and pilots would likely be lost.

Israel also lacks the ability to stay over the target or conduct follow-up strikes. The U.S. Air Force bombed Iraq for five weeks with hundreds of daily runs in 1991 before Gen. Schwarzkopf moved.

Moreover, if Iran has achieved the capacity to enrich uranium, she has surely moved centrifuges to parts of the country that Israel cannot reach – and can probably replicate anything lost.

Israel would also have to over-fly Turkey, or Syria and U.S.-occupied Iraq, or Saudi Arabia to reach Natanz. Turks, Syrians and Saudis would deny Israel permission and might resist. For the U.S. military to let Israel over-fly Iraq would make us an accomplice. How would that sit with the Europeans who are supporting our sanctions on Iran and want the nuclear issue settled diplomatically?

And who can predict with certitude how Iran would respond?

Would Iran attack Israel with rockets, inviting retaliation with Jericho and cruise missiles from Israeli submarines? Would she close the Gulf with suicide-boat attacks on tankers and U.S. warships?

With oil at $135 a barrel, Israeli air strikes on Iran would seem to ensure a 2,000-point drop in the Dow and a world recession.

What would Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria do? All three are now in indirect negotiations with Israel. U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq could be made by Iran to pay a high price in blood that could force the United States to initiate its own air war in retaliation, and to finish a war Israel had begun. But a U.S. war on Iran is not a decision Bush can outsource to Ehud Olmert.

Tuesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Michael Mullins left for Israel. CBS News cited U.S. officials as conceding the trip comes "just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press to get the Bush administration to strike Iran's nuclear complex."

Vice President Cheney is said to favor U.S. strikes. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Mullins are said to be opposed.

Moving through Congress, powered by the Israeli lobby, is House Resolution 362, which demands that President Bush impose a U.S. blockade of Iran, an act of war.

Is it not time the American people were consulted on the next war that is being planned for us?

Navy attorney in USS Liberty investigation dies

2008-06-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

We just lost one of the good guys :(

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 18, 4:15 PM ET

SAN DIEGO - Ward Boston, a former Navy attorney who helped investigate the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 crewmen and years later said President Lyndon Johnson ordered that the assault be ruled an accident, has died. He was 84.

Boston, a retired Navy captain from Coronado, Calif., died June 12 of complications from pneumonia at a San Diego-area hospital, his wife, Emma Boston, said Wednesday.

Boston was assigned as a legal adviser to a military board of inquiry investigating the attack on the Liberty, an electronic-intelligence-gathering ship that was cruising international waters off the Egyptian coast on June 8, 1967. Israeli planes and torpedo boats opened fire on the Liberty in the midst of the Israeli-Arab Six-Day War.

In addition to the 34 Americans killed, more than 170 were wounded.

Israel has long maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, an explanation that the Johnson administration did not formally challenge. Israel claimed its forces thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel and apologized to the United States.

After the attack, a Navy court of inquiry concluded there was insufficient information to make a judgment about why Israel attacked the ship, stopping short of assigning blame or determining that it was an accident.

In 2002, Boston said Johnson and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara, told those heading the Navy's inquiry to "conclude that the attack was a case of 'mistaken identity' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary," according to a signed affidavit.

Boston said he kept his silence because he was a military man, and "when orders come ... I follow them." He said he felt compelled to go public following the publication of the book "The Liberty Incident," which concluded the attack was unintentional.

Boston said in a legal declaration that he was certain the Israel pilots knew the Liberty, which clearly displayed American flags and had markings in English instead of Arabic, was a U.S. Navy ship.

Ret. Adm. Thomas Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who investigated the attack as part of an independent panel he formed with other former military officials, wrote in 1997 that he believed Israel intentionally attacked the Liberty to conceal that it was preparing to seize the Golan Heights from Syria.

A. Jay Cristol, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge who wrote "The Liberty Incident," said in the book that 10 U.S. and three Israeli investigations have found no evidence of any Israeli intent to attack an American ship.

Boston is survived by his wife and three children.

Israel spying on the United States of America - new article by Philip Giraldi now LIVE on website

2008-06-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

June 9, 2008 Article is now live on The American Conservative website.

Click here to read it.

Many thanks to TAC for putting it up on the website, and especially to Philip Giraldi for writing it.

Excellent piece.

_________________________________________________

It has not been made available online yet, but the latest (June 2) issue of The American Conservative has on its cover the title of a story - "The Spy Who Loves Us" by former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Giraldi.

Be on the lookout for it folks, it is a doozy. It mentions the art students, neocons, the Israelis caught celebrating at Liberty Park on 9/11, Dominik Suter, industrial espionage, and much more.

Make some noise about it, and most importantly SUBSCRIBE TO THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE. It is imperative that we all support voices like Philip Giraldi, Pat Buchanan, and many more.

Almost all of Giraldi's columns deal with Israel, its lobby (including the neocons) or some combination thereof. That's why it is very important that we all show our support to keep these voices heard.

Israel spying on the United States of America - new article by Philip Giraldi

2008-06-05T15:29:00.001-07:00

It has not been made available online yet, but the latest (June 2) issue of The American Conservative has on its cover the title of a story - "The Spy Who Loves Us" by former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Giraldi.

Be on the lookout for it folks, it is a doozy. It mentions the art students, neocons, the Israelis caught celebrating at Liberty Park on 9/11, Dominik Suter, industrial espionage, and much more.

Make some noise about it, and most importantly SUBSCRIBE TO THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE. It is imperative that we all support voices like Philip Giraldi, Pat Buchanan, and many more.

Almost all of Giraldi's columns deal with Israel, its lobby (including the neocons) or some combination thereof. That's why it is very important that we all show our support to keep these voices heard.

Israel's Strike On Syrian Facilities Was a Dry Run - Philip Giraldi

2007-10-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Deep Background
October 8, 2007 issue of The American Conservative

Saudi Arabia and Israel, using intermediaries including Prince Bandar bin Abd’al Aziz, have reached a tacit understanding regarding Syria. The Saudis, following secret discussions with Vice President Cheney and President Bush, expect Israel to attack Syria some time in the future, probably in conjunction with a U.S. attack on Iran. The Sept. 6 attack by Israeli jets on a site inside Syria was intended to test the new Syrian anti-aircraft radar provided by the Russians, but the Syrians did not co-operate and refused to lock their system on. The Saudis agree with the U.S. objective of striking Iran to delay the development of a nuclear-weapons capability for at least ten years and support the prospect of an Israeli attack on Syria that deters Damascus’s goal of establishing Shia domination in Lebanon by arming Hezbollah with more sophisticated weapons supplied by Iran. In recent discussions in Riyadh involving Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates, the Saudis were astonished to learn that neither American official had been briefed on the intended course of action. This is apparently a result of Vice President Cheney’s decision to cut out both the State and Defense Departments from the planning.

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, an international security consultancy.

News for 08-29-07

2007-08-30T17:49:00.001-07:00

08-29-07 - Iran protests U.S. detentions in Iraq Iran on Wednesday summoned the Swiss diplomat representing American interests here to protest the U.S. forces' detention in Baghdad of eight Iranians, including two diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said.

08-29-07 - US admits Iranian arrests mistake

08-29-07 - Iran again denies US accusations on Iraq Iran has rejected accusations by US President George W Bush that Tehran is fomenting instability in Iraq, and has called on Washington to change its policies in the region.

08-29-07 - US says seizure of Iranians in Iraq 'regrettable' US forces on Wednesday freed a group of Iranians, including two diplomats, whom they seized at a Baghdad hotel in what the military said was a "regrettable incident."

08-29-07 - US officer cleared of Iraq abuse A US Army officer has been cleared of charges relating to abuse at Abu Ghraib prison but found guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss the inquiry

08-29-07 - Who's Killing American Soldiers in Iraq? by Philip Giraldi ** The Post's assertion that Iran is already at war with the U.S. has a familiar ring to it. It has already been used by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and was originally coined by the Israel lobby

08-29-07 - Bush Threatens to Confront Iran Over Alleged Support for Iraqi insurgents **

08-29-07 - Poll: 71% of Israelis want U.S. to strike Iran if talks fail **

08-29-07 - Has Bush Boxed Himself In? by Patrick J. Buchanan ** Who is pushing for attacks on Iran? Israel and its lobby. Vice President Cheney. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has been calling for air strikes on al-Quds camps for months. And a War Party facing lasting disgrace for having lied the country into an unnecessary war, and for having assured the American people it would be a "cakewalk."

08-29-07 - Israeli Says Hamas Is Training Hundreds Abroad Hamas has sent hundreds of its fighters abroad for military training, most of them to Iran, the Israeli Army?s deputy chief of staff says Making the case for war.

08-29-07 - War With Iran **

08-29-07 - Jolie Calls More Aid to Refugees on Iraq Visit

08-29-07 - Israeli dies of Lebanon war wounds Mohammed "Don" Salum, an Israeli Arab who was critically wounded in a Hezbollah rocket barrage that hit Haifa on August 6, 2006, succumbed Wednesday in hospital. He was 40.

08-29-07 - Hezbollah planning to sue Israel Hezbollah is planning a host of lawsuits against Israel over the damages caused during last summer's Lebanon war.

08-29-07 - All quiet on the Golan Israel signaled a drop-off in military tensions with Syria over the Golan Heights

08-29-07 - Israel Warned US Not to Invade Iraq after 9/11 Wilkerson notes that the main point of their communications was not that the United States should immediately attack Iran, but that ?it should not be distracted by Iraq and Saddam Hussein? from a focus on the threat from Iran.

08-29-07 - J'lem worried by Iranian owned anti-ship missile The recent delivery of an advanced Russian-made anti-ship missile to Iran has defense officials concerned it will be transferred to Syria and Hizbullah and used against the Israel Navy in a future conflict.

08-29-07 - Obama Wants Divestment Issue For His Own Capitol Hill insiders say Obama genuinely believes in the necessity of curbing Iran?s nuclear ambitions ? but also that his championing of the Iran divestment measure is part of a concerted effort to reassure Jewish voters that began with his March speech to a Chicago gathering of AIPAC.

08-29-07 - Lebanese army receives 130 US Humvees

08-29-07 - Investigate the Neocons The so-called experts, in case you haven?t noticed, are invariably little more than Likud fellow travelers and agents of AIPAC. In this respect, it has been a revolving door at the White House, under both Clinton and Bush, and every office holder on Capitol Hill as well as every Washington reporter knows it. Why on God?s good earth would Zionist zealots like Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser be placed in charge of U.S. policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Arabs? It is insane.

08-29-07 - No proof Israeli soldiers in Lebanon are alive: U.N. U.N. member nations should insist that Lebanon's Hezbollah group produce evidence that the two Israeli soldiers it abducted a year ago are still alive, a senior U.N. envoy said on Wednesday.

08-29-07 - Hezbollah rejects war criticism The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have condemned a watchdog report which criticises Hezbollah's conduct in the conflict against Israel last year.

News for 08-28-07

2007-08-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

08-28-07 - Iran dismisses threat of US attack **

08-28-07 - Iran says to respond if U.S. labels Guards "terrorist" Iran would respond if the United States were to label the Islamic state's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist" force, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.

08-28-07 - Iran has not slowed atomic work, president says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday denied reports that Iran had slowed down its atomic work, which the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs.

08-28-07 - Iran's transparency deal with IAEA seen as flawed

08-28-07 - Iranians arrested by US forces in Iraq The Iranian Embassy in Baghdad says seven Iranians working in Iraq have been arrested by United States forces.

08-28-07 - Bush Warns of Iran's Influence Over Iraq ** President Bush warned on Tuesday that Iran is plotting to extend its "murderous" influence over Iraq and is threatening to destabilize the Middle East under a "shadow of a nuclear holocaust." We are getting closer...

08-28-07 - US, Russia ?Must Unite to Fight Weapons of Mass Destruction?

08-28-07 - Bush warns Iran over insurgents Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that US authority in the region was rapidly collapsing, and Iran would help fill the void.

08-28-07 - US gives UN project 30 million dollars for Iraqi children Not a whole lot compared to what we just gave Israel.

08-28-07 - Durbin: Fitzgerald a long shot for Gonzales job Durbin called Fitzgerald a ''long shot'' for the job, but said ''if the choice is made to bring in somebody truly independent who will be quickly confirmed, Patrick Fitzgerald's one.''

08-28-07 - Antiwar backlash building ? in the US military The neocons were openly disdainful of the military's institutional interests and didn't care about the effectiveness of our forces: their obsession with the Middle East overrode everything else. Their ideological bias in favor of war ? as well as their tendency to put Israeli interests on a par with those of the U.S. ? militated against any such considerations.

08-28-07 - Lieberman to Iran: Change regime Israel's strategic affairs minister urged Iranians to choose a more moderate government.

08-28-07 - Expansion of surveillance powers has groups fearing U.S. scrutiny The recent congressional expansion of surveillance powers, aimed ostensibly at terrorists abroad, has Jewish groups at home worried that their dealings with Israel could invite U.S. government scrutiny......The expansion of government powers comes as some Jewish groups already are upset at the FBI's surveillance of AIPAC and the ongoing prosecution of two former employees of the pro-Israel lobby......While ostensibly supporting the legislation, it is significant that the ADL, in the first sentence of the release, called for the legislation to be "carefully crafted." Really now.

08-28-07 - Angelina Jolie visits refugees in Iraq, Syria

08-28-07 - Syria jails four Islamists A Syrian emergency court has handed down heavy jail terms against four members of the outlawed Islamist opposition, a human rights watchdog said on Tuesday.

08-28-07 - Bush lists 'vital' peace priorities 'Reforming' the entire Middle East (to suit Israel's interests) seems to be our interests.

08-28-07 - Why the US and Israel Should Lose Middle East Wars ** Let's say it bluntly. War with Iran is inevitable before January 2009 unless Bush and Cheney are both impeached first. New Israeli-U.S. hostilities in Lebanon are also likely. Either warfare or covert actions conducted by the U.S. and/or Israel to bring about regime change in Syria are also probable. Former CIA.

08-28-07 - Lebanese gunships raid Islamists in siege camp Lebanese army helicopters on Tuesday attacked positions held by Islamist militants entrenched in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon, an AFP correspondent said.

News for 08-27-07

2007-08-28T14:50:00.001-07:00

08-27-07 - Sarkozy cautions against attack on Iran

08-27-07 - Bush to say Iraq is front line against Iran, Al-Qaeda "Al Qaeda in Iraq and Iranian armed and supported Shia militias continue to undermine the Iraqi struggle for security and stability and continue to kill Americans forces," the official said.

08-27-07 - Pat Buchanan: Democrats will fall in line with 'popular' war on Iran ** Buchanan pointed to recent claims by the US military that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (al-Quds) is the source of explosive devices that are killing American soldiers in Iraq, saying, "They're laying down a predicate for military strikes on the al-Quds camps inside Iran. ... And I think then they'd go for the nuclear sites. "

08-27-07 - Middle East turmoil could cause world war: U.S. envoy Upheaval in the Middle East and Islamic civilization could cause another world war, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was quoted as saying in an Austrian newspaper interview published on Monday.

08-27-07 - Iran 'resolves' plutonium issue Iran has resolved questions posed by the UN's nuclear watchdog about its plutonium experiments, Tehran says.

08-27-07 - Saudis set up force to guard oil plants ** In anticipation to a response to their backing another US strike on another Muslim country, methinks.

08-27-07 - Teamsters' boss urges divesting from Iran

08-27-07 - What happens if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz? U.A.E. is weighing some projects ** Not a matter of if but when we attack Iran. The case is already being put forth to the American sheeple by the neocons and their many friends in the media.

08-27-07 - The Next War Draws Nearer ** Hardly a week passes in which I don?t get a message from someone within the great bureaucratic wasteland on the Potomac about the Bush Administration?s latest schemes relating to war against Iran. Now we?re going through another one of those periods in which the pace is quickening and the pitch is becoming more intense.

08-27-07 - Mediators try to evacuate wounded from Lebanon siege camp

08-27-07 - Meet Giuliani?s Advisors: AIPAC?s Dream Team

08-27-07 - Zealous for Zion The image of thousands of conservative Christians from the heartland waving the flags of a foreign nation would have astounded anyone 50 years ago?except maybe George Orwell Just a note, looks like the American Conservative made it into the Google News index (finally). Or perhaps it's always been there and I never noticed...

08-27-07 - Israeli law experts challenge U.S. law "For more than fifty years, Israel has faced mortal threats to its national survival and countless acts of terrorism against its civilian population, with devastating losses of life," the brief argues. "Yet even as terrorist attacks have intensified, Israel has strengthened its commitment to unimpeded judicial review of detention." Horseshit. Ask the thousands of Palestinians who have been or are now in administrative detention (no due process involved whatsoever).

08-27-07 - Barak: Hezbollah arsenal bigger than ever Hezbollah's arsenal is bigger than it was before the Lebanon war, Israel's defense minister said.

News for 08-26-07

2007-08-27T14:57:00.001-07:00

08-26-07 - US photographer shows grim face of troops wounded in Iraq "I started working on it out of exasperation at not seeing any visual representation of the human cost of war. In the press you kept hearing reports or reading reports about wounded but never seeing any images," ....."Nobody really knows what the soldiers are going through. They see on TV, oh yeah, two soldiers got wounded today and they think yeah he'll be all right. But that soldier is scarred for life both physically and mentally."

08-26-07 - Iran slow to markedly expand atom work: diplomats "But they are apparently still far away from (producing nuclear fuel in usable quantities),"

08-26-07 - Terror label 'paves way for air strikes' ** While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set on diplomacy, Vice-President Dick Cheney is understood to favour air strikes.

08-26-07 - Iran warns students against 'US contacts' Iran warned on Sunday that the authorities would clamp down on university students who it said were in contact with the US administration and seeking to topple the country's rulers.

08-26-07 - Maliki accuses US politicians of meddling in Iraq "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," Mr Maliki said. "They should come to their senses." His highly personal attack on Ms Clinton, who joined the anti-war camp only recently, has cut to the quick because of her party's distaste for the conflict and its overwhelming desire to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq.

08-26-07 - Iran to settle IAEA issues in phases

08-26-07 - France ready to open up to Syria if it stays out of Lebanon France is ready to open up in a "spectacular way" to Syria if it stops meddling in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a newspaper interview Sunday.

08-26-07 - Soldiers killed in Lebanon camp battle Three Lebanese soldiers have been killed fighting Islamist militants who have been battling the army for more than three months in north Lebanon, security sources said on Sunday.

08-26-07 - Lebanon militants request evacuation of wounded

08-26-07 - Lebanese army readies final assault on Islamists

08-26-07 - Bogus War Party Propaganda This weekend on Antiwar.com, Justin Raimondo?s Behind the Headlines column ?Home Front ?Surge?: War Party?s Ad Campaign Will Boomerang,? concerns the Israel Lobby?s pushing of $15 million worth of propaganda ads to run on TV, shaming the Democrats for their supposedly weak Stay in Iraq Forever policy.

08-26-07 - Video: Portion from CNN"s "God's Jewish Warriors" This is a perfect example of the power of the Israeli Lobby in America - and this happened 15 years ago or so. This is the kind of 'conspiracy theory' that the AIPAC/ADLers want you to believe doesn't exist. Good info about Baker and Bush (the first) and their efforts to stop the settlements. Features Mearsheimer and Carter. Note the utter bs that America and Israel have the same interests in the ME. America is against illegal settlements, Israel is for. Includes info on Christian Zionists and their role in this. One obvious point in all this: If Israel's and America's interests were the same, then THERE WOULDN'T BE A NEED FOR AN ISRAELI LOBBY IN AMERICA. Our interests are NOT the same. Not by a longshot.

08-26-07 - New Pro-Iraq-War Organization Hides Its Pro-Israel Agenda It's clear to me that several members of the new group care about Israel's security as a reason for American military engagement in the Middle East. They should say so upfront. As it is, the Freedom's Watch website has imagery of the eagle wrapped in a flag; its big new ad shows an Iraq War veteran who continues to support the disastrous war because of 9/11, and no one on the site is talking about Israel.

News for 08-25-07

2007-08-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

08-25-07 - US terror database leads to few arrests: report The US government's terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year, but only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

08-25-07 - IAEA chief criticizes U.S. military aid The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog criticized U.S. moves to assist in the supply of weapons to its allies in the Middle East, saying the money would be better spent on regional development projects.

08-25-07 - Iran threatens German banks over pull-out

08-25-07 - US predicts further nuclear development in Iran

08-25-07 - Rudy Giuliani: Confused, Ignorant, or Deceitful?

08-25-07 - UN extends Lebanon peace force

08-25-07 - Civilians evacuated from Lebanon camp released by army

08-25-07 - Lebanese army resumes raids on refugee camp The Lebanese army resumed its air raids and shelling of militants holed up at Nahr al-Bared on Saturday after evacuating the last remaining civilians from the battered refugee camp.

News for 08-24-07

2007-08-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

08-24-07 - U.S. targets Iranian forces inside Iraq ** A U.S. regional commander in Iraq said he is ?actively targeting? as many as 20 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who are operating inside Iraq and helping Iraqi insurgents strike U.S. troops.

08-24-07 - U.S. accuses Iran of sending weapons to Iraqi militants The United States on Friday accused Iran of playing a negative role in Iraq by sending lethal weapons to sectarian militants in the war-torn country. Making the case for war.

08-24-07 - Iranian dissident warns of US actions against Iran Mohsen Sazegara, who was a high-ranking Tehran official before turning against the government, told AFP in an interview that the US move, reported to be in the works last week, could spark a backlash, stirring up more turmoil in places where Washington accuses them of terror activities, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

08-24-07 - Top Republican urges Iraq pullout Senator John Warner, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US needed to show that its commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.

08-24-07 - Robert Fisk: Even I question the 'truth' about 9/11 I am talking about scientific issues. If it is true, for example, that kerosene burns at 820C under optimum conditions, how come the steel beams of the twin towers - whose melting point is supposed to be about 1,480C - would snap through at the same time? (They collapsed in 8.1 and 10 seconds.) What about the third tower - the so-called World Trade Centre Building 7 (or the Salmon Brothers Building) - which collapsed in 6.6 seconds in its own footprint at 5.20pm on 11 September? Why did it so neatly fall to the ground when no aircraft had hit it? The American National Institute of Standards and Technology was instructed to analyse the cause of the destruction of all three buildings. They have not yet reported on WTC 7. Two prominent American professors of mechanical engineering - very definitely not in the "raver" bracket - are now legally challenging the terms of reference of this final report on the grounds that it could be "fraudulent or deceptive".

08-24-07 - An intensifying US campaign against Iran ** The result of this buildup of US allegations of Iranian involvement in Iraq could also prove to be a prelude to war: "If you can make the case that Iranians are actually killing Americans, that makes it extremely difficult for those opponents of military action to depict the administration as warmongering," adds Parsi, also the head of the National Iranian American Council.

08-24-07 - Ron Paul: Americans are Living on Borrowed Money and Time In addition to the negative reactions in financial markets, many Americans have taken on too much personal debt owing to exotic mortgage products and artificially low interest rates. Unfortunately, these families are now in the position of losing their homes in unprecedented numbers as the teaser rates expire and the real bills are coming due.

08-24-07 - CIA said to step up operations against Iran as hawks seek to tie Iraq bombs to Tehran ** In an effort to build congressional and Pentagon support for military options against Iran, the Bush administration has shifted from its earlier strategy of building a case based on an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program to one invoking improvised explosive devices (IEDs) purportedly manufactured in Iran that are killing US soldiers in Iraq.

08-24-07 - War Party's ad campaign will boomerang In a disgusting display of mendacity not seen since the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a pro-war advertising campaign spearheaded by former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer is buying $15 million worth of 30-second television spots that repeat the lies linking 9/11 to Iraq ? and explicitly threatening another terrorist attack in the US if we "surrender."

08-24-07 - AEI Sets Launch for All-or-Nothing Campaign

08-24-07 - Poll: Poles still oppose U.S. missile base A majority of Poles continue to oppose hosting a U.S. missile defense base, according to a poll released Friday.

08-24-07 - Lawmakers return to U.S. and pledge tougher Iran sanctions U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who led a trip to Israel last week involving 18 members of Congress, told JTA that Israeli leaders depicted the Iran issue as most urgent. The delegation met with Israel's prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister, opposition leader and president. "All of us came back with a renewed sense of the importance of dealing with Iran, of the dangers that a nuclear armed Iran would pose to the region and the international community," Hoyer said. "There is a sense that Ahmadinejad is one of the few world leaders who expresses the possibility of the elimination of another sovereign nation -- Israel -- and hopes to eliminate from the Middle East the United States of America."....The American Israel Public Affairs Committee welcomed the accelerated push for tougher sanctions on Iran.
Thus does the AMERICAN Congress recieve its orders from and do the bidding of: ISRAEL. It's treason.

08-24-07 - We did it to ourselves ? thanks to free-traders by Patrick J. Buchanan As we all buy up those TVs and radios and motorcycles and cars and clothes made in Japan and made in China, we kill factories all over America and push America's companies into chapter 11. Not neocon-related but important all the same.

08-24-07 - Why Cheney Really Is That Bad By Scott Ritter America today is very much engaged in a life-or-death struggle against the forces of evil. The enemy resides not abroad, however, but at home, vested in the highest offices of the land. Neither Osama Bin Laden nor Saddam Hussein threatened the life blood of the United States?the Constitution?to the extent that Cheney has

08-24-07 - More War on the Horizon ** Israel cannot finish off the Palestinians until Hezbollah is destroyed. An Israeli attack on Syria while the US attacks Iran would leave Hezbollah without supplies in the face of a new Israeli attack......The agenda unfolding before our eyes may be the neoconservative/Israeli/Cheney plan to rid the Middle East of any check to Israeli territorial expansion. It sure the hell is.

08-24-07 - Officials in South Florida order charter school to suspend Hebrew lessons Ben Gamla's director, Adam Siegel, says that the 400 students at the school -- which is now off limits to reporters -- are getting lessons in Israeli geography until the 25 faculty members are once again permitted to resume teaching Hebrew. Let's drop the pretense and just fly the Israeli flag in the American capitals and be done with it. Getting ridiculous.

08-24-07 - Truce as women flee Lebanon camp The families of Islamist militants, besieged by Lebanese troops for three months at a Palestinian refugee camp, have been granted safe passage out.

08-24-07 - Mine expert dies in Lebanon blast The United Nations, which is co-ordinating the clear up, believes only a fraction of the more than one million cluster bombs dropped by Israel have been removed so far. Work has been hampered by what it says is Israel's refusal to provide details of where it dropped cluster bombs and how many.
Ahh, Israel: a giant rolling war crime in progress - never being held accountable for any of it, thusly encouraging them to continue in like manner.

08-24-07 - Iraqi refugees struggle in Syria Our government says that it isn't doing enough to please the likes of the Bush administration when it comes to Iraq, but Syria is buckling under the weight of caring for the millions of refugees that both the US and Israel have created. A reminder: Syria does not contain the (oil) wealth that other Middle Eastern nations such as the House of Saud does.

08-24-07 - Bush toughens NGO conditions The policy, announced last month and going into effect Monday, is based on congressional laws aimed at ensuring U.S. funds do not reach Palestinian terrorists. 'War on terror'- Cui Bono?

08-24-07 - Obama: I get my Mideast advice from Dennis Ross
The association with Ross could help Obama solve a key dilemma: how to win the confidence of hawkish pro-Israel donors without alienating his anti-war base. 'See look, Massa AIPAC. I can out-kowtow Rudy AND Hilary with my shiny new pro-Israel 'advisor'!'

08-24-07 - Pro-'surge' group is almost all Jewish Of eight donors named Thursday in Politico, a political newspaper, four are Jewish: Sembler; Richard Fox, the chairman of the Jewish Policy Center, an RJC-affiliated think tank; Ed Snider, the founder of the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey franchise who has been elected to several Jewish Sports Halls of Fame; and Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino operator who recently launched a giveaway newspaper venture in Israel. Note the source.

08-24-07 - NIE faults Iran, Syria in Iraq The Bush administration seeks the isolation of both countries because of their support for anti-Israel terrorism, their alleged backing for the insurgency in Iraq, and their suspected development of weapons of mass destruction.

08-24-07 - Pentagon announces possible weapons sales to Egypt, Israel The US Congress has 30 days to act to prevent the sales. Congress won't prevent the 'sales' to Israel.

News for 08-23-07

2007-08-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

08-23-07 - Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran **

08-23-07 - Bush's War Drums ** Our VIPS colleague Phil Geraldi, writing in The American Conservative, earlier noted that in the past Karl Rove has served as a counterweight to Vice President Dick Cheney, and may have tried to put the brakes on Cheney's death wish to expand the Middle East quagmire to Iran.

08-23-07 - Bolton: I 'Absolutely' Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next 'Six Months' ** Bolton?s calls for strikes against Iran mirror those of other neocons, such as Bill Kristol and Michael Rubin, who also pushed for the Iraq invasion. Bolton?s claim that ?Iran is interfering in Iraq and is posing a direct threat to our troops? is not a reason to strike the country. In reality, both Gen. Peter Pace and the National Intelligence Estimate have confirmed that Iran is ?not likely? to be a major driver of violence in Iraq.

08-23-07 - Drumbeat Of War: Unsavory logic ** In yet another transparent step in building the case for taking military action against Iran, the Bush administration has said that it intends to place Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terror groups. The cool heads at the European Union disagree, but never mind them. Bush knows better, right?

08-23-07 - Feds: Charity Groups to Be Probed for Terror Ties

08-23-07 - Israel to buy advanced Patriot missiles

08-23-07 - Cluster bomb kills Lebanese A cluster bomb left over from last year's Hezbollah-Israel war exploded in southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing a Lebanese mine-clearing expert and wounding three others who were trying to dismantle it, security officials said.

08-23-07 - Two Lebanese soldiers die in battle with Islamists

08-23-07 - Lebanon holds two for attack on UN Two suspected Palestinian extremists have been arrested over a roadside bombing against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, a security official said on Thursday.

08-23-07 - Rudy saber rattling is music to some - Giuliani brings presidential hopes to Sephardic enclave

08-23-07 - Oily legacy of war mars Lebanon coast

News for 08-22-07

2007-08-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

08-22-07 - UN-Iran 'progress' leaves US cold The US has said a plan agreed between Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog to clarify Tehran's nuclear programme has "real limitations".

08-22-07 - U.S. sees limits, manipulation in Iran deal with IAEA A nuclear cooperation pact Iran struck with the International Atomic Energy Agency has "real limitations" and Tehran should stop trying to manipulate the IAEA to dodge harsher U.N. sanctions, a senior U.S. envoy said.

08-22-07 - Russia warns Czechs against hosting U.S. shield Russia?s military chief told the Czech Republic it would be making a ?big mistake? to host a U.S. missile defense shield on its soil and urged Prague on Tuesday to delay a decision until a new U.S. president is elected.

08-22-07 - U.S. chides allies for trade deals with Tehran America's allies must do more to cut commercial and energy ties with Iran if the international campaign to halt Tehran's nuclear-weapons programs is to succeed, a top State Department official said yesterday.

08-22-07 - Iran develops 'smart bomb': official media Iran has developed a 900 kilogram "smart bomb", said a Defence Ministry statement, in the latest announcement from Tehran about progress regarding military hardware.

08-22-07 - Boy, 5, doused in gas, set on fire by masked men Five-year-old Youssif is scarred for life, his once beautiful smile turned into a grotesquely disfigured face -- the face of a horrifying act by masked men. They grabbed him on a January day outside his central Baghdad home, doused him with gas and set him ablaze

08-22-07 - Iran's Revolutionary Guards beat sanctions: exile Alireza Jafarzadeh, who accurately disclosed important details about Iran's nuclear program in 2002, called for tighter U.N. curbs and swift U.S. action to rein in the elite corps. Another exile heard from. ~Swell~.

08-22-07 - Diplomats reclaim foreign policy roles Since assuming the helm at the State Department in 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has installed veteran foreign service officers with more than 200 years of collective diplomatic experience in seven critical posts from the Middle East to South Asia and the Far East.

08-22-07 - CIA Missed Chances to Tackle al-Qaida It took an act of Congress to force the CIA to lift the veil on its watchdog's internal investigation that lays out the agency's many failures in the months and years before Sept. 11, 2001.

08-22-07 - Tehran gets ready for potential US strikes ** Despite US foreign policy's focus on the situation in Iraq and in anticipation of September's Congress hearing, high-ranking sources stated that the Iranian leadership is taking US threats to strike its nuclear sites very seriously.

08-22-07 - Support Our Troops They want us out of Iraq

08-22-07 - Most US adults in the dark about world politics One reason for the knowledge gap is lack of interest, according to the poll. Apathy is half the battle right there.

08-22-07 - Iraqi Jews must leave, liaison says The handful of Jews remaining in Iraq should flee for their lives, a representative of the community said.

08-22-07 - AJWS to push U.S. on Sudanese refugee issue The American Jewish World Service is putting together a targeted advocacy campaign to push the United States to develop a policy on accepting refugees from the genocide in the Sudan. "It's not fair to these small countries in the Middle East and in North Africa to ask them to take in all of these refugees,"
Oh you knew that one was coming. Israel doesn't want them, so they'll be sent here instead. Those supremacist aholes. Throw America's borders open to all manner of people, including granting amnesty to illegals, but lil Israel is to remain a nation based on one kind of people. Hypocrites all.

08-22-07 - Israelis airdrop an occupation With an estimated one million unexploded land ordnances meaning lack of access to their lands, many farmers in southern Lebanon see cluster bombs as an Israeli "occupation."

08-22-07 - Iraqi, Syrian oil ministers agree to reopen key pipeline Iraqi and Syrian oil ministers agreed on Wednesday to repair and subsequently reopen a key pipeline between their two countries that connects Iraq's oil-rich Kirkuk region and a Syrian port.

08-22-07 - More Lebanese army raids on camp The Lebanese military has launched further attacks against Islamic militants in a camp in north Lebanon.

News for 08-21-07

2007-08-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

08-21-07 - Iran, IAEA agree ways to defuse atom suspicions Iran and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday they had agreed on a plan on how to help defuse Western suspicions about Tehran's atom work, a move hailed as a "milestone" by a senior IAEA official.

08-21-07 - UN-Iran nuclear talks 'positive' Iran and the UN's nuclear agency say they have made progress in talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

08-21-07 - Turkey to build 3 power plants in Iran

08-21-07 - Iranians order Kurdish border villages to evacuate

08-21-07 - Why is Iran Shelling Iraq? the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK) ? is waging a guerilla insurgency against the Iranian government

08-21-07 - Iraqi PM hails Syria co-operation Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has hailed Baghdad's co-operation with Damascus during his first visit to Syria since taking office last year

08-21-07 - Russia, U.S. to consult on missile offer in Sept: Baku Officials from Russia and the United States will meet for talks in early September on Moscow's offer of the joint use of a radar station it leases in Azerbaijan, the Azeri foreign minister said on Tuesday.

08-21-07 - Pentagon to suspend anti-terror database

08-21-07 - US-Iranian academic freed after making TV 'confession' An American-Iranian academic, whose imprisonment in Tehran's notorious Evin jail along with a colleague raised tensions with the Bush administration, has been abruptly freed.

08-21-07 - Iran's Ahmadinejad urges closer ties with US ally Azerbaijan

08-21-07 - The War Party's wackos are indicative of a trend The Family Security Foundation's board of directors is a veritable who's who of third-and-fourth level neocon shills, with a few first-tier types, such as Frank Gaffney, standing out. Indeed, the whole Family Security Matters operation is described by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters as a "front group" for Gaffney's Center for Security Policy (CSP), the hardest of the hard-line neocon propaganda outfits.

08-21-07 - Asking the Wrong Questions on Iran we must begin our discussion on Iran, and the media?s role in preparing the American public for another disastrous war of choice.

08-21-07 - Oil prices calm despite hurricane

08-21-07 - Britons wary of Muslims more than Americans The French were the most enthusiastic when asked whether they saw Muslims as suitable marriage partners for their children, and a large majority also do not see Muslims as a threat.

08-21-07 - War Has Made Baghdad Pre-Industrial Just like Palestine.

08-21-07 - Hezbollah aids baby sea turtles Hezbollah has put half of a beach in southern Lebanon under its protection to safeguard endangered nesting turtles, it was reported Sunday.

08-21-07 - Militants said seeking truce in Lebanon camp war Islamists who have fought the Lebanese army at a Palestinian refugee camp for the past three months are seeking a truce to let their families and other civilians flee, an intermediary said on Tuesday.

08-21-07 - Israeli army mulls how to spend its billions The moves have provided the Israeli military with an unprecedented opportunity for long-term planning and all services in the armed forces -- air, army and navy -- are anxious to get a piece of the financial pie. Question: Are AMERICAN troops serving in Iraq being given anything close to billion$ to secure themselves from roadside bombs and such?

08-21-07 - Syrian newspaper: US pushing Israel to war The newspaper slammed Washington's decision to boost military aid to Israel whom it promised $30 billion over the next 10 years

08-21-07 - Saudi-Syria tensions seethe over Lebanon

08-21-07 - Militants in Lebanese refugee camp seek truce for families Islamists who have fought the Lebanese Army at a Palestinian refugee camp for the past three months are seeking a truce to let their families and other civilians flee.

08-21-07 - Giuliani's doubts on Palestinian talks part of 'systematic' policy, adviser says "The main thing I would emphasize is that Mayor Giuliani believes that the Palestinians should have a state only if they earn it by fulfilling much the same set of conditions that are specified in the road map," Norman Podhoretz, the former Commentary editor and another adviser to the candidate, told JTA in an e-mail.

08-21-07 - NGO to Send Aid to Iraqis and Palestinians The NGO, which works on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, granted 100,000 euros to help Iraqis and 70,000 euros to help Palestinians.

08-21-07 - Cluster bomb kills Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon A cluster bomb left over from the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on Monday killed a member of the Shiite militant group in southern Lebanon, the country's National News Agency said.

News for 08-20-07

2007-08-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

08-20-07 - Iran denies Guards' involvement in Iraq Iran denied on Monday US accusations that a unit of its Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, was working inside Iraq to foment more unrest in its conflict-torn neighbour.

08-20-07 - Iran warns against further nuclear sanctions Iran warned the UN Security Council on Monday against imposing new sanctions over its nuclear drive, saying such a move would render its cooperation with the UN atomic agency and other talks "sterile".

08-20-07 - Iran wants IAEA to highlight atomic cooperation Iran expects the U.N. nuclear watchdog to highlight Tehran's cooperation in its next report on Iran's atomic program, which could determine whether it faces more U.N. sanctions, an Iranian official said on Monday.

08-20-07 - Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq The escalation of tensions in northern Iraq came as a senior US army officer renewed allegations of Iranian support for Shia militias in the south.

08-20-07 - Chinese 'spy' pair freed by Iran Iran has freed two Chinese citizens detained for allegedly taking photos of Iranian military facilities, China's foreign ministry has said.

08-20-07 - Khomeini wanted to drop 'Death to America': Iran ex-president Iran's ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has aroused controversy after saying in a new book that revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini favoured dropping the mantra of "Death to America."

08-20-07 - US Foreign Policy Experts Oppose Bush?s Surge More than half of top U.S. foreign policy experts oppose President George W. Bush?s troop increase as a strategy for stabilizing Baghdad, saying the plan has harmed U.S. national security, according to a new survey

08-20-07 - UN opens further talks with Iran

08-20-07 - Camps Offer Comfort to Grieving Children At Camp Good Grief, all the children are mourning for a parent or other relative who died while serving in the military.

08-20-07 - Al Qaeda's Travel Agent BY JOSEPH LIEBERMAN The road to Damascus runs through Baghdad.

08-20-07 - Keith Ellison ends Israel trip unscathed The Israeli and US press were poised to report on any slip by Ellison that might be construed as anti-Israel sentiment.

08-20-07 - Senior Arab officials tell Israel that Syria is not planning to attack

08-20-07 - Hezbollah computer game based on war Hezbollah launched a computer game based on its war last summer with Israel.

08-20-07 - Defendant scolded over outburst during Holy Land trial At the time of the outburst, the courtroom was cleared of spectators as an Israeli government agent known by the pseudonym "Avi" was being cross examined.

08-20-07 - U.S. Arms Create New Divisions "The U.S. is trying hard to convince its Arab allies that Iran represents a greater danger to them than Israel. When, in fact, Israel remains the overriding military threat to the Arab world."

08-20-07 - US experts see more dangerous world for Americans A majority of top US foreign policy experts say the world is a more dangerous place for Americans today than just six months ago, thanks largely to the war in Iraq and a failing US war on terrorism, a new survey shows.

08-20-07 - Lebanon charges siege camp Islamists with terrorism Lebanon on Monday charged more than 200 people suspected of belonging to Fatah al-Islam with murder and terrorism, as a standoff between the army and the militants entered its fourth month.

08-20-07 - Lebanon soldier killed as siege enters fourth month A Lebanese soldier was killed on Monday as the battle with Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist guerrillas at a seafront refugee camp entered its fourth month, the army said.

08-20-07 - US survey raises eyebrows in Jerusalem A survey by a respected journal showing that 15 of 108 foreign policy elites in the US believe Israel does not serve US national security interests has raised eyebrows in Jerusalem

News for 08-19-07

2007-08-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

08-19-07 - Army too stretched if Iraq buildup lasts Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring.

08-19-07 - US says Iran training militias in Iraq The United States military in Iraq says about 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in the south of the country. Making the case for war.

08-19-07 - U.S. forces tracking Iranians in Iraq

08-19-07 - Ahmadinejad may visit Iraq: report Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit neighboring Iraq, Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday, a move that would be unlikely to be welcomed by the United States.

08-19-07 - Iran says nuclear work non-stop ahead of IAEA talks

08-19-07 - Iranian commander warns of 'hell' in Gulf ** The Gulf would become a "hell" for Iran's enemies if they were to attack the Islamic Republic, a commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards said.

08-19-07 - Terror law puts Britons at risk of surveillance by US agents A new law swept through Congress by the US government before the summer recess is to give American security agencies unprecedented powers to spy on British citizens without a warrant.

08-19-07 - Prelude to an Attack on Iran **

08-19-07 - Iran "massing troops near northern Kurdish region" Members of the 'rebel' groups, who fiercely oppose the governments of Iran and Turkey, are said to be based near mountains that stretch along the borders with Iran.

08-19-07 - Abu Ghraib abuse just tip of the iceberg: author Those people truely to blame for the degrading treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad's infamous Abu Ghraib jail remain in the shadows, while such abuses continue unchecked and unseen.

08-19-07 - Remote northeast Iraq hit by Iran shells: officials The Iranian military has shelled Kurdish areas in Iraq's remote northeast intermittently over the past three days, wounding two women and forcing the evacuation of 200 families, Iraqi officials said on Saturday.

08-19-07 - Six Revolutionary Guards killed in Iran helicopter crash Six members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed and five injured in a helicopter crash during an operation near the Iraqi border, state radio reported on Saturday.

08-19-07 - Gunmen take 30 hostage in southeast Iran: reports

08-19-07 - LOU DOBBS TONIGHT ** WOOLSEY: If it's not halted. I don't think we've to make that decision yet. My view is the same as John McCain's, which is that using force, air force, presumably, air power, is the worst option for dealing with Iran except for one other, and that's letting them have a nuclear weapon. Down bottom of the transcript. That's neocon Woolsey advocating for an attack on Iran.

08-19-07 - What Would War on Iran Do to the Price of Oil? **

08-19-07 - Michael Ledeen's Dangerous Iran Obsession ** Ledeen, James Woolsey, Norman Podhoretz, and others want war now with Iran. They want the bombs to fly.

08-19-07 - Iran? That's your problem ** All these goodies were meant to sweeten one simple fact: the United States is not planning to launch a military attack against Iran and is telling its allies in the region: We'll give you arms, and won't forget to encourage you. Good luck against Iran. Billions of dollars later and thousands of American soldiers dead, at some point Israel needs to learn to fight its own battles.

08-19-07 - Mehdi fighters 'trained by Hizbollah in Lebanon'

08-19-07 - Lebanese bomb camp in bid to flush out Islamists Troops on Sunday bombarded the north Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in a bid to smash underground bunkers sheltering Fatah al-Islam fighters, who killed two more soldiers at the weekend.

08-19-07 - Report: Bodies of 3 PFLP men killed in 1982 found in Lebanon

News for 08-18-07

2007-08-19T15:38:00.001-07:00

08-18-07 - Iran Guards warn U.S. of heavier blows ahead - daily The Iranian daily Kayhan said commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi made clear the Guards would not bow to U.S. pressure and would use all their leverage against the Americans.

08-18-07 - Iraqi PM to pay first visit to Syria Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara said on Tuesday that Maliki, during his visit, would discuss how to tackle the needs of more than a million Iraqi refugees in Syria who have fled the brutal sectarian conflict in their home country.

08-18-07 - Lone US military officer goes on trial for Abu Ghraib abuse

08-18-07 - A debt culture gone awry The ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis, a result of irresponsible lending policies designed to generate commissions for unscrupulous brokers, presages far deeper problems in a U.S. economy that is beginning to resemble a giant smoke-and-mirrors Ponzi scheme. And this has not been lost on the rest of the world.

08-18-07 - Saudi hits back at Syria in growing diplomatic spat Saudi Arabia has rejected as "lies and fallacies" high-level Syrian accusations that its role in the Middle East was waning and accused Damascus of fomenting instability in the region.

08-18-07 - Israel is 'flag of Satan', Iranian President says

08-18-07 - Analysis: New Law Gives Government Six Months to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture - UPDATED A new law expanding the government's spying powers gives the Bush Administration a six-month window to install possibly permanent back doors in the nation's communication networks. The legislation was passed hurriedly by Congress over the weekend and signed into law Sunday by President Bush. Wow.

08-18-07 - Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest if Martial Law Ever Declared

08-18-07 - Cheney, Lieberman and Iran War Conspiracy ** Lieberman was acting as a stalking horse for Cheney's proposal, softening up public opinion for later war propaganda.

08-18-07 - Effecting Regime Change in Iran **

08-18-07 - HARDER LINE WITH IRAN LEAVES US WITH FEWER OPTIONS

08-18-07 - Iraq to Kishangarh: Palestinians' hunt for postal address on in city It has been a long and precarious journey for 12-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Thaiar. From Baghdad to Kishangarh village in the backyard of Vasant Kunj, via a bus ride through the sandy plains of Syria.

08-18-07 - CAIR Says ADL Seeks to Hinder Legal Rights of U.S. Muslims The ADL's campaign of defamation was revealed when the Los Angeles Times wrote: 'Pro-Israel or Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Defense League and [Daniel Pipes'] Middle East Forum think tank have provided news organizations with reams of critical documentation on Muslim leaders in recent weeks.'

08-18-07 - Tossing Fuel on a Fire: US Military Aid to Israel Tops $30 Billion this is no basket case nation; this is one of the most technologically developed and wealthiest countries on earth we're talking about here.

08-18-07 - U.S.: No strings attached to new defense package for Israel The new $30 billion American defense package for Israel is not conditioned on diplomatic progress or concessions to the Palestinians, a top U.S. aide said Thursday as representatives from both countries signed the memorandum of understanding in Jerusalem.

News for 08-17-07

2007-08-18T16:05:00.001-07:00

08-17-07 - Depression Taking Toll on Returning U.S. Vets Depression may be a largely unrecognized problem for many U.S. soldiers returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, placing a tremendous strain on them and their families, a new study suggests.

08-17-07 - Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon ? plus state sales taxes ? at a military surplus store. Hey but, as long as poor little Israel got its 30 bil, everything's peachy keen. Right?....

08-17-07 - UN could soon debate fresh sanctions on Iran

08-17-07 - U.S. actions against Iran raise war risk, many fear **

08-17-07 - France mulls new measures against Iran

08-17-07 - Russia's war planes to patrol the skies again Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced he is reviving the Soviet-era practice of sending bomber aircraft on regular patrols beyond its borders, due to current threats to "security."

08-17-07 - US Paid $1 Million to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers

08-17-07 - Dollar Falls Against Euro After Unexpected Discount Rate Cut The dollar weakened against 14 of 16 major currencies as a reduction in borrowing costs dims the allure of U.S. assets. The decline today trimmed the dollar's weekly advance as investors had sought safety in the currency after a global rout of credit markets. U.S. and European stocks rallied.

Wait a sec, I know. Let's attack Iran.

08-17-07 - UN plans Mideast and Iraq conferences in September U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to call a meeting on the future of Iraq as well as a session of the Quartet mediators on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

08-17-07 - Lebanese army says two militants killed in siege camp

08-17-07 - Charity trial witness falters An Israeli intelligence agent whose earlier testimony linked a U.S.-based Islamic charity to Hamas acknowledged Thursday that none of the overseas charities it supported has appeared among hundreds of names on U.S. government terrorist lists. The testimony seemed to cast doubt on a central element of the government's criminal case against former officials of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development

08-17-07 - Ankara upbeat on start of Israel-Syria talks Turkish officials trying to jumpstart peace talks between Syria and Israel have sounded hopeful as they have said they were encouraged by recent statements by Syrian and Israeli decision-makers, and described Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent statements on the chance of resuming negotiations as particularly positive.

08-17-07 - Ellison joins anti-Semitism task force The only Muslim member of Congress has joined its anti-Semitism task force.

08-17-07 - Obama praises Israel aid hike Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) welcomed a hike in defense assistance to Israel.
Stoolie.

News for 08-16-07

2007-08-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

08-16-07 - Russia, China, Iran warn U.S. at summit The leaders of Russia, China and Iran said Thursday that Central Asia should be left alone to manage its stability and security - an apparent warning to the United States to avoid interfering in the strategic, resource-rich region.

08-16-07 - Iran?s Revolutionary Guards Scoff At US Blacklist Plan

08-16-07 - Iran denounces US missile defense plans

08-16-07 - Former Marine appears in court for shooting Iraqi prisoners A former US Marine sergeant appeared in a California court on Thursday to face manslaughter charges in connection with the deaths of two unarmed Iraqi prisoners, justice officials said.

08-16-07 - Outside View: Nuclear terror's false logic

08-16-07 - US to use spy satellites for domestic surveillance

08-16-07 - Syria denies setting conditions for Iraqi PM's visit

08-16-07 - US finalizes deal on unprecedented military aid to Israel

08-16-07 - U.S. comptroller general: America is Rome

08-16-07 - "An Attempt to Deceive Americans Into Yet Another War" ** the unprecedented attempt to label Iran?s 125,000-strong Republican Guard as a ?specially designated global terrorist? group ? is, as the congressman says ?nothing more than an attempt to deceive Americans into yet another war ? this time with Iran.?

08-16-07 - Backlash Over Book on Policy for Israel "On July 24, Council President Marshall Bouton phoned one of us (Mearsheimer) and informed him that he was canceling the event," and that his decision "was based on the need 'to protect the institution.' He said that he had a serious 'political problem,' because there were individuals who would be angry if he gave us a venue to speak, and that this would have serious negative consequences for the council. 'This one is so hot,' Marshall maintained." All a big conspiracy theory, right Abe? The proof is right there.

08-16-07 - A year after the Second Lebanon War Recent reports have revealed that one of the main justifications for Hizbullah's continuing resistance -- that Israel failed to withdraw fully from Lebanese territory in 2000 -- is now supported by the UN. Last month its cartographers quietly admitted that Lebanon is right in claiming sovereignty over a small fertile area known as the Shebaa Farms, still occupied by Israel. Israel argues that the territory is Syrian and will be returned in future peace talks with Damascus, even though Syria backs Lebanon's position. The UN's admission has been mostly ignored by the international media.

08-16-07 - Which U.S. Political Party Is Better For Israel? For the past several years, whenever anyone asked me which American political party was best for Israel, my answer was: both. Even AIPAC, in the weeks before the 2006 Congressional election, stated that both parties are equally good for Israel. This of course has been and will continue to be ignored by the Republican Party, which attempts to use Israel as a wedge issue in the Jewish community. Note the source.

08-16-07 - Will the Israel Lobby Issue Go Mainstream? The Lobby has already sprung into action in order to quash this book.

08-16-07 - Islamic advocacy group asks for removal from terror-finance co-conspirator list in U.S.

08-16-07 - The Hague plans to host Hariri tribunal

08-16-07 - Mortgages and the Jewish Question Not coincidentally, the big news in Israel last week was the announcement that the Jewish state?s defense budget had to be slashed by a shocking 10%, suddenly and unexpectedly. The reason: Washington told Jerusalem it was not going to deliver an expected infusion of military aid, because Uncle Sam doesn?t have the money. The world economy may not be troubled by the weakness in America, but there?s one little corner of the world that?s terrified.

News for 08-15-07

2007-08-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

08-15-07 - U.S. army suicides at highest level in 26 years

08-15-07 - US: Military action on Iran 'not being contemplated' ** Mm k.

08-15-07 - US hits Iran over journos' death sentences The United States says that Iran's sentencing of two journalists to death demonstrates its willingness to "trample on the rights of its citizens".

08-15-07 - Russian bombers getting closer to US: American commander Long-range Russian bombers are flying more often and closer to US territory, a top US commander said Tuesday, as Moscow made its latest show of military might with exercises over the North Pole.

08-15-07 - Marine accused of stabbing Iraqi soldier: report A US Marine reservist faces a court martial after allegedly stabbing to death an Iraqi soldier in an argument, it was reported Wednesday.

08-15-07 - US turns heat up on Iran ** If the United States designates the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist" organisation, the question will be whether it is an extension of its current efforts to isolate Iran economically or a step towards military action.

08-15-07 - Syria says Iraqi PM to visit for refugee talks An estimated 30,000 new refugees arrive every month in Syria, which already hosts 1.5 million Iraqis, and Shareh said the influx constitutes an "economic, social and political burden."

08-15-07 - Internet is "the new Afghanistan": NY police commissioner The Internet is the new battleground against Islamist extremism because it provides ideology that could radicalize Westerners who might then initiate home-grown attacks, New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Wednesday.

08-15-07 - US threatens to scrap India nuclear deal

08-15-07 - Chinese pair face Iran spy claims Iran has arrested two Chinese nationals for allegedly spying on military and nuclear facilities.

08-15-07 - US Blames Iran for Casualties from Its Own Attacks

08-15-07 - ?No American President can stand up to Israel.? These words came from feisty Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations (1967-1970) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1970-1974). Moorer was, perhaps, the last independent-minded American military leader. Admiral Moorer knew what he was talking about. On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked the American intelligence ship, USS Liberty, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 173. The Israelis even strafed the life rafts, machine-gunning the American sailors leaving the stricken ship I don't agree with paragraph 7-8. There are some Americans like that, but they are thankfully a minority.

08-15-07 - Hizbullah marks Lebanon war anniversary with pomp and piety

08-15-07 - Left and Right Make Same Argument Re Israel Lobby

08-15-07 - More anonymity in terror-linked Holy Land case The Holy Land Foundation was part of a global network of organizations that raised money from Muslims throughout the world and funneled it to Hamas, according to a second Israeli secret agent who testified under a pseudonym Wednesday.

08-15-07 - Va. man indicted for threatening Arabs A Virginia man was indicted Wednesday on charges that he left threatening messages at an Arab political organization in the U.S. during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East last year.

08-15-07 - U.N. Special Envoy Will Join Mideast Forum at Rushmore The two-day forum at Mount Rushmore National Memorial Oct. 16-17, is open to the public and is designed to promote dialogue and expand America's knowledge of the complex issues surrounding tensions in the Middle East, said James Nelson, president of the Mount Rushmore Institute.

08-15-07 - Olmert meets senior US diplomat on eve of arms deal The aid to Israel reflects an increase in value of more than 25 percent, Olmert has said, describing it as a considerable improvement and very important element for national security.

08-15-07 - Olmert grateful for U.S. aid boost Ehud Olmert thanked the Bush administration for boosting U.S. military aid to Israel. Yeh, ~swell~.

News for 08-14-07

2007-08-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

08-14-07 - U.S. Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards ** If imposed, the declaration would signal a more confrontational turn in the administration?s approach to Iran and would be the first time that the United States has added the armed forces of any sovereign government to its list of terrorist organizations.

08-14-07 - US stands by Iran weapons charge

08-14-07 - Iran leader denies arms supplies Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied US allegations that Iranian weapons are finding their way into the hands of the Taleban. ....."The same allegations are made in Iraq. They are saying that they discover some weapons,"

08-14-07 - Bush Warns Puppets Not to Praise Iran

08-14-07 - In Magazine Article, Giuliani Details His Policy on Iran

08-14-07 - 'Captive' Belgians found in Iran Two Belgian tourists who disappeared in south-eastern Iran at the weekend have been found and are in good health, Belgium's foreign ministry has said.

08-14-07 - Neolibs and Neocons, United and Interchangeable by Philip Giraldi Neoconservatives and neoliberals are really quite similar, so it doesn't matter who gets elected in 2008. The American public, weary of preemptive attacks, democracy-promotion, and nation-building, will still get war either way......It is very discouraging to note that the advocates of the Iraq war, which is almost universally seen as Washington's greatest foreign policy blunder of the past hundred years, are continuing to play a major role in the shaping of policy for the next generation of political leaders of both parties.

IF you look at the rundown Giraldi offers on how the candidates are now appointing neocon advisors in order to gain support, you'll notice this is now a new trend. So, America loses no matter who wins, evidently. That is, unless we can get Ron Paul in there.

08-14-07 - The Democrats Are Selling Out the Peace Movement Another article on how the presidential candidates are playing the neocon card by appointing them as advisors in order to win votes. Disgraceful. These aholes should be sitting in cells for lying this country into war. We owe it to every single soldier killed or wounded in Iraq, in the very least.

08-14-07 - Who Cares? Since Dr. Paul doesn't have a chance of winning, I can therefore guarantee you that regardless of who wins the nominations and regardless of who ends up in the White House, you will be saddled with same failed interventionist policy. It's looking that way, indeed.

08-14-07 - Israel, Turkey, US to hold joint military exercises Navy and air forces of Israel, Turkey and the United States will stage joint search and rescue exercises in late August south of the Turkish coast, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday

08-14-07 - DEBKAfile editor says New York at risk Claiming that New York City residents had much to fear, Shamis said, "There is always something to be afraid of, because the threat is an ongoing threat, and it's a fact that the New York Police Department has taken it seriously. These people have something to gain by keeping the American sheeple in constant fear of the terrorist 'boogeyman' who happens to be Muslim. Israel has been a huge benefactor in the 'war on terror' (on several different fronts - one being the homeland security business).

08-14-07 - Terror threat Web site called unreliable Shamis says Debka, which is financed by subscriptions and ad revenue, has a daily readership of 1.3 million. But its reports, published in English and Hebrew, rely on anonymous sourcing and often prove untrue.

08-14-07 - IDF assessment: Syria thinks Olmert wants to launch war That's like saying a bear likes to defecate in the woods. But seriously folks..

08-14-07 - Prices for Key Foods Are Rising Sharply Already stung by a two-year rise in gasoline prices, American consumers now face sharply higher prices for foods they can?t do without. This little-known fact may go a long way to explaining why, despite healthy job statistics, Americans remain glum about the economy

08-14-07 - Hezbollah's leader warns Israel Much of Lebanon's infrastructure was damaged by an intense Israeli bombardment in 2006 after Hezbollah forces seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Bridges, roads and thousands of homes were destroyed in the Israeli bombardment and a major ground assault across the border.

08-14-07 - Neoconservatism: A Cancer on the Presidency His great fault was to heed to the voices of the Zionist lobby in Washington and to listen to the Circe-like sounds of the neocon Fifth Columnists......Bush is going to be judged a disaster by history because he listened to and followed the advice of forked tongues a-la-Feith, Wolfowitz, Kagan, Podhoretz, Abrams, Perle, Pipes, Cheney, Abraham and the worst and most treacherous of this miserable lot, William (Iago) Kristol. Sublimely blind to the disaster of Iraq, these double-agents keep asking for more American and Iraqi blood to be shed, and are lobbying hard for an attack on Iran. Agreed.

08-14-07 - Itzik on U.S. tour for captive soldiers Israel's Knesset speaker is meeting with U.S. and U.N. leaders to press the case of Israel's captive soldiers.

08-14-07 - U.S. court ruling: Evidence seized in IDF raid not admissible Lawyers for Muslim charity leaders accused of aiding Hamas terrorists scored a rare win in court Tuesday when a federal judge blocked some evidence seized by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during raids of Palestinian organizations. Defense lawyers had objected that some of the documents were not signed or dated, and they cast doubt on Israel's handling of the evidence.
Ouch.

08-14-07 - Muslim hearts are hard to win after years of hypocrisy There must be a timetable for an independent Palestinian state and a willingness to twist Israeli arms to get it.

08-14-07 - Ban Ki-moon: Kidnapped soldiers top priority Ban told reporters before the meeting that the issue of the MIA Israeli soldiers topped his daily agenda and that he is working hard to resolve the matter. Ban Ki-moon=Israel's stooge.

08-14-07 - Syria has no plans for war on Israel: Al Sharaa

08-14-07 - US candidate Giuliani warns on Palestinian state Republican 2008 White House front-runner Rudolph Giuliani warned Tuesday it was not in the interest of the United States to help create a Palestinian state that would "support terrorism." Rudy, the AIPAC ass kisser. Pucker up.

08-14-07 - Syria backs bigger role for India in Middle East peace Syria Tuesday asked India to play a bigger role in the peace process in the Middle East and said that New Delhi should use its growing relations with Washington to promote stability in the region

08-14-07 - Giuliani says U.S. will need long presence in Iraq Rudy, the neocon ass kisser. Pucker up.

08-14-07 - Lebanese army wants more from U.S. The Lebanese military has been pounding the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp relentlessly for nearly three months, trying to wipe out Islamic militant fighters. But instead, it has given them a new form of protection: vast rubble in which to hide.

08-14-07 - Lebanon appeals to besieged Islamists to surrender

08-14-07 - UN slams Israel over details of ordnance dropped on Lebanon "In spite of repeated requests for information, Israel has not provided the required Strike Data -- location of intended target, quantity and type of ordnance dropped or fired -- that is required to quantify the problem," the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC) said. That would probably be because Israel deliberately targeted civilians, and it would be proven by turning over those maps. Not that Israel really gives a rat's (about targeting civilians, as has been the case throughout its history).

08-14-07 - Evidence Suggests Ron Paul Was Cheated Ron Paul's fifth place in the Iowa Straw Poll questioned due to voting machine failure, fuzzy figures and conflicts of interest

News for 08-13-07

2007-08-14T15:37:00.001-07:00

08-13-07 - Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq The Americans he commands, like the other men at Sullivan - a combat outpost in Zafraniya, south east Baghdad - hit their cots when they get in from operations. But even when they wake up there is something tired and groggy about them. They are on duty for five days at a time and off for two days. When they get back to the forward operating base, they do their laundry and sleep and count the days until they will get home.

08-13-07 - Iran president to tour Central Asia

08-13-07 - Official: Sadr is not in Iran

08-13-07 - Belgian pair missing in east Iran

08-13-07 - US not considering draft: Pentagon

08-13-07 - Cheney vs. Cheney: Invasion of Iraq Would Lead to "Quagmire" A video has surfaced of Dick Cheney predicting an invasion of Iraq would lead to a "quagmire."

08-13-07 - Imam attacked as anti-Muslim violence grows A brutal assault on a London imam has highlighted fears that Muslims are suffering a sharp increase in race attacks after the failed car bombings in June.

08-13-07 - Wolfowitz 'tried to censor World Bank on climate change'

08-13-07 - Ron Paul, Iowa and the Presidency by golly, don't dare threaten the establishment with Jeffersonian democratic vision and Washingtonian non-interventionism. Don't boldly challenge the NYC/DC axis of politics with sheer constitutionalism. Better yet, don't remind us that the American president is not the commander-in-chief of everybody but a narrowly defined and legally constrained institution that is only equal -- and certainly subject -- to our judicial and legislative bodies.
Ron Paul makes the corporate and foreign lobbies defile their collective astronaut diapers. My kinda guy!

08-13-07 - NSA wiretapping trial begins one rather obscure case could pull back the veil on a surveillance program that's at the heart of the US fight against terror. In the federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday, lawyers for a Saudi charity accused of helping Al Qaeda will argue that their clients, including two American attorneys, were illegally spied on without the required court warrant.

08-13-07 - Musharraf: No U.S. strikes in Pakistan Pakistan's president on Monday vigorously defended his government's independence from Washington and said he was "200 percent sure" the United States would not launch unilateral strikes against terrorists in Pakistan.

08-13-07 - Syria buys advanced anti-aircraft missiles: Israeli report Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has nevertheless refused to order the distribution of gas masks to civilians, fearing such a step would further escalate the heightened tensions between Israel and its northern neighbour, the report said, quoting sources in the military intelligence.

08-13-07 - UN official calls for improving living conditions of Palestinian refugees Panos Moumtzis, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Syria, made the remarks at an annual four-day conference of the General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees at its headquarters in Damascus.

08-13-07 - Why the power of three soon will change in Chicago He doesn't come across as the superstitious type, so it's unlikely that phenom-federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald believes in the power of threes.....As much as Mr. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys might like to keep their jobs, they serve at the "pleasure of the president" as the saying goes. Or, as we now know after the firings of some prosecutors appointed by Mr. Bush, they may not serve for long if the president or his underlings become displeased.

08-13-07 - Army Torturing Palestinian Refugees'

08-13-07 - 'Gifts' that haunt U.S.

08-13-07 - Lebanese soldier killed in battle with Islamists

08-13-07 - Lebanon villagers slowly rebuilding lives a year after war "Nothing has improved for me in the last year," Mokdad says bitterly as she chain smokes, holding back tears. "I used to have my dignity, my home and now look at me.

08-13-07 - 100% Proof Google is Keeping Conspiracy Sites Down Based on personal experience with some Google services, Google definitely is biased towards neocons.

News for 08-12-07

2007-08-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

08-12-07 - Russia flexes military muscle, evoking cold war posturing The Russia of President Vladimir Putin has taken a number of provocative military steps in recent days, creating concern about how the US and Europe should engage with a country that also has a vital role to play in Middle East peacemaking and the nuclear standoff with Iran.

08-12-07 - Iran concludes inquiry into detained U.S.-Iranians

08-12-07 - US 'surge' in Iraq 'likely to fail': British lawmakers

08-12-07 - Marine freed in Iraq killing case Of the eight members of the squad involved only one remains in prison.....Investigators said the soldiers dragged disabled Mr Awad from his home and killed him in Hamdaniya in April 2006.

08-12-07 - Report: Iran Less Than 10 Years Away From 2016 According to an alarming new Department of Defense report combining civilian, military, and calendric evidence, Iran may be as few as nine years away from the year 2016. HOLY CRAP!Nooooooo... We're all gonna die!!

08-12-07 - Challenging Bush?s Reality

08-12-07 - Russia, China and allies play war game

08-12-07 - Bush, Congress Could Collide On Iran ** Taking military action against Iran could put President Bush on a collision course with Congress, leading Democrats and a Republican lawmaker cautioned Friday following Bush?s threat of unspecified consequences for alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq.

08-12-07 - Credit crisis has Main Street watching Wall Street Behind all this lies a big question: If the turmoil on Wall Street gets worse, how large an effect will it have on Main Street ? in communities where consumers are already burdened by high gas prices and falling home values?

08-12-07 - Fox News pines for another 9/11 John Gibson endorsed Bykofsky's thesis on the air: "I think it's going to take a lot of dead people to wake America up."

08-12-07 - U.S. Pressure on Israel for a Palestinian State Foreseen ** Yogev explains that the Bush Administration is working under the pressure of the 2008 elections. "By then," Yogev posits, "Bush plans to hit the Iranian nuclear infrastructures. This is why he is in such a rush to give the Palestinians and the moderate Moslem states fat weapons deals and a Palestinian state - in order to silence them in anticipation of the planned attack on Iran.".....MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) told Arutz-7 this morning that the summit is something that must be strongly opposed: "This summit could well lead to a Palestinian state, with clear Hamas and Iranian influence, right on the doorstep of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ben Gurion International Airport. Even if it just serves as a small support for this idea, the summit is something that we must not allow."

08-12-07 - U.S.-Israel aid deal near The $30 billion package would come in parallel to stepped-up arms donations and sales by Washington to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) said Israel would still have the mightiest military in the region.

08-12-07 - U.S. and Israel close gap on defense aid payouts Israel wins, as expected. See "Holdup in U.S. aid deal".

08-12-07 - Lantos not hopeful on Mideast conference Lantos said the arms sale "needs to be of such a nature that it does not represent a threat to the State of Israel."

08-12-07 - Speechless in Chicago John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt were scheduled to use the Sept. 27 address to outline their upcoming book, ?The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,? which is expected to be released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux early next month. But the president of the Chicago Council, Marshall Bouton, canceled the event under pressure from critics who were uncomfortable with the academics? arguments, according to a letter drafted by Mearsheimer and Walt to the Council?s board. The Israeli Lobby strikes again. Islamofascism is the problem in America? The greatest threat to American freedoms and security is the Israeli Lobby, and that includes the efforts and policies of the neocons.

08-12-07 - Break with Bush over middle East, MPs warn Brown The Labour-led Foreign Affairs Committee urged Gordon Brown's ministers to talk to Syria and Iran - part of President George Bush's 'axis of evil'.

08-12-07 - UK 'damaged' by Lebanon war delay The UK's reputation was damaged when the government hesitated in calling for an immediate end to the Lebanon war last year, MPs have said......It called some of Israel's military actions in Lebanon during the war "indiscriminate and disproportionate".

08-12-07 - Peace in Iraq is inextricably linked to a Palestinian settlement For four decades, successive American administrations have failed to halt Israel's colonisation of the occupied territories. With Washington's redoubtable Israel lobby openly calling for an attack on Iran, the besieged President probably feels it would be safer to follow its lead than confront Israel over its refusal to enter into final status talks on a settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict.....Should Israel's colonisation of the West Bank continue, the US will find itself defending what former US president Jimmy Carter has described as a regime of apartheid in which Jews and Palestinians living in the same area are subject to different laws and differential access to resources. Should America succumb to Israeli pressure to isolate Iran, it will lose the war in Iraq.

08-12-07 - After the visit, family waits The deputy searched the car with the occupants' permission and found what he believed was a pipe bomb in the trunk, according to an arrest affidavit. Bomb technicians confirmed his suspicions, jail records show. But test results on the material in the trunk have not been released.

08-12-07 - US moves to hobble Lebanon's president The Bush administration has quietly opened a new diplomatic front in its efforts to free Lebanon from Syrian influence, with a move to undermine the authority of the country's pro-Syria president.

08-12-07 - UN's website breached by hackers Slogans accusing the US and Israel of killing children appeared on the pages reserved for statements from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

08-12-07 - Lebanese army turns down siege surrender offer The Lebanese army on Sunday rejected a conditional offer of surrender by Islamist extremists in a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country, a mediator told AFP.

08-12-07 - Walt-Mearsheimer Cancelled by Chicago Council on Global Affairs The Foxman ploy sounds suspiciously like the one they tried against Jimmy Carter when he was to speak at Brandeis. The University asked if instead of speaking alone he'd debate Alan Dershowitz, to which the former president said something like: "What? You must be kidding." Brandeis caved and Carter spoke alone as was befitting a former president.

08-12-07 - Kill Or Convert, Brought To You By the Pentagon With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. End Times Christianity is Christian Zionism.

News for 08-11-07

2007-08-12T13:26:00.001-07:00

08-11-07 - Iran, Iraq sign oil pipeline deal Under the deal, Iran would buy 100,000 barrels of Iraqi crude to be refined in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, then sell the product back to Iraq. The accord would have no upper limit on quantities.

08-11-07 - Iran shrugs off Bush remarks on Iraq ties with Tehran "Iran's support of the formation of the Iraqi government, (its) comprehensive support of the popularly elected government of Mr Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi officials' emphasis of Iran's constructive role are evidence of the Islamic Republic of Iran's policies towards Iraq."

08-11-07 - Sources: U.S. assessing Pakistan nukes if Musharraf falls

08-11-07 - Russia announces defence system upgrade Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a vast program to upgrade Russia's missile defence system.

08-11-07 - Iranian and Syrian officials deny fueling violence in Iraq Iran and Syria defended themselves against accusations by the United States and its allies that they have been fueling violence in Iraq.

08-11-07 - Web report sparks NY alert Citing an "unverified" terrorist threat, the NYPD on Friday set up checkpoints in lower Manhattan and stepped up the deployment of radiological sensors on cars, boats and helicopters.

08-11-07 - Bush pushes Musharraf on democracy, Al Qaeda

08-11-07 - Israeli Web site causes N.Y. to up counterterrorism precautions

08-11-07 - Deported Canadian Was No Threat, Report Shows Mr. Arar was sent by American intelligence officials in October 2002 to Syria, where he was tortured and jailed for a almost a year. Last September, an extensive Canadian inquiry concluded that the terrorism accusations against him were groundless.

08-11-07 - Pakistan If You Can by Philip Giraldi The leading Republican candidates had already established an incredibly low benchmark in the foreign policy sweepstakes by their stated willingness to use nuclear weapons against Iran. They have buttressed their resolve to kill still more young Americans in a new effort to remake the Middle East through the appointment of a number of neoconservatives as their foreign policy advisers, including Norman Podhoretz, who has called for World War IV against all "Islamofascists" everywhere. Other leading neocons advising Republicans include Elizabeth Cheney, Robert Kagan, Dan Senor, and Jim Woolsey......Being tough to the point of weakening allies and unnecessarily making new enemies might please the Armageddonists who are eager to end the world so they can be raptured up to heaven or the neoconservatives who want to fight all Muslims all the time, but it is hardly serves the interests of most Americans.

08-11-07 - Syria says it supports French bid to end Lebanon crisis "We support France's efforts in Lebanon," he told the Al-Manar channel. "We believe the French attitude to be impartial, in contrast with that of the United States.

08-11-07 - Stench of corpses hampers Lebanon soldiers in grisly camp battle Lebanese soldiers are being hampered in their fight against holed-up Islamist militants by the stench of putrefying corpses, army and medical sources said on Saturday.

08-11-07 - Ron Paul SIgns Removed by Police at the Ames Straw Poll

08-11-07 - Beirut discovers depression

08-11-07 - U.S. promotes free elections, only to see allies lose The paradox of American policy in the Middle East - promoting democracy on the assumption it will bring countries closer to the West - is that almost everywhere there are free elections, the American-backed side tends to lose.....But more important, U.S. support is often applied to one faction instead of institutions, causing further division rather than bringing about stability. Divide and conquer. How are they going to attack poor little Israel (because they certainly can't attack the US, those countries do not threaten American national security) if they are too busy attacking each other?

News for 08-10-07

2007-08-11T15:06:00.001-07:00

08-10-07 - Cheney urging strikes on Iran **

08-10-07 - Iran ex-president disappointed at US talks on Iraq Iran's influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani expressed disappointment on Friday at the lack of progress in talks with the United States aimed at restoring security in Iraq.

08-10-07 - U.S. military says al-Sadr in Iran again Al-Sadr came under heavy pressure to order his fighters not to confront the Americans as increase in U.S. troops began in February. He is believed to have complied, then left the country for Iran.

08-10-07 - Iran cleric says talks only way to resolve crisis

08-10-07 - Military draft should be considered: US war czar A top US military officer in charge of coordinating the US war effort in Iraq said Friday that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the US military's needs.

08-10-07 - British Criticize Air Attacks in Afghan Region A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

08-10-07 - Two Marines cleared over Haditha case Two US Marines facing charges in connection with the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha two years ago were cleared of wrongdoing Thursday, the military said.

08-10-07 - US sparks worldwide panic Worldwide, investors started to panic after yet another financial institution announced it had lost money because of the low-end "subprime" US mortgage market and its widespread effect on the US credit market. Hey I know, the US has tons of mon, economy is going great; why don't we attack Iran?! Morons.

08-10-07 - The Iran Attack That Wasn't ** The story was a big break for the war-with-Iran faction in Washington. Within hours, Sen. Joe Lieberman issued a press release saying that the Iranian government "has declared war on us." That set the stage for the unanimous passage the following week of his amendment stating that "the murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable act of hostility against the United States," and demanding the government of Iran "take immediate action" to end all forms of support it is providing to Iraqi militias and insurgents.

08-10-07 - Plan Against Iran May Trigger Arms Race

08-10-07 - Afghan business thrives on Iran's border In contrast with Pakistani border areas, which have been overrun by the Taliban, Herat ? just 75 miles from the Iranian border ? has flourished with the help of Iran, one of the Karzai government's strongest supporters. In Herat, for example, Iran has linked the city to the Iranian power grid and built a highway to the border.

08-10-07 - Blogs Tout GOP Presidential Hopeful Ron Paul Texas congressman Ron Paul is one of the candidates hoping for a strong showing this weekend in Iowa Republicans' presidential straw poll. His unconventional platform ? one he calls "anti-war: and "anti-welfare" ? is attracting support from the grassroots and 'Net roots.

08-10-07 - Pressure builds in US for tougher action against Iran ** The pressure is coming from Cheney and the neocons(Israel's primo lobbyists).

08-10-07 - Please help Palestinian refugees displaced by fighting in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon UNICEF estimates that about 15,000 of those displaced are children. A nearby Palestinian Refugee camp, the Beddawi Camp, continues to host many of those children and other civilians who have fled the fighting.

08-10-07 - Israel wants greater UNIFIL mandate

08-10-07 - McCain: Disarm Hizbullah, tackle Assad "To achieve lasting peace, sooner or later, one way or another, Hizbullah must be disarmed and its patron in Damascus confronted," according to US Presidential hopeful John McCain, who wrote to The Jerusalem Post as part of the latest installment to the 'Road to the White House' blog on JPost.com, which addressed the issue of how the US should deal with Syria.

08-10-07 - Valley lawmakers to hit road on recess Traveling courtesy of the American Israel Education Foundation, more than three dozen House members from both parties are in Israel this week and next. They include Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, and Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton.....The Republicans are visiting Israel this week, and the Democrats will go next week......The Aspen Institute spent $3.5 million on congressional travel, and the American Israel Education Foundation spent $950,000, the study found. For instance, records show, the foundation spent $10,093 for Nunes and his brother Anthony to visit Israel in August 2003. The foundation was established in 1988 by AIPAC, also known as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

08-10-07 - Giffords plans public talk after trip to Israel Giffords, who is Jewish, made her second trip earlier this year in a brief visit along with Republican Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl as part of the U.S. Congress-Israeli Knesset Interparliamentary Commission on National Security.

08-10-07 - Change on Iraq? Ask the Israelis These 40 legislators are the ones who over the past few weeks supported additional funding for the Arrow missile, which is part of the budget for cooperation on combating terror within the framework of the Office of Homeland Security. They are also the ones who will vote on the $30 billion increase in the security budget to which the administration plans to commit itself over the next 10 years...... Hoyer added that he attaches great importance to the Israeli point of view. To this end, he will ask Defense Minister Ehud Barak and several Israeli generals about their opinions on the possible implications of a change in Iraq. There are quite a few Democratic congressmen - including possible candidates

08-10-07 - Hezbollah showcases 'divine victory' over Israel Israel's war with Hezbollah resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 Lebanese civilians, a third of them children, as well as 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

News for 08-09-07

2007-08-10T15:43:00.001-07:00

08-09-07 - Bomb attacks on US troops at highest level

08-09-07 - Iran urges US pull-out from Iraq Iran's vice-president has said efforts to improve security in Iraq depend on the withdrawal of US-led forces and an end to US interference in the country.

08-09-07 - Bush has cautionary words for Maliki on Iran U.S. President George W. Bush insisted on Thursday that Iran is a destabilizing force in Iraq despite Tehran's assertion to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that it is helping secure his country.

08-09-07 - 2 charged with pipe bombs near Navy base

08-09-07 - US Hegemony Spawns Russian-Chinese Military Alliance This week the Russian and Chinese militaries are conducting a joint military exercise involving large numbers of troops and combat vehicles. The former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgkyzstan, and Kazakstan are participating. Other countries appear ready to join the military alliance.

08-09-07 - Marine's Iraq murder case dropped L/Cpl Justin Sharratt was among several accused of going on a rampage in which 24 Iraqis were killed after a roadside bombing killed one US marine.

08-09-07 - US withdrawal likely unless Iraq violence falls: study A US withdrawal from Iraq may be "impossible to resist" unless violence against civilians falls substantially, a study funded by the US Air Force warned Wednesday.

08-09-07 - Russian bombers play war games with US

08-09-07 - Syria reveals army deaths from militant campaign This is the first time Syria has publicly disclosed details of the fight against militants, which has intensified this year.

08-09-07 - Columnist says Bush administration fears Powell will emerge as anti-war critic I don't know if Powell would go full throttle, if only for the respect he likely has for Bush's old man. Though I'm sure he has plenty to say.

08-09-07 - Ron Paul Draws 600 in Fairfield Iowa Ron Paul has stayed away from the influence of lobbies, has stayed true to the Constitution and to the interests of the American people. Thus does he deserve our support.

08-09-07 - How to pay for US road and bridge repair? Some lawmakers put a hike in the gas tax on the table, but Bush dismissed the idea on Thursday. Cut foreign aid.

08-09-07 - Why Saudi Arabia? Why Now? by Colonel Daniel Smith, USA (Ret.)

08-09-07 - Russian Navy Must Restore Presence In Mediterranean Says Naval Commander

08-09-07 - Overstretched US cuts aid to Israel Washington had promised Israel a substantial increase in its financial support to bolster it against Iran.

But US officials decided to amend their pledge because of escalating costs, including the need to spend $750 million (£375 million) to fly thousands of armoured troop carriers to Iraq to protect troops against Iranian-made roadside bombs
Might I remind you that Israel's economy is 'booming'. Ours is not. And nowhere in the Constitution does it say that we owe Israel anything. OUR troops MUST come first.

08-09-07 - 'Limited Peace' For Israel,'Limited War' Vs. Iran ** Destroying the Iranian nuclear infrastructure could be a limited operation. The United States Navy and Air Force, which are not heavily engaged in the Iraq War Again, it's assumed that America is going to (again) do Israel's dirty work. Note the source.

08-09-07 - Middle East void in chemical weapons pact: Expert Egypt, Israel and Syria have stayed away from the Chemical Weapons Convention, while Iraq and Lebanon have signalled they will join soon, Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said.

08-09-07 - Lebanese army claims breakthrough in siege camp Lebanese troops made a new breakthrough on Thursday in the final part of a refugee camp in the north of the country where Islamist militants remain holed up, an officer said

08-09-07 - Russian Fleet Worries Israel

08-09-07 - Olmert: All quiet on Syrian front "Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, and neither does Syria intend to attack Israel."

08-09-07 - Francis Boyle: Destroying Democracy in Palestine When the Palestinians democratically elected a government that the Neo-Conservatives in the Bush Jr. administration and their Kadima/Likudnik confederates in Israel did not prefer, they jointly did everything humanly possible to destroy it.

08-09-07 - US Dems won't endanger Israel with Iraq policy The Democratic leadership in the US House of Representatives has promised to take into consideration Israel's concerns when formulating its official policy on America's involvement in Iraq......Hoyer will lead a delegation of 20 Democratic congressmen to Israel next week in order to gain a better understanding of the regional threats Israel is facing. A Republican delegation is in Israel this week for the same reason. America's interests and security should come first. It does not.

08-09-07 - Stu Bykofsky | To save America, we need another 9/11 Most Americans today believe Iraq was a mistake. Why? Not because Americans are "anti-war." Americans have turned their backs because the war has dragged on too long and we don't have the patience for a long slog.
Hey Stu, Americans have finally realized that they were lied to in order to get their support to invade Iraq, a nation that had no ties to Al Qaeda, and did not attack us on 911. Is Stu afraid that America isn't going to finish out Israel's wish list?

08-09-07 - Holy Land trial turns to Israeli agent The federal judge presiding over the Holy Land Foundation terror finance trial ordered his courtroom cleared of spectators Thursday as a secret agent for the Israeli Defense Forces took the stand. The agent, referred to only by the pseudonym Major Lior, testified through a translator......Even defense attorneys did not know the man's true identity. The Israeli government allowed him to testify in an American courtroom only if his name and face were not made public......Defense frustration seemed to spill over into the cross-examination of the Israeli agent. Attorney Linda Moreno grilled him and his translator about whether his team got any kind of court order, or warrant, before seizing the documents. "You're not contending the Fourth Amendment applies outside the U.S., are you?" Judge Fish asked her at one point.

Israel's trials become US trials, to the tune of millions of taxpayer dollars.

08-09-07 - US anti-terror official talks Iran sanctions in Israel Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met the US Treasury's top anti-terrorism official Stuart Levey on Thursday for talks on economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, an Israeli spokesman said. ...."Israel supports a hardening of sanctions already imposed" on the Islamic republic, Regev said. "Diplomacy must be firm and speak with one voice in order to succeed. Thus does America get more orders from Israel.

08-09-07 - Why The Dems Are Not Much Better Than the GOP on Foreign Policy And that especially applies to the Middle East where neocon orthodoxy governs our Israel-Palestinian policy as well as our policies on Iran and Iraq. (Along these lines, read this and this about Steny Hoyer's current visit to the Middle East).

News for 08-08-07

2007-08-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

08-08-07 - President Bush promises 'justice' for Iranians interfering in Iraq in Fox interview ** When Neil Cavuto, host of Fox News' Your World asked if the President included a military attack on Iran among the 'consequences,' Bush gave a cryptic answer. "They will be brought to justice," he said.

08-08-07 - Bush levels dubious Iran nuclear arms charge US President George W. Bush charged Monday that Iran has openly declared that it seeks nuclear weapons -- an inaccurate accusation at a time of sharp tensions between Washington and Tehran.

08-08-07 - Iran tells PM Maliki it is helping secure Iraq

08-08-07 - Iran sees US plot to topple its leadership An Iranian minister said he believed the United States had dropped the idea of attacking Iran but wanted to topple its leadership through what he called a ?soft revolution?.

08-08-07 - US raid kills 30 Iraq 'militants' The US military said the dead were part of a network that was smuggling weapons from Iran, but witnesses said women and children were among those killed.....On Wednesday, Lt Gen Raymond Odierno said "explosively formed penetrators" increasingly supplied by Iran were responsible for a third of US combat deaths in July. Making the case for war.

08-08-07 - Iran rejects face-to-face talks with U.S. over nuclear issue Iran on Tuesday rejected UN nuclear chief's proposal for direct talks with the United States over Tehran's nuclear issue, the official IRNA news agency reported

08-08-07 - Iran, North Korea eye energy cooperation Iran and North Korea on Wednesday agreed to step up cooperation in the energy sector as the reclusive Asian state's trade minister paid a visit to the fellow arch foe of the United States.

08-08-07 - Neocons aiding '08 Republicans "Because Republicans are supportive of the president and the war, that doesn't necessarily mean they are supportive of a policy that embraces continuing the war and continuing nation-building," said Philip Giraldi, the former CIA counterintelligence official who is the Francis Walsingham Fellow for the American Conservative Defense Alliance. "It's a misreading of the Republican electorate." They were responsible for dragging us into Iraq. It's unfathomable that they would still be advising anyone, least of all presidential candidates. It's baffling when folks suggest that neoconservatism is on the decline or that the neocons have fallen. They are still here, and still influential. IMO, they are the gravest threat to the American national interest - moreso than Al Qaeda ever could be.

08-08-07 - Studies: Suicide bombers in Iraq are mostly foreigners Hafez, whose new book is "Suicide Bombers in Iraq ," has identified the nationalities of 124 bombers who attacked in Iraq . Of those, the largest number- 53- were Saudis. Eight apiece came from Italy and Syria , seven from Kuwait , four from Jordan and two each from Belgium , France and Spain . Others came from North and East Africa , South Asia and various Middle Eastern and European countries. Only 18- 15 percent- were Iraqis........There's widespread agreement that Saudis are represented more heavily than any other nationality among the bombers, said Assaf Moghadem, a research fellow at Harvard University who studies suicide bombers' motivations Sweet Jesus, no Iranians among them? Cheney's going to be pissed!

08-08-07 - Prospects of Armageddon ** The same camp whose vocal endorsement led to the present catastrophe in Iraq are now hawkishly gazing at Iran. The same absurd and dangerous logic that defends the nuclear atrocities of 1945 can now be used to support the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against Iran - the threat of which in turn makes the idea of a conventional attack appear more palatable.

08-08-07 - Anti-Saudi tide rises in Iraq The Saudi backlash is being fueled by Iraqi media reports and Shiite leaders' condemnations of apparent fatwas, religious rulings by Saudi muftis calling for the destruction of Shiite shrines in Iraq.

08-08-07 - India feels heat over Iran The comments were aimed at the strategically significant Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline deal that is being negotiated by the three powers despite opposition from the Bush administration.

08-08-07 - Cheney says 'main battle in Iraq' against al Qaeda Nitwit.

08-08-07 - Poll: Iraqis Oppose Oil Privatization

08-08-07 - 1.4 Million Iraqis Push Syria to Edge

08-08-07 - Book Reveals Details of Iran?s Diplomatic Outreach to Israel Both Flynt Leverett, who was the senior Middle East official in Bush?s National Security Council until 2003, and Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to then-secretary of state Colin Powell, have stated publicly that it was neoconservatives in the administration who nixed the proposal. Parsi echoed those assertions, claiming that Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice favored a positive response but were thwarted by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, leading the State Department to rebuke the Swiss ambassador for overreaching his mandate. Cheney and the neocons.

08-08-07 - Sub-prime superpower by Patrick J. Buchanan We are committed to police the world ? yet we have an Army that is "breaking," as presidential candidates bray about attacking Iran, a nation three times as large and populous as Iraq, and invading Pakistan, a Muslim nation of 170 million, with atom bombs. Whom are we kidding? U.S. foreign policy is bankrupt. We can't cover our commitments with the ground forces we have. And a world watching America thrash about in Mesopotamia is beginning to recognize it and act upon it.

08-08-07 - Siren Song of Elliott Abrams The Israeli-U.S. strategy for Palestine is now crystal clear: overturn the will of the people (in this case as expressed through democratic elections), kill off any resistance (Hamas in this case, along with any civilians who might get in the way), co-opt a quisling leadership (Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas), push out and kill if necessary as many people as international opinion will allow, ultimately rid Palestine of most Palestinians. The cast of characters and organizations has changed from earlier times, but this has essentially been Israel's strategy from the beginning....

08-08-07 - Syrian Amb.: Russia Won't Build Ports Here Ja'afari also explained that Damascus was ready "to resume" a dialog with Israel, but under a multi-national format as outlined in the historic Madrid Agreement.

08-08-07 - Holy Land defense attorney questions FBI agent On Thursday, an Israeli government agent is expected to testify about his government?s seizure of evidence from Hamas offices implicating Holy Land. The agent will testify under a pseudonym amid heightened security at the downtown Dallas federal courthouse. During his testimony, the courtroom will be cleared of spectators, who must go to an overflow courtroom with a video monitor that will not show the agent?s face in order to protect his identity.

08-08-07 - Administration's Prosecution of Muslim Group Brings Charges of Bias Thus far, the courthouse has drawn a steady stream of protesters who have said that prosecutors and Jewish organizations are singling out Muslim charitable organizations It would be interesting to know exactly how many of these 'terror' trials have to do with ISRAEL'S enemies, and how many have to do with Al Qaeda. My bet is that there are infinitely more of the former than of the latter. Cui bono? Who benefits? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror - Patrick J. Buchanan. Note the fourth and fifth paragraph up from the bottom. If we're basing our prosecutions on Israeli testimony - by agents in disguise and using pseudonyms - and LOSING those cases, that ought to tell you something right there.

08-08-07 - Frank Talk About Iran Reut?s conclusion is that Jerusalem must begin speaking to Washington frankly about the areas where the two nation?s interests converge and where they do not. Israel must focus its efforts on ensuring that America does not take Israel for granted, or ignore it altogether, as contacts with Iran proceed.......... Here, too, Israel must assess its strategic needs in light of the chaos in Iraq, and sit down for some straight talk with its American ally, as opinion columnist Yossi Alpher argues on the opposite page. This will require nimble, open-minded tactics on the part of Israel?s friends in America. It is in Israel?s interests to ensure that Washington is under pressure to lean on Iran with every available tool, in order to rein in its mischief-making, its nuclear ambitions and its continued backing of terrorism. They want to make Israel's problems OUR problems.

08-08-07 - UN soldier's widow still seeks 'the truth' More than a year after Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener was killed when Israeli forces struck a UN observation post in Lebanon, his widow says too many unanswered questions surround his death. Hey, if it was 'pro-Syrians', well sheeit, you'd be getting your very own UN resolution (which the US would NOT veto). But if Israel does it, you're SOL, lady!

08-08-07 - Fatah Islam No. 2 killed in Lebanon

08-08-07 - Four Islamists, 2 troops killed in Lebanon camp

08-08-07 - UN food agency to help farmers in southern Lebanon The munitions dropped by Israel included more than a million cluster bomblets, around 40 percent of which failed to detonate on impact, according to the United Nations. The ordance has wounded more than 200 people since the end of the conflict last August 14, according to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), and at least 27 people have been killed, according to an AFP tally.

08-08-07 - Senior Shiite Cleric says U.S. desperate Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric Tuesday called U.S. intervention in Lebanon part of a desperate attempt for victory in the region after its "failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine."

08-08-07 - Israel to institute new wartime measures Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened top Cabinet colleagues and security chiefs Wednesday to decide on a response to the findings of a commission of inquiry into last year's Lebanon war

News for 08-07-07

2007-08-08T15:53:00.001-07:00

08-07-07 - Officials: Russia ups pressure on Iran Russia is increasing pressure on Iran to be more open about its nuclear program, threatening to indefinitely withhold fuel for a Russian-built reactor unless Tehran lifts secrecy shrouding past nuclear activities, diplomats said Tuesday.

08-07-07 - Iran says 'terror plot' foiled in restive province "They were aiming to carry out a terrorist act in the south of the (southwestern) Khuzestan province but they were arrested before carrying out any action,"

08-07-07 - Iran aims to avoid sanctions with atomic openness

08-07-07 - Al-Qaeda threatens US diplomats A NEW video from a wanted American member of Al-Qaeda has been broadcast on the internet, according to an American site that monitors terrorist groups, and it contained a warning that American diplomatic missions were "legitimate targets."

08-07-07 - Iraq vows to oust Kurdish rebels Turkey and Iraq have agreed to "expend all efforts" to oust a Kurdish separatist group from northern Iraq.

08-07-07 - One year on, war pollution still stains Lebanon's shores Many of these sites lie north of Beirut, in a 30 kilometre stretch between Byblos and Enfe. The clean-up work is being financed to the tune of 4.7 million dollars by the US government's international development agency, which admits the daunting and long-term nature of the work. American taxpayers are cleaning up a(nother) mess that Israel made. How much is Israel contributing to the cleanup? My money's on ZERO.

08-07-07 - Lebanon says top Fatah al-Islam member killed

08-07-07 - Burns to hear Israeli take on Saudi arms deal While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel did not in principle object to the arms sale to the Saudis, and although AIPAC is not expected to actively oppose it, the deal has still not been presented to Congress. Officials involved in the issue said Burns would listen to Israeli concerns.

08-07-07 - The Last Jews In Baghdad The eight Jews, belonging to four families, are all that is left in Iraq from the world's oldest Jewish community, dating to the 6th century B.C. when the Babylonians conquered ancient Palestine and exiled its people as slaves. Over the centuries the Jews flourished, and Baghdad became a center of Jewish culture and learning.

News for 08-06-07

2007-08-07T17:47:00.001-07:00

08-06-07 - Veterans' Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields "Between the chemicals in the air overseas, the shots they give you, and not eating well or sleeping more than four hours a day ? your body just isn?t strong enough to fight anything off. "Right now, it's cancer, cancer, cancer. A lot of these kids, 21 years old, are coming back with cancer. How did they get it? How did it happen to me when I was healthy?"

08-06-07 - Warrantless wiretaps expanded The US government now has greater authority to eavesdrop without warrants on American citizens' telephone calls and e-mails after President Bush signed new surveillance legislation into law on Sunday

08-06-07 - Obama speech sparks anti-US rally

08-06-07 - Russia Plans ICBM to Counter US Missile Shield

08-06-07 - Pentagon admits 190,000 weapons missing in Iraq Some 190,000 assault rifles and pistols supplied by the US to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005 have gone missing, according to a report issued here yesterday, and may have fallen into the possession of insurgents.

08-06-07 - UN nuclear experts in Iran to discuss inspections

08-06-07 - Republican candidates stick with Bush on Iraq Republican presidential candidates are starting to put some distance between themselves and unpopular President George W. Bush but on the main issue confronting Americans, Iraq, they are hewing closely to him.

08-06-07 - Bill Kristol and the Stink of Fear What rises up out of Kristol's piece is the stink of fear ? fear that the neocons are being abandoned by their erstwhile hosts, fear that anger over the war will boil over into their political and personal ruination, fear that their game has finally been exposed, and fear that Americans are bound and determined to take their country back. Their fears are our hopes.

08-06-07 - Barak upbeat on Lebanon war's fallout Barak said he believed the fact that Israel was not an occupying force gave it legitimacy when it responded to a deadly Hezbollah border raid on July 12, 2006 with a massive offensive in Lebanon. He also argued that the war had boosted Israel's regional deterrence.

08-06-07 - Agent: charity leaders attended meeting of Hamas supporters War on Terror. Cui Bono?

08-06-07 - AEI: Caught Between Its Likudist Heart and Its Corporate Head

08-06-07 - MI: Syria increases military activity for fear of an Israeli attack The head of the research division of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, told lawmakers Sunday that Syria believes that Israel is planning to attack, and has therefore increased its military activity.

08-06-07 - A borderless state is no solution Tackling Iran's nuclear ambitions may be a higher priority in Washington than ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, but the two are inseparably linked. The support of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states against Iran still requires movement on Palestine.

08-06-07 - Study: Israel must initiate talks with U.S. on conflicting Iran interests ** Israel must prepare for the possibility that the United States will try to resolve the Iranian nuclear question by reaching an accommodation with Tehran, which will not include Israel. In such an event, the document notes, Israel must ensure that "the essential interests of the State of Israel are preserved." .....The document points out that Israel assumes that its interests and those of the United States on the Iranian nuclear question are identical.....The Reut researchers also point to a lessening likelihood of American military action against Iran, and growing support for dialogue with Tehran.

08-06-07 - No home play for Iraq in World Cup qualifiers Afghanistan and the Palestinian team were also barred from playing home matches for security reasons, AFC tournament director and assistant general secretary Carlo Nohra told reporters.

08-06-07 - How to Deal with The Lobby

08-06-07 - The road to peace runs through Jerusalem Now that the US is well on the way to failure in Iraq a new theory is doing the rounds. This time, "the road to Jerusalem runs through Tehran." It is the rising power of Iran ? fostered by the war in Iraq ? that may create the conditions for peace between Israel and Palestine.

08-06-07 - Robert Fisk: Lebanese strike a blow at US-backed government They've done it again. The Arabs have, once more, followed democracy and voted for the wrong man.

08-06-07 - Israel warns against travel in Mideast Israelis anywhere in the world should also be alert to the danger of being kidnapped by operatives from Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, according to the announcement from Israel's National Security Council.

News for 08-05-07

2007-08-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

08-05-07 - Iraq air force wants Iran to give back its planes Iraq's air force commander said on Sunday he hoped Iran would return some of the scores of Iraqi fighter plans that flew there ahead of the Gulf War in 1991, but conceded many of them were probably beyond repair

08-05-07 - Iran says atomic work has not slowed down

08-05-07 - Iran shows off homegrown fighter jet Iran on Sunday showed off for the first time a new fighter jet said to be modelled on the American F-5 but built using domestic technology, state media reported.

08-05-07 - Iran appoints new Anglican bishop In what is seen as a sign of growing religious tolerance in Iran, church services have been held in Tehran to mark the installation of a new Anglican bishop. Oh the horror. First, we hear there are Iranian Jews (who refuse to emigrate to Israel, despite potential cash), now there's Iranian Anglicans too? What's next? BUDDHISTS. Holy sheeit. Those Iranian Nazis!

08-05-07 - Iran a helper, not a threat: Karzai Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a key US ally, contradicted US assessments of the threat posed by Iran and insisted in an interview that Tehran played a beneficial role in his region. Another load of feces that the Bush admin neocons flung but can't get to stick. Where will it be launched next? Stay tuned...(Every Which Way But Loose, You Turn Me Every Which Way But Loose...)

08-05-07 - In Amman, resentment builds against refugees "The Iraqis have the most sectarian tensions of any Arabs, and we worry that could happen here," he said. "If they keep coming in big numbers, then there will be fighting here, too. They have a huge hate between them, and this is dangerous for Jordan."

08-05-07 - ABC Reset Republican Debate Tally After Ron Paul Win?

08-05-07 - The Illegal - and Immoral - Option

08-05-07 - The Abu Ghraib whistleblower's ordeal "I really find it hard to believe that the secretary of defence of the United States has no idea about the star witness for a criminal case being anonymous."

08-05-07 - Signs of faltering US economy surface

08-05-07 - Palestinian Imam calls on Taliban to free Korean hostages "In the name of Islam and its principles of forgiveness, we appeal to you (Taliban) to stop killing the Korean hostages because this contradicts with the rule of Islam," Tamimi said in a statement sent to reporters.

08-05-07 - 150 American youths to join IDF "All of them heard about last summer's war in Lebanon and they want to contribute to Israel's security." Something wrong with joining the AMERICAN military? Have they not heard of IRAQ? Wow.

08-05-07 - Kucinich: Executive Order on Lebanon Undermines The Middle-East Peace Process ?If the Administration continues these policies which undermine the sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon, the United States risks more violence in the Middle East, further isolation from the international community, and the continued sacrifice of our pressing domestic needs.

08-05-07 - Attack on ship never probed June 8 was the 40th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty, an American naval intelligence ship sailing in international waters with her flag displayed on a clear day. The result of the attack was 34 dead and 171 injured. The event is the only U.S. naval attack never formally investigated by Congress.

08-05-07 - ANALYSIS: Jerusalem lowering expectations over peace talks Jerusalem was busy lowering expectations, and Olmert's bureau said the leaders were not seeking to formulate an "agreement of principles," but rather "agreed-on principles" - which is the same thing, but less frightening. The bureau cautioned diplomatic correspondents not to get their hopes up. evertheless, Rice heard a different tune this week in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Translation: The Israelis are going to walk the walk and talk the talk, to get America to attack Iran. Then, it's back to the same ole, same ole.

08-05-07 - Lebanon vote widens gap among divided Christians Michel Aoun, a Christian leader from the Syrian-backed opposition, said his faction had defeated the candidate of the Western-backed ruling majority by a close margin in the by-election in the Metn mountains northeast of Beirut.

08-05-07 - Lebanese army still battling Islamists at refugee camp The Lebanese army on Sunday pushed forth with its offensive against Islamists besieged in a refugee camp in the north of the country as the battle entered its 12th week.

08-05-07 - Muslims gaining strength in United States - cleric "I deal with a woman whether she wears a hijab or not, that's my position. Maybe some of you will disagree," he said. "There is no need for labels -- 'you're an infidel, Muslim, Islamist, you'll go to heaven'. I deal with citizens whoever they are and God is the judge."

08-05-07 - Record oil prices deepen rich-poor divide, say analysts

08-05-07 - Lebanese girl 'raised from dead' back home "It was one o'clock. Dalia had gone with her father, her brother and her sister to buy some yoghurt for lunch from a shop in the village," recalls her mother, Alia Deeb. "Just when they got back home, they were cut down by an Israeli shell. I saw my husband and my son cry out, their faces all bloodied. Dalia didn't move. Everybody thought she had been killed outright."

08-05-07 - She takes flight to Israel ? one way she announced she would follow in the footsteps of her older brother, Gabi, who joined the Israeli army a little more than two years ago, except that she might go into the Israeli navy instead. Something wrong with serving in the AMERICAN military?

08-05-07 - A wedding's irresistible momentum Displaced by Islamic militants and short on food, refugees in Lebanon find a way to wed.

News for 08-04-07

2007-08-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

08-04-07 - Ahmadinejad says Iran won't give up nuclear plans

08-04-07 - Iran-U.S. to hold Iraq talks on Monday: Iran envoy Iran, the United States and Iraq will on Monday discuss details of a committee they agreed to set up in July to help restore security in Iraq, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

08-04-07 - US soldier gets 110 years in rape, killing of Iraqi girl A US soldier was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in jail for raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and slaying her family, the army said.

08-04-07 - Civilian Deaths Reported During US Airstrikes in Southern Afghanistan

08-04-07 - US Demanding Iran Restrain Shi'ite Groups

08-04-07 - Wounded veterans learning to water ski

08-04-07 - The calamity of disregard It is now chillingly clear: MI6's pre-Iraq warnings were swept aside by an obsessed White House

08-04-07 - Onward - into Waziristan! by Patrick J. Buchanan On to Tehran. On to Pakistan. Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.

08-04-07 - Sloganeering Troubles Diplomatic Pros Traditionally silent during presidential campaigns filled with divisive foreign policy debates, the department on Friday delivered a rebuke to would-be nominees of both parties whose recent comments have complicated U.S. efforts to overcome deep suspicion about the war on terrorism in the Muslim world.

08-04-07 - Inside Track: More Surveillance, More Often by Philip Giraldi On the domestic front, FISA only relates to communications involving U.S. residents. The president is clearly seeking open-ended authority to intercept communications without any due process, and he apparently intends to do so in the United States, not in Iraq and its neighboring countries where he already has that ability.

08-04-07 - As Iraq Costs Soar, Contractors Earn Record Profits

08-04-07 - Judge Backs C.I.A. in Suit on Memoir Valerie Wilson may be the best known former intelligence operative in recent history, but a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that she was not allowed to say how long she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in the memoir she plans to publish this fall.

08-04-07 - Congressman Ron Paul's Secret Revealed What most people do not know, because the mainstream press is doing its best to manipulate support away from Dr. Paul, is that he won the first debate, he came in second in the second debate, and he came in first in the third debate.......over and over we are subjected to articles that say he has no chance.

08-04-07 - Iran's president tells Israel to find a new home Iran's outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Israel to "go find somewhere else" for its state and leave its territory for the creation of a Palestinian state, according to an interview published Saturday.

08-04-07 - US Marine sergeant sentenced to 15 years for killing Iraqi A US Marine sergeant convicted of killing an Iraqi civilian was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday, the toughest sentence of the eight US servicemen who took part in the war crime, a military source said. Whereas the IDF get 'reprimanded' and 'remanded' to their base for unlawfully shooting Palestinian Arabs, the US military sentences their own for unlawfully shooting/killing Iraqi Arabs; another stark difference between the US and Israel.

08-04-07 - Canada allows false terrorism case to be made public Mr Arar was detained by the US in New York and removed to Syria, where he was tortured.

08-04-07 - Lebanese soldier killed in battle at camp

08-04-07 - UN council troubled over Lebanon arms The presidential statement expressed "deep concern at the increase in Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and appeals to all parties concerned to respect the cessation of hostilities and the blue line in its entirety."

08-04-07 - Researcher's Analysis of al Qaeda Images Reveals Surprises -- UPDATED

News for 08-03-07

2007-08-04T18:18:00.001-07:00

08-03-07 - New U.S. carrier in Gulf region as force reduced The U.S. Navy, scaling back its force in the Gulf, said on Wednesday it had sent a fresh aircraft carrier to the region to replace two carriers deployed there since early this year amid tension with Iran.

08-03-07 - Court secretly struck down Bush spying: report The intelligence-court judge, who remains anonymous, concluded that the government had overstepped its authority by monitoring overseas communications that pass through the United States, the Post said, citing anonymous government and congressional sources.

08-03-07 - Congress Estimates U.S. Will Spend $1 Trillion On Iraq War

08-03-07 - Iran 'not worried' by US arms sales Iran is not worried by US arms sales in the Middle East, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reported as saying by the ISNA news agency on Friday.

08-03-07 - Al-Qaeda urges Pakistanis to overthrow Musharraf

08-03-07 - Congress curbs power of the lobbyists after series of scandals

08-03-07 - Why Do They Hate Us? Start With John Bolton

08-03-07 - The Cheney-Edelman Connection Edelman, who replaced Douglas Feith in 2005, is a career foreign service officer with neo-conservative views, albeit not as radical as those of his ultra-Likudist predecessor. It's a neocon presidential administration, evidently.

08-03-07 - Democrats Scrambling to Expand Eavesdropping

08-03-07 - Ron Paul remains longshot for GOP nom We'll see about that.

08-03-07 - Hoyer leads Israel trip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, is leading a group of freshman Democratic lawmakers on a tour of Israel.

08-03-07 - The Case for an America-First Foreign Policy

08-03-07 - New bill would enable terrorism suits The Justice for Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act introduced Thursday tightens loopholes in the Flatow Amendment of 1996, named for Alisa Flatow, a 20-year old New Jersey student killed in a 1995 Gaza Strip attack carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iran-backed group.

08-03-07 - Israel seeks two-stage prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah

08-03-07 - New report documents past quarter century of Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians

08-03-07 - Lebanon braces for key elections Lebanon is stepping up security ahead of two by-elections, one a key test of support among the deeply divided Christian community.

08-03-07 - Careful: The FB-eye may be watching Reading the wrong thing in public can get you in trouble

08-03-07 - Romney backs Saudi deal with conditions Mitt Romney said the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia should depend on its support of Israeli-Palestinian peace among other conditions.

08-03-07 - Hikind sees Pollard New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind led a delegation that met with Jonathan Pollard.....Hikind said the U.S. Jewish community has not done enough to free Pollard Say, I wonder, where does this AMERICAN assemblyman's loyalty lie? Pollard committed TREASON.

08-03-07 - Syrians seek seat at Mideast peace table As the prospect of peace talks loom, Syria is also warning that an "arms race" could be ignited by the Bush administration's plan to beef up its military support to Sunni Muslim-ruled Gulf States, Egypt and Israel, Reuters reports.

08-03-07 - US Evangelicals at Odds on Embracing Israel "The support of Christian Zionists is critical to Israel's security and strength," Lieberman said, "and to America's security and strength." Surrre it is, Joe. Your true colors are showing (blue and white).

08-03-07 - U.S. Arms Sales Preserve Israel's Edge "the administration is buying off Israel by increasing its military aid to more than 30 billion dollars over the course of the next decade."

08-03-07 - Israel's Jewish Problem in Tehran There is an interesting problem with selling the "Iran as Nazi Germany" line. If Ahmadinejad really is Hitler, ready to commit genocide against Israel's Jews as soon as he can get his hands on a nuclear weapon, why are some 25,000 Jews living peacefully in Iran and more than reluctant to leave despite repeated enticements from Israel and American Jews?

08-03-07 - Hezbollah says U.S. trying to intimidate Lebanese "Bush ... considers the Siniora government part of American national security and part of American policy. Oh Lebanese, we are demanding a government which (represents) Lebanese national security and not American national security."

08-03-07 - Syria lets in four sick Palestinians from Iraq -U.N Syria has allowed four seriously ill young Palestinians stranded in a desolate camp in the Iraqi desert to enter the country for urgent medical treatment, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

08-03-07 - Hezbollah vows not to use arms against Lebanese foes

08-03-07 - Fierce fighting between Lebanese army and Islamists An AFP correspondent saw two Katyusha rockets being fired from within Nahr al-Bared camp north of Tripoli by the militants, with one projectile hitting a nearby power station.

08-03-07 - Lieberman defends CUFI speech "I know that they were very supportive of Israel, as I am," Lieberman, who is Jewish, told Salon on Friday, referring to his speech last month at the annual Washington assembly of Christians United for Israel

08-03-07 - Bahrain says Mideast conference should be inclusive "All countries which have a conflict with Israel must be present in order to resolve the conflicts. Israel has disputes with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians, and we want this conference to discuss all (contentious) issues between Israel and the Arabs," Sheikh Khaled added.

News for 08-02-07

2007-08-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

08-02-07 - Europe warns US on Iran sanctions

08-02-07 - U.S. military sees 'marked and increasing Iranian influence' among extremists in Iraq

08-02-07 - US marine guilty of Iraq murder

08-02-07 - Gates ends Mideast tour with call for pressure on Iran Gates said measures to enforce UN financial and trade sanctions were one avenue to squeeze Iran, but he also explored ideas for expanded military cooperation during three days of talks in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

08-02-07 - Lawmakers line up against Saudi deal More than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter warning President Bush that they would try to stop his proposed sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

08-02-07 - Murdoch?s Expanding Empire Seen as ?Ominous? ?Murdoch has a long and sordid history of discarding the accepted norms of honest journalism in order to advance his own political and corporate agenda,?

08-02-07 - Bush Officials May Face New Subpoenas Having the most senior members of the administration testify under oath about conversations with lobbyists in regard to classified information could shatter what is left from the anti-leak posture the administration has adopted in its early years.

08-02-07 - Black investigator has own shadowy past as a spy This isn't the first time that Juval Aviv, whose affidavit was the focus of much of yesterday's hearing for Conrad Black, has been caught up in larger-than-life events.

08-02-07 - Washington's Orwellian foreign policy maneuver

08-02-07 - Ageing infrastructure under scrutiny after bridge collapse The American Society of Civil Engineers warned in a report two years ago that between 2000 and 2003, more than 27 per cent of the nation's almost 600,000 bridges were rated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Hey I know. Let's attack Iran. Brilliant.

08-02-07 - Surplus aircraft parts sold Surplus parts for fighter jets used only by Iran were sold after the Pentagon supposedly had halted the sales.

08-02-07 - Romney backs away from Hezbollah citation Mitt Romney's campaign said Hezbollah was not a proper model for his vision of U.S. diplomacy, addressing a controversy arising from his earlier remarks.

08-02-07 - Edwards, Obama question Saudi arms sale Obama, like Edwards a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Israel's security was "paramount" in considering such a sale

08-02-07 - House: Press warrants in AMIA case A U.S. House of Representatives resolution called upon Interpol to implement the arrest warrants of six suspects in the deadly attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

08-02-07 - Two troops killed as Lebanese army battles Islamists

08-02-07 - Lebanon cleric bans honor killings Religious condemnation of the practice is rare and the office of Lebanon's top Sunni cleric said he did not recall any such fatwa being issued in the past. Religious leaders in neighboring Jordan have also remained silent on the issue

08-02-07 - Bush slaps assets ban on 'Lebanon's enemies' American President George W Bush has ordered a freeze on the US assets of anyone Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese Government. Including Israel? Right.

News for 08-01-07

2007-08-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

08-01-07 - The Fear Factor by Rep. Ron Paul the loss of liberty resulting from the social psychology to which we continue to subject ourselves is not easily reversed. People who would have previously battled against encroachments on civil liberties now explain the "necessity" of those "temporary security measures" Franklin is said to have railed against.
Ron Paul is on par with the founding fathers of this nation. His candor and his refusal to pander to lobbies/special_interests makes him a true candidate of the people, a rarity in the good ole USA.

08-01-07 - US cuts Gulf aircraft presence

08-01-07 - Third of Iraqi children malnourished HUNGER and disease are spreading in Iraq as violence masks a deepening humanitarian crisis, British charity Oxfam said in a report today.

08-01-07 - White House says spying broader than known: report The Bush administration's top intelligence official has acknowledged that a controversial domestic surveillance program was only one part of a much broader spying effort, The Washington Post reported in its Wednesday edition.

08-01-07 - Murdoch: Bad for Journalism, Bad for Democracy With the purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and its flagship Wall Street Journal another vital voice is brought under the umbrella of one conglomerate ? and one man ? that already controls too much of what Americans see, hear and read every day.

08-01-07 - Army's 'Debt Of Service' Leaves Vets Perplexed

08-01-07 - The NYT's New Pro-War Propaganda "It would free up Washington's 'foreign policy agenda,' presumably allowing it to invade another country or two where American vital interests would be discovered. [Pollack's] narrative ? in essence an Israeli one ? is quite simple: deprived of the support of one of the Arab world?s most powerful nations, the Palestinians would be further weakened in their struggle against Israeli occupation." [See Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilization] Neocon predicts consequences of his coveted war on Iraq before we went in.

08-01-07 - Oil prices pull back from record The price of a barrel of US light, sweet crude surpassed the previous high of $78.40 a barrel, seen in July 2006, before falling back to $76.53.

08-01-07 - German bank breaks ties with Iran Deutsche Bank joined the ranks of financial institutions breaking ties with Iran.

08-01-07 - Secretary Rice's Mideast mission: contain Iran

08-01-07 - Terrorists Are Everywhere by Philip Giraldi One of the most troublesome aspects of the Bush agenda is the conflation of a whole basket of groups with the terrorism menace even if they pose no actual danger to the U.S......there is no intelligence that suggests that al-Qaeda has any group or organization currently in place in the U.S. that might be capable of carrying out a major terrorist attack......Hezbollah and Hamas likewise do not threaten the United States and almost certainly have little to no capability to carry out an operation on this side of the Atlantic Ocean Philip Giraldi is a former CIA counterterrorism official. His Deep Background columns in The American Conservative make that mag well worth its weight in gold.

08-01-07 - Rice-Gates visit shows how much U.S., Saudi Arabia have drifted apart

08-01-07 - Syrians support helping end Iraq war Most Syrians favor working with the United States to seek an end to the Iraq war, yet also support financing Iraqi fighters and other Middle East groups the U.S. considers terrorists, according to a rare poll of Syrians released Wednesday.

08-01-07 - Iran says Israel abuses human rights Israel's "futile" attempt "to raise allegations against others' human rights situation is nothing but a preposterous, and indeed tired, practice to distract the international community's attention from its shameful human rights record," he said.

08-01-07 - Withdrawal from Iraq = Second Holocaust? The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a neocon "thinktank", one of many.

08-01-07 - The $63 Billion Sham Under the president, 80 percent of nations that received arms from America in 2003 were classified by the State Department as being either undemocratic or having a poor human rights record, which covers all the Arab countries in the new deal. Israel is a democracy, but in its 2006 country profile, the State Department cites a source that determined that 322 of 660 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military ?were not engaged in hostilities when killed and 141 were minors.?

08-01-07 - Cheney tells CNN he makes Bush's decisions And the "No Shit, Sherlock" award goes to...

08-01-07 - Romney cites Hezbollah as a model

08-01-07 - Syria's Assad repeats call for return of Golan Heights from Israel

08-01-07 - DOJ defends statute used in AIPAC case The Justice Department defended prosecutions under a statute it is using for the first time against two former AIPAC staffers.

08-01-07 - House passes Iran sanctions bills The American Israel Public Affairs Committee applauded its passage

08-01-07 - Netanyahu: Golan ours forever Keep dreaming. Sooner or later, the law will catch up with Israel. Won't be pretty.

08-01-07 - 51% of Syrians in favour of peace with Israel in exchange for Golan withdrawal

08-01-07 - Lebanese troops kill 4 militants Lebanese troops have battled al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, killing at least four.

08-01-07 - Lebanese soldier killed as country marks Army Day A Lebanese soldier was killed Wednesday in battles with die-hard Islamists besieged in a seaside Palestinian refugee camp as the military marked Army Day.

08-01-07 - Israel ranks the US Presidential Candidates... Ron Paul evidently doesn't rank. That might be because Ron Paul is truly a representative of the AMERICAN people.

News for 07-31-07

2007-08-01T19:02:00.001-07:00

07-31-07 - Cheney admits wrong about Iraq insurgency US Vice-President Dick Cheney acknowledges he was wrong in 2005 when he insisted the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes".

07-31-07 - Probe into US-Iranians still ongoing: judiciary The case of the US-Iranians detained in Iran on suspicion of harming national security is still in the hands of the investigating judge, two-and-a-half months after their arrest, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

07-31-07 - Lieberman Escalates Attack on Iraq Critics

07-31-07 - Who owns you? George Carlin - 3 Minute Video Foreign interests/lobbies are a major problem too, George.

07-31-07 - Rice: Iran Biggest Threat To U.S. Interests In The Middle East Cuz Israel told me so! Stoolie.

07-31-07 - A green light to oppression In the name of 'fighting extremism', the US is arming two of the Arab world's leading human rights abusers: Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

07-31-07 - US 'aims to help' Mid-East allies Syria's foreign minister said the arms deals were "dangerous", while Mahmoud Zahhar, a senior Hamas figure, said US peace conference plans were a waste of time.

07-31-07 - Peres blasts Iran president "Ahmadinejad is an unbelievable joke," Peres told NPR. "He claims he's religious. My impression is that, in his eyes, the nuclear bomb is higher than Allah. He's worshiping the bomb more than he's worshiping the God in heaven."

07-31-07 - Cheney says he disagrees with Libby's guilty verdict

07-31-07 - US military aid plans aimed against Iran - Russian experts "Arabs do not believe the U.S. can play the role of a fair broker," the expert said. "And the U.S. wants to create the impression that it is sincerely attempting to broker the Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement."

07-31-07 - Israeli PM sees no war with neighbours in coming months Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday he does not expect conflict with the Jewish state's neighbours in the coming months, pouring cold water on a recent flurry of speculations of an impending war with Syria.

07-31-07 - Dems, pro-Israel groups want more info on arms sale to Saudis How can the weapons be adjusted to minimize their potential threat to Israel? What do Israeli military leaders think? And does the aid boost to Israel come with a guarantee?
The unanswered questions have led Democrats to threaten to block the deal. Pro-Israel groups are holding back from such threats but are demanding more answers......Insiders say the overall package was in the works for months and that the Bush administration had consulted closely with Israel, also keeping informed the pro-Israel powerhouse AIPAC......One pro-Israel strategy was already clear: Make certain the hike in aid to Israel comes through

07-31-07 - Lebanon's Siniora slams hike in U.S. military assistance to Israel Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora criticized a proposed U.S. arms deal Monday that offers a sharp increase in defense aid to Israel, a rare rebuke against Washington by the Western-backed premier.

07-31-07 - Congressional lobby reform aims at disclosure

07-31-07 - Iran imperative spurs US aid move ** When the stated aim of such assistance is, in the words of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "to counter the negative influences of al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran", then it is not hard to see why Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, found nothing to criticise.

07-31-07 - Syria says ready to join in U.S. peace conference Syria is ready to take part in a U.S.-sponsored conference on Palestinian-Israeli peace although Washington is behind instability in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Tuesday.

07-31-07 - Rice, Gates in Egypt to seek Arab front against Iran

07-31-07 - Spanish FM welcomes Syrian support for Lebanon initiative Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Tuesday welcomed Syria's support for efforts by Spain and France to resolve the eight-month-old political crisis in Lebanon.

07-31-07 - Trial date set for ex-AIPAC staffers The trial date set Tuesday by Judge T.S. Ellis was at least the fifth since Steve Rosen, the America Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, were indicted in August 2005

News for 07-30-07

2007-07-31T15:54:00.001-07:00

07-30-07 - UN inspectors check key Iran nuclear site

07-30-07 - Analysis: Cheney favors attack on Iran ** a well-informed source tells United Press International that according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, President Bush has definitely decided not to strike any of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons production facilities this year. The sources say the officials stressed the words "this year," meaning in 2007. That, however, does not rule out the possibility of military intervention in 2008, right until January 2009, when Bush's term in the White House comes to an end.

07-30-07 - Iran criticizes U.S., Saudis arms deal

07-30-07 - US arms package will not destabilise Middle East: Rice A multi-billion dollar US arms package for Middle East allies aimed at containing Iran's influence will not destabilise the region, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

07-30-07 - Iran says U.S. is too stretched to attack it ** Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told a German magazine that the United States has too many problems in Iraq to become involved in armed conflict with Iran.

07-30-07 - US envoy accuses Saudis on Iraq The US ambassador at the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, has accused Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise Iraq.

07-30-07 - US soldier pleads not guilty to rape, murder of Iraqi girl A US soldier pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family, officials said.

07-30-07 - Merkel party warns US arms for Gulf could set off 'powder keg'

07-30-07 - Novak: Bush considering secret military action in Turkey The Bush administration is considering covert military activity by U.S. Special Forces to help Turkish troops quash Kurdish guerilla fighters, who are believed to be using northern Iraq as safe-haven, according to the syndicated columnist.

07-30-07 - Americans Reject Aggressive Foreign Policy 54 per cent of respondents think the U.S. will be safer from terrorism in the long run if it stays out of other countries? affairs in the Middle East, up five points since October. 'They're over HERE because WE'RE over THERE' - Patrick J. Buchanan.

07-30-07 - Israel to grant West Bank entry to Iraqi Palestinians Israel has recently agreed to allow a group of 41 Iraqi refugees of Palestinian origin to enter the West Bank and reunite with relatives there, as a goodwill gesture to the government of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad.

07-30-07 - Heritage: Economic Blowback from Bombing Iran Will be Easily Managed ** Let me guess: it will be a "cakewalk".

07-30-07 - Out of right field, conservatives gush over Clinton

07-30-07 - US credit woes ripple across globe Hey I know - let's attack Iran. Perfect!

07-30-07 - Clinton Woos the Outsourcers that Workers Fear

07-30-07 - Exclusive: ?Possible Attack On The U.S. Within Ninety Days Mr. Aviv knows of that which he speaks. He is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and has also served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of terrorism and security.

07-30-07 - Rice, Gates trip signals united front The Secretaries of State and Defense set out for the Middle East to make a case for US initiatives.

07-30-07 - Reports: Iran to buy jets from Russia Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal.

07-30-07 - Funding added for U.S.-Israel missile system "In light of Iran's open hostility toward the U.S. and Israel, I consider increasing the effectiveness of the Arrow system to be essential to our defense," said Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), who requested the additional funding.

07-30-07 - Golan residents call for talks with Syria The Peace with Syria movement held a conference Monday evening at Kibbutz Gadot with the participation of hundreds of Golan Heights residents.

07-30-07 - Syria calls upon Palestinian parties to return to dialogue

07-30-07 - Iran's Khamenei says U.S. and Israel are main foes Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday the United States and Israel were his country's main enemies, just days after U.S.-Iranian talks about Iraq's security.

07-30-07 - Arabs skeptical of U.S. conference idea The Arab League expressed reluctance Monday in backing a U.S.-proposed conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying any talks should cover all Arab-Israeli conflicts, including those involving Syria.

07-30-07 - Christian Group Warns U.S. Against Pressuring Israel on Peace Deal "Would somebody else, another country, coming in to America say, 'You need to give up Florida'? I live in Southern California, 'You need to give up San Diego to Mexico.' That's not going to happen. Why should we do that with Israel?" Stephens asked. Because Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Shebaa Farms, the Golan Heights do not belong to Israel. They are Israel-OCCUPIED territory.

News for 07-29-07

2007-07-30T16:06:00.001-07:00

07-29-07 - Third of Iraqis 'need urgent aid' It warned the continuing violence was masking a humanitarian crisis that had grown worse since the invasion in 2003.

07-29-07 - Stage-managed nuclear tour reveals why Iran won't be the first to blink The Independent and five other journalists from Britain, France, Germany and the US - whose governments will decide whether there can be a peaceful solution to the crisis with Iran - were invited to Iran by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with a promise of unprecedented access to the country's most senior officials and it's most sensitive nuclear plants

07-29-07 - Report: Four PKK leaders killed in Iraq blast

07-29-07 - U.S. Air Force Prepares for War in Cyberspace "This is a significant development," said Amit Yoran, former White House cybersecurity czar. "Historically cyber warfare remained in the very classified arenas of government." A note on Amit Yoran

07-29-07 - A Blurry Line Between Propaganda and News

07-29-07 - Free speech violated, man says "I feel my First Amendment rights were violated," said Ferguson, a 30-year-old Munster resident who said he was peacefully handing out pamphlets outlining Paul's anti-war, anti-tax presidential platform.

07-29-07 - Siege camp militants kill Lebanese soldier

07-29-07 - Arms deal to Arab nations opposed Reps. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and Robert Wexler, D-Fla., said Saturday that they will introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to block the deals when Congress is formally notified. They have seven Democratic co-sponsors. Note to the minions of Israel on Capitol Hill: Israel gave its blessing for this deal. We had to pretty much buy it out of them.

07-29-07 - Bush to Urge Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia, Gulf States The military assistance agreements would provide $30 billion in new U.S. aid to Israel and $13 billion to Egypt over a decade, Goodrich-Hinton said.

07-29-07 - Lebanese troops advance into camp The Lebanese army has said its troops have moved deeper into a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli to try to oust Islamist fighters remaining there.

07-29-07 - Israel says U.S. aid to Saudi military is understandable ** "We understand the need of the United States to support the Arab moderate states and there is a need for a united front between the U.S. and us regarding Iran," Olmert told a weekly Cabinet meeting. The rare agreement reflects shared U.S. and Israeli concern with the potential threat of an Iran with nuclear weapons. Israel doesn't dare complain. It knows that we are arming the Saudis and others for our upcoming attack on Iran.

07-29-07 - Why my landlord is expecting the worst In a truly pitiful remark, the UN Secretary-General stated last month: "I regret to have to report that, despite a number of attempts by UN senior officials to obtain information regarding the firing data of cluster munitions utilised (sic) during last summer's conflict, Israel has yet to provide this critical data." To which my reaction is: why not ask Washington for the information? Surely a UN official could take the Amtrak out of New York and pick up the figures from the Pentagon?

07-29-07 - Armageddon ? Bring It On ** According to the Jewish Blumenthal, the typical CUFI member apparently believes "God" wants Bush to do what Lieberman and the Likudniks are urging him to do ? nuke Tehran ? to trigger an all-out nuke war to bring on Armageddon ? the final climatic battle, waged here on the planet Earth, between God and Satan.

News for 07-28-07

2007-07-29T13:50:00.001-07:00

07-28-07 - UN inspectors to visit Iran in August for framework talks A group of UN atomic watchdog inspectors will visit Iran early next month to discuss a framework for future inspections of nuclear sites, the ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.

07-28-07 - Bush calls for new phone, email tapping powers US President George W Bush has called for Congress to revise a US security law in order to ease restrictions on the government's secret communications surveillance of terrorism suspects.

07-28-07 - US ?dirty bomber? is a trial for CIA the long-awaited court appearance of Jose Padilla, a US citizen once known as America?s ?dirty bomber?, has turned out to be missing a crucial ingredient - evidence that he actually did anything wrong.

07-28-07 - U.S. Outfitting B-2's with Monster Bunker Buster Bombs - Iran May Be Target ** Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations - some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers.

07-28-07 - Outsourcing Intelligence: Author R.J. Hillhouse on How Key National Security Projects Are Contracted to Private Firms what I found is, as you said, private corporations have completely penetrated the intelligence apparatus of the United States. It?s impossible -- even in the response to me by the Director of National Intelligence that was published in the Washington Post, they admitted that without private corporations they would be unable to function.

07-28-07 - Hillary's Late Hit by Patrick J. Buchanan As for Ahmadinejad, he is not the supreme leader of Iran, and his nation has not launched a war since the Revolution of 1979. With no atomic weapons, no ICBMs, no air force to challenge ours, no navy, an economy 2 percent of ours and its oil reserves running out, Iran is scarcely an existential threat to the United States.

07-28-07 - Christian Group Warns: Iran Wants to Hit Israel First, U.S. Next ** several Jewish organizations in the United States hold that U.S. officials must do everything in their power to persuade the international community to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear ambitions......"If diplomatic options, economic sanctions could work they could only work if there is a threat of another alternative," said Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League. The Israeli lobby makes sure that Israel's problems become OUR problems.

07-28-07 - Lebanese troops kill 8 Islamic militants

07-28-07 - Bush's Real Agenda in Palestine one must not lose sight of the regional context. The Israeli lobby and its neo- conservative allies in the US administration and in the media are eager for a military showdown with Iran, which would weaken Syria's political standing in any future negotiation with Israel in regards to the occupied Golan Heights, and which would obliterate the military strength of Hizbullah, proven to be the toughest enemy Israel has ever faced in its decades-long conflict with the Arabs.

07-28-07 - Israel likely to devise missiles for India Pakistan's cruise missiles that can hit hundreds of miles inside India prompted New Delhi to accept an Israeli plan to develop a cruise missile interceptor.

07-28-07 - France fears new war in Lebanon The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, has warned that Lebanon faces the danger of renewed war if there is not a resumption of political dialogue.

07-28-07 - 'We blocked US plans' - Hezbollah "This war aimed to impose a new Middle East, broken up into confessional and ethnic mini-states, serving the interests of the United States and Israel,"

07-28-07 - Resentment stirs in Hizbollah faithful the official did not expect a war soon, saying that it would take both the Israelis and the movement at least two to three years to be ready to fight.

News for 07-27-07

2007-07-28T12:42:00.001-07:00

07-27-07 - US angry over Saudi role in Iraq The US administration is deeply frustrated with Saudi Arabia over its role in Iraq, accusing the Saudis of trying to undermine the Baghdad government and failing to stem the flow of volunteers joining the insurgency there, the New York Times reported on Friday.

07-27-07 - Russia's Gorbachev says U.S. is sowing world disorder Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev criticized the United States, and current President George W. Bush in particular, on Friday for sowing disorder across the world by seeking to build an empire.

07-27-07 - Dozens of Afghan civilians die in air raids: residents Dozens of civilians, including women and children, have been killed in two foreign air strikes in southern Afghanistan, residents and a local member of parliament said on Friday.

07-27-07 - US plays down talk of tension with Saudis According to the Times, the Saudis view Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, as an agent of Iran and appear to have stepped up efforts to weaken his government, providing funding for Sunni groups.

07-27-07 - Rice, Gates face uphill battle to convince Saudis U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates travel to the Middle East next week seeking Arab support to stabilize Iraq but they may face an uphill battle from Saudi Arabia.

07-27-07 - Arm chair generals help shape surge in Iraq The emergence of AEI as a power player on Iraq belies the notion that neo-conservatives are on the decline in Washington. AEI brags an impressive roster of neo-con thinkers. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, an Iraq war architect, arrived at AIE this summer, joining such prominent conservatives as John Bolton, David Frum and Michael Ledeen.

07-27-07 - Oil price climbs on rising demand

07-27-07 - Bid to punish Bush aides may fail

07-27-07 - Fred Thompson, Neocon The neoconservatives are not riding high these days. Not so.

07-27-07 - Soldiers die in Lebanese clashes

07-27-07 - Neoconservatism Is Dead It is not, not when the Bush administration is still taking its cues from neocon outfits such as the AEI, as one example.

07-27-07 - Israel urges 'damaging' Iran sanctions Israel is anxious that the international community has "taken its eye off the ball" in the effort to ratchet up economic and diplomatic pressure on the Islamic Republic, while the nuclear program speeds relentlessly ahead, The Jerusalem Post has been told.

07-27-07 - Bush signs ports bill with boycott clause A bill increasing scrutiny over foreign purchases of American ports signed by President Bush includes a provision targeting the Arab boycott of Israel.

07-27-07 - US to fund defense systems for Israel The new system would be used in addition to Israel's existing sophisticated 'Arrow' system, a project the US continues to fund.
On Thursday the House Appropriations Committee voted to give Israel an additional $70 million in defense aid beyond the $80 million requested by the administration.
Are our men in Iraq being given the best equipment there is? Why are we continuing to fund Israel defense projects when their economy is booming and ours continues to tank? Outrageous.

07-27-07 - Senate approves increased funding for non-profits A significant portion of $50 million allocated for 2005 and 2006 went to Jewish institutions. In the past, federal funds have been used by non-profits for security enhancements, such as concrete barriers.

07-27-07 - Miliband says UK needs U.S. alliance to secure goals Miliband denied suggestions by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, reported by Britain's Guardian newspaper on Thursday, that London had expanded links with the Palestinian Islamist group.

07-27-07 - U.S. plans big arms sale to Saudi Arabia: report ** the proposal for advanced weapons for Saudi Arabia has stoked concern in Israel and among its U.S. backers, the Times said......Senior officials, including State Department and Pentagon officials who outlined the deals' terms, told the Times they thought the Bush administration had resolved those concerns, partly by offering Israel more than $30 billion in military aid over the next 10 years, which would be a significant increase over recent levels.....The Times said officials described the plan as intended to bolster Gulf countries' militaries in a bid to contain Iran's growing strength in the region, as well as to demonstrate Washington's commitment to its Arab allies.

07-27-07 - U.S. to expand aid in Mideast The comprehensive regional aid-and-weapons package is meant to compensate Israel for the sale of U.S. weapons to countries Israel considers potential enemies. But those sales are nonetheless certain to draw opposition from pro-Israeli organizations and human rights organizations.

07-27-07 - Obama would talk up Israel with Iran "If I sit down with a leader of Iran, I will send them a strong message that Israel is our friend and that we will assist in their security and that we don?t find nuclear weapons acceptable," Obama said in a conference call Thursday.

News for 07-26-07

2007-07-27T14:52:00.001-07:00

07-26-07 - Iranian minister says sanctions are ineffective

07-26-07 - US Treasury's Levey says Iran sanctions bearing fruit The US Treasury's mounting financial sanctions against Iranian companies tied to alleged nuclear activities, proliferation and terror funding are bearing fruit, the Treasury's top anti-terrorism official, Stuart Levey, said Thursday.

07-26-07 - U.S. says Iran training Green Zone bombers Making the case for war.

07-26-07 - Report: Security Issues Plague DHS Facilities Well now that's comforting.

07-26-07 - TSA: Terrorists May Be Conducting Preattack Security Probes In a new intelligence bulletin obtained by NBC News, the Transportation Security Administration is warning law-enforcement and airport officials that terrorists "may be" conducting "preattack security probes" at U.S. airports.

07-26-07 - Bush Line Distorts Iran?s Real Interest in Iraq ** Symptomatic of the toughening attitude in Congress toward Iran was the 97-0 vote in the Senate last week for a resolution drafted by its leading proponent of war against Iran, Sen. Joe Lieberman, stating that ?the murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable act of hostility against the United States.?

07-26-07 - Adviser Sees Rudy As Tough On Saudis Podhoretz is a proponent of immediate military strikes against Iran to eliminate or set back that country?s nuclear program, and he said Giuliani felt the same way. ?He has already said that the military option has to remain active,? said Podhoretz.

07-26-07 - Congress on collision course with Bush over wiretapping inquiry "We ask that you immediately appoint an independent special counsel from outside the Department of Justice to determine whether Attorney General Gonzales may have misled Congress or perjured himself in testimony before Congress," a group of four senators wrote in a letter to the solicitor general, the administration's top lawyer.

07-26-07 - U.S. Kills Plans to Build Embassy in Hezbollah Area of Beirut U.S. officials say the proposed embassy site is just a few hundred yards from the scene of fierce fighting last summer between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

07-26-07 - Iraq refugee summit offers help

07-26-07 - LA evangelical leader: Iran confrontation 'inevitable' he said he was "very gratified" when President George W. Bush was elected, given his unwavering commitment to Israel's interests and in his antiterror policies

07-26-07 - Lebanon: Refugees again "How long must the Palestinian people endure tragedy? How many times do we have to be displaced?" The speaker is Abu Hisham, sitting in Beddawi camp surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

07-26-07 - Syria threatened to fight in Lebanon war-Hezbollah

07-26-07 - Gag lifted on arrest of Israeli allegedly recruited by Hezbollah The Shin Bet security service on Tuesday lifted a gag order on the June arrest of a woman who allegedly admitted during questioning that she had been recruited by the Hezbollah.

07-26-07 - Panel to probe alleged IDF war crimes in Second Lebanon War Gal-On said serious accusations made by human rights organizations, who reported that the IDF committed war crimes and harmed the civilian population of Lebanon, strengthened her conviction that these claims must be probed.

07-26-07 - Lebanese army 'tightens noose' on Islamists in camp Two soldiers were killed late Thursday by a shell fired by Islamists inside the camp, bringing the troop toll to 122. This figure included a soldier whose body was was recovered earlier from the camp. Two soldiers were also wounded.

07-26-07 - U.S. candidates see Iran nuclear threat All were asked by the Israel Project to discuss their views and endorse a petition signed on-line by more than 75,000 people telling the United Nations Security Council "Iran must be stopped now -- before it develops a nuclear bomb." Jump for your masters. Bark like a dog.

07-26-07 - Delay: US and Israel must enjoy second coming That evangelical support for Israel is largely based on "End Times" theology is largely irrelevant to the Israeli politicians who share the goal of expanding settlements into the West Bank and a military strike on Iran, but it is anything but irrelevant to the rank-and-file members and even one former House Majority Leader.

News for 07-25-07

2007-07-26T15:49:00.001-07:00

07-25-07 - Iran 'ready for more Iraq talks' Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran would consider meeting the US at deputy foreign minister level, if the US suggested it.

07-25-07 - Iran says it will never stop nuclear activities "Iran will never abandon its peaceful (nuclear) work. Our nuclear work is legal and why should we stop it?"

07-25-07 - US envoy blasts Iran after Iraq talks At a second meeting with his Iranian counterpart in two months, the US ambassador blasted Tehran on Tuesday for arming and training Shiite militias but agreed to set up a security subcommittee with Iran and Iraq to carry forward work on stabilizing the country.

07-25-07 - Syria intervenes to cancel Iraq rebels meetings Syria's secular government, which has been reinforcing links with Iran, took steps last year to improve ties with Iraq. Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi is expected to visit Damascus next month.

07-25-07 - House Passes Lee Bill to Ban Permanent Bases in Iraq

07-25-07 - Bipartisan Committee Denounces Illegal Spying Program Today a bipartisan coalition of political leaders, policy experts, and legal scholars condemned the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program as illegal, and called on Congress to complete its investigation of the program before considering any changes to the law governing electronic surveillance.

07-25-07 - CIA misled Britain over rendition plan The CIA misled British intelligence chiefs over the arrest and treatment of terrorist suspects who were the subjects of rendition to Guantanamo Bay, an Intelligence and Security Committee report to the Prime Minister warned.

07-25-07 - Iran fist-in-glove with Iraqi rebels: America builds its case **

07-25-07 - Iran nuke plant delayed The completion of Iran?s first atomic power plant will be delayed by more than a year, to the fall of 2008, a Russian nuclear subcontractor said.

07-25-07 - World Bank urged to stop Iran funds A dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter urging the new World Bank president to stop funding for Iran.

07-25-07 - US missile defence system set for UK

07-25-07 - U.S. soldiers cheer on young boys celebrating outside their combat outpost in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad

07-25-07 - Ron Paul teams up with Dem candidate to end war As the host mentioned, the Texas Congressman has co-sponsored a bill with another presidential contender, Democrat Dennis Kucinich, that would repeal President Bush's authority to use force in Iraq within the next sixth months. Besides Kucinich, 18 other Democrats have signed on.

07-25-07 - Bush In Free Fall At what point will President Bush finally grasp the enormous disaster that the neoconservatives, from Vice President Dick Cheney on down, have visited upon his presidency? Evidently never.

07-25-07 - House Panel Cites Bush Aides for Contempt of Congress The House Judiciary Committee voted contempt of Congress citations Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and President Bush?s former legal counselor, Harriet Miers.

07-25-07 - National Intelligence Estimate lacks supporting evidence, possibly politicized, intelligence officials say "As regards to the Hezbollah 'threat,'" the official added, "they just threw that in. "Nobody in CIA talks to Hezbollah, and they're living off their assessments from back in the 80s, which they really never got right anyway." Whose War?.

07-25-07 - Scott Horton Interviews Philip Giraldi: MP3 Former CIA counter-terrorism officer and Antiwar.com columnist Philip Giraldi debunks the War Party's claims that Iran backs al Qaeda, explains U.S. support for the terrorist groups Mujahadeen-e-Khalq and Jundullah against Iran, and the two most likely circumstances in which Cheney will use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against them. Philip Giraldi = one of the good guys. I strongly encourage you to listen to this interview.

07-25-07 - Obama, Clinton feud on talks with Assad and other despots The Obama-Clinton contretemps comes as the pro-Israel lobby has made isolating Iran its signature issue and after Republicans attacked U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in April for meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

07-25-07 - Hezbollah leader suggests Israel may be behind attacks on U.N. peacekeepers "It will be very embarrassing for the Israelis, especially if they are thinking in the next war to launch a large-scale land invasion (of south Lebanon), to have UNIFIL troops there," Nasrallah said.

07-25-07 - America puts Israel's enemies on trial

07-25-07 - Lebanese army steps up shelling of Islamists

07-25-07 - U.N. peacekeeper killed in Lebanon A French peacekeeper working on a U.N. demining team was killed Wednesday when an unexploded shell from last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah blew up as he was trying to clear it, a U.N. official said.

07-25-07 - Re-Targeting Syria, the "Ho Chi Minh Trail of Terrorists?" former Bush speech-writer and Christian rightist Michael Gerson complains that the administration?s military reaction to alleged subversion in Iraq by Iran and Syria has been "muted" but concedes that attacking Iran could be problematic. "Syria, however, is what one former administration official calls ?lower-hanging fruit,?"

07-25-07 - Few Muslims 'back suicide bombs' However, 70% of Palestinians interviewed said they believed such attacks were sometimes justifiable. ......The survey also suggests that as countries and families grow richer, optimism increases, as well as support for ruling governments.

News for 07-24-07

2007-07-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

07-24-07 - Auditors Can't Find Veterans Affairs Computer Equipment Worth $6.4 Million More than a quarter of the computer equipment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington could not be found by investigators, government auditors reported Tuesday.

07-24-07 - US military drafts plan to keep troops in Iraq until mid-2009

07-24-07 - US, Iran, Iraq to set up security committee The United States, Iran and Iraq have agreed to set up a security sub-committee to continue talks on how to restore stability in Iraq.

07-24-07 - Iran nuclear negotiators heading to Russia for talks: diplomat Iranian negotiators Javad Vaeidi and Mohammad Saeedi were "flying from Vienna to Russia to persuade the Russians to finish building the Bushehr nuclear (power) reactor," said a diplomat who asked not to be named due to the confidential nature of the information.

07-24-07 - IAEA to revisit Iran atom site in transparency push Iran agreed on Tuesday to let inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog revisit its heavy-water reactor site early next week in a U.N. push for more transparency in Iran's disputed nuclear program.

07-24-07 - Iran's growing presence in Iraq

07-24-07 - $100 Oil Price May Be Months Away, Say CIBC, Goldman ** Oil prices could triple in three months to more than $200 a barrel, given the right circumstances, according to Matthew Simmons, chairman of Simmons & Co., a Houston investment bank. We can guess what they are prepping us for and why. Iran is next.

07-24-07 - Will Bush Invade Pakistan?

07-24-07 - Bush Aide: Military Could Go Into Pakistan

07-24-07 - Saudi Arabia backs out of Arab peace initiative Saudi king gets cold feet over suspicions of Iran and fears of terror attacks sponsored by al-Qaeda, Israeli official says

07-24-07 - Oil prices slide on Iran remarks Oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday amid suggestions from Iran that it may be prepared to increase supply to the market

07-24-07 - Alarm at US right to highly personal data Highly sensitive information about the religious beliefs, political opinions and even the sex life of Britons travelling to the United States is to be made available to US authorities when the European Commission agrees to a new system of checking passengers.

07-24-07 - Halliburton Income More Than Doubles

07-24-07 - Patrick Fitzgerald Hits Air-Waves In Chicago - Photos Some rare candid photos of the Special Prosecutor. Unfortunately the contents of his briefs have not been revealed. Get your mind out of the gutter! I meant with respect to the next case!

07-24-07 - From Jan. 2007: Iranian Jews Reject Outside Calls To Leave ** In recent months, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Israeli officials and some American Jewish communal leaders have urged Iranian Jews to leave. But so far, despite generally being allowed to travel to Israel and emigrate abroad, Iranian Jews have stayed put. This goes along with the recent story of pro-Israeli/Israeli(?) officials offering Iranian Jews cold hard cash to lure them out of Iran and into Israel. The question: why? What's the rush? Impending attack?

07-24-07 - Murdoch, Son Differ Sharply Over Israel The elder "Murdoch was at one point putting the traditional very right-wing view on Israel and the Middle East peace process and James said that he was ?talking f? nonsense.'

07-24-07 - Hunter: 'Postage stamp' Israel should not give up 'one inch' of territory On May 20, Hunter, a California Republican, voiced his position during a meeting with Christian Zionists in Alexandria, Va

07-24-07 - Commentary: Intelligent intelligence CSIS' Transnational Threats Project, which this writer directs, recruited 15 experts on Islamist extremism in Europe from the Middle East (including Israel), North Africa, Europe, the United States and Canada, and networked them 24/7 with a state-of-the-art, electronic collaborative software tool. They were known as TIN members -- for Trusted Information Network.

07-24-07 - US Treasury moves against Hezbollah 'support network'

07-24-07 - New army deaths at Lebanon camp

07-24-07 - Nasrallah: We squashed Greater Israel plan Speaking to al-Jazeera, Nasrallah said his organization had weapons capable of reaching every corner of Israel.

07-24-07 - Anger mounts as more soldiers fall in Lebanon battle camp "There is not a single house where there is no soldier," explained 42-year-old Zeina Sufain, who lost her 19-year-old son Firas on May 22. "There is no work here. Even for those who go to school," she said.

07-24-07 - U.N. Council asked to address Syrian arms smuggling The United States, Britain and France want U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to pursue ways to stop weapons flowing into Lebanon over the Syrian border, according to a draft U.N. statement on Tuesday.

07-24-07 - Hezbollah says prisoner-swap talks with Israel still underway The head of Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah said on Tuesday that UN-mediated talks with Israel over an exchange of prisoners were continuing, but he would not provide details.

07-24-07 - David Wurmser Leaving White House Employment David Wurmser, one of the Vice President's most dedicated neoconservative spear-carriers, is leaving the administration to start a risk assessment consulting firm.

News for 07-23-07

2007-07-24T15:06:00.001-07:00

07-23-07 - Veterans sue U.S. over "shameful failures" in care "Because of those failures, hundreds of thousands of men and women who have suffered grievous injuries fighting in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being abandoned,"

07-23-07 - Brown refuses to rule out military action against Iran ** Thus will Britain again be dragged into the mess with us.

07-23-07 - Just What the Founders Feared: An Imperial President Goes to War The nation is heading toward a constitutional showdown over the Iraq war. Congress is moving closer to passing a bill to limit or end the war, but President Bush insists Congress doesn?t have the power to do it.

07-23-07 - Baghdad brings US and Iran together in bid to end violence Iranian and American officials meet in Baghdad today to discuss Iraqi security but wide differences are expected to prevent the real dialogue which may be essential to end the war in Iraq.

07-23-07 - Iran and IAEA to hold talks Iran will hold talks with the UN atomic watchdog Tuesday in Vienna over its nuclear programme, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday.

07-23-07 - Ahead of Talks Between US and Iran, The Economist Warns Against Conflict ** After the false intelligence that led America into Iraq, and the mayhem that followed, it may seem extraordinary to contemplate attacking yet another and much bigger Muslim country

07-23-07 - JORDAN-SYRIA: Deputy UNHCR head wraps up two-country tour Johnstone praised government policy towards the estimated 1.5 million refugees, but expressed concern for the 1,400 Palestinians stranded in makeshift desert camps on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

07-23-07 - In Lebanon, the UN and Hizbullah make unlikely bedfellows

07-23-07 - Israeli president calls on world to unite against Iran Israeli President Shimon Peres called on the world in an interview Tuesday to form a united front against Iran that would force the Islamic republic to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

07-23-07 - Hague likely to host Lebanon court on Hariri death The United Nations has asked the Netherlands to host a special court to try the suspected killers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Monday

07-23-07 - Hezbollah says didn't confirm Israeli captives alive

07-23-07 - 11 Lebanese soldiers wounded in clashes with Islamists

News for 07-22-07

2007-07-23T15:07:00.001-07:00

07-22-07 - MPs criticise map used in Iran crisis A British map of the northern Gulf where Iran seized 15 naval personnel in March was not as accurate as it should have been and Britain was fortunate Iran did not contest it, a review into the crisis said on Sunday.

07-22-07 - More Iran sanctions not before September: diplomats

07-22-07 - Iran smuggling missiles to Iraq: US The US military says its troops have found Chinese-made missiles it believes were smuggled into Iraq by groups in Iran to arm insurgents fighting American-led forces.

07-22-07 - DeFazio Asks, But He?s Denied Access ?I just can?t believe they?re going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,?

07-22-07 - Senate Tells Bush Not to Pardon Libby In the heat of a partisan spat, Democrats forced a vote on a nonbinding measure to instruct President Bush not to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. But there's no record of the 47-49 vote in the daily record of congressional proceedings ? or anywhere else.

07-22-07 - Bush's Next War of Aggression unlike an invasion of Iran, an invasion of Pakistan ? resulting in Musharraf being killed or deposed ? could easily result in nukes being used, not all of them ours.

07-22-07 - USS Liberty survivor assails former Navy lawyer's view Cristol seeks to discredit our eyewitness accounts by maligning our motives and falsely claiming Arab financing and influence.....The false accounts of our opponents illustrate once again why we survivors have sought for 40 years to have a full, complete, open investigation where we can testify under oath.

07-22-07 - Iran: No secret arms deal with Syria Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday dismissed as a "media game" recent reports of a secret arms deal with Syria allegedly made in return for an agreement that Damascus would not hold peace talks with Israel

07-22-07 - Three Lebanese soldiers killed by die-hard camp militants Three Lebanese soldiers were killed Sunday in sporadic gunfire between the army and Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp.

07-22-07 - Israel: Hezbollah hiding arms among civilians Hezbollah is hiding rockets in southern Lebanon among civilians to avoid detection by Israel and U.N. troops, the Israeli army said.

News for 07-21-07

2007-07-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

07-21-07 - British banks fight US over Iran embargo A mounting US crackdown on foreign companies and banks doing business with Iran is provoking serious opposition in the UK and Europe, where diplomats are warning that the action could lead to a new trade war.

07-21-07 - Pakistan objects to US strikes PAKISTAN said it could not accept "indiscriminate action" on its territory by US forces without first being informed that there was an al-Qaeda or terrorist target there.

07-21-07 - Watchdog group: Government awards contracts despite firms? misconduct

07-21-07 - Bush puts CIA prisons under Geneva Conventions Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John Rockefeller of West Virginia said intelligence officials should tell the panel how Bush's order "will translate into actual conduct by the CIA" and the Justice Department must provide a legal analysis.

07-21-07 - This Is How Empires End by Patrick J. Buchanan Any who have visited this last outpost of Christendom in the Holy Land before Gen. Allenby marched into Jerusalem in 1917 cannot ? on reading of the massive U.S. embassy rising in Baghdad ? but think of Acre.

07-21-07 - Iran attack could be 2nd Holocaust, Gingrich warns Former US House speaker, who is considering running for presidency on Republican ticket, warns that if Iran acquires nukes, Israel and US would be under severe threat; 'Firing one or more bombs at Israel could be a second Holocaust for the Jewish people,' Gingrich says Message to Newt: America and Israel = 2 separate countries.

07-21-07 - Israel's Olmert rejects Syria conditions for talks Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Syria was setting an "impossible threshold" for peace talks by demanding Israel commit to withdraw fully from the occupied Golan Heights before negotiations resume.

07-21-07 - 'NYT': Ron Paul for President -- Of the 'Wackos'?

News for 07-20-07

2007-07-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

07-20-07 - US Marine escapes jail for Iraqi civilian murder plot Awad, a 52-year-old father of 11, was taken from his home in a late-night raid by eight US servicemen and killed before the Marines involved covered up the incident to make it look as if Awad was an insurgent planting a bomb.

07-20-07 - 'Iranian-linked militant' among dozens captured in Iraq raids The US military said on Friday its forces had captured an alleged Iranian-linked militant who transported deadly bombs into Iraq from Iran......"The captured terrorist is suspected of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel from Iran into Iraq," a statement said.....The military said the detainee, who was captured in the town of Kharnabat near the restive city of Baquba northeast of Baghdad, has connections with "senior leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force." How many of the foreign militants in Iraq are from the House of Saud, mewonders? Probably many many more than there are of those from Iran. Hey, I know - let's attack Iran!

07-20-07 - Russia says has not "slammed the door" on arms pact

07-20-07 - Turkish PM threatens to invade northern Iraq

07-20-07 - Ahmadinejad says Iran fully supports Palestinian resistance

07-20-07 - AP misrepresented newly released NIE judgment on Al Qaeda's use of "contacts and capabilities" in Iraq

07-20-07 - FBI's Secret Spyware Tracks Down Teen Who Made Bomb Threats "It's quite possible the FBI knows about vulnerabilities that have not been disclosed to the rest of the world," says Thompson. "If they had discovered one, they would not have disclosed it, and that would be a great way to get stuff on people's computer. Then I guess they can bug whoever they want."

07-20-07 - 4 die as Iran's Revolutionary Guard clashes with bandits Members of the elite Revolutionary Guard have clashed with "foreign-guided" bandits in southeastern Iran, killing four of them and suffering several casualties, state-run television reported yesterday

07-20-07 - Russia 'has seen no proof' in Litvinenko case Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he has seen no proof from Britain to support claims that former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi poisoned dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

07-20-07 - Giuliani names Podhoretz, Kramer as advisers Rudy Giuliani named top Jewish neo-conservatives as foreign policy advisers.

07-20-07 - Fitzgerald Deserves Top U.S. Law Post, Comey Says (Update3) Patrick Fitzgerald won the convictions of four Osama bin Laden associates in May 2001. In March, he got Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby. Last week, he nailed Conrad Black.....''I wouldn't want him as an attorney general if I were a Republican because his prosecutorial mentality may go a bit too far,'' Fitzgerald evidently will go after corrupt politicians (among others) of both parties. Being a Republican (which this webmistress happens to be, proudly so) has got nothing to do with it. Now the neocons, on the other hand, should be quivering in their astronaut diapers - another matter entirely. Now put down your shiny new scooter, Fitz, and get back to work.

07-20-07 - Idiots on the March by Charley Reese ** Idiots in Israel, along with those American idiots in the punditocracy who can't see where they are going because their vision is blocked by Israeli backsides, are trying to pressure our idiots in the White House to commit an act of insanity. In a nutshell, yes.

07-20-07 - US Affairs: Bush Doctrine revisited On Tuesday, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliot Abrams held a conference call with Jewish officials and reassured them that there was nothing in the speech that meant policy toward Israel would be changing or that Israel would find itself under extra pressure to make concessions

07-20-07 - Perilous times for Iraq Palestinians "We're just waiting for death," said Ziad Nassir, a 35-year-old barber who has lived in Iraq for 16 years. "The only question is how we'll die."

07-20-07 - GOP hopefuls blast Bush on Mideast Two likely Republican presidential candidates told a Christian audience that Bush administration policies endangered Israel

07-20-07 - Texas governor plans divestment from Iran Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants to divest the state's pension funds from Iran after meeting with Israeli officials.

07-20-07 - Strong backing in House for U.N. panel slam A U.S. House of Representatives resolution slamming the U.N. Human Rights Council for targeting Israel has dozens of co-sponsors. Not a matter for the US Congress.

07-20-07 - Petition to stop the Iranian nuclear threat sent to world leaders Thursday?s conference was sponsored by The Israel Project and featured U.S. Representatives Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Jon Porter (R-Nev.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and TIP Founder and President Jennifer Laszlo.

07-20-07 - U.S. Islamic charities feel post 9/11 heat Islamic activists say charities that donate to Palestinian causes have been singled out. "Any charity that decides to provide aid to Palestine is either shut down or intensely scrutinized," "Cui bono ? Who benefits? ? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror." - Patrick J. Buchanan.

07-20-07 - INTERVIEW - No swift return for Palestinians to battered camp Many of the 32,000 Palestinian refugees who have fled fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants will need temporary homes while their devastated camp is rebuilt, a U.N. official said on Friday.

07-20-07 - Ahmadinejad warns: Enemies will be 'burned' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced his support for Lebanon's militant Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah during an official state visit to Syria, warning 'enemies of the region' to abandon hostile plans or risk being 'burned'.

07-20-07 - Israel slams Iran-Syria alliance Any withdrawal from the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981, would see the Jewish state "find itself without peace and without the Golan," Eitan said. Not theirs to keep in the first place.

07-20-07 - Abrams reassures Jewish leaders Elliott Abrams, the deputy national security adviser who is often the last word on Israel-related issues, spoke Thursday in a conference call with the Jewish leaders, a number of participants said.

News for 07-19-07

2007-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

07-19-07 - Iran shows new scholars' footage

07-19-07 - Another Step Toward War with Iran ** Iranian influence in Iraq is now becoming the accepted reason among American political elites as to why US forces are failing. The Lieberman amendment also claims that Iran is providing a safe-haven for al Qaeda fighters, even though the group is allegedly blowing up Iraqi Shias daily.

07-19-07 - No Evidence of Iran?s role in violence and instability in Iraq ? confirms British Foreign Minister

07-19-07 - Gates shows hurt over war deaths The moment came as he described writing notes to the families of soldiers who had died in the conflict, calling them "our country's sons and daughters".

07-19-07 - Plame lawsuit dismissed in CIA leak case

07-19-07 - Vets' Disability Pay Is Widely Disparate

07-19-07 - RAF scrambles to intercept Russian bombers RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian strategic bombers heading for British airspace yesterday, as the spirit of the Cold War returned to the North Atlantic once again.

07-19-07 - Ahmadinejad mocks Israel, praises Lebanon during Syria visit Iran's President Mamoud Ahmadinejad mocked Israel and called for Lebanese unity during meetings in Damascus Thursday with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

07-19-07 - Can't Find Osama? Attack Iran Instead by Philip Giraldi ** The neoconservative architects of the Pentagon assault on Iraq that has turned that country into a failed state and a magnet for terrorism have left for greener pastures, but not a one has admitted to error or been publicly admonished. Several, including Vice President Dick Cheney and the National Security Council's Elliot Abrams, are still in positions of power, advocating a new war as part of a larger conflict that will go on indefinitely, everywhere. Former CIA official Philip Giraldi breaks it down for you.

07-19-07 - A Wake-up Call ** As even diehard Republican Patrick J. Buchanan observed on July 17, with three US aircraft carrier battle groups in congested waters off Iran, another Tonkin Gulf incident could easily be engineered to set us at war with Iran. If Bush?s intentions were merely to bomb a nuclear reactor, he would not need three carrier strike forces. Lately, the administration has switched to blaming Iran for the war in Iraq. The US Senate has already lined up behind the latest lie with a 97-0 vote to condemn Iran.

07-19-07 - Jordanian FM: Peace with Palestinians before Syria

07-19-07 - AIPAC panel lobbies on Iran About 100 members of AIPAC's executive committee meeting in Washington this week pushed bills that would tighten existing sanctions, as well as enable state and local governments to divest from Iran.

07-19-07 - Google's neocon publicist Valleywag points out that Google's spokesman, Australian Rob Shilkin, penned several pieces four years ago praising the Iraq war. From personal experience via my Neocon Watch newsgroup at Google, I can tell you that someone at Google does not take too kindly to anti-Neocon sentiment.

07-19-07 - Saudis at foreign battles embarrass homeland Lebanese officials say dozens of Saudis are among militants of the Fatah al-Islam militant group which has been battling the army for two months in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon.

07-19-07 - Spy Towers on the US Border Boeing has enlisted the aid of Elbit Systems, Israel's major defense contractor, to construct high-tech surveillance along the border of the U.S. and Mexico. So far, the high-tech fiasco is not working and Arizona residents are organizing a lawsuit to halt government spying on U.S. citizens. Just what we need.

07-19-07 - Lebanese army shells militants cornered in camp

07-19-07 - Israel's envoy to U.S.: Free world is under attack by Iran Hegee also had harsh words for former president Jimmy Carter, whose recent book comparing Israel?s policies in the West Bank with Apartheid has stirred bitter controversy in the United States and abroad. "Israel has an enemy in America called Jimmy Carter," he said, calling on the former president to "disclose how much money the Carter Center receives from anti-Israel sources in the Middle East."

07-19-07 - Christian Zionists: Ahmadinejad is new Hitler Christians United for Israel call on US to attack Iran immediately, move US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as sign of support

News for 07-18-07

2007-07-19T16:13:00.001-07:00

07-18-07 - Marine guilty of plotting to murder Iraqi civilian A US Marine was on Wednesday found guilty of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an Iraqi civilian killed during a late-night raid outside Baghdad last year.

07-18-07 - UN welcomes 'positive' Iran moves The head of the UN's atomic energy agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has welcomed Iran's decision to allow inspections of its heavy water reactor at Arak.

07-18-07 - US draws new Iraq-Al Qaeda link The US military on Wednesday added new grist to the Bush administration's claims that the Al Qaeda that American forces are battling in Iraq is an extension of the group that was behind the 9/11 attacks.

07-18-07 - Hagel Says There is Only a Political Solution to the Iraq Problem Hagel=one of the good guys.

07-18-07 - Republicans block Senate's Iraq withdrawal plan Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a personal appearance on Capitol Hill as the vote approached, shuttling between meetings with law-makers, in an apparent bid to bolster the Republican vote. So much for the Iraq Study Group's recommendations.

07-18-07 - 'Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me:' Fitzgerald goes on air Patrick Fitzgerald, the Chicago-based U.S. attorney, will make an appearance on Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!, the Chicago-based Saturday comical hour on National Public Radio. While Fitzgerald plays tiddly winks on NPR, the neocons have gotten away with one of the biggest deceptions this country has ever seen (Iraq). And they're doing it again - only this time, Iran is the target. Too bad Fitz can't bring them to justice (before it's too late).

07-18-07 - How Murdoch had a hotline to the PM in the run-up to Iraq war In 2003, Mr Blair phoned the owner of The Times and The Sun on 11 and 13 March, and on 19 March, the day before Britain and the United States invaded Iraq. The war was strongly supported by Murdoch-owned newspapers around the world.

07-18-07 - New life for Iraq Study Group's plan?

07-18-07 - Cheney's office implies it has executive privilege of its own Weeks after claiming that it was not a part of the executive branch, the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney appears to be readying an independent assertion of executive privilege.

07-18-07 - Rep. condemned for Hitler comparison Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) called on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, to reprimand Ellison.

07-18-07 - US troop levels in Iraq unsustainable after mid-2008: Powell Powell, a retired four-star general who was President George W. Bush's top diplomat from 2001 to 2005, and was the military's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff during 1989-1993, also called on Washington to find a way to talk with the powerful Palestinian group Hamas, despite its alleged terror links. Bring back Powell. The neocons may have duped him into giving that speech, but Powell's credibility remains intact, at least to me it does.

07-18-07 - Militants say ready to talk to end Lebanon fighting The Islamist militant group battling Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp said on Wednesday it was willing to resume talks to end the fighting, a move that came after it lost ground in a two-month-old battle.

07-18-07 - Judge dismisses all charges in Chinca's Market case In dismissing multiple counts of attempted receiving stolen property Tuesday, the judge said testimony in the case suggested the real focus of the investigation was not about cigarettes, but the store owner's "connection to his Palestinian homeland, his practice of the Muslim religion, and relationship with other Middle Eastern shopkeepers in Butte County. Thus does the FBI continue to do the bidding of the Israeli lobby.

07-18-07 - Syrian envoy to UN: Israel fabricating evidence against us Bashar Ja'afari told Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Syria protests the fact that the UN "adopted the fabricated claims that it received by Israeli intelligence sources." Why not? The US does.

07-18-07 - McCain supports war in speech to evangelical supporters John McCain told Christian evangelical supporters of Israel that withdrawing troops from Iraq now would be "one of the most catastrophic and consequential disasters for this nation." .....McCain said backing the Democratic-sponsored measure and withdrawing would be to "declare defeat and allow al-Qaida to obtain victory." Staying and stabilizing Iraq could help ensure the safety of Israel and the Middle East, he said, winning loud applause. As to the first part of the excerpt: which nation? Clearly he has Israel confused with the one he was elected to represent: America.

07-18-07 - ?Not One Inch? Still Alive And Well The group also heard emotional calls to action on Iran; Hagee has openly called for pre-emptive war to end that country?s nuclear program.

07-18-07 - Our soldiers pay the price In 1948 America cast the deciding vote in the U.N. permanent Security Council to partition the nation of Palestine to create a homeland for the Jews spread around the world. We will be paying for that mistake forever, for being staunch supporters of Israel.

07-18-07 - U.N. envoy says arms smuggling threatens Lebanon peace Syria's ambassador Bashar Ja'afari denied Syria was funnelling weapons over the border. He accused Israel of violating the resolution through overflights which he said provided intelligence on the alleged smuggling.

07-18-07 - 5 dead in fighting in Lebanon Four Lebanese soldiers were killed as Lebanese troops battled militants Wednesday inside a northern Palestinian refugee camp, a senior military official said. A teenager was later killed by a militant rocket.

07-18-07 - US skeptical about French fence-mending trip to Syria The United States expressed skepticism Wednesday over France's decision to send a top diplomat for talks with Syria, Washington's arch enemy.

07-18-07 - This flurry of Middle East activity is the product of a very real threat: Iran ** As the Guardian reported this week, the notion of military action to prevent a nuclear Iran is under serious consideration in the White House - with Bush apparently leaning towards Dick Cheney's view that it may be necessary to use force before they leave office in January 2009. The flock of US presidential candidates are all at pains not to rule out military action and so, strikingly, was David Miliband in his first interview as foreign secretary.

07-18-07 - Sun editor wants Black columns The editor of the New York Sun invited media mogul Conrad Black, now a convicted felon, to write for the newspaper from prison. One Israel-supporter(neocon, same thing) washes the back of another. How charming.

News for 07-17-07

2007-07-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

07-17-07 - Tonkin Gulf II and the Guns of August? by Patrick J. Buchanan ** As Congress prepares for its August recess, the probability of U.S. air strikes on Iran rises with each week. A third carrier, the USS Enterprise, and its battle group is joining the Nimitz and Stennis in the largest concentration of U.S. naval power ever off the coast of Iran. And Tonkin Gulf II may have already occurred.

07-17-07 - Help lags for homeless female veterans

07-17-07 - US 'appalled' as Iran shows US-Iranians on TV The United States said Tuesday it was "appalled" at the treatment of four US-Iranians detained in Tehran after Iranian television aired footage of two academics ahead of their alleged "confessions."

07-17-07 - Most GOP Military Donations for President Went to Ron Paul Ron Paul - a hero on Capitol Hill. Gotta love him.

07-17-07 - Russia ridicules expulsion of diplomats and promises a 'targeted' retaliation

07-17-07 - US wants fresh Iran talks on Iraq "We think that given the situation in Iraq and given Iran's continued behaviour that is leading to further instability in Iraq, that it would be appropriate to have another face-to-face meeting... ," Mr McCormack told reporters. Iran now behind sectarian violence.

07-17-07 - U.S. says Iran knows its weapons reaching Taliban Making the case for war.

07-17-07 - US Senate locked in Iraq battle Senators are due to vote on three major amendments to a defence funding bill, one of which would require withdrawal of US troops by the end of April 2008.

07-17-07 - Googlers applaud GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul

07-17-07 - Turkish PM defends gas deal with Iran Erdogan was speaking a day after Washington criticised the agreement signed last week after talks between Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh.

07-17-07 - Haniya rejected Iran's involvement in Gaza attacks On Monday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya denied PA President Mahmoud Abbas?s allegations that Iran, Syria, and Qatar had a hand in the recent Gaza Strip attacks.

07-17-07 - Notes From a Beach Blanket The AIPAC spy scandal: now this is one case that seems to have been dropped into a bottomless pit, but no, it has merely been delayed by the Scooter Libby-esque tactics of the defense team.

07-17-07 - Did the UN Cave to Israel?

07-17-07 - Bishara attends Lebanon 'victory' parley Azmi Bishara, a former Knesset member who resigned and fled Israel this year after it emerged that he could be prosecuted for illicit communications with Hezbollah, attended an anniversary conference in Beirut this week marking a year since the war between the Lebanese militia and Israel.

07-17-07 - Pro-Israel Christians to push Iran sanctions Speakers at the group's second national conference include the group's founder, Pastor John Hagee, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, a probable candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency.

07-17-07 - Lebanese soldier killed as commandos close in on Islamists A Lebanese soldier was killed on Tuesday in clashes with Islamist fighters as the army closed in on the extremists' positions in a bombed-out refugee camp, a military spokesman said.

07-17-07 - Bush, Ban to discuss Darfur, pressure on Iran

07-17-07 - Italian minister says isolating Hamas may help al Qaeda The West's policy of isolating Hamas could backfire and push the militant Palestinian group into the arms of al Qaeda, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said.

07-17-07 - Lebanese army makes new gains in Palestinian camp Lebanese troops seized more territory inside a Palestinian refugee camp in pitched battles on Tuesday against al Qaeda-inspired militants, security sources said.

07-17-07 - Assad: Golan guarantee before talks Bashar Assad conditioned new peace talks with Israel on a guaranteed return of the Golan Heights to Syria.

News for 07-16-07

2007-07-17T17:01:00.001-07:00

07-16-07 - Iran to air statements by detained US-Iranians Iran will on Wednesday broadcast apparent confessions by two US-Iranian academics detained since May on charges of harming national security in cases that have raised tensions with Washington.

07-16-07 - Why US sees Al Qaeda as a growing threat Washington's intelligence and security agencies say they've watched with increasing frustration in recent months as Al Qaeda's central leadership has reestablished core functions in Pakistan's tribal areas Pakistan HAS NUKES. NOW. Hey I know - let's attack Iran. Brilliant!

07-16-07 - General Pace: Another Troop Buildup Possible

07-16-07 - Britain expels Russian diplomats as row over Litvinenko murder grows

07-16-07 - Iran TV shows detained Americans

07-16-07 - Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran ** The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned......"The red line is not in Iran. The red line is in Israel. If Israel is adamant it will attack, the US will have to take decisive action," Mr Cronin said. "The choices are: tell Israel no, let Israel do the job, or do the job yourself."

07-16-07 - On Heels Of Senate?s Iran Vote, Brownback Declared I?m Ready To Strike Iran ** On Wednesday, the Senate voted 97-0 to pass a resolution sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to censure Iran ?for what it said was complicity in the killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.? The resolution required the Bush administration to regularly report to Congress on Iran?s role in Iraq.

07-16-07 - U.N. chief offers to help start Israel-Syria talks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered on Monday to facilitate any future peace talks between Israel and Syria, which the United States has shunned.

07-16-07 - Report: Israel not ready for missile strikes ** The report also critcized a recent decision by the military to collect gas masks issued to Israelis during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as it would slow the public's response to any unconventional missile offensive by countries such as Iran or Syria. Based on related issues being reported dealing with war preparations in the past few weeks, Israel is quite clearly preparing for some sort of attack.

07-16-07 - Iran battles US, Israel... in computer game Iran on Monday launched a computer game with a strong political message that mixes the standoff over its nuclear programme, the mystery of missing diplomats in Lebanon and its hatred of Israel.

07-16-07 - In coordinated moves, U.S. and Israel launch peace push ** In a meeting Monday in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to accelerate peace talks.
Several hours later, in a clearly coordinated move, President Bush issued a major policy statement in Washington, calling for a regional peace conference to help the parties "move forward on a successful path toward a Palestinian state.".....It has been a long time since the key players have shown such determination to move ahead. I will reiterate my strong belief that these moves made by Israel and thusly the US are part of the Attack Iran campaign.

07-16-07 - Most Christians support Israel AND Palestine, oppose Iran war: NCC leaders As Pastor John Hagee prepares for his annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) gathering this week in Washington, D.C., two leaders of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) are reminding observers that most Christians do not share CUFI's stated goals......Pastor Hagee's efforts are the latest in a century old apocalyptic movement that began in earnest in the 19th century. Sometimes called Christian Zionism because of its uncritical support for the State of Israel, it is based on a literal reading of Biblical apocalyptic texts.

07-16-07 - Bomb hits Lebanon UN peacekeepers A UN spokeswoman said no casualties were reported and the organisation was investigating the attack.

07-16-07 - Four more Lebanese soldiers die in battle for camp Lebanese troops pushed deeper into a Palestinian refugee camp on Monday, seeking to finish an eight-week confrontation with al Qaeda-inspired militants during which at least 225 people have been killed.

07-16-07 - Bush launches peace bid with Middle East talks This comes on the same day a report at the Guardian articulates that Cheney is pushing for action on Iran. Not a coincidence. The efforts toward Middle East peace are part of an attempt to get Arabs and Europe on board for action on Iran (very similar to the runup to the Iraq war).

07-16-07 - Jury selection starts in Hamas case Lawyers began quizzing potential jurors Monday in the trial of leaders of a Muslim charity accused of funneling millions of dollars to the militant group Hamas.

07-16-07 - France warns Israel over possible attempt to kidnap Hizbullah members According to the report, the warning was issued after French intelligence received information saying Mossad was planning to attack Hizbullah and Amal (Lebanese Resistance Detachments) representatives at the conference

07-16-07 - 'IDF preparing for all-out war'** When conflict breaks out with Syria, he said, Israel will face a challenge, because the Syrians "will be willing to take military and civilian hits but will strive to harm the Israeli home front in order to gain future achievements in a political process and to further split Israeli society.

News for 07-15-07

2007-07-16T15:32:00.001-07:00

07-15-07 - Most foreign insurgents in Iraq are Saudis: report Most foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia, despite attempts by US officials to portray Syria and Iran as the main culprits of violence, a US newspaper reported Sunday.

07-15-07 - Hadley Says Bush Won't Budge on Reassessing Iraq Plan (Update1)

07-15-07 - U.S. is building database on Iraqis

07-15-07 - Don't Delay: US Out of Iraq Now by Rep. Ron Paul ** We have no guarantee the new strategy demanded by this legislation would not actually expand our military activities to Iran and Syria and beyond. I urge my colleagues to reject this legislation and put forth an effective strategy to end the war in Iraq and to bring our troops home.

07-15-07 - Bush to offer new support for Palestinians: Hadley President George W. Bush is expected to outline Monday new US support for the beleaguered Palestinian government, a senior White House official said Sunday.

07-15-07 - The Politico?s Brazen Lies About Ron Paul Neocons, the Israeli lobby, fear Paul's rising stardom because Paul dares to put America's interests first. All of the other candidates have made the customary kowtow to AIPAC, and threaten Iran with military action in obeisance to the lobby.

07-15-07 - More NeoCrazy Media Sycophancy Russia and China, as well as France and the United Kingdom, will "provide immediate assistance" to Iran if it "is a victim of an act, or an object of a threat of, aggression in which nuclear weapons are used."

07-15-07 - Lebanon army advances into camp, 100th soldier dies Lebanese troops advanced for the first time on Sunday into a Palestinian refugee camp as they battled al Qaeda-inspired militants, and two soldiers were killed raising the military death toll to 100.

07-15-07 - Islamists fire rockets as Lebanese army pounds hideouts Islamist fighters on Sunday fired rockets from their holdout in a battered refugee camp in Lebanon where the army has been battling to crush them for eight weeks, police said.

07-15-07 - Kristol Gazing: The Media Pundit From the Right, Who Is Always Wrong

07-15-07 - Kidnapped Israeli troops 'alive' France's foreign minister says he has heard that two Israeli soldiers seized in a Hezbollah raid over the Lebanese border last year are still alive.

07-15-07 - Inside Track: Rudy?s New Foreign Policy Posse by Philip Giraldi ** Podhoretz has recently called on the United States to bomb Iran and he describes the current situation?pitting Washington against what he describes as "the Islamofascist threat"?as World War IV.

07-15-07 - Report: Iran has 600 targets for missile strike in Israel if attacked ** Iran's warning refers to talk in Israel and the United States of a possible military strike to prevent the Islamic republic from attaining nuclear capability. Various channels delivered the Iranian message, which also warns against an attack on Syria.

07-15-07 - USA TODAY prints falsehood, Refuses to run retraction W
e think USA TODAY owes it to these dead young servicemen,
to their sisters and mothers, and to the American public, to report this
incident accurately. The Israeli attack on the USS Liberty has profound
geopolitical significance. Readers need full, unfiltered information.

News for 07-14-07

2007-07-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

07-14-07 - Soldier Gets Self Shot in Leg to Avoid Returning to Iraq A soldier who recently returned from Iraq has admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning for another tour.

07-14-07 - S Korean ship 'sinks off Iran' Seyed Masih Momeni said the ship had been carrying iron to Iran from China.

07-14-07 - Air Force quietly building Iraq presence

07-14-07 - Russia pulls out of arms-control treaty Putin has in the past threatened to freeze his country's compliance with the treaty, accusing the United States and its NATO partners of undermining regional stability with U.S. plans for a missile defense system in former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe.

07-14-07 - US troops tell magazine about 'brutal side' of Iraq war only the Los Angeles Times daily had written about The Nation's issue, which on Saturday continued to go unreported by the country's main television stations and newspapers.

07-14-07 - Taliban leader promises bigger terrorist attacks

07-14-07 - US troops find Iranian rockets aimed at Iraq base

07-14-07 - Republicans press Bush over Iraq

07-14-07 - Neocon Bill Kristol expects Bush to attack Pakistan

07-14-07 - Is War With Iran Inevitable? ** hunker down, get ready for the coming storm ? prepare yourself for gas prices that will make it impossible to drive without taking out a bank loan ? and, most importantly, stay online. Because the first news of the Big War will be headlined right here on Antiwar.com ? along with a thorough debunking of the alleged "incident" that sparks it.

07-14-07 - France hosts Lebanon crisis talks Among the participants are also representatives from the opposition Shia group Hezbollah. Hezbollah sent its team despite complaints from French Jewish groups who have branded the group a terrorist organisation.

07-14-07 - A history with Iran There is also the continued blind support America has given to Israel in every step of their outrageous and self-destructive oppression of the Palestinian people. We have been bombing, interfering with and disrespecting the nations of the Middle East for 50 years.