NotLW.002: Israel and other 'Mistakes'

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 13:56

Hunker Down With History
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake. It is an honest mistake, a well-intentioned mistake, a mistake for which no one is culpable, but the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now. Israel fights Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, but its most formidable enemy is history itself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20....html

redjade note: Contrary to what many think, American Jews have never been unanimous on the issue of Israel - Often you will find more debate and openess of discussion coming from American Jews about the issue of Israel than you will from the Yank Gentile community (both Left Gentile and Right Gentile)

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 14:01

David Clark writes
Yet the US remains entirely complicit in its role as Israel's main strategic ally. In the midst of last Friday's onslaught, in which Israeli bombers killed dozens of Lebanese civilians, the Pentagon announced the export of $210m of aviation fuel to help Israel "keep peace and security in the region". Even Britain and other European countries indulge in a form of diplomatic misdirection by focusing one-sidedly on the roles played by Syria and Iran.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,,1822143,00.html

David Clark is a former Labour special adviser at the Foreign Office

———

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis

By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER
Published: July 22, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 21 -- The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran's efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22mi....html

redjade note: '$210m of aviation fuel'? Somebody should making some calls around to see how Top Oil is doing these days

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 14:14

Pentagon OKs $6 bln in arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The Bush administration said on Thursday it approved the sale to Saudi Arabia of 24 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, radios, armoured vehicles and other military equipment worth more than $6 billion (3.25 billion pounds).

Congress has 30 days to block the sales, although such action is rare.

The Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency said the principal contractors for the different sales included Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp., General Electric Co., Harris Corp., ITT Corp., General Dynamics Corp., and Raytheon Corp..

The agency said in a mandatory notice to Congress that the arms sales would help strengthen Saudi Arabia's military and its ability to help the United States fight terrorism around the world.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=w...False

redjade note: at mid-2006 its boring and almost cliche in some circles to say it again and again - but.... what country did a majority of those 9/11 hijackers come from? Better question: were any of those hijackers Palestinians? or Iraqis? or Lebanese? or Syrian, or...

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 14:28

Lawmakers accused the Bush administration Thursday of rushing a sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, saying Congress' role in approving arms sales had been compromised. Opponents acknowledged they could do little stop the $5 billion deal.

Democrats and Republicans lashed out at the State Department for giving them only 30 days to consider the deal; that period runs out next week. The administration, they say, failed to provide a traditional extra 20 days.

The compressed timetable "represents a deliberate and wholly inappropriate maneuver by the State Department to diminish the Congress' lawful oversight of arms sales," said GOP Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/20/ap/politics/m...shtml

redjade note: Sheesh! Must be x-mas in the middle east these days! Perhaps these F-16 fighter jets will find Osama, but I doubt it. More likely they can be used to destroy those Indian Long Range Missiles tested (R&D from Bangalore) just the other week (right after the North Koreans lauched their own home grown version). Interesting though, the F-16 can drop bombs and such but is mostly for dogfights with other aircraft. Iran's airforce is a joke. Afghanistan has none. That leaves China and India. Why would the US arm a country who's enemy is the only democracy in the region?


F-16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16

The World Yawns... India successfully tests its longest-range missile
http://indymedia.ie/article/77124

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 15:02

Lebanon crisis of 1958

Lebanese Muslims pushed the government to join the newly created United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria), while the Christians wanted to keep Lebanon aligned with Western Powers. A Muslim Rebellion and the toppling of a pro-Western government in Iraq caused the President Camille Chamoun to call for U.S. assistance.

President Eisenhower responded by authorizing Operation Blue Bat on July 15, 1958. The goal of the operation was to bolster the pro-Western Lebanese government of President Camille Chamoun against internal opposition and threats from Syria and the United Arab Republic. The plan was to occupy and secure the Beirut International Airport, a few miles south of the city, then to secure the port of Beirut and approaches to the city.

more at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_crisis_of_1958

also see:
List of United States military history events
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_fore..._1945

2006 Photo: REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060721/ids_photos_wl/r27312...zc3M-

redjade note: US history in Lebanon didn't start in 1983 nor 2001 - but the US The Marine Corps' Hymn ('From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli') does not refer to Tripoli Lebanon but actually present day Libya.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marines'_hymn

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 15:45

Willful Fantasies and Reality in Today's Mideast Conflict
by James Zogby

A symptom of this warped mind-set is the now widely-shared and dangerous notion that has equated calls for ceasefire with weakness. In a rare display of agreement, both the White House and the Washington Post promoted this view last week. In response to a question from Helen Thomas as to why the President opposed calls for a ceasefire, White House spokesperson Tony Snow rudely thanked Ms. Thomas for what he characterized as her "Hezbollah view." Likewise, the Post editorialized that call for a ceasefire would only "reward the aggressors."

In this environment, it has been difficult to promote reasoned discourse and promote political solutions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/willful-fanta....html

'Hezbollah view'
[Helen] Thomas was born in Winchester, Kentucky to Lebanese immigrants.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas

'a regular personality on Fox News Channel since 1996, hosting Fox News Sunday, Weekend Live, and often substituting as host of The O'Reilly Factor.'
... 'Snow was born in Berea, Kentucky,'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Snow

redjade note: James Zogby 'is the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute, which conducts policy research and engages in political advocacy for the Arab American community.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Zogby) and is not to be confused with his brother John Zogby (American political pollster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zogby / http://zogby.com/index.cfm) - Both are Lebanese Americans and politically influential within the Liberal/Left of US politics. The Zogby brothers were not born in Kentucky.


ALSO: last March, the ever lovely Ann Coulter (another FOXnews favourite) called Helen Thomas 'that old Arab Helen Thomas'
http://mediamatters.org/items/200503090001

———

Semitic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic
'Semitic (from the Biblical name "Shem") was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hebrew, Maltese, Syriac, Tigrinya, etc.'

Anti-Semitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism

once FOXnews talking head, today Bush's mouth - what's the difference?

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 16:00

Bill O'Reilly:
'You have a very big split in the Jewish-American community. You got a lot of Jewish liberals, a lot of Jewish far-left people, who basically feel that, you know, you don't have a right to go after terrorists because it's our fault, the United States' fault. And some say it's Israel's fault because we've been mean to them, therefore they have a right to do whatever they want -- behead people on camera, all this terrible stuff. OK? That's a far-left position.'

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607200004

redjade note: FOXnews' Bill O'Reilly just gets weirder and weirder.... only Bill O'Reilly could find a rhetorical way to jew-bash to show his support for Israel.

Again, this propaganda war is not about or for a specific religion (Judiasm) but about the objectives of a certain country (Israel) and what rhetoric their allies in the American media and politics will employ to further those goals. That rhetoric will, at times, use anti-semitism to further those goals.

...a blast from the past:
Bill O'Reilly smears George Soros
(January 2 2006)
''Where does George Soros have all his money? Do you know? Do you know where George Soros, the big left-wing loon who's financing all these smear [web]sites, do you know where his money is? Curaçao. Curaçao. They ought to hang this Soros guy. His money is in Curaçao. Mr. Socialism. But not for him. Not for him. Oh no, he's got his money in Curaçao. It drives me nuts.''

http://mediamatters.org/items/200601030007

by redjade Sun Jul 23, 2006 16:15

BBC: Evangelical Christians plead for Israel

In common with many American evangelicals, he believes that God gave the land to the Jewish people and that Christians have a Biblical duty to support it and the Jews.

His latest book, Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, interprets the Bible to predict that Russian and Arab armies will invade Israel and be destroyed by God.

This will set up a confrontation over Israel between China and the West, led by the anti-Christ, who will be the head of the European Union, Pastor Hagee writes.

That final battle between East and West - at Armageddon, an actual place in Israel - will precipitate the second coming of Christ, he concludes.

[....]

Pastor Hagee himself said his group potentially had more clout than Jewish pro-Israel groups.

"When a congressman sees someone from Aipac coming through the door, he knows he represents six million people. We represent 40 million people."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5193092.stm

———

Pastor Hagee's website:
Israel and the Jewish People
Q. Why are you so outspoken in your support of Israel and the Jewish people? What relevance does the Bible have to the Middle East today

A. [....] ''The presence of the Israeli Defense Forces brings stability to that part of the world.

The current conflict in the Middle East is not just about land; it's about Israel's right to exist as a nation. The land has never belonged to the people who now call themselves Palestinians. The area was named Palestine by the Romans, but there has never been a nation called Palestine, and there is no Palestinian language. Before 1948 these people were Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Iraqis, and citizens of other Arab nations who had moved to the region. They were displaced by the war of 1948, but Israel is not occupying their territory.''

http://www.jhm.org/faq.asp#israel

Pastor Hagee's American Evangelicals assist in Ethnic Cleansing....
'Through John Hagee Ministries, Christians are joining forces with the Jewish people to rescue Jews from all around the world who wish to relocate to Israel. To date, John Hagee Ministries has donated in excess of $8.5 million to bring Jews from around the world to Israel. We have done this with the generous help of our partners throughout the Western Hemisphere.'
http://www.jhm.org/exodus2.asp

These 'Christians' look forward to Armageddon when God kills all the Jews and the Christians go to heaven

by Ali H. Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:53

Let's not forget that this is not Israels first episode of military adventurism under the guise of securing its borders.

It is 56 years since the unprovoked attack by Israel on Egypt, aimed at giving the French and British control fo the Suez canal.

The pretext then as now was border skirmishes with the Egyptians 8 years on from the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948 through the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

This pretext was used to cover the wider regional aims of Israels allies the British and French, as it is being used to cover the US aims in 2006.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5199392.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_crisis

by redjade Mon Jul 24, 2006 15:07

'The pretext then as now was border skirmishes'

i agree that seems to be what's going on.

What is Israel's endgame?

Just to have a weakened and West dependent Lebanonese gov't that will allow US/NATO troops on their soil as a 'buffer'?

Or... (just being very paranoid here)

The NeoCons and the Bushies & Karl Rove need a war to distract voters in America (all over again) - they cannot provoke/start one directly this time so have the Israelis escallate one to the point were a regional war becomes inevitable.

just thinking out loud

by redjade Mon Jul 24, 2006 18:55

Juan Cole writes.... ''Billmon (http://billmon.org/archives/002559.html) quotes sources that do not believe the war is going at all well for Israel. Despite bombing Lebanon back to the stone age, they had not stopped the rocket attacks of Hizbullah, and taking a single village was costly for them. Billmon does not mention another element in the losing of the war, which is that aside from the US congress and the usual pundits in the US, most people in the world don't seem to approve of the Israeli wholesale destruction of a whole country. I don't think they were counting on those thousands of evacuees getting this kind of television coverage. They are used to controlling communications in Gaza and the West Bank and did not count on how intertwined Lebanon is with the world information system. (Hence their recent attacks on internet servers.)''

read more at
http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/israelis-kill-8-wound-4....html

by Paul R Mon Jul 24, 2006 20:08

And who makes the F-16s?

Lockead Martin who are based (even make the F-16s)in texas.

Who pays for it/

The US taxpayers.

I am not sure if I feel sorry for the US taxpayers. To a large extent the war suits their pockets and they rarely pay in terms of personel.

by redjade Tue Jul 25, 2006 00:21

'And who makes the F-16s?'

Yes very true. But there are reasons beyond the mere Military Industrial Complex for what is going on right now - otherwise the US would have invaded Cuba a long time ago. The same F-16s would have been used against it - but there is no fighting war on Cuba at the moment.

'I am not sure if I feel sorry for the US taxpayers. To a large extent the war suits their pockets'

I think this is a total myth - once could have said this sort of thing in the WWII and a few years past - but these days so much of the weaponry is made by so few (and not all within America, as well) that this idea that average Americans are dependent on this kind of economy is completely wrong. That said, I think many Americans think they need War to support their economy.

———

quoting myself...
'...they cannot provoke/start one directly this time so have the Israelis escallate one to the point were a regional war becomes inevitable.

Check this out: 'White House press release that calls for Israel to attack Syria.'

go watch the video: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/39374/

by redjade Tue Jul 25, 2006 16:03

''Cleansing
By Matthew Yglesias

Going back to earlier discussions of "Kantian nihilism," I'm not really an adherent of Kantian ethics myself. Still, the various formulations of the categorical imperative are a useful way of gaining perspective on certain propositions. Alan Dershowitz, for example, thinks the civilians being killed in Lebanon mostly aren't civilians. After all, "The Israeli army has given well-publicized notice to civilians to leave those areas of southern Lebanon that have been turned into war zones." Consequently, "Those who voluntarily remain behind have become complicit." Dershowitz, obviously, has certain emotional and intellectual attachments to Israel as do a lot of other people. Absent those commitments, I doubt he really believes this. I doubt, in other words, that he would be genuinely willing to make this into a universal maxim.''
more at
http://yglesias.tpmcafe.com/blog/yglesias/2006/jul/22/c...nsing

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 01:01

Q: What do you think of the conspiracy theories about September 11?

Vidal: I’m willing to believe practically any mischief on the part of the Bush people. No, I don’t think they did it, as some conspiracy people think. Why? Because it was too intelligently done. This is beyond the competence of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. They couldn’t pull off a caper like 9/11. They are too clumsy.

Q: Today the United States is fighting two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, and is now threatening to launch a third one on Iran. What is it going to take to stop the Bush onslaught?

Vidal: Economic collapse. We are too deeply in debt. We can’t service the debt, or so my financial friends tell me, that’s paying the interest on the Treasury bonds, particularly to the foreign countries that have been financing us. I think the Chinese will say the hell with you and pull their money out of the United States. That’s the end of our wars.

more at
http://progressive.org/mag_intv0806

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 01:11

An Israeli bomb destroyed a United Nations observer post on the border in southern Lebanon, today, killing four peacekeepers.

The dead included observers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland, a senior Lebanese military official said.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as Unifil.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=190196400&p...97yx6

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 01:20

As reports of the attack emerged, Annan rushed out of a hotel in Rome following a dinner with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in a statement later.

Annan said in his statement the post had been there for a long time and was marked clearly and was hit, despite assurances from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would not be attacked.

"I call on the goverment of Israel to conduct a full investigation into this very disturbing incident and demand that any further attack on UN positions and personnel must stop," Annan said in the statement.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the UN Security Council was informed four officers were killed but he had no other information.

"We're obviously very sorry about that. We're attempting to get information where we can to confirm the nature of the incident," Bolton said.

more at
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownew...2595A

———

redjade note: now, why would Bolton say 'We're obviously very sorry'? Me thought Israel was an independent sovereign nation with an independent foreign policy! silly siily me - it seems i was misinformed.

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 09:32

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: ' "This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by (Israeli) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," '

Juan Cole writes....'The Israelis denied that they hit the base deliberately, but Kofi would know. Why do it? When you have in mind war crimes, it is better not to have neutral observers in the region.'

more at
http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/israelis-kill-un-peacek....html

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 14:47

'Al-Maliki's visit, meanwhile, prompted a sharply worded letter from leading Senate Democrats saying it is essential that the Iraqi leader clarify, before his Wednesday address to Congress, whether he supports or denounces Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

"Your failure to condemn Hezbollah's aggression and recognize Israel's right to defend itself raises serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East," said the letter obtained by The Associated Press. It was signed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Charles Schumer of New York.'

more at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060725/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/u..._iraq

the full text of the letter
http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=259597&&y...2006&

by hmmz Wed Jul 26, 2006 14:57

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the UN Security Council was informed four officers were killed but he had no other information. "We're obviously very sorry about that. We're attempting to get information where we can to confirm the nature of the incident," Bolton said.

Hes talking from a UN perspective you dimwit. He is apoligising for the lack of information,

KEEP IT REAL

by pat c Wed Jul 26, 2006 15:37

What iformation does Bolton require? The UN Observation Posts are there for years , the Israelis are aware of them. The UN had already complained to Israel that their positions were being targetted by the IDF. Bolton seems to be in denial.

The Israelis are deliberately killing UN Observors in the hope that others will leave. The Israelis will then start massacreing civilians on an industrial scale in Southern Lebanon.

Another thing; DONT SHOUT!

by hmmz Wed Jul 26, 2006 15:46

The Israelis are deliberately killing UN Observors in the hope that others will leave. The Israelis will then start massacreing civilians on an industrial scale in Southern Lebanon.

The UN have been there for years, why exactly do you think they will leave? they are not civilians, they cannot just walk away, get a clue and keep it REAL

by pat c Wed Jul 26, 2006 16:07

"REAL"

Please dont shout.

Why do you think the Israelis are bombing UN Outposts? The UN Observors are there to watch both IDF and Hezbollah activity. When the Irish Army had a Battalion in the UN force, 30 Irish soldiers were killed, half by the Israelis and half by the Hezbollah.

The IDF have now chosen to drive out the unarmed observors so that the IDF can committ even more serious War Crimes.

by pat c Wed Jul 26, 2006 16:29

Israel troops 'ignored' UN plea

Israel had hit Khiam a number of times earlier on Tuesday. UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon contacted Israeli troops 10 times before an Israeli bomb killed four of them, an initial UN report says.
The post was hit by a precision-guided missile after six hours of shelling, diplomats familiar with the probe say.

Full story at:

by hmmz Wed Jul 26, 2006 16:34

lol, i suggest you read the press releases that the force releases everyday, at the moment they are about 50/50 from Israel and hezbollah, attacked by mortar by hezbollah injured 4 keepers yesterday, they also attacked a convoy with smallarms fire----

Same deal with the israelis, they barraged a town which the outpost is next to as they were assualting the hezbollah positions there--the outposts are in hotspots that have israelis moving forward or hezbollah moving around---i.e a war zone, the force is not going anywhere, they are caught in the middle and will remain, your suggestion that Israel is targettting them so that they can move them out and then move into s. lebanon and massacre civilians is ludicrous, even more so as Israel has stated it is clearing 2miles in from blue line so that the force(UN) can expand and do what Israel has been forced to do because of the lebanese governments incompetence--disarm the last remaining militia in lebanon(under proxy from iran and syria), btw 4 iranian revolutionary guard fighters were killed in lebanon last night i believe(the lebanese govt. themselves confirmed this as correct ) and hezbollah leader says he plans to strike further into Israel with rockets so i would say that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets a lot better

which is a shame for civilians on both sides of this

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 18:54

Asian arms race heats up as Pakistan builds new reactor
Satellite photographs of what appears to be a nuclear reactor under construction in Pakistan are the latest evidence that President George Bush's foreign policy is fuelling a nuclear arms race in south Asia.

The photographs show a heavy-water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium to make 40-50 nuclear weapons a year, more than 20 times Pakistan's existing capacity, according to the US-based Institute for Science and International Security.

The new pictures come just weeks after a former head of Indian intelligence said that a controversial civilian nuclear fuel deal with the US will allow India to produce 50 warheads a year, by freeing up its existing fuel for military use.

more at
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1195243.ece

———

U.S. Says It Knew of Pakistani Reactor Plan
The Bush administration acknowledged yesterday that it had long known about Pakistan's plans to build a large plutonium-production reactor, but it said the White House was working to dissuade Pakistan from using the plant to expand its nuclear arsenal.

[....]

Henry D. Sokolski, the Defense Department's top nonproliferation official during the George H.W. Bush administration, said he was most surprised by the way news of the reactor in Pakistan became known.

"What is baffling is that this information -- which was surely information that our own intelligence agencies had -- was kept from Congress," said Sokolski, now director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. "We lack imagination if we think that this is no big deal."

———

redjade note: amazingly (or not so - actually) neither article bothers to mention the name AQ Khan


The AQ Khan Revelations and Subsequent Changes to Pakistani Export Control
'In February 2004, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the former head of Khan Research Labs, confessed to the illicit transfer of nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea and other countries.'
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_54a.html

Abdul Qadeer Khan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Qadeer_Khan

Dr. AQ Khan Research Laboratories
http://www.krl.com.pk/

AQ Khan was pardoned for crimes by Pakistani President Musharraf

by redjade Wed Jul 26, 2006 23:20

Juan Cole quotes the Lebanese Daily Star:
Israeli warships also forbade a French ship loaded with humanitarian aid from reaching a port in Lebanon, according to media reports.

Israeli gunboats also fired warning shots at a Turkish ferry that was helping evacuate Australians from Lebanon and held it for several hours, Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/israelis-kill-un-peacek....html

by redjade Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:30

Question: Is the country closer to a civil war?

SEC. RUMSFELD: Oh, I don't know. You know, I thought about that last night, and just musing over the words, the phrase, and what constitutes it. If you think of our Civil War, this is really very different. If you think of civil wars in other countries, this is really quite different. There is - there is a good deal of violence in Baghdad and two or three other provinces, and yet in 14 other provinces there's very little violence or numbers of incidents. So it's a - it's a highly concentrated thing. It clearly is being stimulated by people who would like to have what could be characterized as a civil war and win it, but I'm not going to be the one to decide if, when or at all.

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/the_glibness_o..._dish

by redjade Thu Jul 27, 2006 13:10

Dean Calls Iraqi PM an 'Anti-Semite'

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "anti-Semite" for failing to denounce Hezbollah for its attacks against Israel.

Al-Maliki has condemned Israel's offensive, prompting several Democrats to boycott his address to a joint meeting of Congress and others to criticize him. Dean's comments were the strongest to date.

"The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite," the Democratic leader told a gathering of business leaders in Florida. "We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_DEAN?SITE=7...19-42

redjade note: Oh my... this one is from the Twilight Zone™ that is American politics these days. A political space has opened up in the past few days where American Democrats can say they are Anti-Iraq War by being more Pro-Israeli than the Republicans.

Read between the lines here and you will see a Democratic Party counter-offensive against the Republican Party for votes in this November's mid-term elections. There are some key congressional and Senatorial races where seats can be gained by being both Inti-Iraq War and Pro-Israel.

Of course, none of this makes sense in the real world where the Iraq War was designed to benefit 'the security' of Israel - but who ever said facts had anything to do with American Politics?

by redjade Thu Jul 27, 2006 19:45

San Francisco Chronicle:
Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to a plan finalized more than a year ago.

[....]

Since fighting started

-- Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have hit more than 1,255 targets, including 200 rocket-launching sites.

-- Hezbollah launched more than 900 rockets and missiles into northern Israel.

-- At least 330 Lebanese have been killed, including 20 soldiers and three Hezbollah guerrillas. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora says 1,100 have been wounded; the police put the number at 657.

-- 32 Israelis have been killed, among them 17 soldiers, according to Israeli authorities. At least 12 soldiers and 344 civilians have been wounded.

-- Foreign deaths include eight Canadians, two Kuwaiti nationals, one Iraqi, one Sri Lankan and one Jordanian.

more at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/0...=1000

by redjade Fri Jul 28, 2006 01:01

The Immutable Bush
Maureen Dowd
NY Times
If you turn on TV, you see missiles flying, bodies lying, nuclear missiles unleashed and a slaughterhouse in Iraq. But don't despair, because yesterday President Bush announced the establishment of 'a joint committee to achieve Iraqi self-reliance.' He called it a 'new partnership,' as if it were some small business.

Isn't it a little late, in July 2006, to be launching a new partnership for such an old mess? Isn't it a little late to realize that Baghdad, a city where 300 garbage collectors have been killed in the last six months, according to press reports, has spun out of control?

[....]

W. prides himself on his changelessness and regards his immutability as the surest sign of his virtue. Facing a map on fire, he sees any inkling of change as the slippery slope to failure.

That's what is so frustrating about watching him deal - or not deal - with Iraq and Lebanon. There's almost nothing to watch.

It's not even like watching paint dry, since that, too, is a passage from one state to another. It's like watching dry paint.

Reprinted in full at
http://rozius.blogspot.com/2006/07/maureen-dowd-immutab....html

by redjade Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:23

Poland reluctant to give America sovereignty over missile base
Poland's president has expressed reservations about surrendering sovereignty to the US at a site being touted as the sole European base for Washington's controversial missile defence programme.

Concerns have been raised over America's insistence that the base would be a sovereign US installation on Polish soil, and beyond the scrutiny of local legal and defence officials. "I approach the problem of extra-territoriality with reserve, I won't hide that," said the president, Lech Kaczynski.

[....]

US officials wound up a tour of Poland and the Czech Republic this week, scouting for sites for interceptors the Pentagon plans to have in place in five years' time. They are expected to propose their site for the installation within six weeks.

A senior Polish defence official said earlier this year that Polish assent hinged on calculating the benefits and risks to national security. "We're not absolutely forced to accept this offer if we judge that it's not advantageous for us."

more at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,183091....html

redjade note: Poland would be stupid to sign anything now - Bush is a Lame Duck, the next prez (assuming there will be one) may or may not persue this failed Star Wars concept - so, why hand over your sovereignty just to please the paranoia of a failed president today?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lame_duck

by redjade Fri Jul 28, 2006 15:41

Paul Krugman: Reign of Error
The New York Times
July 28, 2006

Amid everything else that’s going wrong in the world, here’s one more piece of depressing news: a few days ago the Harris Poll reported that 50 percent of Americans now believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when we invaded, up from 36 percent in February 2005. Meanwhile, 64 percent still believe that Saddam had strong links with Al Qaeda.

At one level, this shouldn’t be all that surprising. The people now running America never accept inconvenient truths. Long after facts they don’t like have been established, whether it’s the absence of any wrongdoing by the Clintons in the Whitewater affair or the absence of W.M.D. in Iraq, the propaganda machine that supports the current administration is still at work, seeking to flush those facts down the memory hole.

reposted in full at
http://rozius.blogspot.com/2006/07/paul-krugman-reign-o....html

by redjade Fri Jul 28, 2006 19:19

''Along Lebanon's sandy beaches and rocky headlands runs a belt of black sludge, 10,000 to 30,000 tonnes of oil that spilled into the Mediterranean Sea after Israel bombed a power plant.

Lebanon's Environment Ministry says the oil flooded into the sea when Israeli jets hit storage tanks at the Jiyyeh plant south of Beirut on July 13 and 15, creating an ecological crisis that Lebanon's government has neither the money nor the expertise to deal with.

"We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe," Environment Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf told Reuters.''

http://www.first-draft.com/modules.php?name=News&file=a...6bbb3

how does this rank on Maslow's hierarchy of concerns?

by redjade Sat Jul 29, 2006 01:52

No time to lose
By Amir Oren

In the middle of the week, a close personal friend of U.S. President George Bush, who is also a generous donor to the Republican Party, called an Israeli friend who is a senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces. "What's happening with you?" he asked, as angry as he was disappointed. "The best army in the region, one of the best armies in the world, is messing for two weeks with a terrorist organization three kilometers from the border, and the rockets keep falling on its population centers? We sent our army to bleed 6,000 miles from home after September 11. What's stopping you?"

Because this is the true surprise - a surprise of statesmen and not of intelligence - of the campaign in the north: no American red light, no flashing orange light, and not even a mere green light, but the blaring siren of the sheriff's car sitting behind the hesitant driver at the intersection urging him to get moving. The global cop is recruiting Israel as a regional cop, to impose Security Council Resolution 1559 on the government of Lebanon and dismantle the Hezbollah army. Sun, stand still at Givon. The Red Sea parts for the Israelites, as in Paramount Pictures, but this time there is no Moses around, maybe because Charlton Heston is sick.

Two forces of nature influenced all of Israel's wars: time and America. The two are really one. Time was always pressing.

read the rest at
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743733.html

by redjade Sat Jul 29, 2006 07:07

'The logic, such as it is, employed by Bush and Condi is that since cease-fires have been broken in the past, it is the cease-fires themselves that are the impediment to peace. No cease-fires ergo no broken cease-fires. It's sort of like saying that red lights are the reason drivers run red lights. Remove the traffic lights and, presto, drivers aren't running red lights anymore. Just ignore the carnage at intersections.'

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/009229.php