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Somali Islamists vow holy war on Ethiopia troops

By Guled Mohamed 19 minutes ago

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists vowed a "holy war" on Thursday against Ethiopian troops crossing into the Horn of Africa nation, while Addis Ababa threatened to "crush" any attack on the interim government it supports.

The aggressive rhetoric -- combined with this week's military moves on both sides -- have heightened fears of a new war in Somalia, plagued by violence and without central rule since the 1991 ouster of a military dictator.

"The risk of full scale war increases by the day," said John Prendergast, of the International Crisis Group think-tank.

Islamists took the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords last month and are threatening the authority of a transitional administration formed in Kenya in 2004 and intended to steer the nation from anarchy to peace.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a senior Islamist in charge of defense, said around 20 military vehicles from Ethiopia had crossed into Somalia at Dollow on Wednesday.

That added to previous Islamist accusations Ethiopia was pouring in troops to support Somalia's government against them.

"God willing, we will remove the Ethiopians in our country and wage a jihadi war against them," he told reporters.

Analysts believe Addis Ababa has sent up to 5,000 troops into Somalia, and is massing more on the border, to deter any more Islamist advances.

The regional power, Ethiopia backs the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, which is based in the provincial town of Baidoa because it lacks the strength to move to Mogadishu.

Addis Ababa termed the jihad call "foolish and cheap propaganda" aimed at winning support from Muslim states.

"The Islamists' agenda is to topple the legally constituted Federal Transitional Government of Somalia and destabilise Ethiopia," added Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekle.

Ethiopia denied incursions into Somalia but threatened to "crush" any Islamist bid to take Baidoa or cross the border.

STALLED TALKS

Analysts and Somali sources say the interim government has little military strength in its own right, beyond a small force loyal to Yusuf, which was boosted by the recent arrival in Baidoa of several hundred fighters from defeated warlords.

In a war, the government would rely on Ethiopian support.

"Yusuf is using the Ethiopians as a threat. He doesn't really want a battle -- yet," said one Somalia expert.

"The Islamists have vastly superior military capacity at the moment, especially with the help they're getting from Eritrea."

Nominally Christian-led Ethiopia, which condemns the Islamist leaders as "terrorists," is fearful of having a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep.

It is also anxious about possible Islamist aspirations to establish a "Greater Somalia" which would incorporate Ethiopia's southeastern Ogaden region inhabited by ethnic Somalis.

Ethiopia sounded the alarm after Islamist militia moved from Mogadishu to Buur Hakaba -- just 60 km (37 miles) from Baidoa -- on Wednesday. The Islamists returned in the evening, saying they went to collect 150 soldiers switching sides from Yusuf's force.

The commander of those soldiers said they were disgruntled at lack of pay. "We met him (Yusuf) on Sunday and told him we will be leaving since his government failed to honor its promises," Garad Fiidow Gabow told Reuters in Mogadishu at a former government building where his troops were resting.

The soldiers carried new AK-47 rifles.

Interim government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari, however, said soldiers had left due to indiscipline.

Islamist defense chief Robow said he could have gone on to Baidoa, but drew back to avoid confrontation and harming Arab-League brokered talks with the government.

The government pulled out of the last round, saying the Islamists broke an accord to stop military advances.

Somali Islamists vow holy war on Ethiopia troops (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/wl_nm/somalia_dc_5;_ylt=AifYZhVBRebKhHa1aoQsP2gV6w8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

Turkey Moves Forward on Push Into Iraq

By LOUIS MEIXLER
Associated Press Writer

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- The Turkish military is moving forward with plans to send forces into northern Iraq to clear out Turkish Kurdish guerrilla bases, the prime minister said Wednesday.

But Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said officials were holding talks with the United States and Iraq in an attempt to defuse tensions.

Diplomats and officials have said repeatedly that Turkey's threats to send troops into Iraq were largely aimed at pressing the United States and Iraq to take action against guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, whose fighters have killed 15 Turks in the southeast in the past week.

Any Turkish cross-border operation is likely to inflame tensions with the United States and destabilize one of the only calm regions of Iraq. A push into northern Iraq could also threaten ties with EU countries, which have been pressing Turkey to improve minority Kurdish rights as a step toward reducing tensions in the largely Kurdish southeast.

And there is the possibility that Kurds in largely autonomous northern Iraq could fight the Turks if they enter the country. The guerrillas are mostly based in the Qandil mountains that straddle Iraq's border with Iran, about 50 miles from the Turkish border. They infiltrate southeastern Turkey from those bases to attack.

"Any unilateral cross-border moves would be a great mistake," said Qubad Talabani, representative in Washington of the Kurdistan regional government, which controls northern Iraq.

"There is no military solution to the PKK problem," Talabani, the son of the Iraqi president, told The Associated Press. "I think Turkey only sees a military solution."

Erdogan said Wednesday Turkish "security forces are proceeding with their work. Whatever step needs to be taken will be taken."

But he added that "we have started negotiations with the United States and Iraq concerning the issue by inviting their ambassadors to the Foreign Ministry. We will see what the results are and take steps accordingly."

U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson said Monday and again Tuesday that Turkey should work with Washington and Baghdad and should not take unilateral action in Iraq.

"It is not up to the ambassador or ambassadors to make such a decision," Erdogan shot back. "It is up to the officials of the government of the Republic of Turkey. We make the decision and implement it."

The main opposition party in Turkey's parliament said it supports any cross-border operation.

Turkey Moves Forward on Push Into Iraq (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TURKEY_KURDS?SITE=IDBOI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

Israeli army takes casualties in fighting

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas broke out Thursday evening on the Lebanese side of the border, the Israeli army said, with Israel suffering several casualties.
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The Israeli force crossed the border as part of ongoing operations to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure along a small band on the Lebanese side, the army said. The army did not provide numbers or conditions of the casualties.

Meanwhile, Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council that "hostilities must stop" but acknowledged there were "serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire."

Annan said Hezbollah's actions in launching rockets into Israel and abducting Israeli soldiers "hold an entire nation hostage" and set back prospects for Middle East peace.

But he also condemned Israel's "excessive use of force" and collective punishment of the Lebanese people, saying it had triggered a humanitarian crisis.

"There are serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire or even to diminishing the violence quickly," Annan said.

Israeli warplanes launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas' heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes followed bombings Wednesday that killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began July 12.

Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation" and repeating calls for an immediate cease-fire.

At least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon since the Israeli campaign began, according to the security forces control room that collates casualties. In Israel, 29 people have been killed, including 14 soldiers. The U.N. has said at least a half- million people have been displaced in Lebanon.

About 40 U.S. Marines landed in Beirut to help Americans onto the USS Nashville, which will carry 1,200 evacuees bound for Cyprus in the second mass U.S. exodus from Lebanon. Thousands of Europeans also fled on ships — continuing one of the largest evacuation operations since World War II. An estimated 13,000 foreign nationals have been evacuated.

Israel's series of small ground forays across the border have aimed to push back Hezbollah guerrillas who have continued firing rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment — raising the question of whether air power alone can suppress them. Guerrillas fired 25 rockets into Israel on Thursday, which caused no casualties.

But the guerrillas have been fighting back hard on the ground, wounding three Israeli soldiers Thursday, a day after killing two. An Israeli unit sent in to ambush Hezbollah guerrillas also had a fierce gunbattle with a cell of militants.

In another clash, just across the border from the Israeli town of Avivim, guerrillas fired a missile at an Israeli tank, seriously wounding one soldier. Hezbollah said its guerrillas destroyed two tanks trying to enter the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, across from Avivim.

Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.

But an Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion. Israel broadcast warnings Wednesday into south Lebanon, telling civilians to leave the region — a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation.

"There is a possibility — all our options are open. At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Leaflets dropped Wednesday night warned the population that any trucks traveling in Lebanese towns south of the Litani River would be suspected of carrying weapons and rockets and could be targeted by Israeli forces.

The Lebanese government is under international pressure to deploy troops in the south to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas — but even before the fighting, many considered it too weak to do so without deeply fracturing the country.

An Italian newspaper quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora on Thursday as making his strongest statement yet against the Shiite militant group. But Saniora's office quickly said he was misquoted.

The Milan-based Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying in an interview that Hezbollah has created a "state within a state," adding: "The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

Saniora later issued a statement denying the remarks. He said he told the paper the international community must help press Israel from Chebaa Farms, a small border area that Lebanon claims and Hezbollah points to as proof of the continued need for armed resistance.

Saniora told the paper that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms," the statement said. There was no immediate comment from the newspaper.

On Wednesday, Saniora appealed for a cease-fire, saying Lebanon "has been torn to shreds." Warplanes pounded southern areas where Hezbollah operates, but civilian residential neighborhoods bore the brunt, with dozens of houses destroyed.

Dallal said Israel had hit "1,000 targets in the last eight days — 20 percent were missile-launching sites and the rest were control and command centers, missiles and so forth."

Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan insisted the Israeli army never targets civilians but has no way of knowing whether they are in an area it is striking. "Civilians might be in the area because Hezbollah is operating from civilian territory," Nehushtan said.

He said that Hezbollah has fired more than 1,100 rockets at civilian areas in Israel since the fighting began and that 12 percent — or about 750,000 people — of Israel's population lives in areas that can be targeted by the guerrillas.

Israel said its airstrikes so far have destroyed about half of Hezbollah's arsenal — and it has been trying to take out its top leaders.

The Israeli military said aircraft dropped 23 tons of explosives on what it believed was a bunker for senior Hezbollah leaders in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Hezbollah said none of its members was hurt and denied a leadership bunker was in the area, saying a mosque under construction was hit. It has a headquarters compound in Bourj al-Barajneh that is off limits to Lebanese police and army, so security officials could not confirm the strike.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told CNN his country would not comment about the attack until it is sure of all the facts. But he added, "I can assure you that we know exactly what we hit. ... This was no religious site. This was indeed the headquarters of the Hezbollah leadership."

On Thursday, Israeli jets struck houses believed used by Hezbollah officials in the town of Hermel in the western Bekaa Valley, wounding at least three.

Israeli warplanes also destroyed a five-story residential and commercial building that reportedly once held a Hezbollah office in the Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Two civilians were killed late Wednesday in strikes on bridges in Lebanon's far north, near Tripoli, the National News Agency said.

Israeli jets also raided a detention center in the southern town of Khiam Thursday, witnesses and local TV said. The notorious Khiam prison, formerly run by Israel's Lebanese militia allies during its occupation, was destroyed in four bombing runs, they said.

International pressure mounted on Israel and the United States to agree to a cease-fire. The destruction and rising death toll deepened a rift between the U.S. and Europe.

The Bush administration is giving Israel a tacit green light to take the time it needs to neutralize Hezbollah, but the Europeans fear mounting civilian casualties will play into the hands of militants and weaken Lebanon's democratically elected government.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour criticized the rising toll, saying the shelling was invariably killing innocent civilians.

"International law demands accountability," she said in Geneva. "The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

Israeli army takes casualties in fighting (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel)

Professional associations call on gov’t to revoke peace treaty

By Mahmoud Habboush

AMMAN — The country’s Professional Associations responded to the Israeli attacks on Lebanon yesterday by calling on the government to revoke Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel and expel its ambassador.

“We call upon the Jordanian and other Arab governments to revoke all treaties with the Zionist enemy and cease all forms of normalisation,” said the associations in a statement distributed to journalists during a press conference.

“We cannot have peaceful relations with an entity that is committing massacres and maiming our people in Gaza and Lebanon,” read the strongly worded statement.

The Jordan-Israel peace treaty was signed on October 26, 1994, leading to Israel’s pullout from Jordanian territories seized during the 1967 war and to a normalisation of relations.

Chairman of the Professional Associations Council Hisham Abu Hassan described the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon as an act of “state terrorism.”

“The killing, besiegement and displacement of the Lebanese people is a ferocious act of state terrorism,” he said, adding that the real terror in the world is being carried out by the occupation forces in Palestine and Iraq.

Abu Hassan condemned the United Nations’ “negative position” on the conflicts plaguing the region, describing the world body as little more than a department of the American government.

“The UN only implements resolutions that serve the interests of Israel and the US,” a furious Abu Hassan said.

The official was referring to recent calls by the international community for the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of the Lebanese militia Hizbullah, but its lack of commitment in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 242, calling on the Jewish state to return territories occupied in the 1967 war.

The latest crisis began on July 12 after Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack.

Israel responded by launching ground, sea and air attacks on Lebanon, pummelling the airport in Beirut and destroying much of the country’s infrastructure. The civilian casualty rate among Lebanese has reached at least 239, with 29 Israelis killed.

During the press conference, Abu Hassan said the associations would send an “aid caravan” next week of vital food and medical supplies to the Lebanese people.

“We have met with officials at the Lebanese embassy to identify their humanitarian needs,” he said, adding that the associations will dispatch doctors, nurses, pharmacists and engineers as volunteers, as and when required.

Meanwhile, the associations commenced their “activities of sympathy” with Lebanon yesterday evening with a protest by the Jordan Engineers Association outside Madaba Governorate headquarters.

The country’s 14 professional associations also announced their intention to hold Friday prayers at their complex in Shmesani, and called on the government not to interfere.

“We ask the government not to stop any of our activities. There are no articles in the Constitution or laws that prohibit holding Friday prayers,” said Chairman of the Bar Association Salah Armouti.

Jordanian Womens’ Union will today stage a protest in support of the Lebanese people outside the United Nations offices in Amman.

Professional associations call on gov’t to revoke peace treaty (http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews2.htm)

U.S. says cease-fire with Hezbollah impractical
By ANNE GEARAN / The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The United States held the line Thursday against a quick cease-fire deal in the Middle East, increasingly isolated as world powers and the United Nations demanded an immediate end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was meeting Thursday night with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who earlier in the day denounced both Israel and Hezbollah and called for both sides to stop fighting immediately.

“He was talking about a cessation of violence in the context of a lasting, durable solution, which is exactly what we have been talking about,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

The Bush administration is playing down expectations for Rice’s upcoming trip to the Mideast, saying she will not shuttle among capitals to broker a deal.

“You’re not going to see a return to the kind of diplomacy, I think, that we’ve seen before where you try to negotiate an end to the violence that leaves the parties in place and where you have status quo ante,” McCormack said.

Administration officials also questioned whether a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah is even feasible.

“We’d love to have a cease-fire,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said. “But Hezbollah has to be part of it. And at this point, there’s no indication that Hezbollah intends to lay down arms.”

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said it was time for the Security Council to start considering a response, but he, too, ruled out a cease-fire.

“I think it’s a very fundamental question how a terrorist group agrees to a cease-fire,” Bolton said. “How do you hold a terrorist group accountable? Who runs the terrorist group? Who makes the commitments that the terrorist group will abide by a cease-fire? What does a terrorist group think a cease-fire is?”

Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group that does not recognize Israel as a state. It holds effective military and political control over southern Lebanon, and is the most potent political force on Lebanon’s fractured political landscape.

The Bush administration has repeatedly said that a temporary or quickly negotiated cease-fire would leave Hezbollah able to regroup and rearm after more than a week of Israeli missile attacks.

Israel, and Washington as its closest ally, insist that any settlement must deal with the underlying threat posed to Israel by Hezbollah’s control of southern Lebanon. The Bush administration is trying to hold off international pressure for as long as possible, while also asking Israel to consider the consequences of its actions for civilians.

More than 300 people have died in Lebanon, most of them civilians, since Israel began retaliatory rocket attacks after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers last week.

The House voted 410-8 on Thursday to support Israel in its confrontation with Hezbollah guerrillas. The resolution also condemns enemies of the Jewish state.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, cited Israel’s “unique relationship” with the United States as a reason for his colleagues to go on record swiftly supporting Israel in the latest flare-up of violence in the Mideast.

Little of the political divisiveness in Congress on other national security issues was evident as lawmakers embraced the Bush administration’s position.

So strong was the momentum for the resolution that it was steamrolling efforts by a small group of House members who argued that Congress’s pro-Israel stance goes too far.

The nonbinding resolution is similar to one the Senate passed Tuesday. It harshly condemns Israel’s enemies and says Syria and Iran should be held accountable for providing Hezbollah with money and missile technology used to attack Israel.

U.S. says cease-fire with Hezbollah impractical (http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/07/20/nation/doc44c00f67938e5964142127.txt)

Don't mess with us
By Benny Ziffer

The memory of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, which ended this Monday, will probably bring a smile to our lips for some time to come, thanks to that filmed final meal in which the world leaders were seen grabbing and chewing the last leftovers on the table, while conducting an intimate conversation about earthshaking problems. It will especially be recalled how U.S. President George W. Bush, with his mouth full of bread, made the famous comment about "that ****" to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was standing beside him.

What is the meaning of "that ****"? The literal explanation, of course, is the Hezbollah attack on Israel. But according to the deeper meaning of the verse that emerged from the mouth of the leader of the Western world, "that ****" could definitely refer as well to Israel's attack on Hezbollah and on Lebanon, and in short - the entire mess that is taking place in this godforsaken part of the Middle East, which on the globe is the size of fly feces, but makes as much noise as an entire herd of elephants. And the famous medieval commentator Rashi would have said: "That ****" - this is an expression of the desire of the world's landlord for the home improvement that he ordered in the Middle East to be completed already, damn it, and for the sound of drills and hammers to end. And woe betide the handyman if he forgets to clean up the mess he made.

In other words, more than all the semantic interpretations, "this ****" indicates the impatience prevalent at the top echelons of world politics. And also, and particularly, the fact that he is tired of the moral nuances that differentiate between those who are more in the right and those who are less so, and the fact that they are all ostensibly the same "****."

From that point of view, it is not impossible that Bush planned to make us aware by his private remarks about "that ****" as a warning that more than he is annoyed with Hezbollah and Syria and Iran, he is annoyed that the Middle East is presented as a place more complicated than it is. And that he's sick and tired of the complexities. And that they should decide already, finally who the good guys are in this game, and who the bad guys are, so that the issue can be concluded once and for all.

Another proof of Bush's completely primitive, if not cynical, way of thinking was provided by the first meeting after his return to Washington, which was broadcast by the American Fox channel (Tuesday, 11 P.M.). It seemed as though the American president had learned a Benjamin Netanyahu speech by heart - one of those patriotic speeches that the head of the Likud party has delivered in recent days on all the international television channels, regarding Israel's right to defend itself from terror, and regarding the fact that "any sovereign state would behave like us."

And that "imagine if Canada were to land missiles on Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, like Haifa in Israel." Bush repeated almost word for word this argument regarding the right of a country to defend itself, including the claim of "what can we do if civilians are killed along the way." However, a sharp-eyed observer should have understood from Bush's declamatory and impatient tone (he agreed to answer only two questions, and then he ended the press conference), that at some other time it is quite possible that "that ****" of Israel-Lebanon will really get on his nerves, and then we, his loyal servants, will be in trouble.

That will probably happen after Israel, the subcontractor of the United States in the region, finishes the job it was given by Washington: to weaken Hezbollah. Then Bush will raise his hand and yell "Enough," and Israel will lock its weapons, because without the United States it is no more than an unemployed homeless person, and all the talk about a "sovereign state" is nothing more than phraseology.

A sharp-eyed observer could have seen that as well when he watched television on Sunday at 5 P.M., during a speech delivered by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the Knesset plenum, and heard him accusing Hezbollah of being a "subcontractor" for Syria and Iran in our region.

Our sages said that everyone accuses others of his own faults. Had he not feared that people would notice that he himself serves in the role of a pathetic handyman who pretends to be a top designer of the Middle Eastern reality, he would have had no reason to accuse Hezbollah of that.

In general, if there is anything the 10 days of fighting have contributed to the awareness of the television viewer it is that nothing is any longer what it seems, and that we should cast doubt on everything, and on everything that has been affected by the days of fighting.

The myth about the "fortitude of the home front" is one of them. Had the Israeli home front been crushed like the Lebanese home front, we can assume it would have looked just as panicked and helpless, and would have crowded in panic at the port, waiting for a French or British ship, or any means of transportation that would take it away from here. But that is one of the false tricks of the continual television broadcasts of recent days: to present the situation of the Israelis in the line of fire as a humanitarian catastrophe equal to the suffering of the citizens of Lebanon, which is not the case at all. But as we have said: Nuances are not in fashion these days.

We can place in the category of the deceptive myth called "the fortitude of the home front" the random Israeli who was filmed on Monday morning in front of the entrance of a hotel in Eilat in an undershirt and a hairy chest, complaining about the exorbitant prices of the rooms; or the tots playing ball in the lobby of a Tel Aviv hotel and saying that it was more fun here than at home. When the time comes, these deluxe refugees will also demand compensation from the government for the emotional damage caused by the stay in the hotel, and will tell their grandchildren about the terrible trials they endured.

Another side of the deceptive myth about "the fortitude of the home front" was brought by the resident of Kiryat Shmona, an employee of the Yesod Hama'ale regional council, who was invited on Tuesday night by Menachem Horowitz, the northern reporter for Israel TV's Channel 2, for a discussion in the improvised studio, with the noise of shelling in the background. The poor man told of months when he did not receive a salary, about the bank that refuses to give him more credit. He was supposed to be the example of the courageous resident who remained in his community and did not leave. Forget about being courageous; he simply does not have the money to leave his house.

And in fact, as University of Haifa sociologist Danny Gottwein tried to warn several days earlier during one of the special afternoon broadcasts, the Katyushas of Hezbollah have only sharpened the problem of the longstanding social and economic neglect of the north, but they are not the reason for it. In other words, not only for Bush is "that ****" - this region the size of fly feces between Haifa and Beirut - causing an unnecessary headache. This region definitely is - and was, and probably will continue to be - "****" for Israel as well, "****" covered with rustling cellophane paper called "the fortitude of the home front."

**** censored my me.

Don't mess with us (http://www.haaretz.com/)

'We'll attack Israel's international airport'
Terrorist details plan for '3rd front' if campaign against Hezbollah steps up
Posted: July 20, 2006
11:28 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport
JERUSALEM – If the Jewish state significantly increases its campaign against Hezbollah, such as sending ground troops into Lebanon, Palestinian terror groups will open a "third front" against Israel by carrying out large-scale attacks inside the country "much bigger" than suicide bombings, Abu Nasser, second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview today.

Abu Nasser said his group has been working for more than a year on contingency plans to escalate violence in Israel should the Jewish state attack Iran, Syria or Lebanon. He hinted the Al Aqsa Brigades obtained anti-aircraft missiles, which the group could use to target Tel Aviv International Airport.

"For the moment we see that Hezbollah is winning, but if – Allah forbid – there is a turnover in the war, we will not hesitate to carry out the plans we have been working on since [the cease-fire signed last February]. We will use rockets. We will target Tel Aviv airport. We will not abandon our brothers," said Abu Nasser, speaking to WND from Nablus in northern Samaria.

The Judea and Samaria territories also are commonly referred to as the West Bank.

The Al Aqsa Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, is responsible for scores of rocket and shooting attacks, and – together with Islamic Jihad – for every suicide bombing since last February's cease-fire. Security officials say Al Aqsa regularly coordinates attacks with Hezbollah officials, who funnel money to group leaders.

Abu Nasser indicated his group works closely with Hezbollah.

"We do not forget that Hezbollah was the first to help us in this Intifada," said Abu Nasser. "It is normal that they expect us to act here inside Palestine in order to help them in the ugly war the Nazi-Zionist enemy is carrying out against them. We do not need to receive instructions from Hezbollah but we understand from our connections with them that carrying attacks inside Palestine can be very helpful for them. As Muslims we need and we must help our brothers."

The terror leader said his group is "following the fights [in Lebanon] and we are taking all the necessary measures in order to strike [Israel] when the convenient moment comes."

Asked to detail the kinds of attacks the Al Aqsa Brigades and other Palestinian groups will carry out if they feel Hezbollah is "losing" in Lebanon, Abu Nasser replied, "Tel Aviv airport can be targeted. I will not say what rockets and missiles we have, but I can say that we have all that is necessary."

Abu Nasser's terror cell is mostly concentrated in northern Samaria, which, at points, runs alongside the international airport here. While Israeli defense officials have confirmed Palestinian groups smuggled anti-aircraft missiles into the Gaza Strip on the other side of the country, security sources here say officially Palestinian groups in Judea and Samaria don't possess such missiles.

There have been reports, however, terror groups in northern Samaria obtained some advanced missiles. WND has learned of at least one security alert last year that involved a possible Palestinian attack using an anti-aircraft missile from northern Samaria.

Israel's Maariv daily reported last April the country's Shin Bet Security Services revealed at a high-level security meeting Bedouins from Egypt and Israel's Negev desert have succeeded in smuggling anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles to Judea and Samaria terrorists. The Egypt-Negev border is a known soft spot in security here. Israel regularly catches weapons smugglers and illegal immigrants attempting to infiltrate the country.

A senior Israeli intelligence source said, at the moment, he estimates the Al Aqsa Brigades and other terror groups will attempt to strike inside Israel with suicide bombings. He said while there is a fear of escalated attacks in the country if Israel sends ground troops into Lebanon, he doesn't think Palestinian groups will be ordered to carry out larger-scale attacks during this confrontation.

Israel has nabbed two suicide bombers in recent days on their way to carry out attacks in central Israel, including a bomber from the Al Aqsa Brigades yesterday on his way to the Sharon region of the country.

Abu Nasser said of yesterday's bombing attempt, "The Israelis arrested one of our brothers who was supposed to present a gift to our brothers in Lebanon, a suicide attack with big numbers of Israelis killed. Yesterday's attempt failed, but we swear we will keep trying."

Officials today hinted the Jewish state might send large numbers of ground troops into Lebanon.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said "Hezbollah must not think that we would recoil from using all kinds of military measures against it. We have no intention of occupying Lebanon, but we also have no intention of retreating from any military measures needed."

While Abu Nasser warned today against a ground invasion of Lebanon, he told WND his group's fiercest response may be reserved for any future confrontation between Israel and Iran or Syria.

"[If Israel attacks Iran or Syria] we will hit with all the weapons and tools we have," the terrorist leader said. "Since the creation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the 60s, one of our goals has been to turn this conflict into a real Arab-Israeli confrontation. We believe that this moment in becoming very close."

The shocking silence from No 10
Mary Ann Sieghart
Blair’s tacit support for Israel’s grossly disproportionate actions sends the wrong message
IT IS A CASE of the Blair that didn’t bark. Why hasn’t the Prime Minister publicly condemned the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza? Most British — and many Israeli — citizens are horrified when they see the devastation wreaked by Israeli bombings. There were 80 such raids in the early hours of yesterday alone. By late afternoon, some 327 civilians had died in Lebanon, compared with 34 Israelis. Go figure, as they say.

If this is a proportionate response, I’m a satsuma. Even the most hardline supporters of Israel, who justifiably point to the country’s right to defend itself against attacks from Hezbollah, must by now have come to realise that the “overkill” will have the opposite of its desired effect. For every member of Hezbollah who dies, another ten will be recruited to its cause. The world will be full of sympathy for the benighted residents of Lebanon who had thought, at last, that their country had secured itself a stable, peaceful democratic future. Half a million of them have been forced from their homes because two Israeli soldiers were taken hostage. That hardly looks like justice.

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Meanwhile, a forgotten war is taking place in Gaza, overshadowed by the bigger one in Lebanon. Since Israel began its hostilities there, three weeks ago, some 110 Palestinians have lost their lives and countless more have been injured, while just one Israeli has died. The civilian infrastructure has been trashed. And all this just as the Hamas Government and the Fatah party had at last agreed on a formula for peace negotiations. What chance of peace now?

Mr Blair, by his silence, seems to be endorsing the US line: allow Israel at least another week to take action against Hezbollah before any calls for a ceasefire are made. He would doubtless argue that, unless he is supportive of the Israelis publicly, he will have no traction with them privately. Yet there are two big problems with this approach.

First, the UK has little traction with Israel anyway. Mr Blair had a frank private conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, when he visited Britain last month. It doesn’t seem to have done much good.

Secondly, and more importantly, Mr Blair’s silence is sending a strong message to the world’s — and particularly Britain’s — Muslim community. By failing to condemn Israel’s overreaction, he is allying himself with those acts. What more powerful ammunition could there be for the radicalisers of Britain’s young Muslims? “Your Government doesn’t care about you and your fellow believers. You need to take action to defend them in this noble cause.”

It is a terrifying prospect. Mr Blair is endangering our nation’s internal security by his reluctance to move a millimetre from the US stance. Even if he is engaging in private diplomacy with Israel, it is not without serious costs to the rest of us. Long after he leaves government, we may be paying the price.

At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, there was some disquiet about the official line. Some ministers are wondering whether it was wise to move Jack Straw from the Foreign Office at the reshuffle. For, had he stayed, the British response to the Middle East crisis might have been more nuanced.

Mr Blair and Mr Straw used to play a clever triangulating game. The Prime Minister would sound more pro-Israeli, the Foreign Secretary more pro-Arab. They used the same tactic with Iran. This positively suited the US sometimes, as it allowed Mr Straw to follow avenues that were not open to Condoleezza Rice.

Margaret Beckett, though, is not experienced enough either to make her voice heard internationally or to strike out on her own, as Mr Straw used to. It is a great lost opportunity. Instead, yesterday, she just parroted the US line, refusing to condemn Israel despite being urged to do so by members on all sides of the House.

The danger of the current situation is that Gaza and southern Lebanon risk becoming another Iraq, with their populations radicalised and their governments unable to restrain the terrorists even if they wanted to. The conflict could even bring together Hamas and Hezbollah, who currently have little in common apart from their opposition to Israel. Hamas is made up of Sunni Muslims; Hezbollah of Shias. But united, they would make a formidably dangerous grouping on Israel’s doorstep.

Mr Blair should be saying all this to Mr Olmert, on the record. Britain could be acting as Israel’s critical friend, representing not just the outside world’s fears for the region, but also the half of Israel’s population who believe that their country has been going too far.

He could point out that the “eye for an eye” doctrine of the Old Testament was not a vengeful prescription but was designed precisely to restrict vengeance to that which was proportionate. The verse did not ordain ten eyes for one eye, which is the ratio the Israelis are currently pursuing.

The War on Terror is too easy a pretext for Israel to hide behind. It does not give free licence for a state to bombard the innocent citizens of another in the hope that a few terrorists might be killed in the process. Imagine if we had bombed Dublin in the same way, with more than 300 deaths in a week and half a million people displaced. That would surely have been seen as a war crime.

Mr Blair has moved too swiftly from defending Israel’s right to exist to supporting Israel right or wrong. It is bad for the Middle East and it is dangerous for Britain. He ought to know better.

The shocking silence from No 10 (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1071-2279230,00.html)

Iran protests to EU Council of Ministers against Middle East stance
Tehran, July 20, IRNA

Iran-EU-Foreign Ministry
Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Israel is committing state terrorism by massacring defenseless civilians in Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon and criticized European Council of Ministers for its negligence of the war crimes the occupying regime has perpetrated in the past four weeks running.

"The European Union is expected to respect human rights and its ethical and humanitarian obligation without discrimination in dealing with Israeli trampling on international law," Foreign Ministry said protesting a statement the European Council of Ministers released on July 17.

Iranian Foreign Ministry regretted that the European Council of Ministers was giving green light to the occupying regime of Israel to continue its genocide against innocent women, children and men living in Palestine and Lebanon.

"It goes without saying that the biased statement from the European Council of Minister will not serve to promote the status of the body before the world public opinion.

"Overlooking the more than 10,000 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in the territories occupied by the Zionist regime, some of them for almost 20 years, has emboldened Israel to commit illegal actions against the democratically-elected government of Palestine," it said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry lambasted the European Union for 'imposing economic sanctions against the Palestinian government as being in line with the Israeli goal to topple the democratically elected government'.

Citing Israeli state terrorism, the Foreign Ministry said that Israel was engaged in kidnapping government officials of Palestine, members of Palestinian parliament and mayors of Palestinian cities.

"The EU can undertake its role in the Middle East only if it adopts a fair attitude to the human plight.

"The EU should learn lessons from US failure in biased policy and its neglect for human rights violation in the Middle East which downgraded it before the world public opinion," Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

Iran protests to EU Council of Ministers against Middle East stance (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607203170191757.htm)

Pakistan Senate Committee condemns Zionists' attacks
Islamabad, July 20, IRNA

Pakistan-Senate-Zionist
Pakistan's Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday condemned the aggression in Lebanon and the willful killings of civilians by Zionists and described Zionist aggressions as a violation of all civilized norms of behavior and international law.

The committee in a resolution regretted the apathy and inability of the Muslim Ummah to translate its economic influence into political influence, which shows lack of vision.

Chaired by Chairman Muubgone19 Hussain Sayed, the committee expressed solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine and demanded that the international community put principles before political interest and pressure Zionist regime to stop this aggression which has become a war against the people and infrastructure of Lebanon.

The resolution noted that in the last 10 days, the Zionist attacks resulted in deaths of over 300 innocent people, including women and children.

It held that if a national of a country is kidnapped by a non-state actor, the state cannot justify waging war against civilians and infrastructure of any state.

The participants of the meeting demanded of the international community to help stop the aggression of Zionist against Muslim countries.

The Committee Chairman Muubgone19 Hussain Sayed told the meeting that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has expressed his complete solidarity with the people of Lebanon and has also offered assistance on emergency basis.

Additional Foreign Secretary for Middle East Shafiq Manzar told the committee that the number of Pakistanis living in Lebanon is 200 to 300 but so far no death report of any Pakistani national has been received, adding that some Pakistanis have been shifted to Syria.

He said that Pakistan Embassy in Lebanon is in constant contact with its citizens, saying that most of the Pakistanis are workers.

He also appealed to the US and European countries to help in the safe evacuation of Pakistani nationals.

Pakistan delegation to visit Lebanon, Palestine:
A parliamentary delegation headed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Muubgone19 Hussain Sayed will visit Lebanon, Palestine and other countries of the Middle East.

Senator Muubgone19 Hussain told the committee during the meeting that the purpose of the delegation'S visit is to express solidarity with the people and to appeal to the leadership of other Middle East countries to play active role in resolving the crisis.

Pakistan Senate Committee condemns Zionists' attacks (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607206186185342.htm)

Iran Offers a Pledge and a Warning
By NAZILA FATHI

TEHRAN, July 20 — Iran promised again on Thursday to respond to an international package of incentives on Aug. 22 but warned that it would reconsider its position if its case was sent to the United Nations Security Council.

The announcement was in a statement issued by Iran’s National Security Council. The council is led by Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

The statement came a week after six countries — Germany and the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia — decided to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution ordering Iran to freeze some nuclear activities or face sanctions. The six countries offered Iran the incentive package in June in return for a freeze on its uranium enrichment program.

“If the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of dialogue, and if there is any action to limit the absolute rights of the Iranian people, the Islamic Republic will have no choice but to revise its policy,” said the statement, which was carried by the ISNA student news agency.

“Iran has welcomed the offer and is examining it with a positive attitude,” the statement said, adding that Iran would give its answer on Aug. 22 because it needed “a logical time frame to examine the proposals.”

The statement did not elaborate on what kind of action Iran would take if its case was sent to the Security Council. But officials have said in the past that Iran might withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Iran has said the proposal contains ambiguities that need to be discussed. It has also contended that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows it to enrich uranium.

Uranium enrichment is a process used for making fuel for nuclear reactors. But if the uranium is enriched to higher levels, it can be used for making bombs.

The statement on Thursday said Iran planned to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity within the next 20 years and planned to produce part of the nuclear fuel for that energy domestically.

It added that Iran was committed to its obligations under the nonproliferation treaty.

Iran Offers a Pledge and a Warning (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print)

Thousands protest Mideast violence

Protesters burn Israeli flag outside country's embassy in Venezuela, demanding end to Israel's military offensive in Lebanon; crowds also take to streets in Mexico, El Salvador to press for halt to fighting
Associated Press

Protesters burned an Israeli flag Thursday outside the country's embassy in Venezuela and demanded an end to Israel's military offensive in Lebanon, while crowds also took to the streets in Mexico and El Salvador to press for a halt to the fighting.

More than 2,000 protesters, including Venezuelans of Arab descent, marched through Caracas waving Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian
flags. Many were die-hard supporters of President Hugo Chavez, who has denounced the Israeli bombardments in Lebanon as "genocide."

Dozens of protesters pumped their fists in the air and shouted "Viva Lebanon!" when one man held up a poster of Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Others raised a banner reading, "Stop the genocide by the Zionist killers!"

Venezuela has a sizeable Arab immigrant community, including many Lebanese.

More than 300 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel's campaign began, according to Lebanese officials. At least 29 Israelis have been killed.

Protester Abdul Chaaban, 50, said he feared for the lives of his relatives in southern Lebanon, which was hit by Israeli warplanes again on Thursday as Hizbullah guerrillas fired more rocket volleys into Israel.

"There is no justification for Israel's actions," said Chaaban, holding up a Lebanese flag.

The demonstrators marched several kilometers (miles) from a city park in eastern Caracas to the Israeli Embassy, where protesters burned an Israeli flag.

Chavez on Wednesday night said the Israelis "are bombing entire cities - a true genocide."

His government has said in the past that it maintained good relations with Israel. Israeli Embassy officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

'Israel committing massacre'

In Mexico City, meanwhile, about 100 people from the Lebanese immigrant community gave a letter to UN representatives saying that "Lebanon cannot be kept as a battlefield," and urging peace. They marched to the Lebanese Embassy, where they held a moment of silence and left a vase of roses outside.

"It is a peaceful protest to repudiate the war and the amount of innocent blood that has been shed," said Jose Luis Nacif, vice president of the Lebanese Center in Mexico City.

In El Salvador, protesters gathered outside the Israeli Embassy and criticized Salvadoran President Tony Saca, who is of Palestinian descent, for not denouncing Israel.

"We want to condemn the massacre that Israel is committing in Palestinian and Lebanese territories. It is an injustice," said Jhon Nasser, from the Friends of Palestinians Association in El Salvador.

In Chile, President Michelle Bachelet said an air force plane will fly to the Syrian capital of Damascus Friday to bring home Chileans and other Latin Americans who fled there from the fighting in Lebanon. The Chilean foreign ministry said about 150 Chileans were believed to have been in Beirut when fighting broke out.

Venezuelans also have been evacuated from Lebanon to Madrid, Spain.

Officials in Sao Paulo said at least 700 Brazilians were seeking help from Brazil's government to leave Lebanon. Some 100 Brazilians were brought back to Brazil earlier this week, government officials said.

Thousands protest Mideast violence (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279220,00.html)

Nasrallah: Nazereth children are martyrs
jpost.com staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 20, 2006

Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, spoke on Thursday for the first time since the beginning of the week, saying Hizbullah's entire infrastructure and leadership hierarchy were still intact and functional.

"I can confirm without exaggerating or using psychological warfare, that we have not been harmed," he said, referring to an overnight strike early Thursday in which the IDF dropped 23 tons of explosives on Hizbullah headquarters in Beirut.

Of the two Arab children from Nazereth who were killed by a Katyusha rocket on Wednesday, Nasrallah said they were "martyrs for the Palestinian cause."

The Hizbullah leader offered his condolences to the family of the two brothers in an interview with Al-Jazeera television.

Al-Jazeera, which aired only excerpts of the interview, said it was taped earlier Thursday. The interviewer said the interview took place amid tight security precautions but did not say where.

Nasrallah has been in hiding since Israel's assault began July 12, though he gave a speech on Hizbullah television on Sunday.

"Hizbullah has so far stood fast, absorbed the strike and has retaken the initiative and made the surprises that it had promised, and there are more surprises," he said, warning that a Hizbullah defeat would be "a defeat for the entire Islamic nation."

Nasrallah added that, "All of Israel's talk about 50 percent of our infrastructure being damaged is nonsense."

Nasrallah said that, "even if the entire world will demand it," the kidnapped Israeli soldiers would only be released for Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails through negotiations.

He did not offer any information regarding the condition of the soldiers.

Hizbullah operatives arrested in West Bank

Several of those arrested Wednesday in the Mukata in Nablus were found to be linked to Hizbullah, it was released for publication Thursday night.

Members belonging to different terrorist organizations were arrested during a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation.

Suspects included Palestinians responsible for the planning and initiation of terrorist attacks, including those belonging to Hizbullah, who were involved in the murders of Israeli citizens.

Nasrallah: Nazereth children are martyrs (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291961718&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Israel Considers Larger Ground Offensive
Last Update: 7/21/2006 9:00:53 AM

Chicago Tribune

JERUSALEM - After nine days of a fierce air and artillery campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli officials are weighing whether to press the offensive with troops on the ground, haunted by the lessons of a costly 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended six years ago.

As they plan their next moves, the Israelis are facing a dilemma: how to destroy Hezbollah's military capabilities without being drawn into a ground war that could significantly increase army casualties.

It might also prolong the conflict at a time when international calls for a cease-fire are increasing.

The pitfalls of a ground campaign were evident to the Israelis from the start.

After two Israeli soldiers were seized by Hezbollah guerrillas last week - the event that triggered the offensive - an Israeli armored force crossed into Lebanon and entered a lethal trap set by the militants. A tank was destroyed by a powerful mine, and a rescue team was ambushed, leaving five soldiers dead.

Over the last two days, Israeli raids to destroy Hezbollah bunkers and rocket-launchers in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel have led to heavy fighting. Four soldiers and an unknown number of guerrillas have been killed.

What began as an air war is taking on new dimensions, and as rocket attacks on northern Israel continue, Defense Minister Amir Peretz hinted on Thursday that a larger ground offensive was possible.

"Hezbollah must not delude itself that we will shrink from carrying out any action required to change the reality," Peretz said. "There is no intention of occupying Lebanon, but neither is there any intention of foregoing any military move necessary ... to bring Hezbollah to a situation where it no longer has the same ability to strike Israel with the strength it has today."

But a ground invasion carries the perils of significant casualties, and for many in Israel it brings back bitter memories of Israel's 1982 invasion and prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended after mounting losses turned public opinion in favor of a withdrawal.

Peretz has said that he does not want to get "bogged down in the quagmire of Lebanon," but continued rocket attacks from there could well draw the Israeli army in to clear out Hezbollah positions, rocket arsenals and launchers, risking entanglement in messy ground fighting.

With southern Lebanon honeycombed with Hezbollah tunnels and bunkers, the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a televised speech last week that his fighters were eager to engage the Israelis in face-to-face combat.

"I promise them surprises in the ground confrontation, which we await impatiently and with high hopes, because it will allow us a direct response to the tanks of the enemy and its soldiers," Nasrallah said. "Any ground advance will be good news for the resistance that will bring us closer to victory and humbling the soldiers of this Israeli enemy."

In the early ground skirmishes with Hezbollah near the border, anti-tank weapons and guerrilla ambushes have killed and wounded Israeli troops, even as the Israelis have inflicted losses on the guerrillas. A large-scale ground advance would likely significantly increase casualties on both sides.

"The results of a full-fledged invasion of Lebanon are quite fresh in the memory, so I don't think there is high emphasis on this possibility in Israel," said Ehud Barak, a former army chief of staff and prime minister who ended the 18-year occupation by withdrawing Israeli troops from Lebanon in May 2000.

"Special operations units are acting in Lebanon in short-distance incursions, but we are not enthusiastic about a major several-division-level invasion of Lebanon."

However, Barak added, if not enough progress is made toward Israel's goal of pushing Hezbollah back from Lebanon's border with Israel, destroying its rocket arsenal and freeing the captured Israeli soldiers, matters might look different.

"If a way will not be found to decide it from the air, and there will be no readiness by the international community to act together to put an end to it, to release the abducted soldiers and deploy the Lebanese army to the border, you can't exclude a deepening of the conflict," Barak said.

A ground offensive is "being considered on a continuous basis," Barak added. "It is clear that people here are not happy to do it, but they are not afraid of doing it if no other way will do the job."

Ephraim Sneh, who commanded Israel's occupation zone in southern Lebanon in the early 1980s, said that only ground attacks could root out Hezbollah rocket launchers and storage bunkers, but that these should take the form of sophisticated anti-guerrilla strikes, not a broad armored assault.

"If you want to achieve the goals of the operation, which is to destroy the Hezbollah infrastructure, you can't do it just by air and artillery strikes," Sneh said. "To stop rocket launchings at Israel, you have to get to places the air force can't reach. You have to shoot someone between the eyes, and you can't do that from 30,000 feet."

"But you don't have to go in with masses of armor that can be hit by rocket-propelled grenades," Sneh added. "You have to do it quick, smart, with operational ingenuity."

Meir Pail, a retired general and military historian, said that the army may ultimately have no alternative but to physically push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River, some 20 miles from Israel's border, a line Israel is reported to have insisted on in diplomatic contacts to resolve the crisis.

Alternatively, Pail said, the army may have to maintain long-term control of the Lebanese side of the border through periodic airstrikes and commando raids.

"This could go on for even years," he said.

Amos Harel, a military analyst for the Haaretz newspaper, said that the lessons of the Lebanon occupation were seared into the minds of Israeli decision makers.

"The trauma of Lebanon is still deeply imprinted in the Israeli psyche," Harel said. "You know how a war starts, but you never know how it will end."

Israel Considers Larger Ground Offensive (http://www.13wham.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=DA014EA9-F608-4147-9192-4E198D5978D7)

Somali militant urges holy war on Ethiopia

38 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia - An Islamic militia leader whose forces control the capital called for a holy war Friday against Ethiopian troops protecting Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government.
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Southwest LMDA, July

Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, speaking on Radio Shabelle, said Ethiopia's decision to send troops to protect the transitional government in Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu, must be met with war.

"I am calling on the Somali people to wage a holy war against Ethiopians in Baidoa," said Aweys, accused by the United States of having ties to al-Qaida. "They came to protect a government which they set up to advance their interests."

Residents of Baidoa reported seeing hundreds of Ethiopian troops, in uniform and in marked armored vehicles, entering Baidoa on Thursday and taking up positions around transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf's compound. Ethiopian and Somali government officials have denied Ethiopian troops are in the country, though witnesses from five towns reported seeing them.

"Abdullahi Yusuf is in the pocket of Ethiopia," Aweys said in the nationwide broadcast. "He's been a servant of Ethiopia for a long time."

Islamic militants had rallied people to condemn the presence of Ethiopians after Friday prayers.

Demonstrators in Mogadishu shouted anti-Ethiopian and anti-U.S. slogans as they marched in the capital, accompanied by dozens of Islamic militiamen and trucks mounted with heavy weapons.

"We are against Ethiopian troops invading our country," read some of the banners carried by demonstrators, most of them men.

"God is Great!" shouted the protesters.

Radical Islamic militia, however, later gunned down two people during a rare demonstration against the rulers of Mogadishu.

"We don't want Islamic movements!" the protesters shouted before fleeing the gunfire, the Banabir radio station reported.

Baidoa residents appeared unfazed by the presence of Ethiopian troops. Tensions sparked by fears of attacks by Islamic militants eased Friday in the town.

The troops, wearing military uniforms, deployed near the Somali president's home in Baidoa, at the airport and on the outskirts of the town, residents said by telephone.

Ethiopia's move could give the internationally recognized Somali government its only chance to curb the increasing power of the militia, known as the Supreme Islamic Courts Council.

But Ethiopia's incursion also could be the pretext the militiamen need to build public support for a guerrilla war. Militiamen already control the capital and most of the rest of southern Somalia.

Ethiopia continued to deny its troops were in Somalia.

"There are no Ethiopian troops who have crossed the border into Somalia," Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Solomon Abebe told The Associated Press. "How can they tell who is Somali and who is Ethiopian?"

Reliance on Ethiopia appears to make the Somali government beholden to the country's traditional enemy and hurts its legitimacy. Anti-Ethiopia sentiment still runs high in much of this almost entirely Muslim country, which is why the government and Ethiopia, a mostly Christian nation, may want to keep the troop deployment quiet.

The neighboring countries are traditional enemies, although Somalia's president has asked Ethiopia for its support.

The United States urged Ethiopia on Thursday to exercise restraint and said the
European Union, the United States, the African Union, the Arab League and others in a contact group will meet soon to discuss the situation.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, carving much of the country into armed camps ruled by violence and clan law.

On Wednesday, the Islamic militia reached within 20 miles of Baidoa, prompting the government to go on high alert. The militia began pulling back Thursday as more than 400 Ethiopian troops entered Baidoa.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concerns about the increased tensions and urged dialogue, according to a U.N. statement released Thursday.

The United States has accused the Supreme Islamic Courts Council of links to al-Qaida that include sheltering suspects in the deadly 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In a recent Internet posting, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to support the militants and warned nations not to send troops.

The Islamic militia has installed strict religious courts, sparking fears it will become a Taliban-style regime.

Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia in 1993 and 1996 to quash Islamic militants attempting to establish a religious government.

During the first round of Arab League-mediated talks in Khartoum, Sudan, the government and the Islamic group agreed to stop all military action — though the Islamic group has been engaged in clashes and military deployments since.

The government first balked at a second round but agreed to resume talks under pressure from the contact group of foreign governments and international organizations.

Somali militant urges holy war on Ethiopia (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_af/somalia;_ylt=AtTeDW45.vW0nF9qvAQfkNcUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-)

Israel Calls Up Troops, Warns Lebanese
Israel Warns Lebanese Civilians As It Readies for Likely Invasion; Rockets Wound 5 in Haifa
By SAM F. GHATTAS Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel called up reserve troops Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon, as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.

Hezbollah militants fired at least 11 rockets at Israel's port city of Haifa, wounding five people. Israeli warplanes pounded Lebanon's main road link to Syria, collapsing part of Lebanon's longest bridge. A U.N.-run observation post near the border was hit, but no one was hurt.

Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation effort to pull out Americans and other foreigners picked up speed. U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans in Lebanon will be evacuated by the weekend.

After 10 days of the heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in 24 years, Israel appears to have decided that a large-scale incursion is the only way to push Hezbollah back. But mounting civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese could limit the time Israel has to achieve its goals, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.

An Israeli military radio station warned residents of 12 border villages in southern Lebanon to leave before 2 p.m. Friday. It was the latest warning from the Al-Mashriq station, which has said Israeli forces would "act immediately" to halt Hezbollah rocket fire.

At least 335 people have been killed in Lebanon in the Israeli campaign, according to the Lebanese health minister. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 19 soldiers.

The United States which has resisted calls to press its ally to halt the fighting was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Mideast on Sunday, according to a senior Bush administration who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice has not yet made her plans public.

The mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.

"We are all very concerned about the situation in the Middle East, and want to find a way forward that will contribute to a stable and democratic and peaceful Middle East," Rice said Friday as she met a three-member U.N. team.

Two Apache attack helicopters collided in northern Israel near the Lebanon border, killing one air force officer and injuring three others, two seriously, Israeli officials said. Israel's air force began an investigation.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, meanwhile, said his country was sending urgent aid to Lebanon by air and sea and he called for safe passage.

His comments came a day after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of even easing the violence.

"We are setting up a humanitarian air and sea port," Douste-Blazy said in Beirut. "At the same time, we demand the establishment of humanitarian corridors."

Top Israeli officials met Thursday night to decide how big a force to send in, according to senior military officials. They said Israel won't stop its offensive until Hezbollah is forced behind the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border creating a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence since 1982.

Israel has stepped up its small forays over the border in recent days, seeking Hezbollah positions, rocket stores and bunkers. Each time it has faced tough resistance.

Israeli warplanes fired missiles that partially collapsed a 1.6-mile suspension bridge linking two steep mountain peaks, part of the Beirut-Damascus highway in central Lebanon. The bridge has been hit several times since the fighting began.

The bombing also set ablaze three buses that had just dropped off passengers in Syria, but the drivers escaped, police said.

Renewed attacks struck the ancient city of Baalbek, a major Hezbollah stronghold, and security officials said two people were killed and 19 wounded. They also attacked Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and elsewhere overnight.

Strikes in south Beirut killed one person, and missiles that hit a village near the border with Israel, Aita al-Shaab, killed three, officials said.

A house in the border village of Aitaroun was flattened, with 10 people believed inside, but rescuers could not reach it because of shelling, security officials said.

Air raid sirens wailed in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, and at least 11 rockets struck in two barrages. Five people were wounded, with 23 treated for shock.

More rockets were fired elsewhere into northern Israel, the army said, with strikes reported in Rosh Pina, Safed and in several communities near the Sea of Galilee.

Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets from the Lebanese border since fighting began, forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis into underground shelters. Eight people in Haifa were killed July 16.

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the Israeli military made "a direct hit on the U.N. position overlooking Zarit."

An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Hezbollah guerrillas at northern Israel. The differing accounts could not immediately be reconciled.

During an Israeli offensive against Lebanon in 1996, artillery blasted a U.N. base at Qana in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 civilians who had taken refuge with the peacekeepers.

The U.N. mission, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the U.N. after Israel withdrew troops from south Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.

Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed in the latest fighting with Israeli troops, bringing to six the number of guerrillas killed since Israel launched the massive military campaign against Lebanon after the militant Shiite Muslim group captured two of its soldiers on July 12.

Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding "an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and capturing the Israeli soldiers.

Neither side showed any sign of backing down.

The Israeli army issued a call-up of reserves. The exact number of troops was not disclosed, but a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said it would be several thousand.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up Israeli onslaught, saying the captive soldiers held by his guerrillas would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange brokered through indirect negotiations.

He spoke in an interview taped Thursday with Al-Jazeera to show he had survived an airstrike in south Beirut that Israel said targeted a Hezbollah leadership bunker. The guerrillas said the strike only hit a mosque under construction and no one was hurt.

Lebanese streamed north into Beirut and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels. Taxi drivers in the south were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut more than 40 times the usual price. In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes, residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.

The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose as much as 500 percent in parts of Lebanon as the bombardment cut supply routes. The World Food Program said estimates of basic food supplies ranged from one to three months.

The U.N. estimated that a half-million people have been displaced, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.

More than 400,000 people perhaps as many as a half-million are believed to live south of the Litani, according to Timur Goskel, a former top U.N. adviser in the south. The river has twice been the border of Israeli buffer zones. In 1978, Israel invaded up to the Litani to drive back Palestinian guerrillas, withdrawing from most of the south months later.

Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut. It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani. That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted for 18 years until 2000, when it withdrew its troops completely.

Israel Calls Up Troops, Warns Lebanese (http://abcnews.go.com/International/print?id=2220765)

Germany: Iranian letter attacks Israel

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

BERLIN - A letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the German chancellor made statements about Israel and the Holocaust that are "not acceptable," the government said Friday.

The letter to Germany, which is among the countries leading diplomatic efforts to resolve concerns over Iran's nuclear program, does not mention that issue, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. Rather, the letter was devoted largely to criticism of Israel.

"It contains many statements that are not acceptable to us, in particular about Israel, the state of Israel's right to exist and the Holocaust," Wilhelm said.

The letter does not address the current fighting in Lebanon and Israel, he said.

Germany has sharply criticized anti-Israeli comments by Ahmadinejad, who has labeled the Holocaust a myth and called for Israel's destruction.

"Our position on these questions is known," Wilhelm said, adding that Chancellor Angela Merkel repeatedly has said that Israel's right to exist is a cornerstone of German policy and "it is in no way acceptable to us to question it."

Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany, where it carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The German government does not plan to reply to Ahmadinejad, Wilhelm said, adding that Berlin instead would continue supporting multilateral efforts to persuade Iran to suspend its nuclear program.

While Ahmadinejad's letter did not mention Iran's nuclear program, Wilhelm said it noted that there was "a great interest on the part of Iran to achieve cooperation."

Wilhelm did not elaborate on the letter's contents and said the government did not plan to release the text.

Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council offered a package of incentives to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment — a process that can produce material for atomic weapons as well as fuel for reactors.

The incentives, offered to Tehran on June 6, include advanced technology and the easing of U.S. sanctions on the sale of aircraft and aircraft parts.

Last week, the world powers decided to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, saying it had taken too long to reply and had given no sign of wanting to negotiate in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.

On Thursday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the Islamic republic would reply Aug. 22 but suggested it was likely to reject the main point of the West's proposals: the imposition of a long-term moratorium on enrichment.

A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Kamynin, criticized Iran's statement on the incentives, saying it contained no new ideas or signs that Tehran was ready for constructive talks, news agencies reported Friday.

In May, Ahmadinejad sent an 18-page letter to President Bush that also did not address the nuclear issue and was dismissed promptly by Washington.

While that letter marked a diplomatic overture, it was laced with old grievances against the United States and spelled out a long list of Iranian demands.

Germany: Iranian letter attacks Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_mi_ea/germany_iran_letter)

Iranian, Islamofascist Backed Hezbollah Attack Really About U.S.
By Jim Kouri
Jul 21, 2006

There are a number of this writer's friends in the intelligence community who are beginning to believe the current violence between the Iranian-Syrian backed Hezbollah and Israel may be about more than just hatred for the Jewish State. It may be about hurting the American economy and weakening, further, Americans' resolve to battle terrorism.

The evidence can already be seen in the US: the stockmarket is becoming unstable and oil prices are predicted to soar higher than even in the dark days of gaslines and President Jimmy Carter's "Win" buttons.

The Iranians and Syrians are quite aware that an unstable Middle East translates into an unstable American economy which in turn translates into a barrage of anti-Bush rhetoric by the Democrats and the news media. The Islamofascists know their best weapon against the US in order to get our military out of Iraq is a continuously violent insurgency coupled with a practically coordinated media blitz against the U.S. president who is becoming weaker by the day. The Islamofascists know that if Americans must pay a dollar more per gallon of gasoline, they will blame the president. American soldiers in Iraq are too close for comfort for the Iranian and Syrian governments. They are in full agreement with American lawmakers such as John Murtha and John Kerry -- redeployment of American troops would be a blessing.

One can see this coordinated attack from the Islamofascists' useful idiots almost from the start of the conflict in the Middle East. For instance, the head of the Democrat National Committee Howard Dean telling a cheering crowd of partisan automatons that if the Democrats were in-charge none of what we're seeing in the Middle East would be happening. Besides sounding like the ranting of a lunatic, for Dean's assertion to even remotely approach reality, one must erase the entire eight years when indeed the Democrats were in-charge. The Clinton appeasement plan was a miserable failure. Like Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis, it was a postponement of the inevitable using taxpayer money to buy off geopolitical problems.

One of the biggest myths perpetrated on the American people by the Democrats and their friends in the media is that "Clinton brought peace between Israel and the Palestinians." The billions of dollars that Clinton gave Yasser Arafat ended up in the "father of modern terrorism's" Swiss bank accounts.
Continue reading this article below

Too be sure, Bush wasn't very successful either, but he did provide the Israelis and Palestinians with a Roadmap to Peace. Unfortunately, while the Israelis tried their damnedest to follow the roadmap, including giving up Gaza and pulling out the Jewish settlers, the Palestinian people decided during their elections to reward the ruthless terrorist group Hamas with even more political power. Meanwhile, that geopolitical genius Jimmy Carter boasted that at least Hamas wasn't corrupt, which was good news for the Palestinians but bad news for the Israelis. (It's no secret that Carter walked a line separating diplomacy and anti-Semitism).

While the U.S. continues its own war on terrorism, the Democrats take their usual potshots at the Bush team, especially Secretary of State Condi Rice. Senator Ted Kennedy, in his standard bully boy rhetoric, practically ordered Rice to go to the Middle East to talk, discuss and negotiate.

But with whom should she talk? With whom would she negotiate? With terrorists? With Iran? With Syria? And what would they discuss? Hezbollah will not disarm. Hamas? They will not repudiate their call for the destruction of Israel. In the case of Iran, how do you negotiate with a country in which, according to a Zogby poll, 67% of the people say Israel should not exist.

The popular DNC talking point echoed by the news media is that Bush is "disengaged." I wish they would explain how he's disengaged. To his credit, Bush is not going to be a hypocrite and ask Israel NOT to retaliate against terrorist attacks, when the U.S. has retaliated against terrorist attacks by invading Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Bush, who is wrong on many issues, is right on this one. Let Israel do what it must do to protect their people and their nation. If that means the destruction of Lebanon, so be it. If it means bombing the Iranians, so be it. If it means toppling the Baath Party's stranglehold on Syria, so be it.

Only a coward would negotiate with people while they are murdering those he's sworn to protect.

Iranian, Islamofascist Backed Hezbollah Attack Really About U.S. (http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_21229622.shtml)

Annan outlines plans for immediate end of violence in Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed on Thursday a package of actions aimed at achieving a lasting solution to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

"What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities," Annan told the Security Council upon his return to UN Headquarters.

He hoped the end of the violence would prevent further loss of innocent life and the infliction of further suffering, allow full humanitarian access to those in need, and give diplomacy a chance to work out a practical package of actions that would provide a lasting solution to the current crisis.

However, the secretary-general was blunt in describing the findings of the mission he sent to the region, headed by his Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar.

"Let me be frank with the Council," he said. "The mission's assessment is that there are serious obstacles to reaching a ceasefire, or even to diminishing the violence quickly."

At the same time, Annan sternly criticized what Hezbollah has done, saying "Hezbollah's provocative attack on July 12 was the trigger of this crisis."

"They hold an entire nation hostage, set back prospects for negotiation of a comprehensive Middle East peace," he observed.

Meanwhile, Annan objected any analogy between the current Lebanese government and Afghanistan under the Taliban, saying such kind of analogy is "wholly misleading."

"It deserves, and must receive, all possible support from the international community," he added.

Despite the fact that "a full ceasefire remains difficult to achieve at this time," the UN chief said the international community must make its position clear on "the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and a far greater and more credible effort by Israel to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure while the conditions for such a cessation are urgently developed."

He thus called for the stop of fighting against each other between Hezbollah and Israel, the release of the abducted soldiers, and access of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Lebanon with Israel's cooperation.

Annan also stressed the importance of continuing diplomatic efforts "to develop a political framework which can be implemented as soon as hostilities cease.

Annan outlines plans for immediate end of violence in Lebanon (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/21/content_4861952.htm)

Reservists Called to Active Duty in Israel

Thousands of Israeli reservists were called to active dutyBy Staff

(EUNN) London - Israel today called several thousand reservists to active military duty as ground forces there prepare to cross into Lebanon in what diplomats called a "mop up" of Hezbollah militants in what is now the 10th day of consecutive violence following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is flying to the Middle East to meet with allied leaders there in hopes of working out a peaceful end to the fighting. Israel has said that it would accept a multinational ground force of troops in Lebanon, but only after it finishes destroying Hezbollah strongholds. Rice too has said that Hezbollah is the cause of all the trouble there and blamed Syria and Iran for supporting the terrorist group. US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has said that while a Middle East program to develop peace within the region needs to be agreed to, it would be pointless as long as Hezbollah was left to interfere.

This morning, Israeli military began amassing tanks and armored vehicles along Lebanon's northern border with some ground forces already inside Lebanese territory while calling up thousands of reservists to active duty. The move infers that Israel intends on taking the fight with Hezbollah inside their territory.

In an interview to the Arab Satellite Channel of al-Jazira Thursday, Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut said that Israel has not damaged Hezbollah as much as it says and that it's arsenal of missiles is far greater than Israel believes.

Nasrallah said that negotiations for release of the Israeli soldiers was a possibility, but only through indirect negotiations, suggesting that a prisoner exchange would be in order. Israel has said under the current circumstances that it will release any prisoners until after its kidnapped soldiers are returned safely and then it would not commit, but only agree to talks.

For the second day, Israel dropped leaflets in Hezbollah-dominated areas of south Lebanon warning residents to move north of the Litani River. The leaflets also hinted at the prospect of wider Israeli ground operations.

Nasrallah denied allegations the two Israeli soldiers kidnappings had any thing to do with decisions made by Syria or Iranian, saying "this is shameful and trivial talk that aimed to empty the resistance from its content and change it into an instrument."

Nasrallah's comments suggest that both Syria and Iran are growing concerned about the attention Hezbollah is drawing towards those Middle Eastern countries.

"We are friends of Syria and Iran and made use of this friendship for Lebanon," said Nasrallah. "but others exploited friendship with Syria for self-interests," underlining that "Hezbollah is not fighting but for Lebanon and any other talk is an insult to our nationalism and commitment."

Reservists Called to Active Duty in Israel (http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=10528)

Rice To Visit Israel, Rome for Talks on Mideast Crisis

Secretary of state calls for plan to ensure stable, enduring peace in region

By Lea Terhune
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced plans to travel to Rome the week of July 23, where she will meet with members of the “Lebanon Core Group” to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hizballah. She also will stop in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She plans to depart July 23.

In Rome, representatives of the Core Group, which includes Lebanon, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the World Bank, will work to develop a plan for a sustainable resolution to the violence between Israel and Hizballah. Discussions will focus on political issues, security concerns, humanitarian needs, and support for the economic reconstruction of Lebanon, according to a State Department official.

“We do seek an end to the current violence, and we seek it urgently. More than that, we also seek to address the root causes of that violence so that a real and endurable peace can be established,” Rice said at a State Department press conference July 21.

In a separate briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch told reporters, “We are not delaying here. If we can put in place the conditions tomorrow for a cease-fire, obviously we would do so. But we believe that it’s going to take some time – it doesn’t necessarily have to take a lot of time, and the less time it takes the better – we can put together elements for a more stable situation than we see right now.”

While reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself “in response to Hizballah’s outrageous provocation in an already tense region,” Rice said, “We urge Israel’s leaders to do so with the greatest possible care to avoid harming innocent civilians, and with care to protect civilian infrastructure.” She blamed Hizballah for initiating the violence and called for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers.

Rice said Israel has responded positively to proposals “to open up a humanitarian corridor” so that international assistance can flow to the victims of the hostilities. She added that the United States intends to give Lebanon “direct humanitarian assistance.”

Creating a framework for lasting peace is the goal of the discussions in Rome, rather than a temporary cease-fire, which would be “a guarantee of future violence,” she said.

“You can't have a situation in which the south of Lebanon is a haven for unauthorized, armed groups that sit and fire rockets into Israel, plunging the entire country into chaos, when the Lebanese government did not even know that this was going to be done,” the secretary said.

Welch called Hizballah’s actions an assault on Lebanese democracy and said the United States would respond vigorously as a reflection of its commitment to the spread of democracy in the Middle East.

“There is nothing more anti-democratic than usurping the authority of the state to launch an act of warfare against a neighbor without the consent of the people or the state,” he said.

Rice advocated a framework of conflict resolution “along three tracks: political, economic and security.” In her view, the crisis likely will require a “robust” stabilization force to support the Lebanese government in deployment of its military forces throughout its territory. She said the composition of an international force is being considered, but that she does not expect U.S. ground forces to take part in the mission.

After a series of discussions with leaders from the Group of Eight (G8), several Arab countries and the United Nations team that just returned from the Middle East, Rice said, “I think we are beginning to see the outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way.”

She spoke of Lebanon as a “young government” that requires international assistance to regain and maintain stability. She said the United States remains committed to supporting the Lebanese government.

Welch said the Rome meeting also would serve to rally the international assistance Lebanon needs. “I think Lebanon will enjoy a great deal of international support. I think we will be able to muster a strong consensus to assist that country,” he said.

Rice To Visit Israel, Rome for Talks on Mideast Crisis (http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=July&x=20060721164425mlenuhret0.5308039)

Muslims in Asia protest Israeli attacks

Muslims throughout Asia have held angry protests against Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, denouncing the Jewish state and demanding the United Nations take action to halt the violence.

Irwan Firdaus

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Muslims throughout Asia have held angry protests against Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, denouncing the Jewish state and demanding the United Nations take action to halt the violence.

Police used batons and smoke grenades to break up hundreds of protesters who had blocked traffic in Kashmir. Demonstrators in Pakistan burned Israeli and US flags, and protesters in Indonesia and Malaysia accused the Jewish state of terrorism.

Malaysia's foreign minister, who will next week host a gathering of his Southeast Asian counterparts and meetings due to include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urged a cease- fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

"We don't want an expansion of the crisis, we want a cease-fire," said Syed Hamid Albar. "We want to see a more balanced and just world."

Protesters gathered across Asia Friday after Islamic prayers.

In Jakarta, hundreds of people blocked traffic at a key road junction waving banners and Palestinian flags.

"We condemn the attack by Israel on Palestinian territories and on Lebanon," protest organizer Nana Juhana said. "Israel should stop the atrocities against civilians in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip."

A similar protest was held in Ambon, a city in central Indonesia, which is home to more Muslims than any other country. In Pakistan, religious leaders condemned Israel and conducted prayers for the safety of Lebanese and Palestinians in mosques across the country. People also rallied in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Malaysian protesters, many of them linked to the ruling party, rallied outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, chanting, "Destroy Israel, down with Israel" and setting fire to Israeli flags.

Activists handed US diplomats a memorandum demanding the UN Security Council take action to stop Israeli bombardments.

"This is nothing short of murder and genocide," said Khairy Jamaluddin, the deputy leader of the ruling party's youth wing and an organizer of the protest.

"Israel is a terrorist state and it must be brought to justice.".

About 500 people protested at three sites in Srinagar, the capital of India's part of the predominantly Muslim territory of Kashmir.

In Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, Muslims marched outside the main Baitul Mokarram mosque carrying banners reading, "Stop attacks on Lebanon" and "Down with Israel."

Muslims in Asia protest Israeli attacks (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=6&art_id=23415&sid=8967418&con_type=1&d_str=20060722)

Syrians Demonstrate Israeli Attack on Lebanon

Hezbollah supporters demonstrate against Israel in DamascusBy Staff

(EUNN) London - A well-organized crowd of Hezbollah supporters demonstrated in Damascus, Syria against the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, waving Hezbollah flags in a show of support of Lebanese and Palestinians, shouting for Israel to end the violence, the Syrian News Agency reported.

The angry crowds burned the Israeli flag, as participants raised the Syrian-Lebanese and the Palestinian flags and photos of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nassrallah. They chanted slogans advocating the Lebanese resistance like " Thousands Greetings to Lebanese Resistance" and " Resistance is the Freedom Symbol."

A Hezbollah-backed student organization called "Students National Union in Syria" through what they called the "Commission to Support the National Lebanese Resistance" allegedly were the supporters of the demonstration in Damascus Thursday evening.

The Commission released a statement that said the demonstration was over Israel's killing of innocent civilians, including women and children, as well the destruction of Lebanese civilian infrastructures. But while Israel has attacked civilian infrastructures which caused the deaths of the civilian population, Israel says it has attacked known locations of Hezbollah militants and then only when their was the least amount of civilians in the area.

Recently, Israeli Air Force planes bombed a Hezbollah bunker in Beirut extensively, said to be where Lebanese Hezbollah leaders were hold up. Hezbollah has denied that any leaders of its organization were at that location and that the bombing was an intentional attack on civilians.

Many refugees have been passing through Damascus to flee the fighting in Lebanon. A group calling itself the "Higher Committee to Boost the Lebanese People Steadfastness" discussed in a meeting last night how Syrians could make financial donations for what it called the "brothers fighting in Lebanon, suggesting that Hezbollah was attempting to raise money to support its clash with Israel.

Speeches made at the demonstration denounced the US for supporting Israel's attack on Lebanon and Palestine by not intervening.

Syrians Demonstrate Israeli Attack on Lebanon (http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=10529)

The war gets wider and worse

Leader
Saturday July 22, 2006
The Guardian

It would be astonishing if Hizbullah and Israel were not now both reflecting on the old adage that it is easier to start a war than to stop one. A week ago it seemed reasonable to predict that a few days of Israeli bombardment would be followed by a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners - because the stakes were just too high for any other outcome. Israeli officials spoke then of needing 72 hours to crush their enemy as the US, tacitly backed by Britain, sidestepped increasingly urgent demands - from Lebanon, the UN, France and others - for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Ten days on, the rockets are still flying, bombs falling and innocent civilians dying or fleeing for their lives. Apparent preparations for substantial Israeli ground operations in south Lebanon yesterday opened up new dangers that must include the risk of a clash with Syria.

Article continues
Through the smoke of battle, several alarming themes have become apparent. The first is that the US has lost much influence as a result of the war in Iraq and its acquiescence in the deadlock of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's siege of Gaza is an indispensable part of the disaster now unfolding further north. George Bush has no leverage with Iran and Syria, Hizbullah's patrons, and backs Israel's actions as part of the "war on terror". But if Hizbullah were just "a bunch of terrorists", as the US envoy John Bolton put it as he played for time at the UN, things would be simpler - just as they might be if the Islamists of Hamas could be dismissed in the same glib way.

Hizbullah is a radical Shia organisation with deep roots in Lebanon, as well as powerful backers in Tehran and Damascus who have agendas of their own and are content to let others die in a proxy war with Israel and the US. If many Lebanese began a dreadful week blaming Hizbullah for provoking Israel, more ended it by directing their fury at Israel for ripping their country apart in a rerun of 1982. Even if Israel could defeat the guerrillas - a very big if, judging by the missiles falling on Haifa - could it do so without destroying Lebanon or triggering a new civil war? As Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, put it, Hizbullah is using Lebanon as a human shield as Israel hammers it mercilessly.

A second source of concern is the way Hizbullah is now being feted across the Arab world. The conservative Sunni regimes which are US allies - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states - were already worried about the Shia ascendancy in Iraq and the growth of Iranian influence. But too many Arabs prefer a violent confrontation with Israel to the equivocations of their rulers. And that, thirdly, by feeding hatred, augurs badly for already slim hopes that a peace settlement can ever be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. In Israel it is hard to see Ehud Olmert following last year's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza with a similar pullout from the West Bank.

These bleak future prospects are overshadowed by many clear and present dangers. An immediate ceasefire to halt the suffering must remain the priority for the international community, because every day that goes by without one will make a terrible situation worse. Condoleezza Rice should insist on one before her far too leisurely departure for Israel tomorrow. Until the shooting stops, both sides should reread the Geneva conventions and allow the creation of humanitarian corridors to let civilians flee the killing grounds. Relief agencies and the Red Crescent must be given access to all battle zones. Mediation should be launched to free Israeli soldiers and Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners so there is a mechanism for each side to back down. The US, Europe, the UN and others will then have to work out in good faith just how they will help keep a very volatile peace. For if outsiders do not make the necessary effort, it will only be a matter of time before it all happens again.

The war gets wider and worse (http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1826318,00.html)

France, others mobilize aid to Lebanon as Israel promises safe passage

By Angela Charlton
ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:22 p.m. July 21, 2006

PARIS – France mobilized Friday to send urgent aid to Lebanon, the Red Cross managed to get relief supplies to the south – and Israel agreed to allow a safe corridor crucial to ensuring that food and medicine reaches those in need.

International efforts to get humanitarian aid to Lebanon appeared to be getting off the ground at last. Demands mounted for safe passage for aid to millions of Lebanese increasingly isolated by Israel's air and sea blockade.

Israeli airstrikes have demolished bridges and main roads across southern Lebanon, making movement difficult and dangerous. Some villages have been almost completely cut off, and many civilian cars and trucks have been hit on the roads. In the only confirmed strike on an aid delivery, a convoy carrying medical supplies sent from the United Arab Emirates was hit Tuesday, setting a truck on fire and damaging another.

Responding to intense international pressure, including an appeal from the United States, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday.

The Israeli army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said in Tel Aviv on Friday that Israel had decided to allow a safe path for evacuations, and another corridor for humanitarian aid, “out of an understanding for the developing difficulty.”

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said French humanitarian aid arriving Friday on a French ship at the south Lebanese port of Sidon would be allowed through.

Several countries pledged to contribute to international aid efforts, though France was one of the few to organize relief on its own. France has historic ties to Lebanon and has been instrumental in the international push to end the violence.

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said during a visit to Beirut on Friday that France was dispatching urgent aid to Lebanon by air and sea, and pleaded for safe passage.

The son of slain Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri thanked French President Jacques Chirac on Friday for his diplomatic efforts, saying “without France, the humanitarian corridor wouldn't be possible.”

Aid workers are worried about decreasing supplies of safe water and sanitation, but say it is difficult to assess needs because they're having trouble moving around the country.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday made its first attempt since the fighting began July 12 to supply the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

The convoy arrived after a six-hour journey over war-damaged roads from Beirut. The relief effort – coordinated with Israeli authorities – brought 24 tons of food, medical supplies and other assistance to the port city, according to spokesman Vincent Lusser.

UNICEF will be delivering water kits, purification tablets, water containers, essential drugs and toys over the weekend to Damascus for road shipment to Lebanon.

“We're talking about kids that have suffered from scars that have been inflicted over the last few days that are likely to last a generation. Finding some way to find some kind of normalcy in a completely abnormal situation is another one of our priorities,” UNICEF spokeswoman Wivina Belmonte said.

Stockpiles of aid supplies are growing as countries worldwide pledge funds.

“The international community must help, and quickly,” Norwegian Prime Ministers Jens Stoltenberg said, pledging $32 million in aid to Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Britain's Department for International Development announced $4.95 million in aid to be sent through the EU and international agencies. It was also arranging for humanitarian and reconstruction advisers to be sent to the region.

Greece delivered 22 tons of medical and other aid to Beirut Friday on a Greek Navy ship. Doctors accompanied the shipments of medical materials, tents, blankets and canned food.

Turkey's Red Crescent announced it would ship food, medicine, diapers and baby food to a logistics center in Syria next week for distribution by the Lebanese Red Cross.

Iranian newspapers and state-run television have carried bank account numbers for government aid donations for Lebanese civilians. Iran's Health Ministry said it was prepared to send medical supplies and treat Lebanese war casualties at Iranian hospitals.

An overall U.N. appeal for aid was to be launched Monday in New York. U.N. officials estimated half a million people have been displaced by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militias based in southern Lebanon.

Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders and the first U.N. administrator for Kosovo, said humanitarian corridors were not enough.

“That won't settle the fundamental problem,” he said on France Inter radio, calling for an immediate cease-fire and a U.N. resolution allowing for military force.

France, others mobilize aid to Lebanon as Israel promises safe passage (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060721-1522-mideastfighting-aid.html)

Israel 'plans quick raids, not full invasion'

1.00pm Saturday July 22, 2006

BEIRUT - The Israeli army plans to step up incursions into southern Lebanon but not launch a mass invasion in its war against Hizbollah, an Israeli military source said today.

Thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled north fearing Israel would invade and expand its 11-day-old bombardment of Lebanon which has killed 345 people, mostly civilians.

Israeli war planes overnight launched one of their heaviest raids yet on the town of al-Khiam, just north of the border, and destroyed five trucks in strikes in eastern Lebanon, witnesses said.

Israel on Friday ordered several thousand reserves to report for duty. The call-up came a day after Defence Minister Amir Peretz spoke of a possible land offensive. Israel wants to stop Hizbollah from firing rockets into its northern territory.

Hizbollah rockets, reaching as far as Haifa, have killed 15 civilians in Israel in the war. Nineteen soldiers have also been killed.

An Israeli military source said the army intended to step up pinpoint incursions into the south but not launch a mass invasion. "You should not expect a full-scale incursion into Lebanon," the source told Reuters.

"We are already inside Lebanon and troops will continue to operate there because it is the only way to act against Hizbollah bunkers there," the source said.

The war started when Hizbollah abducted two soldiers on July 12 in a raid into Israel.

Amid mounting world alarm at the war, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a diplomatic drive but said the conflict's root causes had to be tackled before a truce.

Calling the abduction an "outrageous provocation", Rice said she would visit the Middle East next week and attend an Italian-hosted international conference in Rome on Wednesday in a bid to secure lasting peace.

The United States, Israel's main ally, has rebuffed Lebanon's appeals for an immediate UN-backed cease-fire, saying this would not last unless Hizbollah guerrillas, backed by Syria and Iran, were prevented from attacking the Jewish state.

Elite Israeli troops have been launching small-scale raids in Lebanon to try to stop Hizbollah rocket attacks. But Israel has been wary of launching a full-scale invasion, only six years after it ended a costly 22-year occupation of the south.

The Jewish state's military chief, Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, said Israeli forces had killed nearly 100 Hizbollah fighters in the offensive. The guerrilla group says only six of its fighters have been killed.

Lebanese families packed into cars and pickup trucks and clogged roads to the north after Israeli planes dropped leaflets on Friday warning residents of south Lebanon to flee for safety beyond the Litani river, about 20 km from the border.

An estimated 300,000 mostly Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese normally reside south of the Litani. There was no word on how many have already fled the bombing and fighting of the past few days. Air raids have wrecked many roads and bridges in the region.

Israel responded to humanitarian concerns about its blockade of Lebanon, saying it would ease humanitarian access.

UN relief agencies have called for safe passage to take vital medical and food supplies to tens of thousands who have fled their homes. The government estimates 500,000 have been displaced by the war.

Thousands of foreigners have been evacuated from Lebanon. Turkey received hundreds of Canadian evacuees on Friday, having offered to ease the strain on Cyprus which had warned it could not longer cope with the numbers arriving from Lebanon.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was involved in brokering a 2004 prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbollah, also plans a trip to the Middle East next week.

But a UN envoy, reporting to the Security Council after talks with Israeli officials, said the Jewish state would not negotiate with Hizbollah through third parties, as in the past, for the release of captured soldiers.

Israel has also waged a military campaign in Gaza since June 28 to recover another soldier, seized by Palestinian militants.

In Gaza, Palestinian medics said Israeli shelling killed a Hamas militant and four civilians on Friday, as tanks and troops withdrew from a refugee camp after a three-day assault.

Israel 'plans quick raids, not full invasion' (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392508)

Alert lifted: Terrorists nabbed in TA

Tel Aviv Police arrested Friday night three suspects who apparently planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv. They were arrested by the Tel Aviv port, a popular area filled with bars and restaurants, at the corner of Hayarkon and Yordei Hasira streets.

Following their arrest, police lifted the state of heightened alert. A few hours earlier police received specific intelligence regarding a female suicide bomber en route to Tel Aviv in a Renault Express commercial vehicle.

Police nab suspects

After alerts were received, boosted police forces were stationed at the junction of Ibn Gvirol and Rokach streets in central Tel Aviv. At one point, police were alerted by radio that a suspicious vehicle fitting the description in the warning was stopped at the corner of Hayarkon and Yordei Hasirah streets not far from the port.

Dozens of patrol vehicle were immediately summoned to the scene. Eyewitnesses started yelling towards the police officers that the occupants had fled the vehicle, and police managed to catch them at gunpoint.

Simultaneously, police received a report of a suspicious object at the entrance to the old Exhibition Grounds. A number of officers were dispatched to the site, while others scoured the immediate area.

Meanwhile, police caught another suspect, an Arab Israeli man fleeing the scene in a separate vehicle. No explosives or suspicious devices were found in his possession. The suspects were transferred to police headquarters for questioning.

'I feel my work pays off'

Sergeant Minor Sharon Telkar from the Yarkon district was the one who identified the suspects’ vehicle leaving the Tel Aviv port area. In accordance with police procedure, he alerted backup forces.

Terror suspects nabbed

Following the dramatic arrests, Telkar told Ynet, “We got a message about the suspicious vehicle, we combed the area around the port and at a certain stage I understood the suspects in the car saw me on Habkuk Street and left the port area. I caught up with them and stopped them at the corner. We aimed our weapons at them and arrested the driver, an Arab Israeli, at gunpoint and his female passenger from the West Bank. She tried to say she was Israeli, but when we checked, we found a green ID card indicating she was the person we were searching for."

Telkar went home with a great sense of satisfaction. “This arrest is actually the icing on the cake. Until today, we managed to arrest thieves, robbers, but nothing like this – this happens once in your life. It gives great satisfaction, and when I go home today, I’ll feel like my work pays off.”

Spate of terror attempts

This is not the first time recently that roadblocks were set up in the vicinity of Israel’s coastal cities. On Wednesday alert levels were raised in the Sharon area after intelligence was received that a suicide bomber had infiltrated Israel and planned to blow up in the area. Following a few hours of searches in the area, the terrorist and his driver were nabbed by security forces at two construction sites in Hod Hasharon.

Renault Express stopped at TA port

The security establishment has 22 warnings of planned suicide bombings and kidnappings in Israeli territory. Owing to the warnings, a general closure was imposed on the territories until at least Saturday night. Most of the security establishment’s warning were coming from the West Bank areas and were regarding attacks plotted by the Islamic Jihad.

A senior security official told Ynet that Israel had intelligence information proving that Hizbullah had specifically turned to Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank asking them to carry out attacks to open a third front in addition to the north and south fronts.

Alert lifted: Terrorists nabbed in TA (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279470,00.html)

Rice: Cease-fire at this time pointless

US Secretary of State rules out quick cease-fire as ‘false promise,’ says ‘Syria knows what it needs to do, Hizbullah is the source of the problem.’ Israeli ambassador to US: This is a war not of our choosing
Associated Press

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, heading for a weekend trip to the troubled Middle East, said Friday she would work with allies in the region to help create conditions for "stability and lasting peace."

She ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise" and defended her decision not to talk to officials from Hizbullah or Syria.

"Syria knows what it needs to do and Hizbullah is the source of the problem," Rice said at the State Department as she outlined US hopes for a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.

Rice said she was meeting not only with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert but also with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as with allies at a gathering in Rome.

'Cease-fire return to status quo’

Asked why she didn't go earlier and engage in quick-hit diplomacy to try to end the death and destruction that has gripped the region,
she replied, "I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling and it wouldn't have been clear what I was shuttling to do."

Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to Washington, told The Associated Press that Israel would not rule out an eventual international stabilization force. But he said Israel was first determined to take out Hezbollah's command and control centers and weapons stockpiles.

He described it as a "mop up" operation, and said that Israel had no desire to repeat its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

"They overplayed their hand, they miscalculated," Ayalon said of Hizbullah militants based in southern Lebanon and supported by Syria and Iran.

"This is a war not of our choosing," he said. The flare-up in violence began after Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers last week.

Rice said the United States was committed to ending the bloodshed, but didn't want to do it before certain conditions were met. The United States has said all along that Hizbullah must first turn over the two Israeli soldiers who were captured and stop firing missiles into Israel.

"We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently. We also seek to address the root causes of that violence," she said. "A cease-fire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo."

Rice said that it was important to deal with the "root cause" of the violence, echoing what has been the US position since last week.

President Bush, asked what he hopes Rice will achieve on her trip, said he would discuss it with her when he returns to the White House on Sunday. He was speaking at a restaurant in Aurora, Colo., as he met with 10 members of the military who recently returned from Iraq.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush was en route to an appearance in Colorado, she said the idea was "to provide the president and Dr. Rice a chance to continue to strategize with a key partner in the region on a diplomatic solution that will address the root causes of violence and terror in the region."

Bush and Rice will meet at the White House Sunday with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council.

The plans emerged following two days of meetings in New York with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and envoys he sent to the region this week. Although Annan called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire, that is opposed by the United States. The Bush administration says the United States and the UN agree on the wider diplomatic goals for the region.

The United States has resisted international pressure to lean on its ally Israel to halt the fighting. Rice was likely try to point the way to a relatively quick cease-fire, but not an immediate one. She is expected in Israel on Tuesday, Israeli officials said on condition of anonymity because the schedule was not yet confirmed.

Rice is also expected to meet with European foreign ministers and representatives from Arab nations that have been unusually critical of Hezbollah. That meeting would take place somewhere in the Mideast, but the location is not set.

'Serious obstacles'

Rice's mission would be the first US diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.

The Rice initiative likely would be designed to give the United States a major role in brokering peace there. She is not expected to try to get a signed deal during her brief visit, however, and she risks laying out the U.S. goals only to have either side refuse to bargain.

Annan outlined the basic terms of a proposed cease-fire and the longer-range goals to remove the Hizbullah threat in southern Lebanon in a speech on Thursday.

Hizbullah is an Islamic militant group that also exerts political control over southern Lebanon, overshadowing the weak democratic central government in Beirut. The UN and US plan for long-term stability would give international help to the Beirut government to expel Hizbullah and install its own Army troops, something it has been unable to do on its own.

Israel called up reserve troops Friday and warned civilians to flee southern Lebanon, as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.

UN mediator Vijay Nambiar stressed the urgent need for "a cessation of hostilities" in Lebanon despite "serious obstacles" and appealed to Israel to allow humanitarian access to beleaguered civilians.

Nambiar, who led a three-member team sent by UN chief Kofi Annan to the region to assess the worsening Middle East crisis, spoke during a public debate of the 15-member Security Council on how to bring a quick end to the bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel.

Nambiar cited "serious obstacles to the achievement of a comprehensive ceasefire in the immediate future" in the deadly fighting between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon.

But he stressed that some form of "cessation of hostilities" as called for by Annan Thursday was "essential so that captives are protected, humanitarian access is assured, civilian casualties are dramatically reduced, and the political space is opened to negotiate a full and durable ceasefire.

Rice: Cease-fire at this time pointless (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279485,00.html)

Shiite cleric: Israel will fall like Twin Towers

Muslims use day of prayer to protest Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
Associated Press

Thousands of demonstrators across the Muslim world used Friday’s Islamic day of prayer to protest Israel’s attacks on Hizbullah, urging Sunni-Shiite unity to defeat the Jewish state.

Police clashed with anti-Israeli demonstrators in Egypt, Bahrain and Indian-run Kashmir.

In Cairo, thousands of protesters waving giant posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite group Hizbullah, gathered after Friday prayers at Al-Azhar Mosque, the most prominent Sunni Muslim institution in the Arab world. “Sunnis or Shiites (there is) no difference; all together to resist the enemy,” Sameh Ashour, head of the Arab Lawyers Union, told the crowd. “Resistance is the solution.”

'We'll defeat Israel without use of weapons'

The fighting between Israel and Hizbullah has exposed divisions across the Muslim world as leaders in some predominantly Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have criticized Hizbullah’s actions. But many ordinary people and religious leaders - both Sunnis and Shiites - have given their support to Hizbullah because of its willingness to fight Israel.

During a fiery sermon at a Damascus mosque, one of Syria’s most prominent Sunni Islamic clerics assailed his Arab neighbors for condemning the kidnapping earlier this month of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah guerillas. “Our Arab people have been surprised by our Arab leaders who have ignored what is being said on the streets,” Sheik Salah Keftaro said.

Meanwhile in Iraq, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday predicted Israel would collapse like New York’s Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, if Sunnis and Shiites join in their fight.

'No to Arab silence on Zionist crimes'

“I will continue defending my Shiite and Sunni brothers, and I tell them that if we unite, we will defeat Israel without the use of weapons,” Sadr said during a speech in the southern city Iraqi city of Kufa.

Under the watchful eye of security police, protesters in Cairo shouted both anti-Israel slogans and condemned Arab leaders’ reluctance to show their support for Hizbullah.

Thousands of police surrounded the protesters in Cairo, beating back some with batons when they tried to move into the streets. Police said three protesters were injured when they clashed with authorities.

Protesters in other cities also took to the streets including several thousand in Tripoli, Libya. About 2,000 angry demonstrators shouted praise for Hizbullah in downtown Amman, Jordan.

“No to the Arab silence on the Zionist crimes,” read one of the Jordanian banners.

In Manama, Bahrain, about 500 people demonstrated as close as they were allowed to the US Embassy, a frequent site of protests owing to US support of Israel. Witnesses said clashes developed when protesters threw stones at police photographers, and the police retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Mohammed Bin Daina said one woman was treated for tear gas inhalation, and one policeman was lightly wounded.

Bin Daina denied that police fired rubber bullets, saying they used only tear gas. Nobody was arrested. Police used batons and smoke grenades to break up hundreds of protesters who had blocked traffic in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Demonstrators in Pakistan burned Israeli and US flags, and protesters in Indonesia and Malaysia accused the Jewish state of terrorism.

About 2,000 Muslims also marched through the streets of the Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka.

Shiite cleric: Israel will fall like Twin Towers (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279501,00.html)

India, Russia to make 1,000 BrahMos missiles
New Delhi, July 21, IRNA

India-Russia-Missiles
India and Russia intend to make 1,000 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles over the next 10 years through their joint venture company, with nearly 50 per cent of them expected to be sold in third countries, defence sources said Friday.

"We already have a capacity to produce 100 missiles a year. One thousand missiles in 10 years is a reasonable target. Nearly 50 per cent will go to exports," PTI report said here quoting defence sources.

India and Russia have so far invested $ 300 million in BrahMos Aerospace, which was established to design, develop, produce and market the missile by using the technological skills and capabilities of both countries.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier announced that BrahMos (named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers) had been inducted into the Indian Navy.

BrahMos Aerospace CEO A Sivathanu Pillai said that the missile's land-based version is expected to be inducted into the Army in 2007.

Pillai, who is also the chief controller of research and development in the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), said that the company was undertaking a project to install BrahMos missiles on the Sukhoi-30MKI combat jets of the Indian Air Force.

"Now, we are fitting one BrahMos in the belly (of the Su-30) to start with. With certain reinforcement of the wings, we can fit up to three," he said.

Pillai said the joint venture company, established in India in 1998, is now looking at an upgraded version of BrahMos but added that no final decision has been taken.

He however, hinted that one area of focus could be increasing the speed of the missile. "It can be speed", he said.

Noting that BrahMos is the world's only supersonic cruise missile -- others are subsonic -- and that there is no competition for it, he stressed the need for retaining the competitive edge.

The 2.5 tonne BrahMos has a strike range of 290 km and has a maximum speed of Mach 2.8 (one km per second).

Pillai said BrahMos would be sold in third countries "very soon" but did not name the nations or give any time frame.

He said the price of BrahMos depends on several variables like "country-to-country (relations), political situation and credit line." "There is no competition for BrahMos. Our prices are competitive."

India, Russia to make 1,000 BrahMos missiles (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607210833194709.htm)

India will speed up work on Afghan, Iran road
New Delhi, July 21, IRNA

ndia-Iran-Afghanistan
New Delhi is likely to send reinforcements to accelerate the work of constructing a network of roads linking Afghanistan with Iran.

They will supplement the Border Roads Organization personnel working there, according to well-placed sources tracking India's involvement in the region.

The reinforcements in significant numbers will go towards an additional section of road that India is expected to build.

This will be in addition to some of the projects which the Indian agencies, like the BRO, are already undertaking on the outskirts of Kabul, Asian Age reported here quoting sources.

The decision to despatch engineers and other personnel comes despite New Delhi suffering reversals of the killings of Indian personnel working in Afghanistan.

India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2003 to augment Afghanistan's connectivity and access to the coast.

The BRO is constructing the 218-km road that will link Delaram on the main Kandahar-Herat highway in Afghanistan and Zaranj on the Iran border.

The US $ 850 million project is being funded by India and will provide the landlocked nation a shorter transit route (by about 700 km) to the sea via the Iranian port of Chahbahar than it now has through Pakistan.

It was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security on February 4, 2004.

Under this project, Iran is building a new transit route to connect Milak in the southeast of Iran to Zaranj in Afghanistan.

The sources said India would be able to use Chahbahar port for transit.

India and Iran have also agreed to build a railroad from Chahbahar to the Iranian Central Railway System to link with the Karachi-Tehran Railway line, which goes further westward, the sources added.

During Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's visit to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged an additional $ 50 million in assistance to Kabul, bringing the total Indian pledge to $ 650 million.

Several Indian companies are engaged in Afghanistan and undertaking infrastructure projects.

A BRO driver, Maniappan Raman Kutty, was killed by the Taliban last year.

Another Indian engineer, K. Suryanarayana, was killed in May this year.

India will speed up work on Afghan, Iran road (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-18/0607218601193245.htm)

OIC to play more active role in developments in Lebanon, Palestine
United Nations, New York, July 21, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-OIC
Permanent envoys of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to the United Nations supported Iran's proposal for the OIC playing a more active role vis-a-vis recent developments in Lebanon and Palestine.

In a meeting that was held on Wednesday by Iran's demand, the OIC member sates' ambassadors to the UN supported a proposal put forward by Iran's permanent ambassador to the UN, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, which called on the Islamic body to make more contacts with the UN Security Council on its decision-making process about the ongoing tragic situation in Lebanon and Palestine.

Zarif also criticized the support of some of the UN Security Council's members for the Zionist regime's current savage offensive against the defenseless people in Palestine and Lebanon, including women and children.

The ambassador said that Israel has shown it was not committed to any international or humanitarian laws and norms.

Zarif stressed that advocates of the Zionist regime at the UNSC were assisting Tel Aviv in practice, by their silence and by not making timely measures, to continue its inhuman attacks against innocent people.

The OIC envoys to the UN issued a statement at the end of their meeting voicing their support and solidarity with the Lebanese people.

They also called on the Zionist regime to stop its hostilities and targeting people of Lebanon, its infrastructure areas and properties.

The statement also expressed the OIC members' "deep concern" over the process of following up the escalating situation in Lebanon by the council stressing that the ongoing situation was threatening peace and security in whole the Middle East region.

The statement went on calling on the council to issue an emergency resolution urging for a comprehensive cease-fire in Lebanon and for halting Lebanon's seizure by Israel.

The OIC considered Israel's measures a threat against
international peace and security and the UN Charter as well.

It said that Israel's ongoing savage aggression to Lebanon runs against all the international laws and regulations, particularly, the Fourth Geneva Convention in 1949 to support civilians in armed clashes.

Stressing that the OIC gave specific importance to establishment of a fair, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East region, the Islamic body's members to the UN called on international community to help Lebanese people with their humanitarian supports.

OIC to play more active role in developments in Lebanon, Palestine (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-24/0607210658104320.htm)

Iran, Syria nourishing Hezbollah
By KATHERINE SHRADER

, Associated Press Writer
July 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Hezbollah military machine that has been attacking Israel draws much of its strength from two shadowy sources that are proving difficult to cut off: Syria and Iran.

The two countries, which President Bush blames for fomenting terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East, provide Hezbollah with training, weapons and financing, according to Western intelligence officials who are working to stem the flow of aid.

Hacienda Palo Verde

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a House Intelligence Committee member who was briefed on the Middle East situation during a recent trip to Iraq, said Syria has more than 1,000 agents in southern Lebanon, working either directly for Syrian intelligence or compensated by Syria for information. He says they are there "to cause trouble" and help prop up Hezbollah militarily.

Lebanon is two-thirds the size of Connecticut. In a country that small, Rogers said, "a thousand intelligence agents is unbelievable. It's huge."

Along with Syria's agents, Iran's well-trained Revolutionary Guard is believed to be providing military advisers to Hezbollah, with some level of coordination with Syria, according to U.S. officials and Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.

Cordesman said the Iranian role has evolved over time. Earlier, significant numbers of Iranians could be seen operating at terrorist training camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Syria provided them safe haven in the region. "Now, what you have is people who are less visible," he said.

While intelligence agencies may try to pin down such details with spies, eavesdropping equipment and overhead surveillance, the details are among any government's most classified secrets. And some of what is public may be misinformation.

"I'll be perfectly blunt: Israeli intelligence is political, and you can't trust it," Cordesman said.

The United States lists Hezbollah as a terror organization. Yet the complicated 24-year-old Shiite Muslim organization has stepped in to fill vacuums left by the country's anemic government and controls much of the southern part of Lebanon, operating schools, health care and other social services.

It was created to counter Israeli occupying forces after Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and still provides much of the security along the border with the Jewish state. Tensions have mounted between Israel and Hezbollah's base in southern Lebanon since Hezbollah's brazen July 12 raid into northern Israel during which it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others.

Experts have disputed claims from Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who has said repeatedly that his group has more than 12,000 rockets.

Other estimates suggest that the supply of rockets rose to 10,000 this year. That includes some Iranian-made rockets with a range of perhaps as much as 45 miles, but the vast majority - the Katyusha-type rockets - have a range of less than 20 miles.

Israel says Hezbollah has missiles and rockets that can go much farther. Israeli officials said the naval warship struck Friday was hit with an Iranian-made, radar-guided C-802 cruise missile, which has a range of up to 74 miles. Iran denies the claim, and U.S. officials have no information to confirm the missile was the C-802.

Numerous security and intelligence experts caution that estimates on Hezbollah's rocket arsenal aren't firm because they're based on calculations about the potential volume of known weapons shipments, rather than any actual count. Israel has been trying to cut off any resupply by destroying land routes from Syria into Lebanon.

Hezbollah can do limited reconnaissance. The group launched at least two unmanned aerial vehicles in 2004 and in 2005. Both Hezbollah and Israel have said the light, low-flying crafts were made by the group itself, while American analysts believe the drones were Iranian-made.

So far, U.S. officials and other experts have seen no sign that the group's drones have been armed with weapons.

How Hezbollah makes and spends its money is difficult for Western officials to determine. Hezbollah gets significant support from Iran and from Lebanese people living abroad, and more limited financing from Syria, a relatively poor country.

The organization also has been linked to almost every type of organized crime, including drug trafficking, drug counterfeiting and selling stolen baby formula.

Iran, Syria nourishing Hezbollah (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16953328&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68562&rfi=6)

Marine Families: Hold Iran Accountable

The current flare-up of hostilities in Lebanon is for some American families a poignant reminder of events two decades ago, when Hezbollah militants attacked the U.S. barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines who had been stationed as an international peace-keeping force. Those Marines were members of the same unit that is currently helping to evacuate American citizens trapped in Lebanon.

"We understand only too well how Hezbollah uses terrorism to advance its radical goals,” said Lynn Smith Derbyshire, whose brother was killed in the Beirut bombing. "Hezbollah must no longer be allowed to terrorize the citizens of the world, whether in Israel, the United States or in Lebanon.”

Derbyshire is a member of a group called: "Justice For Marine Corps Families – Victims of Terrorism” that for years has pushed the U.S. government to hold Hezbollah’s sponsors in Iran and Syria accountable for the actions of their proxy army.

In March 2003, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that when Hezbollah attacked the Marines in October 1983, the terrorist organization carried out the direct will of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Ministry of Information and Security. As punishment, the judge found Iran financially liable for the attacks.

The government of Iran retains commercial investments in the U.S. and is using profits made on American soil to finance more terrorism through Iranian-controlled banks that have invested Iranian funds in U.S. property. Legislation is pending in Congress that clarifies language in existing laws so that the families and victims of the 1983 Beirut bombing may target these illicit investments to collect on court-ordered damages.

"By passing H.R. 865 and S. 1257, Congress can stop Iran from funding more attacks by Hezbollah with money that is made right here in the United States,” said Steve Forbes.

"Hezbollah militants killed our loved ones without consequence, and now they are attacking other nations,” said Derbyshire. "We can stop this is by passing laws that will take action against Hezbollah for atrocities already committed.”

Marine Families: Hold Iran Accountable (http://www.newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/7/21/171549.shtml?s=lh)

Israel: When Diplomacy Turns Deadly
Written by Alan Burkhart
Saturday, July 22, 2006

Recent events in Israel and Lebanon should be the final nail in the coffin for Middle Eastern diplomacy. Is there anyone left in the world besides Kofi Annan who believes in the possibility of peace through treaties and diplomacy where Radical Islam is involved?

In the quest for a peaceful existence, Israel has done just about everything the world has asked her to do. She’s given up huge pieces of land to Palestine and showed admirable restraint in the face of aggression from Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel has openly embraced the notion of a Palestinian state as long as the attacks from Palestinian terrorists stop for all time. What has Israel gained from her sacrifices?

Nothing but more aggression from those who wish to see her wiped from the face of the Earth.

What we must understand is that Radical Islam has no intention of honoring any agreements it makes with Israel--or for that matter, any other non-Muslim nation. Gaining concessions from Israel, especially in the form of land, is simply another method of chipping away at Israel’s existence. Islamics don’t see Israel’s many concessions any differently than if they’d gained the land through violence.

And yet the United Nations still expects Israel to show restraint after this most recent aggression by Hezbollah. Kofi Annan still wants to declare a cease fire even though the blue-helmeted U.N. peace keepers are for the most part as corrupt and inept as Kofi himself. And don’t forget that Russia and China are members of the United Nations. Where’d Hezbollah get those missiles it’s firing out of Lebanon? If you guessed “Iran,” give yourself a gold star. Both Russia and China have been instrumental in Iran’s development of advanced weaponry. And Hezbollah is little more than a puppet of Iran.

It is failed diplomacy that has placed Israel in its current predicament. It is failed diplomacy that has led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Israeli citizens over the years.

Why have all diplomatic efforts failed to win a peace for Israel?

Diplomacy only works when all parties involved desire peace. Radical Islam seeks the destruction of Israel and the United States, and the subjugation of the entire planet. Radical Islam will never honor any agreement with a non-Muslim nation, and it is complete idiocy to believe otherwise. These are people who believe that they are on a mission from Allah to create a worldwide Muslim state.

So, how can we deal with them?

It is unfortunate that there is only one way to deal with Muslim extremists. We have seen the results of attempting to appease them. Radical Islamics sees any attempt at a diplomatic solution as a sign of weakness. They will not honor a cease fire agreement. They will break any and all treaties. U.N. resolutions are as meaningless to them as the United Nations itself.

At the risk of sounding like a bit of an extremist myself, I’ll be the one to say what most civilized people are already thinking, though it pains them (and me) to do so:

“The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist. Kill them all, and let Allah sort them out.”

As long as even one radical Muslim cleric still lives, as long as even one Islamic extremist still plots to kill, none of us are safe--not even the millions of peaceful Muslims who play no part in the Global Jihad. The sooner the appeasers of the world face this unpleasant fact, the sooner we can eradicate an implacable evil from our world.

"We know Bush is the enemy of God, the enemy of Islam, and the enemy of the Moslem people. America has declared war against God, [Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon declared war against God, and God has declared war against America, Bush, and Sharon."

Israel: When Diplomacy Turns Deadly (http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=22588)

Two fronts in Israel's brutal war
By Kim Bullimore
Green Left, July 22, 2006

Two Israeli soldiers were captured on July 12 by members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed during clashes, reported the Haaretz newspaper. According to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur article, Israeli media reports claimed that “Hezbollah offered Israel an all-inclusive prisoners exchange, which would include the release of the two soldiers and a third held in Gaza against that of thousands of Palestinian and three Lebanese prisoners held in Israel”.

Israel responded to the soldiers’ capture with air strikes on Lebanese targets, including roads and the Qasmiya Bridge. On July 13, Israeli jets bombed Beirut’s international airport. Two military air bases were also targeted. Associated Press reported that Israel was imposing a total sea and air blockade on Lebanon. According to a July 13 Haaretz report, at least 60 people had been killed by Israeli air strikes.

The Israeli government has blamed the abduction and deaths of its soldiers on the Lebanese government. At least half of the soldiers were killed after they entered Lebanese territory.

According to Haaretz, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has told the Israeli government that “no military operation will return” the captured soldiers. According to Nasrallah, the soldiers will only be returned “through one way: indirect negotiations and a trade [of prisoners]”.

Hezbollah formed in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and has long supported the struggle of the Palestinian people against the illegal Israeli occupation. The group has previously threatened to open a second front in support of the al Aqsa intifada, the Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000.

As a new war front opened up on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Israel continued its relentless assault on the Gaza Strip. “Operation Summer Rain” — launched by Israel on June 28, ostensibly in response to the capture of a soldier during a Palestinian guerrilla attack on the Israeli artillery base at Kerem Shalom — has seen more than 120 air strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force in its first three weeks.

The attacks have destroyed Gaza’s only electricity station, and the three main bridges and roads into the Gaza Strip, resulting in the closure of all entry points into the region. This has made it near impossible for people, food, water and medical supplies to reach the region.

On July 11, Haaretz reported that “more than 3000 Palestinians, including 578 deemed 'urgent humanitarian cases’ have been stranded”, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing since before the recent assault began. Israel has refused to open the crossing. According to the Red Cross, conditions at the crossing are deteriorating, as there are no proper waiting facilities and no organised food or water distribution.

Israel has used military bulldozers to destroy Palestinian farmland and houses, and has carried out more than 30 sonic boom attacks, which cause widespread fear and psychosis, particularly among children.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 71 Palestinian men, women and children were killed by the Israeli military assault between June 28 and July 12. Another 197 people were wounded and at least 12 people have had their limbs amputated as a result of the onslaught.

On June 30, Amnesty International issued a statement accusing Israel of carrying out war crimes in Gaza. The group claimed Israel had violated section 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the collective punishment of a civilian population and the deliberate destruction of public infrastructure.

Initially, it claimed that the primary reason for the current assault was to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured by a Palestinian militia group on June 25. It later claimed the assault was to stop Qassam rockets being fired into Israel and to secure Israel’s borders.

However these have been mere pretexts to allow it to carry out its plan to topple the democratically elected Palestinian Authority (PA) government, which is dominated by Hamas, and to distract world attention as its brings more of the occupied West Bank under its control through the destruction and confiscation of Palestinian land, the expansion of its illegal colonies (“settlements”) and the building of the apartheid wall.

The current Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip is neither exceptional nor unusual. During its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory seized in the 1967 war Israel has regularly carried out military assaults on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In late 2004, Israeli forces attacked Gaza as part of “Operation Days of Penitence”, killing more than 100 Palestinians. In 2002 “Operation Defensive Shield”, the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank, included brutal invasions of Jenin and Nablus.

Over the past 10 months, Israel has carried out “arrests” (i.e. kidnappings) and assassinations of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The most recent Israeli “incursion” took place just two days before the capture of Shalit, when Israeli security forces invaded Gaza and kidnapped two men, a doctor and his brother, from their homes.

Israel’s unilateral “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005, while resulting in the dismantling of illegal Israeli settlements, was not a step towards Palestinian self-determination or towards peace, as claimed by Israel and the corporate media. Instead, the Gaza Strip was turned into what Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem described as “one big prison”, with Israeli occupation forces continuing to control the land, sea and air.

Since the beginning of the year, the Karni crossing, one of the main entry points from Israel into Gaza used to transport food and medical supplies, has been closed over 43% of the time.

For over six months, Israel has continued to fire, each day, hundreds of heavy artillery shells into the region from the sea and from within Israeli territory. In the first three weeks of June, before the current military invasion and assault, 24 Palestinians were killed and another 77 wounded, including seven children and adults from the Ghalia family who were carrying out the dangerous terrorist act of picnicking on Gaza Beach.

However the Israeli assault on Gaza has increased support for the Hamas government, rather than marginalising the group. It has also resulted in, at least for the moment, a dissolution of the tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants, who have returned to fighting a common enemy instead of each other.

In the months leading up to the assault, PA president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas had played a dangerous game of brinkmanship with Hamas. Fatah, which in the past has dominated Palestinian politics and controlled the PA since its inception in 1994, has refused to accept the defeat dealt to it in January, when Hamas swept the PA elections.

Abbas, backed by the US, Israel and the European Union, has sought to undermine Hamas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at every turn.

Danny Rubenstein, writing in Haaretz on July 10, noted that “the damaging strikes in the Gaza Strip, the casualties and destruction have stirred up frustration, rage and hatred, both in Gaza and the West Bank. None of these emotions is directed against the Hamas-led government. Everyone considers Israel responsible: for unemployment, the failure to pay salaries, the power outages. No one dares to criticise the Hamas government and no one considers it to be responsible for what is happening.”

According to a poll carried out by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre, 70% of Palestinians believe Hamas should not release Shalit until Israel agrees to free Palestinian prisoners. Over 66% of the 1197 people polled expressed support for continued raids aimed at capturing Israeli soldiers. The poll also revealed that support for Hamas had increased 3% despite the international economic blockade, while support for Abbas and Fatah had dropped at least 1%.

Hamas’s popularity will increase further if it is able to secure the release of even a small percentage of the 9000 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli jails. In return for freeing Shalit, Hamas is asking for the release of the more than 400 child prisoners, 120 women prisoners and several hundred prisoners who are suffering major illness and medical problems.

However, despite Israeli governments previously engaging in prisoner exchanges, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not want to be seen to be tying the release of Shalit directly to the release of Palestinian prisoners, as this will be viewed as a clear victory for Hamas.

But Olmert’s stance is increasingly being questioned by commentators within Israel. Many have begun to criticise Olmert for not having any concrete plan or “exit strategy” in relation to Gaza. Olmert is being seen as increasingly backed into a corner. A war with Hezbollah, which could possibly also draw in Syria and Iran, would be a disaster for Olmert.

Israel is now fighting on two war fronts in territories it had supposedly withdrawn from. If the war front in the north was to expand, it would force Israel to ease the assault in Gaza, but could mean Israel was once again engaged in a possibly disastrous and protracted war with Lebanon.

Two fronts in Israel's brutal war (http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/July/22%20o/Two%20fronts%20in%20Israel's%20brutal%20war%20By%20Kim%20Bullimore.htm)

Ground zero for Mideast instability is Iran: Arab world, take notice
By Peter Brookes
Saturday, July 22, 2006

While the world focuses on the smoldering conflict in the Middle East, the war’s instigator and puppeteer, Iran, must be pretty darn pleased with itself.
While Iranian-backed Hezbollah jolts Israeli cities with rockets and Israeli forces ferret out terrorist militants across Lebanon, Iran has suffered nary a nick, verbally or otherwise.
Moreover, Tehran was skillfully able to keep its atomic aspirations out of the limelight at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
But when the current clash ultimately subsides, the international community, especially the Middle East, should turn its attention to Tehran’s treachery and expose Iran for what it is - a serious threat to regional stability.
Some major Arab states (e.g., Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia), while no fans of Israel, are already grumbling about Iran plunging the region into war. While instability may be good for boosting the price of oil, it’s good for little else.
Indeed, the war may lead to a full-scale Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The conflict may also spread into neighboring Syria, another state pulling Hezbollah’s and Lebanon’s strings. And we can put hopes for any progress on the Middle East peace process on ice.
If there’s any possibility of an upside to the conflict, other than the possibility that Israel may be able to snuff Hezbollah out, it’s that Middle Eastern states may finally realize that Iran’s mullahs are a major problem and could easily turn on them, too, at some point.
Sure, some Middle East states might feel secure in the fact that Iran is also a Muslim country. But, Iran is a Shia Muslim country. Most of the Middle East is Sunni.
In effect, Iran is a Shia Persian country living in a Sunni Arab neighborhood. This makes for cordial but cautious relations between Iran and its neighbors, even in the best of times.
Plus, Iran wants to export Shia fundamentalism to other parts of the Muslim world. This doesn’t sit well with predominantly Sunni countries, such as Saudi Arabia or other Persian Gulf states with large, restive Shia minorities.
And Iran’s increasing willingness to underwrite militancy, terrorism and instability in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip and now Israel and Lebanon, can’t make anyone in the Middle East comfortable.
The region’s nations are keenly aware of Iran’s big power aspirations, too. In addition to large oil/gas reserves, Iran dwarfs most other Middle Eastern states in terms of population (70 million) and land mass (three times the size of Iraq).
Spiritually, Tehran also wants to see Shia Iran lead the Muslim world, putting them in direct head-to-head competition with Sunni Saudi Arabia just across the Persian Gulf, and home to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.
And how can its neighbors not be unhappy with Tehran’s nuclear program? If Iran joins the once exclusive nuclear club, others will feel obligated to follow for their own security, causing a cascading proliferation effect.
Rumors of covert Egyptian and Saudi Arabian nuclear programs as a hedge against Iran abound. Turkey has openly said that if Iran goes nuclear it will have to reconsider its current non-nuclear stance. Tehran could give Damascus the bomb.
Iran has stealthily advanced its anti-American, anti-Israeli agenda by proxy and terrorism in the past. But it may have overplayed its hand this time, fomenting more death and destruction in the crisis-weary Middle East.
This latest provocation may finally convince Iran’s neighbors that Tehran isn’t just a serious threat to the United States and Israel, but to themselves as well. The searing question is: Will they do anything about it?

Ground zero for Mideast instability is Iran: Arab world, take notice (http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=149363&format=text)

Saniora, Jumblatt agree: Hizbullah must be disarmed
Khaled Abu Toameh and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 21, 2006

Lebanese politicians at the highest levels, in a rare move, publicly criticized Hizbullah's "state within a state" on Thursday, calling for the group to be disarmed and accusing Syria of seeking to destroy Lebanon.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in an interview published Thursday in the Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, said that the Shi'ite terrorist organization had been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran and had to be disarmed with the help of the international community, once a cease-fire had been achieved.

"Hizbullah has become a state within a state. We know it well," said Saniora, leveling such an accusation for the first time against the Syria- and Iran-backed terrorist organization that effectively controls southern Lebanon.

"It's not a mystery that Hizbullah answers to the political agendas of Teheran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying by Corriere. "The entire world must help us disarm Hizbullah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

Lebanese Druse leader Walid Jumblatt accused Syria of seeking Lebanon's destruction and also called for Hizbullah to be disarmed. Jumblatt said that Iran had asked Hizbullah to kidnap Israeli soldiers to divert attention from its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

"Syrian President Bashar Assad is destroying Lebanon because he wants the international country to talk to him," Jumblatt said. "He is trying to send a message to the world that Syria is capable of destroying Lebanon and that's why it's worthwhile talking to the Syrians."

Jumblatt said in a phone interview that the decision to kidnap the IDF soldiers was taken by Teheran after failing to reach an agreement with the European Union over its nuclear weapons program. "A senior Iranian government official visited Damascus days before the abduction of the soldiers," the Druse leader added.

"The visit came on the eve of the G-8 summit, which was planning to discuss Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. The Iranians managed to change the summit's agenda by putting the Lebanon crisis at the top."

Jumblatt also scoffed at statements by Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah to the effect that Hizbullah is fighting the battle of all the Arabs and Muslims.

"Lebanon is still a democratic country and Nasrallah does not have the right to make important decisions about war and peace on his own," he said. "We will never be able to establish a modern state as long as we have an armed organization."

Saniora, seeking international assistance in disarming Hizbullah, said Lebanon was still too weak to attack the organization's stranglehold in the south of the country on its own.

"The important thing now is to restore full Lebanese sovereignty in the south, dismantling any armed militia parallel to the national army," he said. "The Syrians are inside our home and we are still too weak to defend ourselves. The terrible memories of the civil war are still too alive and no one is ready to take up arms."

The prime minister was quoted as saying that, to disarm the militia, it was also necessary for Israel to help by releasing Lebanese prisoners and withdrawing from the Shaba Farms, a disputed territory that Lebanon claims and Hizbullah uses as a pretext to keep attacking Israeli forces.

Once that happens, "our government will be able to say that Hizbullah has no legitimate reason to maintain an armed militia," he said. "It will inevitably be forced to become a purely political force in our democratic system."

Saniora has said in the past that disarming Hizbullah was impossible while some Lebanese territory is still under Israeli occupation.

Earlier this month, Jumblatt lashed out at Syria, saying he "feared the Syrian regime is trying to turn Lebanon into another Iraq by exporting al-Qaida fighters into the country." He has also accused Assad of being behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Saniora also reiterated his harsh criticism of Israel's air and sea attacks against Lebanon, saying that "Israel's criminal bombardments must be stopped immediately," and adding that these were counterproductive for all sides.

"They are bombing civilians and creating sympathies for Hizbullah where otherwise there wouldn't be any," he told Corriere.

Meanwhile, Lebanese government officials said on Thursday that the current crisis has cost Lebanon's economy more than $2 billion. They pointed out that this year's tourism season was expected to be the best since the civil war hit Lebanon in 1974.

According to the officials, the industrial sector has paid the heaviest price so far, with over 700 factories in West Beirut closed or destroyed and thousands of workers left unemployed. They added that hundreds of investors from the Gulf had fled Lebanon since the beginning of the current conflict. Most were planning to invest in real estate and what had been a booming tourism industry, especially in Beirut.

Saniora, Jumblatt agree: Hizbullah must be disarmed (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291962297&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Lebanese PM: Disarm Hizbullah
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 20, 2006

Hizbullah has created a "state within a state" in Lebanon and must be disarmed, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in an interview published Thursday in an Italian daily.

Saniora told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Shi'ite group has been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran, and that it can only be disarmed with the help of the international community and once a cease-fire has been achieved in the current Middle East fighting.

Later Thursday, Saniora's office said the prime minister had been misquoted, adding that his words had been translated from English into Italian and that Corriere's journalist had chosen sentences that were not connected and did not report the literal meaning of what he had said.

According to the statement, the premier had said that international help was needed to persuade Israel to withdraw from the Chebaa Farms, a disputed territory that Lebanon claims and Hezbollah uses as a pretext for attacking Israeli forces.

"What the prime minister said was that the international community has not given the Lebanese government the chance to deal with the problem of Hezbollah weapons, since the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons," the statement said. "The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms."

"It's not a mystery that Hizbullah answers to the political agendas of Teheran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying by Corriere. "The entire world must help us disarm Hizbullah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

Saniora said Lebanon is still too weak to attack Hizbullah's stranglehold in the south of the country on its own.

"The important thing now is to restore full Lebanese sovereignty in the south, dismantling any armed militia parallel to the national army," he said. "The Syrians are inside our home and we are still too weak to defend ourselves. The terrible memories of the civil war are still too alive and no one is ready to take up arms."

The prime minister was quoted as saying that to disarm the militia it is also necessary for Israel to help delegitimize it by releasing Lebanese prisoners and withdrawing from the Chebaa Farms, a disputed territory that Lebanon claims and Hizbullah uses as a pretext to keep attacking Israeli forces.

The UN has ruled that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 was completed, and that Israeli forces were deployed on the international border. The Chebaa Farms were inside Israel, according to the internationally-recognized boundary line.

Lebanese PM: Disarm Hizbullah (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291957056&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Rice rejects quick action

Secretary of State calls immediate cease-fire in Mideast a ‘false promise’

Associated Press
Posted Saturday, July 22, 2006

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected the “false promise” of an immediate cease-fire in the spreading war between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday and said she would seek long-term peace during a trip to the Mideast beginning Sunday.

The top U.S. diplomat defended her decision not to meet with Hezbollah leaders or their Syrian backers during her visit.

“Syria knows what it needs to do, and Hezbollah is the source of the problem,” Rice said as she previewed her trip, which begins with a stop in Israel.

Rice said the United States is committed to ending the bloodshed, but not before certain conditions are met. The Bush administration has said that Hezbollah must first turn over the two Israeli soldiers whose capture set off the 10-day-old violence, and stop firing missiles into Israel.

“We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently. We also seek to address the root causes of that violence,” Rice said. “A cease-fire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo.”

The United States has resisted international pressure to lean on its ally Israel to halt the fighting. The U.S. position has allowed Israel more time to try to destroy what both nations consider a Hezbollah terrorist network in southern Lebanon.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded an immediate cease-fire Thursday, and denounced the actions of both Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s beleaguered prime minister has also asked for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, said Israel has destroyed about 40 percent of Hezbollah’s military capabilities.

“Most of the long-range (missiles) have been hit, a lot of the medium range, but they still have thousands and thousands of rockets, short-range and others,” Ayalon said in an interview.

He described the Israeli military assault as a “mop up” operation, and said that Israel had no desire to repeat its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

“They overplayed their hand, they miscalculated,” Ayalon said of Hezbollah militants based in southern Lebanon and supported by Syria and Iran.

Rice’s mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli effort against Lebanon began.

Asked why she didn’t go earlier and engage in quick-hit diplomacy to try to end the death and destruction that has gripped the region, she replied, “I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling and it wouldn’t have been clear what I was shuttling to do.”

The crisis started last week when Hezbollah, an Islamic militant group that operates in southern Lebanon, captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel retaliated by carrying out bombing across Lebanon and slapping a naval blockade on the country. Hezbollah fired hundreds of missiles into Israel.

At least 335 people have been killed in Lebanon in the Israeli campaign, according to the Lebanese health minister. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 19 soldiers.

Rice plans meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as sessions in Rome with representatives of European and moderate Arab governments that are meant to shore up the weak democratic government in Lebanon’s capital Beirut.

Rice’s trip resumes a role the United States has long played as the key Mideast peace broker, but Rice is not expected to try to get a signed deal during her brief visit.

“I know that there are no answers that are easy, nor are there any quick fixes,” Rice said. “I fully expect that the diplomatic work for peace will be difficult.”

The United States is relying on Arab and other intermediaries to pressure Hezbollah and Syria. The United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist group, and has cut high-level ties to Damascus in a dispute over what it says is Syrian meddling in Lebanon.

Hezbollah also exerts political control in southern Lebanon, overshadowing the democratic central government. The U.N. and U.S. plan for long-term stability would give international help to the Beirut government to expel Hezbollah and install its own Army troops, something it has been unable to do.

Hezbollah “extremists are trying to strangle it in its crib,” Rice said of the Lebanese government.

President Bush, asked what he hopes Rice will achieve on her trip, said he would discuss it with her when he returns to the White House on Sunday. He was speaking at a restaurant in Aurora, Colo., as he met with 10 members of the military who recently returned from Iraq.

Announcing plans earlier for a weekend meeting that Bush and Rice will have with Saudi officials, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “This is part of the president’s broader diplomatic outreach on the developing situation in the Middle East.”

Bush and Rice will meet at the White House with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council.

The plans emerged following two days of meetings in New York with Annan and envoys he sent to the region this week. Annan outlined basic terms of a proposed cease-fire and the longer-range goals to remove the Hezbollah threat in southern Lebanon in a speech on Thursday.

Rice rejects quick action (http://www.dailyherald.com/news/kanestory.asp?id=210023&cc=k&tc=&t=)

U.S. increasingly isolated while violence escalates in Mideast

By Tom Raum of The Associated Press - 07/22/2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s uncompromising support for Israel in its battle with Hezbollah, a stance now backed by Congress, is threatening to isolate the United States even further from the international community.

It is also putting the administration at odds with fragile democratic governments in the Middle East that it is simultaneously trying to prop up, and sowing increasing anger across the Arab world.

The democratically elected prime ministers of both Iraq and Lebanon have been among the most vocal critics of U.S. policy in the 10-day Israeli bombardment of Lebanon.

Some foreign policy analysts question whether Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can make much headway on her trip to the region early next week — especially given U.S. rejection of international calls for a cease-fire and refusal to talk to key players such as Hezbollah or its Iranian and Syrian sponsors.

‘‘You don’t just negotiate with your friends. Sometimes you negotiate with your enemies, or at least your adversaries,’’ said Sandy Berger, former national security adviser in the Clinton White House. ‘‘We negotiated with the Soviet Union for 50 years.’’

Both the first President Bush and President Clinton met directly with then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in efforts to advance Mideast peace prospects.

But the current Bush administration is adamant in resisting any direct contact with Syrian President Bashar Assad, son of the former president, or with Hezbollah leaders.

‘‘The track record stinks’’ in terms of what both former Presidents Bush and Clinton achieved in their meetings with Assad’s father, White House press secretary Tony Snow said. And Rice told reporters on Friday, ‘‘Syria knows what it needs to do, and Hezbollah is the source of the problem.’’

Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group based in southern Lebanon that is supported by both Syria and Iran. The crisis began when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and Israel retaliated by widespread bombing in Lebanon and with a naval blockade. Hezbollah upped the ante by firing hundreds of missiles into northern Israel, provoking more Israeli counterattacks and displacing what the U.N. estimates as a half-million people.

Arab anger is rising toward both Israel and the United States, even though moderate governments throughout the region do not wish to see Hezbollah’s tentacles grow any further, viewing the group as an extension of Iran’s ambitions to increase influence throughout the Middle East.

The U.S. has not yet been able to capitalize on that Arab ambivalence toward Hezbollah.

‘‘The administration does the rhetoric of war well, but is not very good with diplomacy,’’ said Judith Kipper, a Middle East specialist at the private Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

Both the House and Senate passed resolutions this week by overwhelming margins supporting Israel — and Bush administration policy — in the conflict.

But the votes were probably more of a reflection of midterm election year politics — and a desire not to offend Jewish voters — than any newfound appreciation of Bush’s foreign policy skills.

The combined effect of the administration’s hardline pro-Israel stance and Congress’ echoing of it is to undermine U.S. diplomacy, said Shibley Telhami, a Mideast scholar at the University of Maryland.

‘‘We’re acquiescing in what is obviously a humanitarian disaster, regardless of who’s to blame. And that is not a message that helps the United States,’’ Telhami said.

While leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have condemned Hezbollah’s tactics, ‘‘they’re going against public opinion in their countries. You have an overwhelming outpouring of public support for Hezbollah.’’

Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, said Israel understands public opinion has been inflamed in the Arab world. He said he expects ‘‘a spike against us’’ in the days to come, but he emphasized that Israel was not prepared to give up its campaign until Hezbollah is sufficiently weakened.

At that point, Israel might consider supporting an international peacekeeping presence, Ayalon said in an interview.

U.S. increasingly isolated while violence escalates in Mideast (http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2006/07/22/newsnationworld/hjjdjchhjjecje.txt)

HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON Will Israel do what's necessary?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

There is crisis and there is opportunity. Amid the general wringing of hands over the seemingly endless and escalating Israel-Hezbollah fighting, everyone asks: Where will it end? The answer begins with understanding that this crisis represents a rare, perhaps irreproducible, opportunity.

Every important party in the region and in the world, except the radical Islamists in Tehran and their clients in Damascus, wants Hezbollah disarmed and removed from south Lebanon so it is no longer able to destabilize the peace of Lebanon and the broader Middle East.

Which parties? Start with the great powers. In September 2004, they passed U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, demanding that Hezbollah disarm and allow the Lebanese army to take back control of south Lebanon. The resolution enjoyed the sponsorship of the United States and, yes, France.

Then there are the Arabs, beginning with the Lebanese who want Hezbollah out. The majority of Lebanese bitterly resent their country being hijacked by Hezbollah and turned into a war zone. And in the name of what Lebanese interest? Israel evacuated Lebanon six years ago.

The other Arabs have spoken, too. The 22-member Arab League criticized Hezbollah for provoking the current crisis. It is unprecedented for the Arab League to criticize any Arab party while it is actively engaged in hostilities with Israel. But the Arab states know Hezbollah, a Shiite militia in the service of Persian Iran, is a threat not just to Lebanon but to them as well. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have openly criticized Hezbollah for starting a war on what is essentially Iran's timetable (to distract attention from Iran's pending referral to the Security Council for sanctions over its nuclear program). They are far more worried about Iran and its proxies than about Israel. They are therefore eager to see Hezbollah disarmed and defanged.

Who to do it? No one. The Lebanese are too weak. The Europeans don't invade anyone. After its bitter experience of 20 years ago, the U.S. has a Lebanon allergy. And Israel could not act out of the blue because it would immediately have been branded the aggressor and forced to retreat.

Hence the golden, unprecedented opportunity. Hezbollah makes a fatal mistake. It crosses the U.N.-delineated international frontier to attack Israel, kill soldiers and take hostages. This cross-border aggression is so naked that even Russia joins in the G-8 summit communique blaming Hezbollah for the violence and calling for restoration of Lebanese sovereignty in the south.

But only one country has the capacity to do the job. That is Israel, now recognized by the world as forced into this fight by Hezbollah's aggression. The road to a solution is therefore clear: Israel liberates south Lebanon and gives it back to the Lebanese.

It starts by preparing the ground with air power.

What must follow is a land invasion to clear the ground and expel the occupier. Israel must retake south Lebanon and expel Hezbollah. It would then declare the obvious: that it has no claim to Lebanese territory and is prepared to withdraw and hand south Lebanon over to the Lebanese army, bringing about what the world has demanded - implementation of Resolution 1559 and restoration of south Lebanon to Lebanese sovereignty.

Only two questions remain: Israel's will and America's wisdom. Does Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have the courage to do what is so obviously necessary? And will Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's upcoming peace trip to the Middle East force a premature cease-fire that spares her the humiliation of coming home empty-handed but prevents precisely the kind of decisive military outcome that would secure the interests of Israel, Lebanon, the moderate Arabs and the West?

HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON Will Israel do what's necessary? (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/opinion/15098086.htm)

U.S. support for Israel complicates Mideast diplomacy

July 22, 2006
By TOM RAUM The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Bush's uncompromising support for Israel in its battle with Hezbollah, a stance now backed by Congress, is threatening to isolate the United States even further from the international community.

It is also putting the administration at odds with fragile democratic governments in the Middle East that it is simultaneously trying to prop up, and sowing increasing anger across the Arab world.

The democratically elected prime ministers of both Iraq and Lebanon have been among the most vocal critics of U.S. policy in the 10-day Israeli bombardment of Lebanon.

Some foreign policy analysts question whether Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can make much headway on her trip to the region early next week — especially given U.S. rejection of international calls for a cease-fire and refusal to talk to key players such as Hezbollah or its Iranian and Syrian sponsors.

"You don't just negotiate with your friends. Sometimes you negotiate with your enemies, or at least your adversaries," said Sandy Berger, former national security adviser in the Clinton White House. "We negotiated with the Soviet Union for 50 years."

Both the first President Bush and President Clinton met directly with then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in efforts to advance Mideast peace prospects.

But the current Bush administration is adamant in resisting any direct contact with Syrian President Bashar Assad, son of the former president, or with Hezbollah leaders.

"The track record stinks" in terms of what both former Presidents Bush and Clinton achieved in their meetings with Assad's father, White House press secretary Tony Snow said. And Rice told reporters on Friday, "Syria knows what it needs to do, and Hezbollah is the source of the problem."

Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group based in southern Lebanon that is supported by both Syria and Iran.

The crisis began when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and Israel retaliated by widespread bombing in Lebanon and with a naval blockade. Hezbollah upped the ante by firing hundreds of missiles into northern Israel, provoking more Israeli counterattacks and displacing what the U.N. estimates as a half-million people.

Arab anger is rising toward both Israel and the United States, even though moderate governments throughout the region do not wish to see Hezbollah's tentacles grow any further, viewing the group as an extension of Iran's ambitions to increase influence throughout the Middle East.

The U.S. has not yet been able to capitalize on that Arab ambivalence toward Hezbollah.

"The administration does the rhetoric of war well, but is not very good with diplomacy," said Judith Kipper, a Middle East specialist at the private Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

Trips by Rice to the region "don't accomplish anything," she said.

Both the House and Senate passed resolutions this week by overwhelming margins supporting Israel — and Bush administration policy — in the conflict.

But the votes were probably more of a reflection of midterm election year politics — and a desire not to offend Jewish voters — than any newfound appreciation of Bush's foreign policy skills.

The combined effect of the administration's hardline pro-Israel stance and Congress' echoing of it is to undermine U.S. diplomacy, said Shibley Telhami, a Mideast scholar at the University of Maryland.

"We're acquiescing in what is obviously a humanitarian disaster, regardless of who's to blame. And that is not a message that helps the United States," Telhami said.

While leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have condemned Hezbollah's tactics, "they're going against public opinion in their countries. You have an overwhelming outpouring of public support for Hezbollah."

Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to Washington, said Israel understands public opinion has been inflamed in the Arab world. He said he expects "a spike against us" in the days to come, but he emphasized that Israel was not prepared to give up its campaign until Hezbollah is sufficiently weakened.

At that point, Israel might consider supporting an international peacekeeping presence, Ayalon said in an interview with The Associated Press. But not before.

For the Bush administration, it's a hard balancing act.

It wants to show it is reaching out to allies in the Middle East and in Europe, as with Rice's trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories and then to Rome for a broader meeting. But the administration also doesn't want to meet with Syria, Hezbollah or Iran — and it wants to give Israel time to try to find and destroy Hezbollah command centers and weapons stockpiles.

It all results in what critics suggest is a one-sided form of shuttle diplomacy.

Rice defended the style of her diplomacy — as well as the late start. "I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling and it wouldn't have been clear what I was shuttling to do," she said Friday.

U.S. support for Israel complicates Mideast diplomacy (http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060722/NEWS/607220342/1024/NEWS04)

Annan warns Israel on invasion of Lebanon

Saturday, July 22, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that an Israeli invasion of Lebanon would see a dramatic escalation of Hezbollah attacks and said Syria and Iran should be involved in resolving the crisis, AFP reported.

LONDON, July 22 (IranMania) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that an Israeli invasion of Lebanon would see a dramatic escalation of Hezbollah attacks and said Syria and Iran should be involved in resolving the crisis, AFP reported.

He also lobbied on behalf of an international security force in the border region that Israel so far has refused to back as its troops mass near southern Lebanon where the Hezbollah militia is based.

"I think it's going to be a serious escalation" if Israel invades southern Lebanon, Annan said on CNN television as violence that has claimed some 350 lives stretched into a 10th day.

"Obviously, there is going to be heightened tensions between them and Hezbollah" should Israeli ground forces move in to Hezbollah-controlled territory, he said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Annan said if Israeli troops stay long-term "to establish what they have called, in the past, a security zone or a security accord, it will be a security zone for them, but for the others will be occupation and that will intensify the resistance."

His comments came as the UN Security Council debated for the second day Friday whether to call on an Israeli ceasefire or accept other measures, and as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepared for a brief crisis mission to the region.

Annan said he believed Rice's trip had been delayed until now "because obviously she would want to go to the region, but go with a package and proposals that would facilitate an agreement and negotiations."

Rice and Annan have differed in their approach. She has refused to back his calls for Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and instead laid the blame on Hezbollah allies Syria and Iran.

Annan responded Friday that Syria and Iran "are two friendly country" that clearly have influence on the Shiite militia group, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.

"And therefore, the two countries have to be a part of the solution," Annan said.

"They will have to work with the international community and cooperate with the international community for us to help to find long-term solutions," he said.

"Whether we like it or not, we have to engage those two governments if we're going to find a long-term solution."

Rice has refused to hold contacts with either state for their sponsorship of groups viewed as terrorist organizations by Washington and her stopover in the Middle East is due to focus an talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

She is set to hold a broader international discussion in Rome.

Annan warns Israel on invasion of Lebanon (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44521&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Reaping the whirlwind
BY CHARLES A KUPCHAN AND RAY TAKEYH

21 July 2006

THE Middle East is burning. From Baghdad to Beirut, car bombs, suicide attacks, air strikes and a grim tally of civilian deaths are the new currency of daily life. The extremist and rejectionist machinations of Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah are partly to blame.

But so is an American administration that thought it could transform the Middle East overnight, using regime change in Iraq to jump start rapid democratization throughout the region. Instead, Washington's ideological hubris and practical incompetence have succeeded only in setting the region ablaze, awakening extremist and militant voices.

The toppling of Saddam Hussein was intended to send shock waves across the Arab world, intimidating the region's brittle tyrannies while encouraging the spontaneous civic movements that have brought democracy to much of post-Communist Europe. In Iraq itself, democrats were to replace a brutal autocrat, providing a model for the region.

Precisely the opposite has happened. The war has not only engulfed Iraq in violence and made the country a magnet for jihadists, but it has also awakened sectarian tensions that are spreading beyond Iraq's borders. From Saudi Arabia to Lebanon, Shias and Sunnis are cautiously eyeing each other, heading for a mounting rivalry that has already helped plunge Lebanon into chaos.

From its strategic outpost in Iraq, the United States was to have hemmed in Iran and Syria. Instead, Iran is enjoying an unprecedented bout of muscularity, its Shia allies now having gained the upper hand in neighbouring Iraq. Syria continues to turn a blind eye as militants transit its territory to join the fight in Iraq. And Damascus has now teamed up with Teheran to aid and abet the alliance between Hamas and Hezbollah.

Far from taming the region's politics, Washington's policies have succeeding in putting a truculent Iran in command of the Islamic street. In Teheran, a dogmatic leadership imbued with messianic aims is both behind Hezbollah's forays and capitalising on them to establish itself as the vanguard of political Islam. A defiant Iran is leading the Shia masses once more abandoned by their corrupt and illegitimate leaders.

Again, it did not have to come to this. The reformists formerly in power in Teheran sought moderation at home and peace abroad, but were ignored by Washington. Had the Bush administration been more forthcoming, and taken advantage of the bilateral cooperation that emerged amid the war in Afghanistan, it could have empowered the reformers.

The Bush administration has done no better on the Palestinian-Israeli front. Preoccupied with Iraq, Washington has effectively disengaged from the peace process. The Bush team not only abandoned Bill Clinton's diplomatic efforts, but also derided them as naïve and ineffectual. But for all its faults, Clinton's diplomacy sustained a process of reconciliation that kept an uneasy peace.

Since the inception of Israel in 1948, every decade has been plagued by an Arab-Israeli war -- except the 1990s. In contrast, Bush's disengagement has only led to the radicalisation of Palestinian politics. Even major Israeli concessions, such as withdrawal from Gaza, are unable to quell the extremist fervour when they take place absent the cover of consensual diplomacy.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11th tragedies, the guardians of the American imperium perceived it all to be so easy. A political culture that had sanctified suicide bombings and militant ideologies was to be remolded by America's power. The war in Iraq was to be the key to solving the Arab predicament.

The Bush administration may well be seeking the right end in the Middle East -- the pacification of the region through economic and political liberalisation.

But we already have ample proof that it has chosen the wrong means. Its errant attempt to impose democracy through force has backfired, only stirring up a hornet's nest and risking a region-wide crisis. Iraq lies in ruins, Islamist forces are strengthening, and the Palestine-Israel conflict threatens to become a full-scale war. Even more ominously, the Middle East is being polarised along sectarian lines, empowering an Iran with nuclear ambitions. The mistakes of the Bush administration are coming home to roost.

Reaping the whirlwind (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2006/July/opinion_July62.xml&section=opinion&col=)

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: No Place in Israel Will Be Safe. The Blood of Khomeini in Nasrallah's Veins

Following are excerpts from a speech given by Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel, which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN)

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: England and then America wished to have control over the Islamic world, to prevent Muslim unity, and to have control of the oil resources in the Middle East. Therefore, following World War II, they established an artificial, false, and fictitious state called Israel in this region.

They established a political party, and supported the Zionists, claiming this was support for the Jews of the world. They mobilized the racist Zionists, who are not accepted even by many Jews. They came to Palestine, and under the pretext of wrongs supposedly done to them in World War II, they carried out terrorism, conspiracies, massacres, and bloodshed in this region.

The indigenous Muslim people of Palestine and the Arabs of the region have been here for over 1,400 years, since the advent of Islam, and have their civilization and culture. They drove them out of the region with massacres. They turned them into refugees and tent dwellers. They turned them into homeless, dispersed in various countries. The Western governments supported them, exerted influence in the U.N., and created this fictitious state.

They lied, exaggerated, and fabricated events, in order to present their unjustified deeds as justified. This shows the depth of the animosity and rancor that America, England, and the supporters of Israel harbor towards the Muslims and the Islamic world.

[...]

America talks about democracy and the rule of the people, and claims that the vote of the people should be respected, but by means of the plundering Zionist regime, it wants to take revenge upon the Palestinian people for voting Hamas in the elections.

[...]

Today, the peoples have awakened. The Muslims have awakened and are facing you. As you have seen, they are facing you in Lebanon, and so far you have not dared to set foot on Lebanese soil.

[...]

Today, nobody in the Islamic countries is rolling out the red carpet for you. Today, the land of Palestine is painted red with your contemptible blood.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Khamenei is the leader.

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: Today, the confrontation is not only within the borders of Lebanon. It is taking place deep within your land. Today, your flourishing cities in the north of Israel… of occupied Palestine are within the range of fire of the fighters and lion cubs of Hizbullah. Today, Haifa and Tiberias are within Hizbullah's range of fire. No place in Israel will be safe.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Khamenei is the leader.

Death to those who oppose the rule of the jurisprudent.

Death to America.

Death to England...

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: Today is the day you will flee occupied Palestine. You must return to your homes.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Khamenei is the leader.

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: Our slogan and the slogan of the Islamic world is: Everyone should return to his own home.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: The Palestinian refugees should return to the land of their forefathers, and you, who came to Palestine from other countries, should return to your homes too.

Today is the day of the liberation of Palestine, and the day of resistance. As said by Hassan Nasrallah, this courageous, vigilant, and informed religious scholar, the war has just begun.

[...]

We say to America, England, and the supporters of Israel in the West: You will not benefit from supporting Israel. You are earning the hostility of 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, under the pretext of supporting a handful of Zionists, whom you brought and stuck, like a dagger, in the hearts of the Muslims in the Middle East.

Crowd: No more humiliation.

No more humiliation.

No more humiliation.

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: The Americans should know that as long as this festering growth remains in the body of the Islamic world, with their support, the Muslims will never, under any circumstances, cease to hate America and to oppose America.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: The Muslims throughout the world say: Stop your support for Israel, or else don't expect any kind of peace or reconciliation with the Islamic world.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

[...]

Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel: To Hassan Nasrallah we say: Well done. This religious scholar roars like a lion, and the blood of Imam Khomeini rages in his veins.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Allah Akbar.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad 'Adel (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1199)

President discusses ME crisis with Islamic leaders
Tehran, July 22, IRNA

Iran-President-ME
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Friday exchanged views with leaders of Islamic states on how to end the crisis in the Middle East as Zionist attacks on Lebanese civilians and infrastructure enter their 11th day and residents, particularly foreign expatriates, flee the country for safety.

The Iranian president held separate phone conversations with leaders of Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Ahmadinejad blamed international circles, particularly the United Nations and Western countries in particular, for their silence and/or support to the Zionist regime in its massacre of defenseless women and children, and urged Islamic states and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to act decisively in ending these attacks.

"Islamic governments, including regional states, should fulfill their responsibilities in a more concrete way because failure will mean these aggressions will not be limited to Lebanon," he said.

He added that the capture of two Zionist soldiers by Hezbollah was a mere pretext of Tel Aviv for launching its pre-planned program in Lebanon, which is to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, but which has resulted in the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians and massive destruction of the country's infrastructure.

"The Zionist regime is a serious and permanent threat to international security, particularly in the Middle East region. If the Zionists succeed in materializing their goals, they will undoubtedly expand their brutal measures."
He called attention to the need to hold an extraordinary session of the OIC for members to exchange views on the current crisis, saying the ire of regional states is increasing because certain international powers have failed to act in this crisis.

"If this wrath reaches a critical point, deep-rooted ties of regional states with Europeans will be seriously challenged." Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, talking to the Iranian president by phone, said Iran has a pivotal role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, and called on regional states to adopt a common strategy to provide urgent help to the oppressed Lebanese people.

He urged the OIC to hold diplomatic consultations to try to work out ways of ending the Zionist regime's aggression, saying peace in Lebanon can be restored by bringing parties to declare a ceasefire and providing urgent humanitarian aid.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf also expressed his concern over the worsening situations in Lebanon and Palestine, killing of women and children and destruction of infrastructure, and voiced his country's readiness to dispatch humanitarian aid to the Lebanese people.

He said Islamabad backs Iran's proposal for an extraordinary session to be held by the OIC in order to decide on appropriate measures to restore tranquility in the region and stop the savage attacks of the Zionist regime.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who holds the rotating presidency of the OIC, presented a report on measures recommended by his country and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to be taken to end the ongoing crisis even as he expressed deep concerns over the deteriorating situation in Lebanon, occupied lands and continuing atrocities of the Zionist regime in Lebanon.

In a letter to leaders of the Group of Eight industrial countries, Badawi said he has called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and Palestine and the dispatch of peacekeeping forces to the region as well as an effective role for the United Nations.

He expressed his regret over the apparent weakness of the UN Security Council in immediately responding to the crisis, and said the call of Islamic states for holding of an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly would be the most logical step toward restoring peace in Lebanon.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for his part, also expressed his deep concerns over the situation in Lebanon and the continuing attacks of the Zionist regime, saying Islamic states should adopt a collective decision to try to end the regime's attacks.

He said that Islamic states can be a greater international force in helping the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples by pushing for the holding of an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly.

Saudi King Abdullah said his country was among the first to condemn the atrocities and aggressions of the Zionist regime.

He added that Saudi Arabia had called on senior officials of big powers to adopt measures to end the atrocities of the Zionist regime.

He stressed the important role of his country and Iran in defending peace, security and stability in the region, and called on senior officials of the two countries to exchange views on effective ways of confronting the crimes of the Zionist regime.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani also condemned the crimes of the Zionist regime and voiced his country's readiness to help the Lebanese people and attend an extraordinary session of the OIC proposed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

President discusses ME crisis with Islamic leaders (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-24/0607220204133032.htm)

US veto emboldening aggressors to continue crimes" Iran's envoy
United Nations, July 22, IRNA

Iran-UN-Statement
Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad-Javad Zarif said here Friday evening that the latest US veto in the UN Security Council has further emboldened the aggressors to continue and widen their crimes with apparent impunity.

Addressing members of the Security Council on the conflict in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, he said nine long days of missiles and artillery strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructures across Lebanon have passed while this council looks on, prevented from even calling for a ceasefire.

More than 300 innocent civilians have been murdered, over a thousand maimed and hundreds of thousands turned homeless in a proclaimed response to the capture of two soldiers, he added.

"The international community is witnessing with horror and indignation the daily exacerbation of two cases of blatant and pre-meditated aggression and multiple war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli regime against the people of Palestine and Lebanon under absurd and all too familiar pretexts, while this council, entrusted with the responsibility of preserving international peace and security and suppressing acts of aggression, is forced into inaction and appeasement by the patrons of the aggressor," Zarif said.

Referring to destruction of the infrastructures by the Zionist regime, he stressed that with the increasing lack of food and medicine, attacks on humanitarian convoys and disrupted water and electricity supplies, a serious humanitarian crisis is in the making.

"The aggression on Lebanon followed a similar one on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian people were and continue to be subject to the same collective punishment by the same perpetrators. In Gaza too, the civilian infrastructures are devastated and civilian population terrorized."
While the war machine of the aggressor may be able to lay waste to buildings and infrastructure, kill and maim civilians and take their elected representatives hostage, it is impossible to intimidate the peoples of Palestine and Lebanon into submission, quash their desire to live free from occupation and terror and crash the hope of refugees to one day return home, the Iranian envoy emphasized.

In fact, experience indicates that such onslaughts strengthen, not weaken, the resolve of the people to resist aggression, occupation, intimidation and terror, he commented.

"The brutal collective punishment that the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are now enduring is the Israeli brand of aggression, which the peoples in the region have experienced time and again in the past several decades. The new round is more alarming as it occurs at a sensitive time when various Lebanese communities and parties are engaged in a national endeavor to reach a comprehensive understanding through an all-inclusive national dialogue, an effort that the aggressors aim to defeat, too," he added.

This Israeli onslaught is part of their designs for Lebanon, exemplified in their repeated violations of Lebanese borders and airspace, holding on to the Shebaa farms and keeping Lebanese detainees, which have continued in the years since their retreat from that country, he said, adding that the blanket air strikes, artillery and missile attacks against targets across Lebanon immediately after the border incident on July 12 are indicative of a pre-existing plan.

"Wide-range operations, aiming at, among other things, imposing sea, air and land blockades on a whole country in a sensitive region could not have been carried out without prior planning as well as prior coordination with the supporting power and the receipt of the necessary green light," the Iranian envoy said.

"The joint rejection of all calls for a ceasefire is a further proof," he added.

US veto emboldening aggressors to continue crimes" Iran's envoy (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607226411144941.htm)

Iran calls on human rights advocates to condemn Israeli attacks
Madrid, July 22, IRNA

Iran-Cuba-Israel
Iran on Saturday called on all peace-loving governments and advocates of human rights to condemn the savage attacks of the Zionist regime on Lebanon.

Iran's embassy in Havana in a statement expressed regret over performance of international circles with respect to "brutal acts" of the Zionist regime.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns atrocities of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and massacre of its defenseless and oppressed people and regards meaningful silence of international circles and organizations and those who claim to defend human rights and dignity over such atrocities as a matter of shame for human society and strongly condemns it," the statement said.

"It is not clear how the Zionist regime's attack on civilians and their brutal massacre under the US support and complete inattention of the European Union are regarded as a defense for the regime, itself.

"This is while the attacks destroy homes of the oppressed Lebanese people and the country's infrastructures are targeted by Israeli bombs," it added.

The embassy expressed regret over performance of the United Nations and institutions which are mainly responsible for preserving international order and security, saying they discredited
international circles through their silence.

It accused these international institutions for turning a blind eye to the Zionist regime's clear violation of rights and
international conventions and their indifference towards brutal atrocities of the regime.

"This is among surprising contradictions of our time that no sound is heard from so-called human rights advocates under circumstances that over 10,000 Palestinian and Lebanese fighters are kept in prisons of the occupying regime of Qods and the regime explicitly abducted ministers of the popular Hamas government and the Palestinian MPs.

"This is while Lebanese Hizbullah and Hamas, supported by people of their country, are labled as terrorist after they captured two Israeli soldiers."
The Zionist regime has caused such a tragedy to put a cover on its failures and justify its oppressive policies, the statement further stated.

Iran calls on human rights advocates to condemn Israeli attacks (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607225526151730.htm)

Pakistan rallies condemn Zionist attacks
Islamabad, July 22, IRNA

Pakistan-Rallies
Islamic groups staged rallies across Pakistan to condemn Zionist aggression against Palestinians and Lebanon, as well as criminal silence kept by the United Nations, international community and the Organization of Islamic Conference over the Israeli brutalities.

The six-party alliance of Islamic groups, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) as well as other religious and political parties held protest demonstrations outside mosques after Friday prayers in major cities.

Rallies were organized in major cities Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Lahore, Multan, Quetta, Chaman, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and the capital Islamabad and many other cities.

Imams in their Friday sermons also condemned the attacks and urged the people to show unity against Zionists.

Reports suggest that demonstrators burnt Israeli and American flags at different places to express anger at the Israeli bombing of Lebanon and Gaza.

Speakers noted that the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference were not taking a serious notice of the Israeli aggression, and warned that their continued indifferent attitude would jeopardize peace around the world.

They questioned silence of world leaders and bodies over Zionist raids on unarmed civilian population of Palestine and Lebanon as attacks have caused more than 300 civilian deaths.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against Zionists and the United States and in support of Hizbollah and the people of Lebanon and Palestine.

Like other parts of the country two rallies were staged in Islamabad by MMA and Shian-e-Hyder Karar.

Participants of the rally were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans of solidarity with Hamas and Hezbullah and condemnation of Israel. The protesters were also raising slogans in favour of continued war till the destruction of Israel and friends of Bush.

Speakers at the rally expressed solidarity with oppressed people of Palestine and Lebanon as well as occupied Kashmir and those fighting against the U.S forces Afghanistan and Iraq.

Central MMA leader Liaquat Baluch told the rally that Zionists have targeted two Muslims nations and they have complete support from President Bush and other Western nations.

He regretted that Islamic countries have not extended support to the Muslims of Lebanon and Palestine, which is matter of serious concern for the world Muslims.

He said Zionists had been targeting the unarmed Palestinians for many weeks leaving hundreds of people, including women, children and elderly, dead and injured.

Now Israeli fighter planes are targeting civilians in Lebanon and have killed more than 300 people only in nine days.

He strongly condemned President Bush's remarks that Zionist regime had the right to defend itself, and asked him to tell the entire peace-loving population of the world if the unarmed Palestinians did not have the right to defend themselves.

Speaking on the occasion, another leader Abdul Ghafoor Haidry said it was a tragedy that Muslim rulers had chosen to act as a silent spectator of the reign of terror let lose on Muslims in the Middle East by Zionist forces.

He said Muslims are peace-loving people but a conspiracy was hatched to impose a war on them only to declare them terrorists.

He said that genocide of Palestinians was being carried out under a deep-rooted conspiracy in which the US and West were actively involved.

He said Muslims were being targeted everywhere in the world but the UN, OIC and human rights organizations all had been keeping a discreet silence.

Pakistan rallies condemn Zionist attacks (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0607226353162433.htm)

Israel 'inflaming the world,' warns former UK minister
London, July 22, IRNA

UK Protests-Israeli Invasions
Former British cabinet minister Claire Short Saturday joined in the growing criticism of the UK government's refusal to condemn Israel's invasions of Gaza and Lebanon and call for an immediate ceasefire.

"Britain clearly now just backs President Bush whatever he does, in automatically backing Israel, in breaching international law, disproportionate attack on Lebanon, the attacks on Gaza," said Short, who resigned from her government post over the Iraq war.

"This is inflaming everybody across the world, it's dangerous, it's morally wrong, it's breaking up our system of international law, and shamefully for all of us our government is going along with it," she warned in an interview with BBC radio.

Her condemnation came ahead of thousands of people from across the UK set to join in demonstrations against Israeli blitzkrieg attacks on Lebanon.

Eleven rallies have been organized by peace groups, including Stop The War Coalition (STWC) and the Muslim Association of Britain, in all major towns in England and Scotland.

Also speaking on BBC radio, Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells defended accusation that his government was pro-Israeli, saying that calls for an immediate ceasefire would be a 'meaningless gesture'.

"We're the ones who are trying to engage with the Israelis, and engage with other players in this in a way which will bring results, not simply stand there and try somehow to win public admiration for saying 'ceasefire now'," said Howells, who is visiting Beirut.

Saturday's demonstration in London against Israel's killing of civilians and destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure, included a march past the US Embassy and a rally in Hyde Park.

A statement from the STWC warned that Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon was 'escalating into an international crisis which could soon engulf the whole region'.

"The promise by Bush and Blair, in the lead up to the Iraq war, that their wars would bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East and peace to Palestine have yet again been shown to be lies, just as the anti-war movement has consistently said they were," it said.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), in calling for support for the demonstrations, said that the least people can do is protest the crimes against humanity being perpetrated against the Palestinians and Lebanese.

"The fact that the British government has been unmoved by the plight of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese victims is another example of its moral bankruptcy," said IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh.

Friends of Sabeel UK, supporting Palestinian Christians, questioned the 'collusive silence of governments who individually and collectively have singularly failed to condemn Israel's behavior'.

"It is not good enough to interpret what has been unleashed, as being within the remit of 'Israel's Right of Self-Defense'. We demand that the British government condemns Israel in the same forthright terms as it has condemned Hamas and Hizbollah," it said.

Sabeel, which is leading Christian efforts to impose a boycott on Israel, also criticized the biased media coverage, saying it believed 'we are not seeing the whole picture of the escalation of
hostilities'.

"The pattern of Israel's response indicates a further agenda.

This, we fear can only have terrible consequences for the Palestinian people, the prime concern of Sabeel," it said in a statement obtained by IRNA.

Israel 'inflaming the world,' warns former UK minister (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0607227219174658.htm)

Analysis: Mideast warning from U.S. intelligence
World Peace Herald

By Arnaud de Borchgrave
UPI International Editor

Washington, Jul. 21 (UPI) — Congress was near unanimous in its hosannas for Israel's military campaign to uproot Hezbollah from Lebanon's body politic. Only Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) was nuanced in his support, questioning Israel's disproportionate response to the capture of three Israeli soldiers. The intelligence community's Middle Eastern experts -- both on active duty and in retirement -- were clearly on a different page.

The ones we queried either served in the region as CIA station chiefs or were responsible for Middle Eastern departments in one of the 16 agencies that make up the 100,000-strong intelligence community. Those still on active duty would only react to our question on condition their names be withheld.

The barometer of Hezbollah's post-conflict influence will be the most relevant measure of the success or failure of the massively disproportionate Israeli military, in which the Bush administration has also invested so much of its rapidly dwindling political capital. So will Hezbollah emerge from the current crisis weaker, or stronger, than before hostilities began?

• Graham Fuller, formerly Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, an accomplished Arabic scholar and historian, most recently author of the book "The Future of Political Islam": "Most of the U.S. thinks this crisis was started by Hamas and Hezbollah and that therefore those parties should be made to pay the price. A more objective reading of the situation would note U.S. and Israeli determination to strangle Hamas in the nest from day one, to starve it, humiliate it and, typically and expectedly, to drive its radical wing to undertake a guerrilla operation against Israel. So the region does not view this conflict as prompted by Hamas and Hezbollah, but rather as one made inevitable and justifiable by unrelenting and merciless pressure from the U.S. and Israel. I fear in the end this will be one more bloody chapter in this now widening struggle. In the interim, unseen to our eyes, the radical jihadis are making silent recruits every night through the flickering television images of yet new regional horrors. But sadly we will be seeing those recruits as they turn to action in weeks, months or even years from now.

Analysis: Mideast warning from U.S. intelligence (http://wpherald.com/articles/473/1/Analysis--Mideast-warning-from-US-intelligence/More-recruits-for-Hezbollah-likely.html)

Christians in Cairo join demos to support fellow Arabs
Joseph Mayton
Middle East Times
July 21, 2006

CAIRO -- As the Israeli armed forces continue to pound Lebanon, protests have sprung up in support of the besieged country. In Egypt demonstrations against Israel have been an almost daily occurrence since its first incursion into Gaza more than three weeks ago.

The general mood among protestors was that they wished to express support for their "Muslim brothers."

Christians, too, have protested on behalf of Lebanese victims while shying away from expressing outright support of Hizbullah. In fact, Christians at demonstrations said that it was important not to give the impression that their communities supported Hizbullah's attacks against Israel.

Some Christians said that it was their duty to their fellow Arabs.

"We are here to show that we care about what is happening in Lebanon," said Magda at a demonstration in Cairo. "Yet, I want to make it clear that we are not here to support what Hizbullah has done ... they started the conflict in Lebanon."

She argued that although Israel was an aggressor in the region and that it had wrongly escalated the current conflict, still Israel was not totally to blame.

Magda said that the Christian community should be against the Israeli action but should also help to make sure that the conflict does not spread and engulf the region.

"We are able, as Christians, to see the state of affairs from a more objective perspective because we are not blindly following one side - even though many Christians are being killed in Lebanon," she said.

Bishop Moussa, a Cairo-based Coptic priest, said that Christianity had no real role to play in the conflict but that rather the notion of pan-Arabism was creating an upswell of support for Lebanon and against Israel.

"We are not concerned so much with religion in these circumstances as the West would have people believe," Moussa said, adding, "What we have here is Israeli violence on an entire country over a few soldiers and the actions of a minority group.

"There are thousands of Christians in Lebanon who probably don't support Hizbullah, at least they didn't before Israel started to bomb Beirut," he continued. "Now Israel has given them all the reason to support Hizbullah as the only force in Lebanon capable of keeping Israel at bay."

Moussa said that Christianity does not condone violent action by any side and that if the religious groups were remotely religious and read their sacred texts the situation would have been resolved.

"I am not saying that Christianity is superior to Judaism and Islam, but I would like to point out that Christians have not been at the center of the conflict with Israel for some time and I believe this is because Christians have read their sacred texts."

Still, Moussa said that he supported demonstrations and solidarity with the Lebanese people because they were suffering for something that they did not do.

"If Israel is to begin making friends in this region it needs to start acting like the Western state that American says it is," Moussa said, adding, "If Israelis don't, then the Arab people - Christians and Muslims - will never learn and we will continue to hate Israel."

Both Moussa and Magda agree that Arabs, whatever their religion, have been united once more by a common enemy in Israel.

"It seems Israel is able to bring us together more effectively than we can do by ourselves," Magda said.

Christians in Cairo join demos to support fellow Arabs (http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060721-083414-5581r)

Iraq declares peace plan - without foreign meddling
Paul Schemm
AFP
July 22, 2006

BAGHDAD -- Iraq held the first meeting of a homegrown peace initiative on Saturday, with the country's top leaders vowing to reconcile the warring factions amid protests over US meddling.

(http://www.metimes.com/images/photos/full/20060722-093351-4881.jpg)
Speaker of Iraqi Parliament Mahmoud Al Mashhadani (L)
and country's President Jalal Talabani laugh after a
meeting in Baghdad on July 22 where a new home-made
peace plan was tabled that has been received positively
by some insurgent groups.

"This is an Iraqi initiative for those who are part of the political process," Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki told reporters, while the speaker of parliament urged US-led coalition forces not to interfere.

Maliki said the Supreme Committee for National Reconciliation had already received positive signals from some of the insurgent groups battling security forces and US troops, including one led by a former army officer.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani, a conservative Sunni Islamist, said the committee would work to persuade groups which have opposed the political process to lay down their arms.

"We will contact those who oppose us on certain issues and will try to convince them and tell them the detail of the project to win their consent," he said, standing alongside Maliki and Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

Soon after the announcement seven Shia construction workers were gunned down in a Sunni neighborhood of west Baghdad.

Maliki's government and the coalition have been struggling to contain a wave of sectarian violence in which rival Shia and Sunni death squads have killed hundreds of civilians around the capital in the past month.

With a month-old security operation apparently making little headway, Iraqi leaders hope the reconciliation committee will draw in those groups prepared to compromise, while isolating violent extremists.

Those who oppose his government's policies are free to do so, the prime minister said, but those who reject the peace process in favor of violence would be "pushed into a corner."

The government announced the reconciliation program on June 25 in response to increasing violence, which has been fueled in part by extremist militant groups aiming to provoke a full-out civil war.

"I don't think Al Qaeda has been successful in its objective, but I admit there are cracks in national unity," said National Security Advisor Ahmed Al Rubaie.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) opened a conference on transitional justice and national reconciliation meant to support the government efforts.

But parliament speaker Mashhadani ruffled feathers when he gave a combative opening address in which he blamed many of Iraq's problems on US forces, and called for foreigners to end their interference.

"Just get your hands off Iraq and the Iraqi people and Muslim countries, and everything will be all right," he said, addressing coalition forces.

"What has been done in Iraq is a kind of butchery of the Iraqi people," he said in a long speech that criticized the tactics of the coalition forces in Iraq and US support for Israeli strikes against Lebanon.

Mashhadani bluntly told his audience of UN officials, foreign experts, politicians and civil society representatives that Iraqis had little use for advice on running their country or foreign-sponsored conferences.

"What we need is reconciliation between Iraqis only - there can be no third party," he said.

UN representatives were quick to emphasize that the world body was there to advise and offer examples from other transitional countries, rather than to dictate policy.

An Iraqi politician at the conference, who declined to be named, said that while Mashhadani's sentiments echoed those of most Iraqi people, they did not necessarily help the situation.

"You can't imagine how difficult it is to solve Iraq's problem with people with this mentality leading," he said, saying politicians were reacting to narrow sectarian interests.

In addition to the seven construction workers killed in Baghdad, seven other Iraqis, including six members of the security forces, died in attacks around the country on Saturday.

Two rockets also hit the heavily-fortified Green Zone, the seat of power in the capital, but there were no initial damage reports. In Madain, just south of the capital, the corpses of two civilians were found, one day after they were kidnapped, a police officer said.

Iraq declares peace plan - without foreign meddling (http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060722-092806-1527r)

Israel seizes Hizbollah stronghold: army

By Lin Noueihed 20 minutes ago

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) - Israel ousted Hizbollah guerrillas from a stronghold just inside Lebanon on Saturday after several days of fierce fighting, the army said, as it bombarded targets across the south of the country.

Ground forces commander Major-General Benny Gantz said Israeli soldiers took the hilltop village of Maroun al-Ras, where six Israeli commandos have been killed this week, inflicting dozens of casualties on Hizbollah.

Israel said it planned no full-scale invasion of Lebanon for now, but warned villagers near the border to leave.

In the town of Marjayoun, about five miles from the border, cars packed with people waving white flags fled north fearing Israel will step up an 11-day-old war which has killed 351 people, mostly civilians.

There was no immediate comment from the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group, which had said in an earlier statement its fighters had inflicted casualties on the Israeli side.

An Israeli army spokesman had said troops backed by around a dozen tanks and armored vehicles had been fighting in Maroun al-Ras, about two km (one mile) inside Lebanese territory, and found Hizbollah bunkers and weapons stores.

He said Israel might widen its military action, but was still looking at "limited operations." "We're not talking about massive forces going inside at this point."

Resisting growing calls for a ceasefire, the United States stressed the need to tackle what it sees as the root cause of the conflict -- Hizbollah's armed presence on Israel's border and the role of its allies, Syria and
Iran.

"Resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it," U.S President George W. Bush said on Saturday, a day before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to head to Israel.

Israeli forces had urged residents of 14 villages in south Lebanon to leave by 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) ahead of more air raids.

TROOP BUILD UP

Israel has built up its forces at the border and called up 3,000 reserves. Defense Minister Amir Peretz has spoken of a possible land offensive to halt rocket attacks that have killed 15 Israeli civilians in the past 11 days.

But Israel is wary of mounting another invasion, only six years after it ended a costly 22-year occupation of the south. Already, 19 soldiers have been killed in the latest conflict.

Israeli air raids hit transmission stations used by several Lebanese television channels and a mobile telephone mast north of Beirut, cutting mobile phone services in northern Lebanon.

The official in charge of the station transmitting LBC programs was killed, the channel said. A nun at a nearby church said two French nationals were also lightly wounded.

Israel's army said it hit a Hizbollah radio and TV transmitter and an antenna for frequencies "used by Hizbollah." Hizbollah's al-Manar television was still broadcasting after the strikes.

Israeli medics and the army said at least 10 Hizbollah rockets hit towns in northern Israel, wounding 10 people.

Across south Lebanon, families piled into cars and trucks -- flying white sheets they hoped would ward off attack -- and clogged roads north after Israel warned residents to flee for safety beyond the Litani river, about 12 miles from the border.

But witnesses said an Israeli air strike hit one of the few remaining crossings over the river early on Saturday.

The war started when Hizbollah captured two soldiers and killed eight in a July 12 raid into Israel, which had already launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip to try to recover another soldier seized by Palestinian militants on June 25.

Washington supports proposals for an expanded international force on the Israel-Lebanon border but details were not fixed, a senior U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. A 2,000-strong U.N. force monitors the border at present.

Amid growing concern about the plight of civilians in Lebanon, Israel said it would ease humanitarian access.

U.N. relief agencies have called for safe passage to take in food and medical supplies. An estimated half million people have fled their homes.

Foreigners have also flooded out of the country. Ships and aircraft worked through the night scooping more tired and scared people from Lebanon and taking them to Cyprus and Turkey.

Israel seizes Hizbollah stronghold: army (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060722/wl_nm/mideast_dc;_ylt=A9G_RydsdsJEQPgAlQNm.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)

Israeli seaside town virtually abandoned
Michael Matza and Ned Warwick
July 22, 2006 3:21 PM

The Philadelphia Inquirer

(MCT)

NAHARIYA, Israel - The Hezbollah rocket fire was severe, with more than 100 fired in one day last week into northern Israel, including this Mediterranean seaside town about 15 miles south of the Lebanese border.

A day earlier, a Katyusha strike had killed a man. Now plumes of smoke were rising from two fresh bombardments here.

''There - a-a-and - there,'' said Almog Cohen, 25, an Israeli military spotter on the roof of Nahariya's seven-story city hall. He used binoculars to pick out the hits and radioed their position to his commander.

As it turned out, the new strikes were not lethal. They landed on opposite edges of the town. But they added to the trepidation and loathing in this place, where more than 350 houses have been damaged, some demolished, by rocket fire since hostilities began with the abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid from Lebanon on July 12.

Ordinarily quiet, Nahariya, founded in 1934 by German Jews escaping the Holocaust, and later developed as a beach resort for middle-class Israelis, is now a ghost town.

Many of its 38,000 residents have decamped much farther south into central Israel in an effort to get out of Hezbollah's increasingly deep rocket range.

Those who remain have gone into reinforced bunkers 30 feet below the deserted streets, shuttered shops and empty houses.

Some, like Iris Kogan, 28, who came to Israel from Ukraine 15 years ago and lives in the same garden-apartment complex where Andrei Zelinsky, 37, was killed by Tuesday's Katyusha strike, say the stress of what Israelis are calling ''the war in the north'' is just too much.

Kogan, a law-office secretary; her husband, Uri, a furniture-factory worker; and their daughter, Netanela, 9, intend to leave Israel.

''Yesterday, when it all happened, I heard a bang and I ran toward the shelter. I had to jump over the body of the man. I can't get the sight of the dead man out of my mind. I think of it all the time,'' she said, fidgeting on a folding chair at the municipal shelter nearest to the spot where Zelinsky was killed.

Officials said he was outside the shelter, a few yards from its entrance, and 20 yards from his own home, when the rocket landed and took his life.

''Today I bought tickets to fly to Ukraine. We will leave,'' Kogan said. ''I am not sure we will come back.''

Others, like Hanna Hevroni, 59, a religious-school art teacher who came to Israel from France 41 years ago, say they will never leave. Zelinsky was her neighbor. She was affected by his death. In that way often expressed by Israelis, however, his death only deepened her attachment to the land.

''I passed my youth here. I raised my family here. It's my country,'' she said.

''To tell the truth, I don't like to see us bombing Lebanese cities. We are both people. I am not happy about it at all. But if my enemy hits me, I hit him back. Leave me in peace, and I'll leave you in peace,'' she said.

Israelis living in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and areas south, which so far have been outside Hezbollah's strike zone, have opened their homes to people fleeing the bombardments.

Newspapers are running classified advertisements offering free temporary lodging with sympathetic families.

''We would be happy to host residents who are in need of respite from their troubled neighborhoods,'' read one ad published in Friday's Jerusalem Post.

''We are a family of five in a five-room apartment, but there is always room to fit more,'' read another.

Hevroni said her 21-year-old daughter, Nomi, was ''depressed and nervous all the time'' since the fighting began, so she sent her to live in Tel Aviv with strangers who had placed such an ad last week. Similarly, her 17-year-old son, Yehudah, went farther south, to the Negev Desert town of Dimona.

Nahariyans who have stayed in the town are feeling anxious and claustrophobic. Houses built since the mid-1990s have mandatory, reinforced ''safe rooms,'' so residents go there when air-raid sirens wail.

Others have to make use of the town's more than 160 municipal shelters.

Sweltering in the underground bunkers, where TVs flicker with news updates, rattled residents sprawl on stone floors piled with mattresses and odd bits of bedding. Latrines are filthy. Bags of groceries delivered daily by nervous municipal runners are heaped in the corners.

Some residents doze fitfully. Others sit and stare.

Looking tired and frustrated, Arik Chai, 31, lay sprawled on a mattress surrounded by his family: wife Irra, 25; son Dean, almost 4; and 4-month-old son Edan.

Chai works in maintenance at an industrial park about 20 minutes drive from Nahariya. But the rain of rockets across northern Israel has made it too dangerous to travel, he said, so last Sunday he stopped making the drive.

Now, like the majority of Israelis, he firmly supports his government's decision to hit back fiercely in order to settle accounts with Hezbollah once and for all. But he shrugged and shook his head wearily, saying he had no idea when the fighting would end.

''We're OK,'' said another resident, Ari Cohen. ''You have to write that we are not scared. We just want to finish this thing. Get it done right. Otherwise we'll have the same problem every two years.''

Israeli seaside town virtually abandoned (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/printArticle.jsp?ID=564774425733759142&Section=WORLD&Subsection=)

Israel Fights Militants in Lebanon's South

By BENJAMIN HARVEY, The Associated Press
Jul 22, 2006 4:30 PM (20 mins ago)
Current rank: # 1,382 of 5,775 articles

ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER - Israeli tanks, bulldozers and armored personnel carriers knocked down a fence and barreled over the Lebanese border Saturday as forces seized a village from the Hezbollah guerrilla group.

Early Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck Sidon, targeting a religious building run by a Shiite Muslim cleric close to Hezbollah in their first hit inside the southern port city, currently swollen with refugees from fighting further south.

Also Sunday, a huge explosion reverberated across Beirut, apparently caused by an Israeli air raid on the capital's southern suburbs.

At least four people were wounded in the airstrike that targeted Sidon for the first time since Israel launched its massive military offensive against Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, hospital officials said.

On Saturday, Israeli soldiers battled militants and raided the large village of Maroun al-Ras in several waves before finally taking control, military officials said. Tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing north packed into Sidon to escape the fighting as the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian "disaster."

The growing use of ground forces, 11 days into the fighting, signaled Israeli recognition that airstrikes alone were not enough to force Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. But a ground offensive carries greater risks to Israel, which already has lost 18 soldiers in the recent fighting. It also threatens to exacerbate already trying conditions for Lebanese civilians in the area.

Israeli military officials have said they want to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River, about 20 miles north of the border, with the Lebanese army deploying in the border zone. An Israeli radio station that broadcasts to southern Lebanon warned residents of 13 villages to flee north by Saturday afternoon. The villages form a corridor about 4 miles wide and 11 miles deep.

With Lebanese fearing an escalation in the battle, international officials worked to end the conflict.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was set to arrive in the Middle East on Sunday, though she ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise."

President Bush said his administration's diplomatic efforts would focus on finding a strategy for confronting Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers.

"Secretary Rice will make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Italy, which has been trying to mediate an end to the fighting, said it would hold a conference Wednesday to work out the basis for a truce agreement. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed a beefed-up U.N. force along the Lebanese border, but Israel has called for the Lebanese army to take control of the area.

Annan said the conflict had displaced at least 700,000 Lebanese so far, and Israel's destruction of bridges and roads has made access to them difficult.

"I'm afraid of a major humanitarian disaster," he told CNN.

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said it would take more than $100 million to help the displaced. He said he would make an appeal "urging, begging" the international community for contributions.

As part of an effort to avert such a crisis, Israel eased its blockade of Lebanon's ports to allow the first shiploads of aid to arrive. It remained unclear how that aid would get to the isolated towns and villages where the fighting has been centered.

Israel has attacked mostly with airstrikes, but small units have crossed the border in recent days and fought with Hezbollah fighters.

A far larger force of about 2,000 troops entered the area Saturday trying to root out Hezbollah bunkers and destroy hidden rocket launchers.

The troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, raced past a U.N. outpost and headed into Maroun al-Ras. Gunfire could be heard coming from the village, and artillery batteries in Israel also fired into the area.

"The forces have completed, more or less, their control of the area of the village, Maroun al-Ras, and made lots of hits against terrorists," said Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, chief of Israel's ground forces. "It was a difficult fight that continued for not a short time."

Dozens of Hezbollah fighters were injured or killed in the battle, Gantz said. Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed Saturday, bringing the total number of acknowledged Hezbollah fighters killed to eight. Israel accuses the group of vastly underreporting its casualties.

The village was strategically important because it overlooked an area where Hezbollah had command posts, Gantz said. The forces seized a cache of weapons and rockets in a village mosque, he added. The village is believed to be a launching point for the rocket attacks on northern Israel.

At one point, a half-ton bomb was dropped on a Hezbollah outpost, about 500 yards from the border and near the village. Other positions were bombarded by Israeli gunboats off the coast.

About 32 residents took refuge at the U.N. observers post. Nearly the entire remaining population of the village - which numbered about 2,300 before the crisis broke out - were believed to have fled, Lebanese security officials said.

Some of the invading forces returned to Israel during the day. U.N. peacekeepers and witnesses said Israel also briefly held the nearby village of Marwaheen before pulling back.

About 35,000 fleeing Lebanese filled Sidon as they searched for a place to stay or a way to get farther north.

"I'm afraid a disaster is going to happen with all these refugees. There's no aid, not from other nations, not from Lebanon," Mayor Abdul-Rahman al-Bizri said.

More than 200,000 Lebanese fled to Syria, according to the Syrian Red Crescent.

A steady stream of foreign nationals boarded ships and planes Saturday to take them away. U.S. officials said more than 7,500 Americans had been evacuated from Lebanon by Saturday night.

"Everybody's crying and kissing and wishing you well, and you have to turn and leave. We have the chance to get out, but they don't," said Susan Abu Hamdan, 44, of Northville, Mich., who was visiting her siblings in Beirut.

The Israeli army said it wanted to completely destroy all Hezbollah infrastructure in an area between a half-mile and two miles from the border, but it had no intention of going deeper into Lebanon.

"We really want to knock out Hezbollah in this area," said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. "We want to wipe them out, and we don't intend for them to ever be there again."

A senior Israeli military official confirmed that Israel did not plan to reoccupy southern Lebanon as it did in 1982-2000 to create a buffer zone to protect northern Israel.

Israel's current offensive began July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid.

Israeli airstrikes on Saturday blasted communications and television transmission towers in the central and northern Lebanese mountains, knocking the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. off the air and killing one person at the station.

The death toll in Lebanon rose to at least 372, Lebanese authorities said.

Over the past 11 days, Hezbollah has launched nearly 1,000 rockets into Israel, killing 15 civilians and sending hundreds of thousands of others fleeing into bunkers. At least 132 rockets landed in Israel on Saturday, wounding 20 people, three seriously, rescue officials said.

A total of 19 Israeli troops have been killed in the fighting so far.

Hezbollah also fired at the army base of Nurit in Israel, wounding one soldier, the army said.

Israel's call for Lebanese to leave much of the area south of the Litani River caused many to fear that a far deeper Israeli ground incursion was being planned, an offensive that would almost certainly lead to far higher casualties.

More than 400,000 people live south of the Litani. Though tens of thousands have left, many are believed still there, trapped by the damaged roads or by fear of being caught in an airstrike.

Israel Fights Militants in Lebanon's South (http://www.examiner.com/a-187521~Israel_Fights_Militants_in_Lebanon_s_South.html)

Main militant groups say no agreement for truce with Israel
SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer
July 22, 2006 4:39 PM

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The main militant Palestinian groups disputed a claim Saturday that they had reached agreement for a cease-fire.

Palestinian officials had earlier said the groups agreed to halt the firing of rockets into Israel at midnight if Israel made no new raids into the Gaza Strip.

The midnight deadline passed with no new violence.

But the three militant groups - Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Islamic Jihad and the Hamas military wing - denied that a cease-fire had been agreed upon, saying that their rocket attacks were a response to Israeli aggression.

The Israeli military said it was aware of the internal Palestinian cease-fire contacts and would wait to see what happens.

The Palestinian officials said the agreement was reached in Gaza City following meetings sponsored by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the officials said.

Several Palestinian militant groups attended, including Haniyeh's Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the officials said on condition of anonymously because the unilateral cease-fire agreement was agreement was reached at a closed meeting.

The Israeli offiensive in the Gaza Strip that began June 28, three days after militants raided an Israeli army post, killing two soldiers and capturing another.

More than 100 Palestinians, many of them gunmen, have been killed in attacks by Israeli warplanes, tanks and artillery. Israeli aircraft have destroyed the main power station and attacked key government office buildings.

At the same time, the militants have fired many homemade rockets at southern Israel.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Abbas, said Abbas and the militant groups met over the past few days and decided that a cease-fire would have to be adopted by the militants and Israeli forces.

''A cease-fire is a cease-fire. It has to be accepted by the two parties, and it has to lead to a resolution of all the outstanding issues'' in Gaza, Shaath said in an interview.

No fighting between Israeli ground forces and militants was reported in Gaza on Saturday, but Israel fired shells at open fields in the east, with no casualties reported.

In fighting in Gaza on Friday, four people were killed - a Hamas activist and three relatives - in an explosion at his home in Gaza City, hospital officials said. Israel said it fired a tank shell at the balcony of the house as the activist was preparing to fire an anti-tank missile at its forces.

Also Friday, Israeli forces pulled out of the Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza after a two-day sweep.

Main militant groups say no agreement for truce with Israel (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/printArticle.jsp?ID=564774442912581178&Section=WORLD&Subsection=)

‘We Gave Israel No Green Light’
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News —

WASHINGTON, 23 July 2006 — With Israel massing soldiers and tanks on its Lebanese border in the wake of an 11-day aerial bombardment, there are fears an Israeli invasion will move this war into an ever-bloodier phase.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced plans yesterday to embark today to the Middle East on an emergency diplomatic mission to open talks aimed at bringing a “sustainable end” to the violence.

This is the first US diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began. In another sign that diplomatic efforts have shifted to a higher gear, the White House said Rice would join President George Bush today to discuss the crisis with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council, and Saudi Ambassador to Washington Prince Turki ibn Faisal.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the idea was “to provide the president and Rice a chance to continue to strategize with a key partner in the region on a diplomatic solution.” Immediately following meeting with the Saudis, Rice will travel to the region, stopping in Israel and the Palestinian territories to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Rice will then travel to Rome, where she will meet with members of “the Lebanon core group.” She will not, however, stopover in Egypt where she was scheduled to meet with her counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.

“Representatives of the core group, which includes Lebanon, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan the United Nations and the World Bank, will work to develop a plan for a sustainable resolution to the violence between Israel and Hezbollah,” said David Welch, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for Near East Affairs, who met with Arab and Israeli journalists Friday afternoon.

“Discussions will focus on political issues, security concerns, humanitarian needs, and support for the economic reconstruction of Lebanon, he said. “We’ve received a good number of acceptances already.”

The plans emerged following two days of talks in New York with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and envoys he sent to the region this week. Annan called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire. On Friday Rice rejected Annan’s and international calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah extremists, saying a quick end to the fighting would only give Lebanese and Israeli civilians the “false promise” of a lasting peace. Rice said the Bush administration is not interested in “quick fixes” and said the world is witnessing “the birth pangs of a new Middle East” in the current fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. “We do seek an end to the current violence, and we seek it urgently. More than that, we also seek to address the root causes of that violence so that a real and endurable peace can be established,” Rice said at a State Department briefing.

“We are not delaying here,” Welch told Mideast reporters. “If we can put in place conditions tomorrow for a cease-fire, obviously we would do so. But we believe that it’s going to take some time — it doesn’t necessarily have to take a lot of time, and the less time it takes the better — we can put together elements for a more stable situation than we see right now.” But the acrimonious briefing Welch had with Arab journalists Friday reflected the tensions many in the Mideast feel about America’s support for Israel’s bombings of Lebanon, and the resulting deaths of Lebanese civilians.

Welch said the US wanted to “encourage a solution...that will protect both Israel and Lebanon.”

An Arab then journalist asked: “The UN condemned Israel’s excessive use of force while the US remained tight-lipped...”

“The secretary of state just addressed the issues of humanitarian interest on both sides of the border. We are not ignoring it,” said Welch. “The words of the US carry great weight; we don’t want to declare something unless it will have an effect.”

“Even if the price is wiping out the whole country?” said the reporter. “That’s a dramatic statement; we don’t favor wiping out any country. We don’t believe there is any acceptable loss of civilian life,” said Welch.

The roundtable of reporters erupted in protest. Welch rejected charges that America supported Israel’s attack.

“We gave Israel no green light,” he said.

Asked if Israel will go to Rome, Welch said: “Israel will not attend core group meeting, we believe Israel is fully capable of making its views known to the core group; it has relationships with almost all of them.”

The US reluctance to seek a speedy cease-fire stems from Bush’s view that Israel’s fight against Hezbollah is part of the broader war on terror in the Middle East, and his belief in the need for a democratic transformation in the region.

The administration’s rejections for a cease-fire sparked fresh criticism from US liberals, who accuse the Bush White House of mishandling the crisis.

Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Ma., called the administration’s refusal to seek an immediate halt to the fighting “a disaster” that could lead to further escalation of the violence.

‘We Gave Israel No Green Light’ (http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=85793&d=23&m=7&y=2006&hl=%91We%20Gave%20Israel%20No%20Green%20Light%92)

Kristof, One of Few to Criticize Extent of Israel's Bombing Campaign, Returns With 2nd Column

By E&P Staff

Published: July 22, 2006 10:45 PM ET

NEW YORK Nicholas Krisof, one of the few major mainstream (or even blog) columnists to criticize the extent of Israel's bombing campaign against Lebanon, returned with a second column on this theme for The New York Times on Sunday.

He opened by recalling how friends of Israel had supported the 1982 invasion of Lebanon on much the same grounds heard today, and that turned into a disaster for the long-term secruity of Israel -- for one thing, it spawned Hezbollah. .

"Today again, Israel believes that it is improving its long-term security by attacking Lebanon. And once again, I believe, that will prove counterproductive," Kristof writes.

"Israel is likely to kill enough Lebanese to outrage the world, increase anti-Israeli and anti-American attitudes, nurture a new generation of anti-Israeli guerrillas, and help hard-liners throughout the region and beyond. ...

"More broadly, one reason this bombardment — like the invasion in 1982 — is against Israel’s own long-term interest has to do with the way terrorism is likely to change over the next couple of decades.

"In the past, terror attacks spilled blood and spread fear, but they did not challenge the survival of Israel itself. At some point, though, militant groups will recruit teams of scientists and give them a couple of years and a $300,000 research budget, and the result will be attacks with nerve gas, anthrax, or 'dirty bombs' that render areas uninhabitable for years.

"All this suggests that the only way for Israel to achieve security is to reach a final peace agreement, involving the establishment of a Palestinian state (because states can be deterred more easily than independent groups like Hamas). Such an agreement is not feasible now, but it might be five or 15 years from now. Israel’s self-interest lies in doing everything it can to make such a deal more likely — not in using force in ways that strengthen militants and make an agreement less likely."

Kristof closed by pointing to the positive examples of Britain (in recent dealings with the IRA) and Spain (the Basques).

"That admirable restraint should be the model for Israel, with the aim of making a comprehensive peace agreement more likely — in 2010 or 2020 if not in 2007. The record of Spain and Britain suggests that restraint and conciliation can seem maddeningly ineffective — but they are still the last, best hope for peace. "

Kristof, One of Few to Criticize Extent of Israel's Bombing Campaign, Returns With 2nd Column
(http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002877923)

Method in madness: Why Israel’s laying waste to Lebanon
BY ERIC S. MARGOLIS

23 July 2006

ISRAEL’S relentless destruction of Lebanon continues while the rest of the world watches impassively. Half a million Lebanese civilians are by now internal refugees and many more have been ordered by Israel’s military to flee their homes in southern Lebanon.

Israel says it will re-create its former notorious ‘security zone’ north to the Litani River. In other words, a return to the miseries of Israel’s previous 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

But a new security zone may only be the beginning. Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah’s tough, well-dispersed fighters by bombing or shelling. It must send in infantry and fight them hand to hand. This could well mean a campaign that covers all Lebanon right up to Syria’s borders.

Hezbollah’s battle-hardened fighters have many times proven they are a match for Israel’s vaunted soldiers in close combat, or even their superiors when Israel cannot intervene with air power and heavy armour.

But loathe as Israel may be to take serious casualties, the new Olmert government seems determined to prove to voters and the world it is even tougher on Arabs than Ariel Sharon.

Equally important, the incapacitation of former PM Sharon has greatly strengthened the hand of Israel’s ultra hawkish military-intelligence establishment, which is determined to get revenge on Hezbollah for having shattered the very useful myth of Israel’s military invincibility and run it out of Lebanon in 2000.

Israel’s laying waste to Palestine and Lebanon is the most egregious violation of international laws since Russia’s savage destruction of tiny Chechnya and Serbia’s ethnic terrorism in Kosovo — a crime that brought well-justified Nato intervention.

Switzerland, the Conventions guardian, recently took the unprecedented step of warning Israel it was violating international law by its brutal behaviour in Palestine. But Swiss protests, and subsequent criticism from world leaders and the UN did nothing to halt Israel’s rampage in Palestine or Lebanon.

That was because the Bush Administration made clear to the world it had given Israel a golden carte blanche to punish Lebanon, eradicate Hezbollah, and likely use the current crisis as a pretext for major action against Syria and the ultimate target of the Israel-Washington axis, Iran.

The crisis also showed just how much the Bush administration has become ‘Sharonised,’ meaning having totally adopted the world view, diplomacy, philosophy and tactics of Israel’s hardline rightists to the point where the two nation’s polices are indistinguishable. Many new Bin Ladens will be paying close attention.

The seizure of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah that provoked the current crisis could have been easily resolved by the usual ritual bombing followed by secret talks. In 2004, Shaikh Hassan Nasrallah negotiated the release of hundreds of Lebanese hostages and Palestinian prisoners held in Guantanamo-like Israeli secret prisons.

Nasrallah’s objective this time was likely to shame his fellow Arabs into helping the tormented Palestinians and boosting ally Iran’s standing as a defender of Muslim rights.

But Israel and the US chose to turn this minor skirmish into a war. Israel has long sought to get the US to attack Iran and destroy its nuclear infrastructure, just as it played a key role in engineering the US destruction of its other main rival, Iraq.

Pro-war factions in Washington and occupied Jerusalem are now pushing for an assault on Syria, which Israel has long believed is so fragile it will splinter after a few hard blows. The road to Teheran lies through Damascus. Though bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington is hoping a combined US-Israeli air campaign can wreck Iran and set it back a decade — just what Israel says it is doing in Lebanon. President George Bush and his Republican Party’s political fortunes are dwindling fast. US mid-term elections are only months away. Bush needs a new war to boost his popularity, and Israel wants war while Bush is still in office.

It is unlikely, though not impossible (particularly if John McCain wins) that the US will have another such intellectually limited president who styles himself a ‘Christian Zionist’ and calls Ariel Sharon a mentor and ‘man of peace.’ Bush just declared a new crusade against Hezbollah, Syria and Iran ‘a new front in the war on terrorism.’ Israel’s mighty propaganda machine is in high gear promoting the claim that Hezbollah’s provocation was ordered by the new ‘axis of hate,’ Damascus and Teheran.

So Israel may be stoking the fires in Lebanon to draw America into war against Syria and Iran that would leave it dominant in the Mideast and its nuclear monopoly unchallenged. Vice-President Dick Cheney, America’s real president, has made clear his desire to go bomb Iran back to the Stone Age.

This is all part of ‘war on terrorism,’ says Washington. But isn’t terrorism defined by the US as the killing of civilians for political objectives? If the destruction of Lebanon does not fit this description, what does?

Method in madness: Why Israel’s laying waste to Lebanon (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2006/July/opinion_July66.xml&section=opinion&col=)

A race against the clock
By Yoel Marcus

War breeds leaders, but it also kills them off. It all depends on how things turn out. For the moment, the decision that Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz, under the spell of Dan Halutz, made to go to war against Hezbollah has catapulted them onto the stage of "A Star is Born." Over 80 percent of the public supports Operation Change in Direction, and over 70 percent approve of Olmert and Peretz as the leaders of the attack on Hezbollah-stan.

At the same time, a mutual love affair has blossomed between the home front and Israel's leaders. In contrast to the "drink some water" panic that seized the nation when the Scuds fell in 1991, the home front has been keeping its cool under the barrage of missiles that began on the northern border and moved on to Haifa. The home front continues to have faith in the government, mainly because of the consensus that Israel's actions are justified. The leaders reciprocate by praising the home front and laying the flattery on thick: Your stamina is what gives us the strength to go on. The trouble with these love affairs between the home front and the government is that they tend to be short-lived. Again, it depends on how things turn out.

The support expressed by America and many other countries, including a number of Arab nations, fortifies Israel and bolsters the justness of its cause. This broad backing for a military maneuver is hardly the sort of thing that happens to Israel every day. The reversal of the old refrain about the whole world being against us in certainly music to our ears, even if we know it is not forever.

On the other hand, it is no secret that going into Lebanon is easier than getting out. It took us 18 years to leave Lebanon after an operation that Ariel Sharon assured opposition leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres would take all of 48 hours. We can only hope that the government is weighing all the dangers involved in sending massive ground forces into Lebanon before it reaches a decision.

The air force claims that no ground force could do what its sophisticated technologies have been able to do. And anyone who says that no war has ever been won by air operations alone is wrong, in their opinion. The Gulf War was won without sending ground troops into Iraq.

So when can we say that the goals of the operation have been met? When an agreement is imposed that creates a buffer zone, manned by an international force and Lebanese troops, along the international border and keeps Hezbollah from setting foot south of the Litani River. While Hezbollah as a terror organization cannot be physically wiped out, because the Shiites are a part of the Lebanese people, it can be neutralized as a military opponent.

Unlike Operation Peace for Galilee, Israel has no plans to replace governments or install presidents or kings. Our sole objective is not to have troops who take orders from Iran and Syria grooming their mustaches on our border. From every possible angle, this is a defensive campaign. Israel's air strikes in Lebanon are justified, because Lebanon is responsible for allowing an armed force to sit on its international border and carry out attacks against Israel.

It is not clear how much the architects of Operation Change in Direction knew when they sat together and contemplated Israel's moves behind closed doors. Did they have advance knowledge of the quantity and quality of high-trajectory missiles that Hezbollah had stashed away? Did they know that Hezbollah would have the audacity to fire dozens, if not hundreds, of every kind of missile and rocket at Israeli towns and cities, day after day? Did they anticipate that dozens of Israelis would be killed and hundreds wounded? That the attacks would sow fear and destruction, leading tens of thousands of people to flee their homes? That plans were in the offing to fire missiles at Tel Aviv? A government spokesperson says that Hezbollah retaliation was taken into account. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't. But again, the end result is what counts.

In the meantime, Hezbollah is being surprisingly bold. America and the G8 may support Israel and cook up a ceasefire agreement, but Hezbollah as a militant organization is not going to disappear. A decisive victory is not in the cards. Even if the air force makes mincemeat out of them, they will not surrender. If Hassan Nasrallah is bumped off, a new idol will take his place.

Operations like this do not accomplish everything in one fell swoop. The important thing is that the beating Israel gives them sinks in and traumatizes them to the point where they will not be back on their feet anytime soon. But whatever we do, it had better be soon. Before the planners of the operation lose their faith in the home front. Before America says stop. As of now, it is a race against the clock.

A race against the clock (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741139.html)

A time to act,? a time to talk

We are into the second week of the campaign against Hezbollah in which Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Israeli civilians have been killed. This heavy price is liable to increase the longer the campaign continues, but if the fighting ends without reaching its goals, then more Israelis will be hurt by the newly empowered Hezbollah. That would encourage other extremists from Iran to Palestinian terror organizations to maintain their aggressive stance toward Israel.

In the current confrontation, time represents an opportunity for Israel ? an opportunity to exhaust the possibilities of the military campaign in order to enhance diplomatic gains. In the middle of a campaign, it is easy to misread the situation. The fog of war, together with the psychological warfare being employed, blur one?s vision and pull one?s conclusions toward the two polls of despondency and arrogance.

The results pile up until the scales are tipped. In the case of Lebanon, the desirable result is for the political echelon to rise up against the only entity that is preventing economic stability and which threatens to destroy what has been created painstakingly following exhausting decades of civil war. That entity is Hassan Nasrallah, whose goals in Lebanon as head of a movement representing a significant and long-oppressed minority have been pushed aside in favor of Iran?s interests. The zealous regime in Tehran appointed Lebanon?s Shi?ites as agents to export its Islamic revolution and wage proxy war against Israel. It has absolutely no connection to the welfare of the Lebanese or to the participation of the various sects and groups in the Lebanese government.

One of the goals of Israel?s current war against Hezbollah, in addition to the immediate desire to protect the northern communities and IDF patrols against attacks and abductions, is to give Prime Minister Fuad Siniora?s government an incentive for dealing with Hezbollah. This goal has two parts: strengthening Siniora and weakening Nasrallah to enable the Lebanese scales to tip toward the moderates. The IDF?s direct actions erode Hezbollah?s strength by depleting its ammunition stores, its chain of command and its image as an organization that can challenge the Lebanese Army and the civilian decision-makers above it. The indirect affect of the IDF operation is intended to operate on both the Lebanese and the international levels.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, moderate Shi?ite leader Nabih Beri, cabinet members, the son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri and other important individuals have already dared to speak out against Hezbollah. Siniora needs additional support before he can make the difficult but necessary decision to finally challenge Nasrallah. This support must come from the outside, from Washington, Paris, Arab capitals and United Nations headquarters in New York. President George Bush is leading a firm, united front that gives Israel, in international terms, ?quality time? to destroy their common enemy. The Israeli government and the IDF deserve support at home for their efforts to take advantage of the freedom that has been granted to them for the coming days or perhaps weeks.

A time to act,? a time to talk (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741437.html)

European peace groups protest Israeli offensive in Lebanon
By The Associated Press

LONDON - Peace activists marched in several European cities yesterday to demand an end to Israel's strikes against Hezbollah militants.

In the largest demonstration, an estimated 7,000 activists paraded through rainy central London shouting, "Hands off Lebanon!"

Smaller crowds in Amsterdam and Warsaw called on their governments to do more to pressure Israel to stop its offensive in Lebanon. Protesters also rallied in at least three other British cities.

The London demonstrators condemned Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has publicly supported Israel, and failed to join the United Nations' call for an immediate cease-fire.

"There is a slaughter going on in Lebanon with complete aggression by Israel," Ghada Razuki, a national organizer for the Stop the War Coalition in London, said.

Lebanese demonstrators carried one sign that read, "Lebanese civilians are being slaughtered. Do not turn your back on us."

Ali Abukhalil, 42, a Lebanese businessman from London marching alongside his family, said he felt frustrated and hopeless about the violence that has racked his homeland.

Javeria Khan, 21, of London, joined other Muslim women clad in black abayas as they chanted, "Go to hell, Israel."

"Israel is terrorizing all Muslim nations," Khan said. "It is trying to destroy our religion."

Other protesters openly voiced support for Hezbollah. "We are Hezbollah! Yes, yes Hezbollah!" a group of 50 people chanted in unison as others looked on with shocked expressions.

Later, Abbas Ali Ibrahim, 22, a Pakistani student from Birmingham waved a yellow-and-green Hezbollah flag as he led about 60 protesters in shouting the group's name in front of the U.S. Embassy.

"At the end of the day, Hezbollah are freedom fighters," Ibrahim said.

In Warsaw, about 200 people demonstrated outside the Israeli embassy, waving the red-white-red Lebanese flag with its signature cedar tree, and Palestinian flags.

Organizers in Amsterdam said some 2,000 people took part in their rally, although police put the number closer to 700.

Pro-Israeli supporters are planning their own London rally today.

"We are calling for peace in the region," said Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which is organizing the protest.

Benjamin said Israel was responding to "intense provocation," and "has a right, and indeed an obligation, to defend its citizens and its sovereignty."

European peace groups protest Israeli offensive in Lebanon (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741411.html)

1982 versus 2006
By Ze'ev Schiff

Many people see no difference between Israel's 1982 Lebanon War and the present war. For example, some Arabs are astounded that the Israeli public is supporting its government and its military moves. Thus the major differences between the two wars must be pointed out: namely, differences in background, objective and modus operandi.

The substantive distinction is that, in 1982, one of the war's goals was to install a new, pro-Israeli, president in Lebanon - namely, to push for Bashir Gemayel's appointment to this post. He was assassinated, and collaboration with his Phalangists proved a disastrous idea. Another major goal was to go beyond merely removing the Palestine Liberation Organization and its units from Lebanon and to thoroughly defeat the Palestinians in Lebanon, so that the Palestinians on the West Bank would be badly shaken. That is why the Israel Defense Forces brought the war into the refugee camps in Lebanon.

The present war's goals are totally different. The IDF is well aware that Hezbollah cannot be removed from Lebanon - it is an authentically Lebanese organization. Were it only a political party, Israel would not have attacked it. The problem is that Hezbollah is also a militia attacking Israel against the Lebanese government's wishes and after Israel withdrew to the international border.

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In 1982, the Israeli government thought in terms of a military solution. Today, the IDF says that the problem's solution is political, not military: Although the military wing attacking Israel must be countered with force, the ultimate answer is an international agreement. Israel opposed international intervention in 1982, whereas, today, it considers United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 congruent with the war's strategic aim. That resolution calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for the Lebanese government and army to assume responsibility for southern Lebanon up to the border with Israel.

The 1982 war was dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee, but Israel reached Beirut, capturing parts of it, and Israel's presence there was considered an occupation. Furthermore, Israel went to war when its forces were already in Lebanon. This time, the military operation began after Israel withdrew to the international border and the UN authorized the withdrawal. Despite the pullback, Hezbollah continued attacking Israel, shelling it and abducting Israelis. In 1982, then defense minister Ariel Sharon was perceived as having failed to provide the cabinet and then prime minister Menachem Begin with reliable reports, while today, the cabinet is united and the government is receiving detailed reports. After the 1982 war, a state commission of inquiry decided that Sharon must resign, due to the Sabra and Chatila massacre.

Another substantive distinction between the two wars exists with regard to Syria. In 1982, the Syrian army controlled Lebanon. A brigade was stationed in the Beirut area, but most of Syria's forces in Lebanon - including 19 surface-to-air missile batteries - were deployed in the Bekaa Valley. Initially, Begin did not authorize an attack against the Syrians, and he even asked then American president Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, Philip C. Habib, to inform then Syrian president Hafez Assad that Israel had no intention of attacking his forces. But after Sharon arranged the military operation so that Israel wound up attacking the Syrian army in the Bekaa Valley, Israel had no choice but to attack the missile batteries.

Today, there is no Syrian army in Lebanon. Nevertheless, Israel has long known that Damascus has been supplying Hezbollah with heavy 220-millimeter rockets. Despite that fact, in order to avoid extending the war's scope, the IDF has been told that Israel has no desire to involve Syria in the war - provided that Syria does not attack.

The two wars are even different in terms of modus operandi. In 1982, IDF divisions launched a ground offensive from the south, and Israeli forces were also brought in by naval craft so that they could reach Beirut and proceed northward to join up with the Phalangists. Today, the Israel Air Force and Military Intelligence are leading the offensive. The IAF can launch quicker, more precise strikes thanks to its guided weapons; furthermore, aerial attacks mean fewer casualties.

Yet the IAF alone obviously cannot solve all the problems, including the presence of thousands of rockets in Lebanon. Many people, including citizens of Arab states, understand that this time, Israel is facing not one Palestinian organization fighting for its nation's independence, but two radical Islamic terrorist organizations plus a state like Iran, which seek Israel's annihilation, and Syria besides.

Israel circa 2006 is trying to avoid repeating the mistakes it made in the 1982 war. Little wonder that many people today support Israel, in contrast to the past, when international public opinion was hostile to Israel. If Israel makes no substantive changes in its objectives, takes greater care to avoid harming the Lebanese people and keeps its operations to the proper proportions, the support it enjoys in the present war will continue unabated.

1982 versus 2006 (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741138.html)

Israel Will Accept a Disarmed Hezbollah
Envoy Talks of Future As a 'Political Group'

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 23, 2006; Page A13

The United States, Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have reluctantly concluded that despite punishing military attacks, Hezbollah is likely to survive as a political player in Lebanon, and Israel now says it is willing to accept the organization if it sheds its military wing and abandons extremism, according to several key officials.

"To the extent that it remains a political group, it will be acceptable to Israel," Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said yesterday in the strongest sign to date that the Israelis are rethinking the scope and ultimate goals of the campaign. "A political group means a party that is engaged in the political system in Lebanon, but without terrorism capabilities and fighting capabilities. That will be acceptable to Israel."

In a bid to contain Hezbollah, the United States is hoping to persuade Arab allies over the next week -- Saudi Arabia in talks today and Egypt and Jordan at an emergency meeting Wednesday in Rome -- to get Syria to stop arming, funding and facilitating Hezbollah's military operations, U.S. officials said.

Because Syria is also the physical conduit for all Iranian arms and personnel bound for Lebanon, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be pivotal to helping end the current hostilities and ensuring that Hezbollah's options are limited afterward.

The Bush administration's task is all the more difficult because of the state of its relations with Syria. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice does not plan to hold talks with Syria, include it in the emergency Rome meeting or travel to Damascus.

To end the bloody 16-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 1996, then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher shuttled for a week between Damascus and Jerusalem to produce a written agreement that lasted until this month. Today, relations are so chilly that the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, who was recalled last year, has been reassigned to Baghdad and will not return to Damascus.

In the long term, the United States and Israel hope that Hezbollah is discredited or marginalized politically, too; Lebanon and the Arab world hold it responsible for the July 12 cross-border raid and kidnappings of two soldiers that sparked the punishing Israeli response and widespread destruction, officials say.

Pressure has been mounting on Hezbollah's leadership. Israel has specifically targeted Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah as well as the group's headquarters and political offices. The international community has blamed Hezbollah for starting the crisis. And the Lebanese government has demanded that it disarm.

But Israeli, U.S., U.N. and European officials say they do not envision a solution in which Hezbollah is eliminated. Initial U.S., Israeli and U.N. assessments have concluded that Hezbollah's popularity among Lebanese Shiites is likely to remain significant -- and no one but the Shiites will be able to challenge its status, according to U.S. and U.N. officials.

"Whatever damage Israel's operation may be doing to Hezbollah's military capabilities, they are doing little or nothing to decrease popular support for Hezbollah in Lebanon or the region," U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday.

U.S. experts say Hezbollah's standing may even grow. "Just because many tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims may be living in tents does not mean that they are going to emerge from this war as a diminished political force in Lebanon. I expect the contrary to be true," said Augustus R. Norton, a former member of the U.N. force in Lebanon who now teaches at Boston University.

Hezbollah's future is a contentious issue within the Bush administration. Rice lashed out at the group Friday for violating "every conceivable international norm," as well as several U.N. resolutions, and for ignoring the Lebanese government. "You cannot have people with one foot in politics and one foot in terror," Rice told reporters.

Hezbollah is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, but the group, whose name means "party of God," has been elected to parliament in four democratic elections since 1992 and would be hard to squeeze out of Lebanon's complex political system, U.S. officials say. All 17 recognized sects are guaranteed a percentage of seats in parliament and government jobs.

"Ultimately, the question of Hezbollah has to be dealt with politically," a senior U.S. official said, speaking anonymously because of the new diplomatic effort. "If it disarms and abandons terrorism, it's fundamentally a different group."

"If we get rid of the missiles, then we have solved the problem of Israel," a senior European official said, "and Hezbollah will continue to exist as a political force."

Israel Will Accept a Disarmed Hezbollah (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR2006072200906.html?nav=rss_world)

Hezbollah eager to take on Israelis

By Dean Yates

AL QUDS: Hezbollah ambushes that have killed six Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon suggest the Israeli army, which appears poised for a massive ground invasion, will face a bloody fight driving the militia back from the frontier.

The guerrillas have spent much of the time since Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 following 22 years of occupation preparing for battle. Its fighters and arsenal are well dispersed in the region’s mountainous terrain, experts said.

“We are talking about hundreds of guerrillas, all of them well-trained, intensely motivated, and fighting autonomous of Hezbollah’s high command,” said Alon Ben-David, Israel analyst for Jane’s Defence Weekly.

“They are deployed in a Viet Cong-style network of trenches and tunnels, which allow them to emerge for quick Katyusha (rocket) or gun attacks and take cover again.”

The army confirmed on Friday that four soldiers were killed and several wounded in fierce clashes with Hezbollah on Thursday. Fighting took place in the village of Maroun al-Ras, near where two soldiers were killed on Wednesday.

Israel’s army has said it killed four Hezbollah fighters.

Despite the casualties, signs of a ground invasion are getting stronger with Israel’s offensive in its second week.

Israel warned residents to leave southern Lebanon on Friday while the army ordered thousands of reserves to report for duty.

Israel launched the campaign after Hezbollah captured two Israel soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid.

One Israeli political source said the casualties this week would concern the army but were unlikely to dent its determination to dislodge the guerrillas. Israel wants to drive Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon to end rocket attacks.

What has raised concern in Israel is that the forces already taking casualties while conducting small-scale ground attacks in southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah bunkers are highly trained elite units.

And despite more than a week of heavy artillery barrages and air strikes, Hezbollah rockets keep hitting northern Israel, though the number of missiles has dropped off.

The Maariv newspaper quoted senior military sources as saying Hezbollah’s forces in southern Lebanon had not been harmed significantly by the operations.

The guerrillas in the south are battle hardened, having largely forced Israel out of the country after a long conflict that cost the lives of 1,000 soldiers and thousands of Lebanese.

Hezbollah eager to take on Israelis (http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/23/int17.htm)

Middle East conflict will have consequences for Iran
(AFP)

23 July 2006

TEHERAN - Hezbollah’s battle against Israel has served as a timely reminder of Iran’s clout in the Middle East, and diplomats and analysts say the Islamic republic is set to reap or suffer the consequences of the conflict.

Although Iran’s leadership has denied any military or financial links to its fellow hardline Shiites in Lebanon, regime officials have for the past week been heaping praise on Hezbollah’s “heroes” for their “great job”.

“Hezbollah and other groups standing against world oppression have been and are under the influence of the late Imam Khomeini’s teachings and the Islamic revolution,” Kazem Jalali, a prominent Iranian MP, said of what he viewed as the legacy of Iran’s revolutionary founder.

“So there is moral relationship between them and the Islamic republic of Iran,” he told AFP, while being at pains not to cross the semantic line separating father-figure from financier.

But in Israel and many Western capitals, Hezbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers—the event which kicked off the assault on Lebanon—is viewed as being connected to a decision to refer the crisis over Iran’s disputed nuclear drive back to the UN Security Council.

Western diplomats say Iran has in recent months underlined its influence across the region in messages that had been taken as a warning not to confront the country’s atomic programme.

“The nuclear case has no relation to the events in Lebanon,” replied Jalali, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission.

“The real issue was Zionists trying to divert attention from its killing of innocent people and inhuman acts.”

Mohammad Sadeq al-Hosseini, an independent political analyst, suggested Iran was playing a risky game—even though he argued the Iran-Hezbollah relationship may not be as simple as both sides in the dispute claim.

“Hezbollah is holding the initiative, and it is Hezbollah that is drawing Iran towards itself rather than vice-versa,” he said.

“If Hezbollah wins, Iran can manoeuvre more on its nuclear case. If Hezbollah is weakened, Iran’s position will also be weakened.”

Analyst Hamid Jalaeipour, from Iran’s sidelined reformist camp, also viewed Lebanon as a proxy battlegound for Iran’s stand-off with the West.

“The United States, Britain and Israel are fighting the Islamic republic in Lebanon. In the short term they are aiming to paralyse Hezbollah... but they want to weaken Iran’s position in the region,” he said.

“Whether they will be able to do it or not is a different story, but I do not think the current situation is in Iran’s favour,” Jalaeipour added, underlining fears the conflict may yet widen.

This is view shared by many Western diplomats in Teheran.

“The danger is that more and more decision-makers in Washington and elsewhere draw the conclusion that Iran is the main problem in the region and that action needs to be taken,” a senior Western diplomat told AFP.

“Iran could come out in a stronger position if it dons the cap of a mediator, as it has been asked to do,” another Western envoy said. “If not, the prospect of a showdown between Iran and the Americans is sadly more likely.”

But if the commentaries in Iran’s hardline papers are anything to go by, the Islamic republic appears to be in no mood to settle for much less than Israel’s defeat.

“The myth of an undefeatable Israel has been thrown into the trash can of history by Hezbollah,” trumpeted Hossein Shariatmadari in an editorial for his hardline Kayhan newspaper.

“If there is ceasefire tomorrow, Israel will have witnessed an historical and huge defeat incomprehensible for any of the Zionists,” said the editor, who is appointed by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The United States is trying to impose a resolution on our nuclear case... and has unleashed its rabid dog named the Zionist regime,” noted the equally ultra-conservative Jomhuri Eslami daily.

“But the Islamic republic of Iran has shown it will stand against the world oppressor with all its power until a time when it is able to wipe out the Great Satan in the region, namely the Zionist regime.”

Middle East conflict will have consequences for Iran (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/July/middleeast_July469.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

Peres advances law to compensate northern residents

Since onset of fight, offices, factories and businesses in north have shut down. How will employees and companies survive the financial crisis? Vice Premier Peres to propose compensation law in Cabinet Sunday
Ronny Sofer

Vice Premier Shimon Peres will initiate legislation during Sunday’s cabinet meeting regarding compensation of roughly a million residents of the north and Haifa for damages incurred due to the war in Lebanon. The issue will be the central focus of this week’s cabinet meeting.

If the initiative is accepted, northern residents will be reimbursed for missed workdays and the closure of businesses, companies and factories. “The State of Israel is obligated to strengthen residents of the north, who are sitting in their shelters in accordance with the orders of the Home Front Command,” said Peres, who heads the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee.

For the twelfth day in a row, Israelis in the north have been confined to bomb shelters and secured rooms, in keeping with IDF directives. As a result, hundreds of thousands cannot reach their workplaces, and thousands of factories and businesses are not functioning. The financial losses could tally in the billions of shekels. Peres will ask his colleagues in the government to pass urgent legislation in the Knesset on the compensation issue, which will be raised in a special plenum meeting Tuesday.

PMO: Payments can't bankrupt government

Peres will propose that the law be advanced with the mutual agreement of the cabinet, Histadrut workers’ union and employers. On Sunday Peres plans to share with cabinet members the gist of the hundreds of appeals and phone calls to his office by distressed council heads, employers and workers in the north. According to the vice premier, many businesses are in danger of collapsing. Likewise, no solution has yet been found regarding reimbursing workers who cannot work due to the security situation.

Officials at the Prime Minister’s Office told Ynet that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was well aware of the financial crisis of the northern communities. The prime minister appointed the PMO Director General Raanan Dinor to head an inter-ministry team to deal with the issue. The aim is to compensate workers for wages lost on days they were prevented from working. With that, they clarified that the government cannot provide full, sweeping reimbursement for every claim of damages. “

Compensation will be given in the future, after a thorough examination of each and every claim. Civilians will also need to understand that the government can’t be bankrupted,” officials said.

The Finance Ministry said that Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson was establishing a special committee to suggest solutions for the payment of missed wages. Further, the ministry instructed that full wages be paid to government employees in the northern district for July, even if they missed workdays.

Peres advances law to compensate northern residents (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279863,00.html)

KARACHI: US, Israel held responsible for ME crisis

By Our Reporter

KARACHI, July 22: Representatives of civil society organisations, peace activist, thinkers, writers and analysts have expressed serious concern over derailment of Pakistan-India peace process and strongly condemned the continuing Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Palestinians.

Representatives of Pakistan Peace Coalition, Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, Pen for Peace, Irtiqa Institute for Social Sciences, HRCP, Women Action Forum, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, labour activists and senior journalists attended the meeting.

In a statement issued on Saturday, it was observed that reaction of the Indian government to the Mumbai train blasts and subsequent cancellation of foreign secretary-level meeting for a composite dialogue without having any concrete evidence or any serious investigations was a premature step which had caused a major setback to a feeble peace process between the two countries.

The participants noted that the opportunity was lost to review progress on Siachin and Sir Creek and other bilateral realm by calling off the secretary level talks by India. It was also noted that these talks had been stalled after the Indian military had openly advised against scaling down from Siachin.

In addition, the meeting also expressed concern over cancellation of the visits by Indian parliamentarians to Pakistan and a visit of Pakistani delegation of businessmen and industrialists to India and observed that such retrogressive steps would definitely serve the cause of anti-peace elements of both countries and consequently embolden extremists.

Stressing that the issue of terrorism in the region can only be dealt with through closer cooperation between the two governments, the peace activists pressed both India and Pakistan to observe restraint and work to strengthen peace process instead of indulging in anti-people and anti-peace exchanges.

It was observed that the decision of Pakistani government not to follow the agreements of SAFTA in its recently announced trade policy would unnecessarily delay the development of Saarc as a real instrument of regional cooperation.

The meeting also reviewed the evolving situation in the Middle East following Israeli attack on Lebanon and Palestine and observed that peace process in that region was totally destroyed and it appeared that the latest developments were part of a long-term hegemonic designs of both the US and Israel and held them responsible of the situation.

The participants were also critical of the US policy of opposing immediate cease fire in Lebanon and Gaza and for abetting and condoning Israeli brutality.

The meeting unanimously decided to hold a rally against Israeli aggression on Lebanon and Palestine in collaboration with Anti-War Coalition. The date for the rally will be finalised in consultation with the coalition representatives.

KARACHI: US, Israel held responsible for ME crisis (http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/23/local12.htm)

Rice heads to region, could seek to pry Syria from Iran
(DPA)

23 July 2006

WASHINGTON - With the Israeli offensive in Lebanon reaching its 12th day, a new diplomatic push for resolution was under way, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slated to depart Sunday for the region and Germany’s foreign minister already there.

Rice was expected to leave Sunday after meeting with top Saudi officials at the White House along with US President George W Bush to discuss the expanding crisis.

One possible strategy of Rice’s mission in the Middle East could be to try to pry Syria away from its close relations with Iran, The New York Times reported online in its Sunday edition.

The newspaper quoted Bush administration officials as saying they planned to urge Saudi Arabia and Egypt to pressure Syria to turn against the Hezbollah militia that now operates with backing from Damascus and Iran out of southern Lebanon.

“We think that the Syrians will listen to their Arab neighbours on this rather than us, so it’s all a question of how well that can be orchestrated,” the New York Times quoted one official as saying.

The initiative comes as Israel troops were amassing on the Lebanon border for a possible invasion. The army claimed on Saturday it had ousted Hezbollah militia from the strategically important border village of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah declared it had destroyed three Israeli tanks.

Israel dropped leaflets on Southern Lebanon, warning residents to evacuate.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and the head of the Saudi National Security Council, Prince Bandar, are to be present at Sunday’s White House meeting. The meeting took place at the request of the Syrians, the Times said.

Saudi Arabia has condemned Hezbollah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, which sparked the large scale Israeli assault that led to the crisis, but also faces increasing criticism in the Arab world for its stance.

In the first direct US diplomatic initiative, Rice is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday. She will also travel to Rome to meet with the “Lebanon core group,” which consists of US, UN, European and Middle East officials.

Earlier Saturday, Bush made clear in his weekly radio address that ending the spiralling conflict could only be achieved by ”confronting” militant group Hezbollah, as well as Syria and Iran which support it.

“Secretary Rice will make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it,” Bush said in a radio address Saturday morning.

On Friday, Rice insisted she will not accept a solution that will return the region to the status quo. The US does not want a settlement that leaves an armed Hezbollah in a future position that would allow it provoke a crisis like the one that erupted last week and left the region in turmoil.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met Saturday in Egypt with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and was to meet with Olmert and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Sunday.

A United Nations delegation and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana have already met Israeli officials over the past week.

After being briefed by the UN envoys, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Thursday that the outlook for an imminent ceasefire was dim. He has called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow help for the Lebanese people trapped by an Israeli blockade. An estimated 300 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli attacks.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to come to Washington on Friday, the second time in less than two months, to consult on efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Earlier Saturday, Bush, who is at his home in Crawford, Texas, until Sunday, held a phone discussion with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the Lebanese crisis.

Also on Saturday, The New York Times reported that the Bush administration had sped up its delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, as part of a purchase it made last year.

Rice heads to region, could seek to pry Syria from Iran (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/July/middleeast_July470.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

Of course here is Kuwait..................... ::)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Israel alone does not have right to use force

By Ahmad Khalidi
Much has been made in recent days - at the G8 summit and elsewhere - of Israel's right to retaliate against the capture of its soldiers, or attacks on its troops on its own sovereign territory. Some, such as those in the US administration, seem to believe that Israel has an unqualified licence to hit back at its enemies no matter what the cost. And even those willing to recognise that there may be a problem tend to couch it in terms of Israel's "disproportionate use of force" rather than its basic right to take military action. But what is at stake here is not proportionality or the issue of self-defence, but symmetry and equivalence.
Israel is staking a claim to the exclusive use of force as an instrument of policy and punishment, and is seeking to deny any opposing state or non-state actor a similar right. It is also largely succeeding in portraying its own "right to self-defence" as beyond question, while denying anyone else the same. And the international community is effectively endorsing Israel's stance on both counts. From an Arab point of view this cannot be right. There is no reason in the world why Israel should be able to enter Arab sovereign soil to occupy, destroy, kidnap and eliminate its perceived foes - repeatedly, with impunity and without restraint - while the Arab side cannot do the same.
And if the Arab states are unable or unwilling to do so then the job should fall to those who can. It is important to bear in mind that in both the case of the Hamas raid that led to the invasion of Gaza and the Hezbollah attack that led to the assault on Lebanon it was Israel's regular armed forces, not its civilians, that were targeted. It is hard to see how this can be filed under the rubric of "terrorism", rather than a straightforward tactical defeat for Israel's much-vaunted military machine; one that Israel seems loathe to acknowledge.
Some of this has to do with the paradox of power: the stronger the Israeli army becomes, the more susceptible and vulnerable it becomes to even a minor setback. The loss of even one tank, the capture of one soldier or damage done to one warship has a negative- multiplier effect: Israel's "deterrent" power is dented out of all proportion to the act itself. Israel's retaliation is thus partly a matter of restoring its deterrence, partly sheer vengeance, and partly an attempt to compel its adversaries to do its bidding.
But there is also something else at work: Israel's fear of acknowledging any form of equivalence between the two sides. And it is precisely this that seems to provide the moral and psychological underpinning for Israel's ongoing assault in both Gaza and Lebanon - the sense that it may have met its match in audacity, tactical ingenuity and "clean" military action from an adversary who may even have learned a thing or two from Israel itself, and may be capable of learning even more in the future. There has of course been nothing "clean" about Israeli military action throughout the many decades of conflict in Palestine and Lebanon. Israel's wanton disregard for civilian life during the past few days is neither new nor out of character.
For those complaining about violations of Israeli sovereignty by Hezbollah or Hamas, it may be useful to recall the tens of thousands of Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty since the late 60s, the massive air raids of the mid-70s and early 80s, the 1978 and 1982 invasions and occupation of the capital Beirut, the hundreds of thousands of refugees, the 28-year-old buffer zone and proxy force set up in southern Lebanon, the assassinations, car bombs, and massacres, and finally the continuing violations of Lebanese soil, airspace and territorial waters and the detention of Lebanese prisoners even after Israel's withdrawal in 2000.
It is unnecessary here to recount the full range of Israel's violations of Palestinian "sovereignty", not least of which is its recent refusal to accept the sovereign electoral choice of the Palestinian people. Israel's extraterritorial, extrajudicial execution of Palestinian leaders and activists began in the early 70s and has not ceased since. But for those seeking further enlightenment about Hamas' recent action, the fact is that some 650,000 acts of imprisonment have taken place since the occupation began in 1967, and that 9,000 Palestinians are currently in Israel's jails, including some 50 old-timers incarcerated before and despite the 1993 Oslo accords, and many others whom Israel refuses to release on the grounds that they have "blood on their hands", as if only one side in this conflict was culpable, or the value of one kind of human blood was superior to another.
If there ever was a case for establishing some form of mutually acknowledged parity regarding the ground rules of the conflict, Hamas and Hezbollah have a good one to make. And if there ever was a case for demonstrating that what is good on one side of the border should also good on the other, Hamas and Hezbollah's logic has strong appeal to Arab and Muslim public opinion - regardless of what the supine Arab state system may say. Indeed as George Bush and other western leaders splutter on about freedom, democracy, and Israel's right to defend itself, Tony Blair's repeated claim that events in the region should not be linked to terrible events elsewhere is looking increasingly fatuous.
The slowly expanding war in Afghanistan, the devastation of Iraq, the death and destruction in Gaza and the bombing of Beirut are all providing a slow but sure drip feed for those who believe that the west is incapable of taking a balanced moral stance, and is directly or indirectly complicit in a design meant to break Arab and Muslim will and subjugate it to untrammelled Israeli force. Contrary to what Blair seems to believe, the use of force is unlikely to breed western style-liberalism and moderation. What is at issue here is not democracy but the right to resist Israeli arrogance and be treated on a par with it in every respect, including the use of force. If Israel has the right to "defend itself" then so has everyone else.
Furthermore, there is nothing in the history of the region to suggest that Israel's destruction of mass popular movements such as Hamas or Hezbollah (even if this were possible) would drive their successors closer to western-style democracy, and every reason to believe the opposite. Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 did away with the PLO and produced Hezbollah instead, the incarceration and elimination of Arafat only served to strengthen Hamas, and the wars in Afghanistan, the Gulf and Iraq gave birth to Bin Ladenist terrorism and extended its reach and appeal.
And we should not be surprised if the summer of 2006 produces more of the same. However Israel's latest adventure ends, it will not produce greater sympathy and understanding between west and east, or a downturn in extremism. Indeed the most likely outcome is that a new wave of virulent and possibly unconventional anti-western terrorism may well crash against this and other shores. We will all - Israelis, Arabs and westerners - suffer as a result.

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/analysis.asp?dismode=article&artid=1144016887

Diplomatic flurry in Israel over Lebanon war

By Matthew Tostevin 33 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Envoys from three European countries joined intensifying diplomacy in Israel on Sunday aimed at ending fighting between Israeli forces and Hizbollah that has wrecked swathes of Lebanon and left hundreds dead.

Ministers from France, Germany and Britain are all due to hold separate talks with Israeli officials ahead of the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who heads for the Middle East on Sunday.

European countries have been far more critical of Israel's offensive than its main ally, the United States, which has resisted growing calls for a ceasefire and made clear that it blames Iranian-backed Hizbollah for the crisis.

Few expect diplomacy to deliver swift results and an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday that Israeli officials believe they have a green light from Washington to continue the onslaught on Hizbollah for at least another week.

Israeli attacks aimed at Hizbollah have killed some 357 Lebanese, most of them civilians, since the guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. Israeli troops have edged into southern Lebanon.

A total of 35 Israelis have died, 15 of them civilians killed by Hizbollah rockets rained on the north of the country.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British Foreign Office minister Kim Howells will all hold meetings with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other senior officials.

In Cairo on Saturday before flying to Israel, Douste-Blazy reiterated France's call for an immediate ceasefire.

"If not, it will be the destruction of the Lebanese state," he said.

Howells, who during a stop in Beirut delivered Britain's strongest criticism yet of Israeli attacks, said: "We want to find a way to resolve this crisis as soon as possible."

Rice has said that an immediate ceasefire would produce a "false promise" that would allow Hizbollah to re-emerge to attack Israel instead of disarming the group, as foreseen under a U.N. resolution, and removing it from the border.

Foreign ministers from the world's most powerful countries and Arab states are due to hold an emergency meeting in Rome on Wednesday to discuss the crisis. No decision on international action is likely before that.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper said: "Senior officials believe Israel has an American nod to continue operations against Hizbollah at least until next Sunday."

Diplomatic flurry in Israel over Lebanon war (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060723/ts_nm/mideast_diplomacy_dc)

Let Israel exercise its right to defense

N ow that there's nearly unanimous international agreement that Israel has a right to defend itself, the question becomes: How much "defense" will the world tolerate?

Already, the cries that Israel is wreaking a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon, wantonly killing innocents and destroying homes and infrastructure, are reaching a hysterical pitch. Calls for an immediate cease-fire are coming from all of the usual squeamish corners.

But to halt Israel in its pursuit of Hezbollah before it dismantles the terrorist group's military support network in southern Lebanon and breaks its stranglehold on that country would be to leave Israel and the Lebanese people as vulnerable as they were before the fighting began.

A premature peace must be resisted, for Israel's sake, for Lebanon's sake, and for the sake of the broader war against Islamic extremism. In crushing Hezbollah, Israel is carrying the water of the West and of the moderate Arab regimes, which recognize the growing power and influence of Iran, Syria and their Islamist surrogates threatens their existence as well.

That's why Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others in the region for the first time affirmed Israel's right and responsibility to respond to acts of terrorism. And why even the European leaders finally dropped their thoroughly discredited moral equivalency stance and put the blame for Middle East violence where it belongs, on the terrorists.

As always, the devil is in the details. Exactly how far will Israel be allowed to go to ensure its safety?

Give Israel a free hand

When the smoke clears, Israel must have a wide buffer between itself and Hezbollah's Iranian supplied rockets. If Lebanon can't guarantee that safe space, then Israel must be free to do it itself. The current fighting has revealed that Hezbollah is armed with missiles far more powerful than previously thought. That makes pushing it back essential to Israel's defense.

There also must be sign-off on Israel's need to separate itself from the hostiles on its borders. Israel is the most precariously positioned country in the world, nearly surrounded by those openly committed to its destruction.

Compounding the hazard is Israel's tiny size. It's less than one-sixth the area of Michigan, with roughly the same amount of people. The enemy is always within shooting distance. If nothing else, we have relearned during the past two weeks that as long as there are Jews in the Middle East, someone will try to kill them. Israel should not be denied any tool that will keep out the would-be murderers, including and especially the security fence.

And most vital for defensive purposes, there must be recognition that Israel can't be asked to negotiate with terrorists or make any concessions to the demands of terrorist groups, including Hamas.

Before there can be a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict, the Palestinian people must rid themselves of the Hamas terrorist curse and truly accept Israel's right to exist.

That's what it means to say that Israel has a right to defend itself. An effective defense will inevitably be bloody, and likely brutal. It won't be pretty to watch.

But anything less will bring closer the Islamists' dream of a map without Israel.

Let Israel exercise its right to defense (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060723/OPINION03/607230347/1008/OPINION01&template=printart)

Iran, Portugal discuss crisis in Lebanon
Madrid, July 22, IRNA

Portugal-Lebanon-Crisis
Iran's Ambassador to Lisbon Mohammad Taheri in a meeting with the head of Portuguese Socialist Party Antonio Santos discussed the crisis in Lebanon and ways to end the brutal attacks of the Zionist regime on the country.

According to a report released by the Media Department of Iranian Embassy in Lisbon, at the meeting held in Lisbon on Friday, Taheri called for serious action of the European Union to prevent a human disaster in the Middle East.

"The racist Israeli regime has attacked civilians in Lebanon and Palestine, destroyed their economic infrastructures and has inflicted endless pain and suffering on the oppressed people of the region.

"The Zionist regime violated all international as well as human laws and should be condemned for the crimes they have committed," he added.

For his part, Santos expressed concern over the growing trend of the conflict in the Middle East resulting in the deaths of innocent people and called on the parties involved in the ongoing war to end military operations.

"Portugal underlines that attacks should end soon and the issue should be resolved through talks. The release of captive Israeli soldiers as well as Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners should be discussed," he added.

Santos hoped that the EU along with the United Nations and world countries will approve a resolution on ending the current conflict and violence in the region as well as enforcement of cease- fire.

Turning to a draft-bill approved by Portuguese Parliament on the issue, he said that according to it, the government should do its best to end the atrocities in the Middle East and start talks on a sustainable peace.

Military attacks of the Zionist regime on Lebanon over the past 10 days, resulted in the death of hundreds of Lebanese defenseless people.

Meanwhile, thousands others have been wounded and the infrastructural installations of Lebanon have been destroyed.

Though Israel's barbaric measures has been condemned by the world public opinion, including that of the European states, their governments have not yet taken any effective step to stop the attacks of the Zionist regime.

Iran, Portugal discuss crisis in Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0607235190011325.htm)

US trying to sabotage alliance between Syria, Iran?

American government sources say US attempts to loosen ties between Syria, Iran, Hizbullah, New York Times reports. White House to appeal indirectly, through Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON - The Bush government is trying to stick a wedge between Syria and Iran, using pressure from neighboring Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, the New York Times reported Sunday.

US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are expected to meet with Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud al-Faisal and head of the National Security Council Prince Bandar, in preparation for Rice's trip to Israel. According to the report, Bush will exert pressure on the Saudis to help him in his plan.

The Times report claims that Bush is searching for ways to sabotage the Iran-Syria relationship, but has no intention of appealing to Syria directly. In contrast to the American approach in the past, for example regarding the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, this time, US ambassador to Syria Margaret Scobey has not been returned to the United States for consultation.

The Syrian ambassador to the US Imad Mustafa, was recently described as the loneliest ambassador in Washington. In an interview this week, Mustafa admitted that the US government does not approach him at all.

US government sources explained that they are trying a new approach, in which Saudi Arabia and Egypt will try to influence Syria to stop their support of Hizbullah.

To advance this new line of attack, a meeting will be held in the White House with senior Saudi officials, where Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, and Rice will be able to examine Saudi willingness to participate in such a matter.

It seems that the leak to the Times is an attempt to sow the seeds for an effective meeting.

"We think that the Syrians will listen to their Arab neighbors much more than they would listen to us," said a government source.

Arab and Muslim pressure on Syria

Bush's objective is to convince Syria to abandon its alliance with Iran and Hizbullah. It is unclear which incentives the US will be willing to extend to Syria in exchange for severing ties with Iran and the terror organization, but Washington sources say that Syria definitely has more to lose than Iran.

Saturday night, in a weekly radio address, Bush blamed Iran and Syria for direct involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah. Later, the president spoke on the telephone with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The formal purpose of the conversation was to facilitate humanitarian aid to Lebanon and examine potential Turkish involvement in a multinational force in Southern Lebanon. However, given that Turkey has ties to Syria, it is possible that the real reason behind the chat was to promote Bush's plan vis-à-vis Arab and Muslim pressure on Syria.

Diplomats in the know say that Syrian President Bashar Assad has recently started avoiding calls from Arab leaders who wish to express their concerns about Hizbullah actions.

American State Department sources claimed that the US has begun talking to Syria in an attempt to bring the crisis to an end, although Rice has no intention of meeting with Syrian leaders during her upcoming trip to the Middle East.

US trying to sabotage alliance between Syria, Iran? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279899,00.html)

Rocket barrage hits Galilee area

Katyushas land in open areas, no injuries reported. More than 150 rockets hit northern communities Saturday, seriously wounding 40-year-old woman in Safed. Another person seriously injured in Carmiel; Nahariya resident moderately hurt
Hagai Einav

IDF operates in Lebanon, Katyusha fire continues: A rocket barrage hit an open area near Rosh Pina at 6:40 a.m. Sunday. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

A Katyusha barrage also landed on the western part of the northern border. There were no reported of injuries or damage in this incident as well.

At around 7 a.m., a rocket barrage rocked the Upper Galilee communities, near the northern border. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

A massive barrage of 25 rockets hit Israel's northern communities Saturday evening. Two people were seriously injured in the attacks, one sustained moderate wounds and many others were lightly hurt. Some 35 people were evacuated to the Nahariya hospital.

The northern communities faced a heavy barrage of rockets throughout the weekend. At least 150 rockets hit the area Saturday, 54 of them hitting Nahariya, 34 hitting Carmiel, and 26 hitting Kiryat Shmona.

One of the Katyushas that landed in Carmiel directly hit a vehicle. It was unclear whether the local man hurt in the attack was in the car at the time the rocket struck, or if he was nearby and hurt by shrapnel. A Magen David Adom team evacuated the man to the Nahariya hospital.

MDA Director-General Eli Bin, who arrived at the place shortly after the strike, said: "It appears as if the car sustained a direct hit, the entire vehicle is in pieces. The teams that were dispatched to the place provided assistance in this and in other scenes."

A Nahariya building that had already been hit once this week, weas struck again Saturday.

A resident of a nearby building, Yavgeni, told Ynet: "This is the fourth time that rockets have landed in our neighborhood, and the second time the same building is being hit. It's only a miracle no one was killed. My family and two other families are planning on leaving town today. I hope that the IDF kicks Hizbullah's butt and enable us to return home safely within a few days."

674 wounded since fighting began

A 40 year-old woman was seriously injured when a rocket directly hit her Safed home. One of the woman's children sustained moderate wounds, while her husband and second child escaped with only light injuries.

A Carmiel resident sustained serious injuries after rockets fell on the town. A massive barrage of 10 rockets within five minutes hit Nahariya. One person was moderately injured and a girl sustained light injuries. At least 11 other people were treated for shock.

Additional barrages landed in Rosh Pina and Hatzor Haglilit. Sirens were activated in Haifa, in all the Western Galilee, in Afula, in Nazareth and in Migdal Haemek. Dozens of people were hurt since Saturday morning.

Magen David Adom rescue services concluded the number of casualties since the beginning of the fighting in the north: Twenty-eight killed (including soldiers), 674 people wounded, 14 of them sustaining serious wounds, 31 sustaining moderate wounds, 204 lightly injured and 397 treated for shock.

Rocket barrage hits Galilee area (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279888,00.html)

Israel still receives European press backing

Even into second week of Israeli-Hizbullah conflict, Israel receives lion's share of European press backing for its fight. Many journalists and newspapers, however, call for restraint on behalf of Israel to minimize civilian casualties
Ashley Perry, EJP

Even into the second week of the Israeli-Hizbullah conflict, Israel has been receiving the lion's share of European press backing for its fight. However, many journalists and newspapers have called for restraint on behalf of Israel to minimize civilian casualties.

The Italian Corriere della Sera, which has staunchly backed Israel's defense in the past, has continued to do so and even pointed out the fallacy of those who claim that Israel's response to Hizbullah is disproportionate.

Il Messaggero, however, has taken a different line saying "Speed is of the essence, in order to weaken the war between Israel and Hizbullah before it's too late.”

Blaming extremism and radicalization

Austria's Kurierblas has blamed the events in Middle East on Islamic extremism and opined that Arab leaders have to act to prevent further radicalization.

The paper called for social development in Arab countries, saying that "only then can extremist Islam…be stopped."

Otherwise, concluded the paper, the extremists will "write the next chapter in the history of the Middle East – and it will be another bloody one."

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung took a more even-handed approach, saying a cease-fire can not be achieved "as long as Hizbullah doesn't surrender there and the missiles into Haifa are celebrated as a victory, or as long as Israel doesn't reach its military goal -- these are two sides of the same coin."

The Times of London said: "The parameters of the current crisis are simple. Iran, with help from Syria, is trying to maximize its influence. Its arming of Hizbullah with rockets that can reach deep into Israel gives the radical militia group, and ultimately Teheran, the power to sabotage any peace plan."

The most popular British newspaper, The Sun published a sympathetic article about two young Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon titled 'We are sick of terrorism'. The article commented about the youngsters "bum fluff" beards and how if they were British teenagers "they would be eagerly awaiting A-Level results."

Not all positive

Irish newspaper Forfás decried Ireland's ever decreasing dependency on oil and how it is affected by the Middle East.

"As the bombs fall on northern Israel and Lebanon and as the oil price rises, we need to start thinking about the kind of future we are going back to," Forfás wrote.

The French papers, on the whole, have been in favor of French President Chirac's mediation efforts. Le Monde said Chirac's effort "is without a doubt the most legitimate policy." Liberation and Le Figaro both deplored America's seeming unwillingness to step in and attempt to end the conflict.

Finland's Swedish-language daily Helsinki Hufvudstadsbladet made absurd accusations bordering on anti-Semitic against Israel's offensive, claiming "Jewish life is worth more than Muslim (life). An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is not enough; it is meted out as eyes for an eye and teeth for a tooth."

Israel still receives European press backing (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279956,00.html)

Man seriously wounded in Akko; rocket barrage on Haifa

One man seriously injured after being hit by rocket in Akko; two lightly hurt by barrage fired at Upper Galilee; two more lightly injured in rocket attack near Tiberias. At around 5 p.m. rocket strikes apartment building in Haifa area; six lightly injured. Earlier Sunday, two people killed in Haifa rocket attack
Ahiya Raved

Shortly after 5 p.m. a rocket struck an apartment building in the Haifa area and ignited a fire, which was extingusihed by firefighters; six people were lightly hurt in the attack.

Police officer Ahuva Tomer said, “The rocket hit the building’s gas balloons and entered the structures bottom level. There was no siren – we look into it later.”

Rocket attack in Nesher

Shoshana Diamant, 60, whose apartment was damaged, said “All of the windows were shattered. There was destruction outside as well; a fire broke out, everything blew up.”

Firchah Sheetrit, whose home was also struck in the attack, said ‘whenever the siren goes off I get scared. I sit at my home all alone and my blood pressure rises; I haven’t been felling well for a few days now.”

Earlier one man was seriously injured after being hit by a rocket in Akko. In Kiryat Shmona two rockets directly hit houses. Two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel. A short while later three rocket landed in open fields near Tiberias; two people sustained light injuries.

Avi Feldheim, who works in Akko, told Ynet: "I heard a siren followed by two blasts. I saw smoke in one of the places in the city. Now the smoke has ascended, apparently a fire hasn't started there."

The siren was heard at around 3 p.m. across Haifa, the surrounding areas, Hatzor, Rosh Pina, Safed and Akko. Police reported that no rockets hit Haifa and the surrounding areas. Residents were called to enter reinforced rooms.

On Sunday morning, two people were killed and 17 were wounded after rockets hit several places in Haifa.

From the onset of the fighting in the north, 12 days ago, 37 Israelis have been killed.

The rocket that hit the Ramot Yitzhak neighborhood in the Nesher suburb of Haifa penetrated directly into Zohar Bernstein's living room, and created a huge hole in the middle of her home. The hit caused structural damage to the apartment and caused the windows to break.

Demolished carpentry shop

"We were in an inner room," Zohar said. "We purposely weren't in the fortified room, because it is actually on the outer side of the apartment. Thankfully, I wasn't injured. My son and I were in the apartment, but we got out without injuries. I didn't understand at first that the rocket had hit my home directly."

Bernstein was scared and upset and, in response to the question of whether he would remain in his home, he said: "Apparently not."

The apartment itself was completely wrecked. A security official who arrived at the apartment removed part of the rocket from the living room.

Deadly hit near Haifa

An employee of a carpentry shop near Haifa was killed after being directly hit by a rocket. The place suffered great damage. The other workers said that they had began running toward the reinforced room when the missiles began falling. Some of them failed to reach the room and were hurt by shrapnel. One worker was seriously injured and other were lightly hurt.

"We won’t let them break us. We will overcome and will be strong. At the end everything will be okay," the carpentry shop's owner told Ynet.

The shop owner was at the time of the hit in his office located on the second floor.

"We heard the siren, I yelled at everyone to run to the reinforced room. This is a 2,000-meter (6,562-feet) factory, everyone ran, and the worker who reached the entrance first was hit by the missile and was killed, apparently on the spot," he recounted.

The owner, whose four children work with him in the carpentry shop, began searching for them and for his workers.

"I began looking for everyone. My daughter was in shock and began crying. I understood I had an injured worker, and apart from that I saw the rest of the workers in shock but not hurt," he said.

Carpentry shop hit in Kiryat Ata

The sales manager of an adjacent business heard the noise of the blast and hurried to the location to see if anyone was hurt.

"We wanted to return to our daily routines, but then I heard an explosion and I understood that a rocket had fallen five or six meters (16 or 19 miles) from me. Simultaneously, windows in my building began to explode. I ran in order to see if anyone was hurt and then I saw a man running outside with a stream of blood coming out of his ear. I hurried to him, stopped the blood flow and pressed down on his ear. I didn't let go until MDA arrived," he recounted.

"The whole time, I tried to keep him awake: I tried to cheer him up, asked how old he was, if he was married. He said he was married, with children, and I told him that he had to hold on for their sake," he added.

Pursuant to the event, Kiryat Ata Mayor Yaakov Peretz said that he intends to reexamine the IDF Home Front Command's suggestion that city residents return to business as usual and, instead, recommend that only workers deemed critical by the local authorities continue to go to work.

"There's no reason for additional people to get hurt as they did today in Kiryat Ata and a week ago in the train depot," he said.

Man seriously wounded in Akko; rocket barrage on Haifa (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280144,00.html)

Shin Bet: Prepare for mini-Lebanon in Gaza

General Security Service Chief Yuval Diskin tells cabinet ‘if we don’t make significant change in Gaza, such as block arms smuggling routes and stifle Hamas’ attempts at improving its capabilities, situation in Gaza will be similar to that in Lebanon’; IDF Intelligence chief: Palestinians deeply influenced by Israel’s reaction to Hizbullah rocket attacks
Ronny Sofer

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin told cabinet ministers Sunday that “a very problematic situation is being created in Gaza. Within the next two to three years, barring any major changes, we may find ourselves in a Hizbullah-type situation, meaning bunkers, underground tunnels, infrastructure and dangerous weapons.”

Diskin added: If we don’t make a significant change, such as block the arms smuggling routes, including Philadelphi, stifle Hamas’ attempts at improving its capabilities via an alternative Palestinian government, the situation in Gaza will be similar to that in Lebanon.”

Diskin’s comments came apparently in the wake of the recent criticism directed against the security establishment for not warning on Hizbullah’s rocket arsenal in time.

Diskin said that extreme pressure is being exerted on terror group leaders, including Hamas’ political leader Khaled Mashal, to carry out attacks in Israel. He said that prisoners in Israel and their relatives are also being pressured into carrying out attacks as acts of protest against Israel’s operation in Lebanon, adding that the Palestinian security services have been highly weakened as of late.

IDF Intelligence Chief Major General Amos Yadlin told government ministers that the Palestinians are deeply influenced by Israel’s reaction to the Hizbullah rocket attacks, and warned that the Lebanese group and Hamas will do everything in their power to carry out a major terror attack in Israel from Lebanon, Gaza or the West Bank.”

Shin Bet: Prepare for mini-Lebanon in Gaza (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280251,00.html)

Israel not ruling out European force in Lebanon

Olmert tells German foreign minister he would consider permitting deployment of experienced European military force in Lebanon, adding that such a force would have to assist Lebanese government in implementing UN Resolution 1559, which calls for Hizbullah’s disarmament
Ronny Sofer

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday that Israel would consider permitting the deployment of an experienced European military force in Lebanon.

The prime minister added that such a force would have to control passages between Syria and Lebanon, deploy along the Lebanese-Israel border and assist the Lebanese army, especially in case it implements UN Resolution 1559 and works to disarm Hizbullah.

Israel is not ruling out the possibility that Lebanon, headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, will serve as a mediator in negotiations with Hizbullah. Officials in Jerusalem are looking into this possibility to enhance talks on the release of kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office didn't pin their hopes on a possible Lebanese channel. "We heard comments by the Lebanese parliament speaker, were heard their foreign minister who reported that the kidnapped are well. But a political process is far away. If there is a process it is not ripe yet. These are Lebanese declarations. We didn't hear that Hizbullah is responsible for these things," they said.

Livni: Crisis is test for international community

Speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke of the diplomatic efforts: "Today the French and German foreign ministers and the British minister for Middle East affairs visited and the Congress Intelligence Committee was here and a support group from Europe was here. Tomorrow Condoleezza Rice is here, and next week the Finnish foreign minister, the European Union's Foreign Affairs Commissioner, and the deputy Russian foreign minister are expected to visit and therefore we will have a week of dynamic diplomacy."

Livni said that the military operation and the diplomatic process do not contradict one another: "It is important to say – since I hear discussion about whether it is time for diplomacy – that there is no tension between the two processes, the political and the military, and it is worth it to change some of the terms from the past or process we were used to from the past. In the past they used to see the diplomatic process as gaining time for the army. Or alternatively a kind of negotiations between two sides at the end of which there a ceasefire and that's it. I see things differently, and therefore I though it is good to start these processes while the military operation is being carried out."

The foreign minister said that "in the day after, my job is to make sure that this territory is clean for a long time. I see it my responsibility to make sure that Hizbullah will not be armed again in the past. Talks aim at preserving the achievements of the army."

She added that Israel wants to see a strong government in Lebanon. "When a terror organization is working beside the government, the situation is intolerable. Claims by the Lebanese government that it cannot implement resolution 1559 are weak because it is unable to impose its sovereignty. And therefore we not only facing a test for Lebanon and Israel but a test for the international community."

Israel not ruling out European force in Lebanon (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280328,00.html)

Rocket Barrages Continue to Rake the North
19:20 Jul 23, '06 / 27 Tammuz 5766
by Hana Levi Julian

More than 20 rockets were fired in a mid-afternoon barrage on Sunday that sent residents in the north racing for shelters and safe rooms across the Galilee.

Sirens continued to blare in northern communities from the Mediterranean Coast to the interior as Hizbullah terrorists fired rockets at numerous areas south of the Lebanese border, specifically targeting Akko, Tzfat, Tiberias and Kiryat Shemona.

In Akko one person was seriously injured in the Katyusha attack and another was treated for shock. Both were taken to Nahariya Hospital. A rocket fell between two houses in Kiryat Shemona, lightly injuring one person there.

Two rockets fell in open areas near Rosh Pina. No one was injured and no damage was reported. Two rockets also fell in Tiberius and several more in Tzfat. No injuries or damage was reported.

At least two people were killed and tens more injured in attacks in the Haifa area. In the morning and 12 were injured, one critically, in a massive Hizbullah terrorist attack on the area. Five separate areas were targeted in the attack, including Haifa, the Krayiot suburbs and Carmiel. Ten explosions were heard in the area one minute after the air raid siren sounded.

The attack began just minutes after French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy left the area. Douste-Blazy was in Haifa for talks with the mayor and other city officials before meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Police said one rocket struck a car and hurled it into the opposite lane, killing the driver with severe shrapnel wounds to his upper body and injuring two passengers. A second person was killed when he was hit by a missile while running to the shelter at the Kiryat Ata carpentry shop where he worked. His three co-workers made it to safety.

Other missiles hit Carmiel, with a child lightly injured in the attack. Rosh Pina also suffered a barrage of rockets in the early morning, with no reports of injuries or damage from the city.

For the first time, sirens also blared in Zichron Yaakov and Binyamina, but rockets did not land in either of the towns.

Rocket Barrages Continue to Rake the North (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108135)

IDF Conquers Hizbullah Strongholds, Continues Onward
16:20 Jul 23, '06 / 27 Tammuz 5766
by Ezra HaLevi

IDF forces conquered Hizbullah strongholds, destroyed missiles batteries and located missile caches inside a mosque over the weekend and early Sunday.

IDF forces took a ridge overlooking the Hizbullah stronghold of Bint J’bail Sunday. The village is northwest of Maroun A-Ras, the site of heavy battles, which was conquered over the Sabbath.

Maroun A-Ras was taken by IDF ground troops Saturday after days of fierce battles in the area. The Hizbullah bunkers in, around and below the village have all been raided and the IDF has now stationed troops in the village. Security forces in the area report they found scores of Katyusha shells, missile storage rooms and missile-launchers concealed in the village's mosque.

In addition to all residents of Lebanon living south of the Litani Rover, members of ten additional villages from which rockets have been fired were warned to evacuate their homes by 7 PM Saturday, ahead of IAF air strikes.

The Sayed al-Zahra facility in Sidon, run by a Hizbullah associated Islamic leader, was directly hit. This was the first time a target was hit in Sidon. Beirut was also hit early Sunday morning, with Hizbullah’s strongholds south of the city bearing the brunt of IAF bombs. A Hizbullah compound in Baal Beck was also struck, and the nearby Nabi Sheet.

Over the weekend, air strikes in Lebanon destroyed a building described as “Hizbullah Headquarters,” a half-dozen missile launchers, communications lines and a cache of long-range missiles, anti-tank missiles and guns. Several television broadcast facilities were also hit, presumably due to their complicity in broadcasting Hizbullah's Al-Manar television channel.

More than 1,800 targets have been hit by Israel's Air Force since the beginning of the Reengagement War.

Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said the air strikes will continue as long as they have to. "It takes time to hit at terrorism," he told reporters Friday. "We will fight terror wherever it is, because if we do not fight it, it will fight us - if we don't reach it, it will reach us."

Halutz added that Hizbullah has made a practice of using mosques to hide their Katyusha missile launchers.

Thousands of Israelis received their Tzav Shmoneh emergency call-up orders Thursday evening. Most will be taking the place of members of the standing army who will be headed into Lebanon in what the IDF brass is calling a limited ground invasion. As a result, in addition to the two million Israelis who spent this past Sabbath away from their northern homes or in bomb shelters, thousands more made due without their fathers and sons.

Responding to the extensive coverage of recent IDF casualities in both the print and televised media, IDF Commander of the North Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam urged Israelis to refrain from shedding tears for the fallen until the war is won.

"We have to change our way of thinking," he said. "Human life is important but we are at war and it costs human lives. We won't count the dead at present, only at the end. We'll cry for the dead and will encourage their brothers in arms. There are more places like Meron A-Ras, and unfortunately we'll have to reach them."

Asked the common question voiced by Israel's media - whether the IDF will become "bogged down in the Lebanese mud" - Maj.-Gen. Adam urged Israelis to exercise patience. "This is not a short story," he warned, "but it will not be never-ending either."

Meanwhile, in his weekly radio address, US President George W. Bush reassured those concerned that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's upcoming visit is intended to pressure Israel that Rice would "make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it."

Bush, referring to Syria and Iran, added: "Their actions threaten the entire Middle East and stand in the way of resolving the current crisis and bringing lasting peace to this troubled region."

MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz), who is advocating immediate negotiations with Hizbullah, responded to Bush's statements that forcing an early cease-fire would not be prudent, saying, "We must not turn the IDF soldiers into Bush's cannon fodder."

IDF Conquers Hizbullah Strongholds, Continues Onward (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108063)

Thousands of Soldiers to Join Counter-Terror Offensive
21:41 Jul 23, '06 / 27 Tammuz 5766
by Yechiel Spira

Thousands of IDF soldiers have been called to active reserve duty, thereby freeing up compulsory service soldiers for redeployment to the north.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz has authorized the continuation of the ground forces incursion into southern Lebanon, as elite units continue to operate on the ground, near Israel’s northern border, seeking to push Hizbullah back while destroying the terror organizations infrastructure.

Five Egoz Soldiers Killed in Fighting
In heavy fighting in the Maroun a-Ras area near Moshav Avivim last Thursday (20 July), five IDF soldiers fell in the line of duty. It was originally reported that four soldiers were killed but early Sunday morning; the IDF Spokesperson’s Office confirmed the body of a fifth member of the elite Sayeret Egoz was located, officially raising the death toll to five. Also operating in southern Lebanon are paratroopers, tanks and other specialized forces.

Some 5,000 reservists were activated with tzav-8 emergency call-up orders on Friday. The reservists will be deployed in areas throughout Judea and Samaria, freeing younger compulsory duty soldiers to join the effort against Hizbullah in the north.

Hizbullah is a Formidable Enemy
The battle will be a difficult one since Hizbullah has had six years to prepare, since then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The area is mined and there are bombs powerful enough to destroy the underbellies of Israel’s tanks, as was seen ten days ago when the crew of a Merkavah-3 tank was burned alive when a 200kg (440 lb) bomb was detonated near Israel’s northern border.

It is also known that Russian-built Kornet missiles were sold to Syria. The laser-guided missiles manufactured in the 1990s are equipped with a thermal sight. They pose a threat to even the most advanced tank.

A Sabbath of Heavy Rocket Attacks
The Sabbath brought another heavy day of rocket attacks, with over 160 rockets striking northern cities between 10:00am-7:00pm. Property damage was extensive, and dozens of people were injured, including two who were listed in serious condition on Saturday night.

Thousands of Israelis have fled their homes in Haifa and other cities, explaining the relatively low number of people killed and wounded in rocket attacks. Israel Police beginning Sunday will be increasing the number of personnel deployed in northern cities, primarily to prevent looting and break-ins.

Magen David Adom emergency medical service officials reported on Saturday night that since the start of the current Hizbullah warfare, on 12 July, 28 Israeli civilians and security personnel have been killed and 674 wounded in rocket attacks.

14 victims were seriously wounded, 31 moderate, 204 light and the remainder treated for varying levels of anxiety and hysteria

Ground Forces Deployment a Must
Military experts agree that while the air forces continues to dismantle the Hizbullah infrastructure from the air, ground forces must be brought into the picture if the terror organization is to be brought to it knees. Last week’s emergency call-up of thousands of soldiers signals this stage may be beginning, with members of the General Staff warning fighting will be difficult against Hizbullah but there is no alternative.

Having carried out some 3,000 sorties and striking over 1,800 targets, the air force continues to strike at Hizbullah in all areas of Lebanon, in many cases successfully wiping out longer-range rockets and launchers on the ground, eliminating potential strikes by the terror organization against the Greater Tel Aviv area.

Hizbullah Continues Using Civilians as Shields
IDF Chief of Staff Lt-General Dan Halutz last week stated Operation Change of Direction was moving ahead, warning the process will take some time. The military commander stated once again that Hizbullah continues to base itself in civilian population areas, making Israel’s job increasingly more difficult as the IDF takes measures to avoid collateral damage to civilians. Halutz added that the terror organization frequently places Katyusha rockets and launchers inside mosques, another technique aimed at enlisting the support of the international community against Israel.

US Remains Firmly Behind Israel
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected in Israel to begin steps towards a ceasefire, but media reports are signaling US President George W. Bush is not planning to pressure Jerusalem to halt the operation at present. Rice will focus on Lebanon following the Israeli offensive, traveling from Israel to Rome where she will meet with United Nations officials and representatives of Arab states to discuss the rehabilitation of Lebanon.

President Bush in his remarks blames Iran and Syria for standing in the way of a ceasefire, stating it is they who threaten the stability of the entire Middle East. American lawmakers have come out in support of Israel’s operation, seeing the destruction of Hizbullah as a major step in combating global Islamic terror.

Israel Seeks to Minimize Civilian Casualities
For the past days, Israel has used taped telephone messages, leaflets and radio broadcasts to persuade southern Lebanese area residents to head north before the fighting increases, signaling Jerusalem’s plan to cleanse southern Lebanon of Hizbullah. Israeli officials are indicating heavier air force bombardments are to be expected since Hizbullah’s arsenal is well placed within civilian communities, which will be targeted as Israel seeks to eliminate thousands of rockets on the ground.

While analysts and military experts agree Hizbullah will not be totally eliminated, the direct threat along Israel’s border can be removed and the terror organization can be weakened enough to permit the Government of Lebanon to deploy its forces along Israel’s border in compliance with United Nations Resolution 1559.

Thousands of Soldiers to Join Counter-Terror Offensive (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108077)

Iran's Ahmadinejad: Israel's Destruction at Hand
20:12 Jul 23, '06 / 27 Tammuz 5766
by Ezra HaLevi

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Sunday that Israel has begun the process of its annihilation at the hands of the Islamic nation. Both Hamas and Hizbullah take orders from the regime.

“Israel has pushed the button of its own destruction,” said the Iranian president, who pulls the strings of its terrorist proxies on both of Israel’s fronts. “The Zionists made their worst decision and triggered their extinction by attacking Lebanon."

Ahmadinejad, addressing the 23rd Iranian Islamic Republic’s nationwide meeting of the heads of educational bureaus, advised Jewish Israelis “to pack up and move out of the region before being caught in the fire they have started in Lebanon.”

Last week, Ahmadinejad was shown on Iranian television saying Israelis “Should know that the volcano of rage of the peoples of the region is boiling…I’m telling you…If this volcano erupts - and we are on the brink of eruption... and if this ocean rages, its waves will not be limited to the region.

Ahmadinejad, seemingly responding to the first two planeloads of American Jews making Aliyah (immigrating to Israel) this summer, accused Israel of deceiving the olim. "They are even lying to the misfortunate people whom they have imported into occupied Palestine,” he said. “They are using them as a shield to achieve their own goals.”

On Saturday, Ahmadinejad compared Israel to Hitler, saying “Just like Hitler, the Zionist regime is just looking for a pretext to launch military attacks.” Israel has pointed out that due to the two-front proxy war orchestrated by Iran, the issues of Iran’s dash toward nuclear capability has been pushed out of the spotlight, despite the regime’s refusal to cooperate with international efforts to find a solution.

The Iranian leader’s statements about the Holocaust have made headlines several times over the past year. Last week, he sent a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which German officials said asks her to assist Iran in “dealing with” Zionism.

In May Ahmadinejad wrote US President George W. Bush a lengthy letter containing an invitation to become a Muslim and veiled threats regarding continued alliance with Israel.

The Iranian president, whose previous positions included acting as a trainer for child suicide soldiers sent to blow up mines in his country’s war against Iraq, issued several statements implying that a battle to annihilate the Jewish State is at hand. “The day of joy for the regional nations is approaching and the world is on the verge of new developments,” he said in a speech in northwest Iran Tuesday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, US President George W. Bush and even Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt have blamed Iran explicitly for deploying Hamas and Hizbullah against the Jewish State.

The Iranian government has placed billboards of Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah around the country, with boldface slogans reminding Muslims of their duty to wipe out Israel. Meanwhile, members of the tiny Jewish community of Shiraz were seemingly compelled to attend a rally in the town’s square, calling for Israel’s destruction and praising Hizbullah.

Meanwhile, Syria has also issued a threat to become directly involved in the war. Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said Sunday, "If Israel invades Lebanon over ground and comes near to us, Syria will not sit tight. She will join the conflict.”

During his weekly radio address Saturday, US President Bush warned Syria to stay away. “For many years, Syria has been a primary sponsor of Hizbullah and it has helped provide Hizbullah with shipments of Iranian-made weapons,’’ he said. “Iran’s regime has also repeatedly defied the international community with its ambition for nuclear weapons and aid to terrorist groups. Their actions threaten the entire Middle East and stand in the way of resolving the current crisis and bringing lasting peace to this troubled region.”

Iran's Ahmadinejad: Israel's Destruction at Hand (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108152)

No Arab, Muslim will support Tel Aviv: Arab ambassador
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-Arab-Israel
No Arab or Muslim leader would ever support Tel Aviv in its aggression on Lebanon and massacring children, women and innocent civilians in Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon, a Tehran-based Arab ambassador said on Sunday.

Speaking to IRNA, Ambassador Abdullah who was reacting to a recent claim by Zionists that leader of an Arab state voiced support for the Tel Aviv authorities, said no Arab or Muslim leader would commit such a big treason.

"No Arab or Muslim leader has ever committed or will commit such a big and historic treason and the public opinion will not allow him to do so as well," said the ambassador.

The diplomat added that all Muslim nations took Israel as "an infected tumor which should undoubtedly be removed."
The Zionist regime never believe that the revolutionary movement of Lebanese Hizbollah could resist so strongly against its massive aggressions against mostly civilian targets and infrastructure of Lebanon.

"That was why the Zionist resorted to sheer lies in order to calm down their confused and disturbed public opinion," Ambassador Abdullah said.

According to the diplomat, from a military point of view, Israel would be the loser in its aggression on Lebanon as Hizbollah has successfully pounded Tel Aviv's major military and political targets deep inside the occupied territories, a task that had never been done by any of the Arab states throughout the history.

"Israel's behavior in its current invasion of Lebanon is a clear sign of its weakness," said the ambassador.

He added Israel had to accept that it lost the war to "not an army but just to a Muslim revolutionary group."
"No matter what would be the apparent result of this war, Hizbollah is and will be the only winner," stressed Ambassador Abdullah.

He added that Tel Aviv authorities and their Western allies, US, in particular, should be brought to justice as "war criminals" for targeting innocent civilians including women and children, and civilian infrastructure of Lebanon.

No Arab, Muslim will support Tel Aviv: Arab ambassador (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607239971180508.htm)

Asefi: Ahmadinejad's letter to Chirac different from 2 previous ones
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-Asefi-Chirac
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Sunday confirmed that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a letter to the French President Jacques Chirac, adding that its content is different from his letters to the US president and German chancellor.

Speaking to domestic and foreign reporters in this week's briefing session, he said that Ahmadinejad's letter was submitted to Chirac by Iran's new Ambassador to Paris Ali Ahani on the sidelines of a meeting in which he presented his credentials.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Ahmadinejad's letter deals with issues of significance.

In response to a question about the aim of such letters, he said that Iran intends to convey its views on world problems to the heads of other states in a documented and tangible way.

Concerning Iran's nuclear stance and whether it will accept the suspension of enrichment, on which a reporter asked him to be transparent, Asefi said, "I believe that everything depends on the relevant talks."
About the US support for the crimes of Zionist regime, he said that such support is against humanity rather than the people of Lebanon.

The spokesman said that the US and Israel's plots target not only Lebanon, but the entire Middle East as well as Arab and Islamic states.

Responding to another question about sympathizing with Lebanese nation, he said, "They do not need any sympathy, rather they need the courage of international bodies to mediate on the issue and stop the Zionists crimes."
Replying to a question about Iran-Turkey border cooperation, he said that what is brought up under the framework of border control and safeguard is related to collaboration between the two countries on border issues.

A Turkish daily, quoting the Iranian ambassador to Turkey, had recently claimed that Iran will support any possible trans-border operations by Turkish Armed Forces against PKK forces in northern Iraq.

"The remarks of our ambassador in Ankara have not been reflected accurately. What he meant was support for the measures taken by Turkish troops in the soil of that country," he added.

Asefi: Ahmadinejad's letter to Chirac different from 2 previous ones (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607233151180306.htm)

Asefi calls on Annan to stop Israel's crimes in Lebanon
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-Asefi-Zionists
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here on Sunday called on the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to do his best to stop Israel's crimes in Lebanon.

He made the remark in response to a question about his view on Annan's call on Iran and Syria to assist in solving the conflict in Lebanon at this week's press conference.

"We use our influence and are currently discussing the issue with the main Islamic and Arab as well as some European states. However, the United Nations should also assume a role in the issue and stop the aggression of the Zionist regime.

"Iran will use its full capacities to solve the crisis and ensure that the Lebanese rights are restored," he added.

Turning to the upcoming visit of the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region, he underlined that she aims to further support the Zionist regime and inflame the current conflict.

Concerning the approach of US officials to Iran's role in supporting Lebanon's Hizbollah, he said, "The US performance shows that what is said about Iran and Hizbollah is actually meant to conceal the crimes of Zionist regime."
The Foreign Ministry spokesman pointed to the US instrumental use of the United Nations and its Security Council and said that despite the call of the international community, the US vetoes the UNSC's resolution.

"In reaction to such a move by the US, the Islamic countries and non-aligned movement (NAM) member states should maintain solidarity, let the world hear their voice and attempt to deprive the Zionist regime of the opportunity to continue its crimes," he added.

He said that Israel's attack on Lebanon had been pre-planned, adding that given the US and Zionist regime can no longer tolerate the realities in the Middle East, including election of Hamas, they launched their recent attacks.

"The US and Israel have been intent on changing the Middle East map, which explains the reason for their recent measures and crimes.

"Unfortunately, a country considering itself as a member of the UNSC, which is responsible for ensuring global security, has endangered regional security," he added.

Asefi calls on Annan to stop Israel's crimes in Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607232227175511.htm)

Majlis defends rights of Iranian nation on nuclear energy
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Majlis-Nuclear-Speaker
Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said on Sunday that the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) has strong determination to defend legitimate rights of the Iranian nation on nuclear energy.

Addressing formal session of Majlis, he said, "If the Iranian nuclear dossier is deviated from the negotiation route and if it is proved that the inalienable rights of the Iranians are to be ignored and humiliated, the Majlis will fulfill its legal task in order to restore the rights of the Iranian people."
When all talks were about negotiations on Iran's nuclear case, suddenly everything was changed and talks were focused on diversion from the negotiation course, he said adding that such a move undermines the Europeans commitments, a reference to debate on Iran nuclear program by members of the Security Council.

"Concurrent with the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, we observed a change in the route of Iran's nuclear case," he said.

The negotiation was suggested by the Europeans and Tehran accepted the proposal but suddenly the negotiation route was changed, he added.

"Iran is interested in negotiations," he said adding that diversion from the negotiation course will not be beneficial to anyone.

Haddad-Adel expressed the hope that Iran's nuclear issue would be settled through talks.

Elsewhere in his speech, the Majlis speaker said the Lebanese Hizbollah is the manifestation of will of the Lebanese nation to maintain the country's independence.

Commenting on savage atrocities of the Zionist regime in the past several weeks which resulted in killing and injuring hundreds of innocent civilians, he regretted that the Zionists have assaulted the civilian targets.

As to the US and British support for the Zionist regime, he said Israel which is enjoying the US and British support for the past 60 years has not been able to defeat the Islamic resistance movement.

Washington is trying to save the Israeli face through its political and military support for the occupying regime, he said adding that by US vetoing the UN resolution against Israel, there is no dignity left for that international body.

The world has no hope that the United Nations can do anything to restore rights of the oppressed nations, he reiterated.

"This means death of the United Nations," the speaker emphasized.

Referring to remarks by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on ceasefire in the Middle East, he said she believes the ceasefire should be made once the new Middle East is established.

While they are living in another part of the globe, they are making decisions for the Middle East nations, he said stressing that the new Middle East has already been created but Washington is ignorant about it.

Haddad-Adel further reiterated that in the so-called new Middle, East the people's will is determinate not the will of Washington.

Addressing certain Arab states which have remained silent toward the latest Israeli aggressions against Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon, he said those Arab countries should know that the future generation will judge about them.

Haddad-Adel urged all Arab and Muslim states to support the resistance movement of their Muslim brothers in Lebanon.

Majlis defends rights of Iranian nation on nuclear energy (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607230943165851.htm)

IRNA chief urges world media to support Lebanese nation

IRNA Managing Director Ahmad Khademolmelleh on Sunday urged international and regional media networks to support Lebanese nation against Israel's savage invasion by echoing situation of the defenseless civilians in the war-hit country.

He made the remarks in separate letters forwarded to a number of major regional and international media officials.

The letters were addressed to rotating President of Organization of the Asia and Pacific News Agencies (OANA) who is also
General Manager of Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Syed Jamil Jaafar, Director General of ITAR-TASS and rotating President of World Congress of News Agencies Vitaly Ignatenko, Secretary-General of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) Nasr Taha Mostafa who is also Director-General and Chief Editor of Yemen News Agency (SABA) and General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Aiden White.

Khademolmelleh's demand was made in reaction to the Zionist regime's air strikes against transmission stations used by several Lebanese television channels and a mobile telephone mast in Christian areas north of Beirut.

Denouncing bombardment of civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, he said that targeting Lebanon's radio and TV stations, the Zionist regime "is preparing the grounds for blocking the way of reporting the crimes perpetrated by the Zionist army with blessings of the US and Britain."
The IRNA chief added that Tel Aviv was "to silence the voice of Lebanon's innocent and defenseless civilians from being heard by the outside world."
He said that the Zionist army's land invasion to the southern Lebanon as well as its air raids against the country's media centers, and US decision on immediate delivery of Laser-guided precision missiles to Israel were "suspicious" acts made over the past couple of days.

Khademolmelleh called on all international and regional media communities to do all within their power "to echo voices of the innocent Lebanese civilians to the international community." Every Iranian and world citizen as well as those working for free dissemination of information throughout the world wanted to know "what is the policy behind hiding Israel's war crimes?" the IRNA chief said questioning the reason of targeting Lebanon's media centers.

He regretted that the Zionist regime was violating Article 19 of the Human Rights Declaration "in the third millennium when the transnational communications have reached their climax."

The article says: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression,"
Khademolmelleh added that ever since of coming to existence, the Zionist regime has been violating all international laws and regulations and was unfortunately enjoying unconditional support from certain powers.

IRNA chief urges world media to support Lebanese nation (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607230416152850.htm)

Olmert: EU force on border possible
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 23, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday Israel would consider deployment of an EU-manned international force in Lebanon if the force has a clear mandate, including monitoring the Syrian-Lebanese border crossings, and is made up of forces that have military capabilities and experience.

Olmert's statements came during a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Olmert said that the force's mandate would need to include control of the crossing points from Syria to Lebanon to prevent the rearmament of Hizbullah after the fighting ends, deployment in southern Lebanon to keep the organization away from Israel‚s northern border, and aid to the Lebanese army so that it could fulfill its obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for the disarmament of Hizbullah and the deployment of Lebanon's army in southern Lebanon.

Germany is one country being considered as a major source of troops for the international force, as is France, whose Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy also met with Olmert Sunday.

Olmert, according to his office, said Israel had no intention of attacking Syria, but if Syria would interfere "we will respond forcefully. We are not currently operating in Syria, and they have to reason to become involved," he said.

Olmert, in his talks with Steinmeier, framed the current conflict in the framework of the greater world conflict with Iran.

"Hizbullah is directed by Iran and Syria," Olmert said. "The Iranian issue is one that the world will deal with for the coming months, and what is happening now is preparation. If the world does not stand now in a united front against Hizbullah that is being operated from Iran, then how will it be able to convince the Iranians they are really against them."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said Sunday after meeting Steinmeier that Israel would accept a temporary international force, preferably headed by NATO, deployed along the Lebanese border to keep Hizbullah away from the border.

"Israel's goal is to see the Lebanese army deployed along the border with Israel, but we understand that we are talking about a weak army and that, in the interim, Israel will have to accept a multinational force," he said.

Earlier in the day, even as the German and French foreign ministers were here and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on her way, Olmert told the cabinet there were no constraints on the IDF's actions in Lebanon. "The IDF has complete flexibility and time to carry out its work," Olmert said. "There are no constraints, time or otherwise."

The policy was reiterated by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who told a press conference Sunday evening that the current diplomatic process was working in parallel with the military action, and was meant - in large part - to ensure that there was no vacuum on the ground when the fighting ended.

"One of the reasons we started [diplomatic] discussions was to prevent a vacuum, because Hizbullah would enter into this vacuum," she said.
Livni said it was important to start the diplomatic process while the military operation was continuing, so that at the end there would be an international force on the ground. Livni made clear that the force would have to meet certain benchmarks of effectiveness and operational ability that UNIFIL had failed to meet.

On the eve of Rice's arrival, Livni painted in broad strokes what Israel expected the future arrangements in Lebanon to entail.

Rice is scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon and meet Livni in the evening. On Tuesday she is scheduled to meet with Olmert, before going to Ramallah for a visit with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. From there she will fly to Rome for an international conference on Lebanon.

Livni said that after pushing Hizbullah out of southern Lebanon, Israel's goals included "preserving this achievement so that they don't come back." Beyond pushing Hizbullah back beyond the border, however, she said there was also a need to dismantle the organization since it had rockets that could hit Israel from way north of the Litani River.

In addition, she said, a mechanism would have to be developed to ensure that Syria and Iran were not able to rearm Hizbullah, and that a force would need to be established to help Lebanon move its troops southward and dismantle Hizbullah.

Livni said the means of achieving these goals were the subject of her conversations Sunday with Steinmeier, Douste-Blazy, and also with Britain's Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Kim Howells. She said this would also certainly be a focus of her talks with Rice, as well as with the foreign minister of Finland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and the deputy Russian foreign minister who are both expected to visit later in the week.

Meanwhile, during the cabinet meeting Olmert deflected questions about the wisdom of a large scale ground incursion into southern Lebanon, saying there was no need to inform the whole world of what was or will be done, because the enemy "was also listening."

Amid indications that the Lebanese government wants to negotiate on behalf of Hizbullah, Olmert said that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is a partner for dialogue, and reiterated that Israel was fighting Hizbullah, not Lebanon or the Lebanese people.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky told the cabinet that some 1,000 rockets and 1,200 mortars had been fired on Israeli cities in the north since the fighting began.

Kaplinsky said that while the quantity of the attacks has not dropped, there was certainly a decrease in the quality of the strikes. His basis for this comment was that the number of rockets that have fallen in open areas, rather than residential areas, has increased in recent days, an indication that Hizbullah was having difficulty perpetrating attacks.

OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah was surprised by the scope and strength of Israel's reaction to the attack in the north. "He didn't think this would be our response to the kidnapping of two soldiers," he said.

At the same time, however, he said that neither Hizbullah's motivation nor its operational capabilities had been broken. "Nasrallah wants to be able to say that he withstood Israel's firepower and international pressure," Yadlin said.

Yadlin said that the fighting had helped Israel regain its deterrent power. At the same time, he said he did not know why Hizbullah was not firing rockets that could reach Hadera and even further south, saying that this could be either because they can't fire them, or perhaps because they want to keep them for another day.

He also said that while Hizbullah has admitted to losing only seven to 10 men in the fighting, Israel estimates that these numbers are ten times as high.

Olmert: EU force on border possible (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291974225&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

U.N.'s Egeland denounces Israeli strikes

By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 10 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N.'s top humanitarian official on Sunday denounced the Israeli airstrikes that have devastated Beirut and southern Lebanon, saying civilians were paying a "disproportionate price" in the attacks targeting Hezbollah strongholds.

Jan Egeland inspected the destruction in south Beirut — a predominantly Shiite area that has suffered the brunt of the bombings. Israeli strikes hit the neighborhood hours before Egeland's arrival and six more missiles pounded it later, the first daytime attack there in days.

"It's terrible. I see a lot of children wounded, homeless, suffering. This is a war where civilians pay a disproportionate price in Lebanon and northern Israel. I hadn't believed it would be block by block leveled to the ground," he said. "A disproportionate response by Israel is a violation of international humanitarian law."

He spoke as Canadians, Australians and other foreigners continued to flee the fighting in Lebanon. U.S. Consul William Gill said most Americans who wanted to leave had done so and U.S. evacuation efforts were nearly complete. The first Filipino evacuees were welcomed home by their president and British officials said the last large group of Britons had left.

Egeland appealed for safe passage for aid and said the United Nations would begin a relief operation in the next few days. But he cautioned the fleet of trucks and ships that will bring in supplies need free access and security, which are lacking so far.

Egeland said the United Nations will release an international appeal for aid for Lebanon on Monday. "It will be a large appeal. It's got to be more than $100 million," he said, adding that the long-term figure needed to rebuild devastated infrastructure would be "in the billions."

The humanitarian chief made his way around the piles of debris left by the bombardment in Haret Hreik, which houses Hezbollah headquarters and has been hit several times since the fighting began July 12. At one point, he noticed he was stepping on a school textbook buried in the rubble.

"The rockets going into Israel have to stop and the enormous bombardment that we see here with one block after the other being leveled has to stop," Egeland said. There is no military solution. It is only a political solution."

Egeland, who met with the Lebanese prime minister and other leaders to talk about aid, planned to travel Monday to Israel to coordinate the opening of aid corridors.

A humanitarian crisis is brewing in parts of Lebanon. The need for relief was greatest in south Lebanon, where bombed-out roads and continuous airstrikes have isolated communities.

The
World Health Organization said 600,000 people have been displaced by the hostilities. Lebanese Finance Minister Jihad Azour said close to 750,000 had fled their homes, nearly 20 percent of Lebanon's 4 million people.

The U.N. refugee agency was building up stocks of relief supplies in Syria in hopes of getting safe passage to reach displaced Lebanese in the mountains north of Beirut. It moved 500 tents, 20,000 mattresses and 20,000 blankets by convoy from Amman, Jordan, to Damascus on Friday and planned to move more supplies the same way Monday.

It reported that many of the 80,000 displaced people in the Aley region north of Beirut were living in schools and food stocks there were running low.

"People are traumatized and anxious. The conditions are very precarious," said Arafat Jamal, UNHCR's top official in Lebanon. "There's a lot of overcrowding, with people sleeping three families to a room and tremendous pressure on the sanitation facilities."

Israel has eased its blockade on Beirut's port to allow humanitarian supplies to pass through, but there appeared to be no letup in Israeli attacks on roads leading out of Beirut and along the route to Syria.

U.N.'s Egeland denounces Israeli strikes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060723/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_un;_ylt=Ap5vqYZqkAVEpX44.ftHwBCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-)

Operation Change of Direction: Toward US/Israeli Force In Syria and Iran

Ira Glunts

Israel, displaying a tin ear for the language of irony, a penchant for biblical phrasing, and its usual disregard for international criticism (other than American), originally named its disproportionate military response to recent Hezbollah attacks, “Operation Appropriate Retribution.” Later it changed the name to the more prosaic and ambiguous “Operation Change of Direction.”

Maybe the change of direction refers to the shift in policy regarding major military confrontation with Hezbollah. In an article in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz (July 15) titled, “There Are Days When The Country Says Enough,” Aluf Benn wrote that the new Israeli leadership is not continuing the policies of the Barak and Sharon governments, but rather acting with a “previously unseen lack of restraint” in regard to its use of military force in Lebanon. Benn points out that both Barak and Sharon avoided significant direct confrontation with Hezbollah, despite the latter’s occasional shelling of Israeli northern towns and its attacks upon Israeli soldiers. Barak threatened action, but in the end ignored a Hezbollah attack in 2000. Sharon responded with limited force, mainly directed against Syria, and negotiated a prison exchange with Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrullah. The present Israeli reaction represents a clear escalation in the use of force and a renunciation of the past strategy of negotiation for its captured citizens.

The massive military response in Gaza and Lebanon by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Defense Minister Amir Peretz, may be influenced by a desire to counter the criticism that they lack the military experience necessary to effectively defend the country. Additionally, because neither have significant military credentials, they may be transferring policy decisions to a military establishment which has in recent years become ever more willing and eager to use force to reshape political reality in the region. Also, the government may be feeling increased pressure from right wing criticism which has warned against withdrawing the army from Gaza in 2005 and Lebanon in 2000 and is presently claiming that the present crisis is a direct result of those withdrawals.

In spite of the significant internal political realities that are driving the Israeli aggression (including wide public support), the role of the United States is absolutely crucial in the present crisis . Israel seldom takes major military action without the consent of its American patron. The declarations of President Bush and other US government officials indicating that the US has no intention of pressuring Israel into accepting a cease-fire in either Gaza or Lebanon portend no quick end to the present Middle East fighting. Robin Wright reports in The Washington Post, (July 16) that “Israel, with U.S. support, intends to resist calls for a cease-fire and continue a longer-term strategy of punishing Hezbollah, which is likely to include several weeks of precision bombing in Lebanon, according to senior Israeli and U.S. officials.”

Israeli “precision bombing” which has already killed over 150 Lebanese civilians, will not help resolve the current violence. Israel is demanding that the Lebanese disarm Hezbollah. But the democratically elected Lebanese government, in which Hezbollah is a member, does not have a sufficiently strong army to disarm Sheik Nasrullah’s guerilla fighters. This army is extemely well armed and widely supported by the local Shiite population, who make up the largest ethnic voting bloc in Lebanon. Israel’s previous 17 year presence in Lebanon did not eradicate Hezbollah and it is unlikely to fare any better this time around. Just as in Gaza, Israeli unilateral military action against infrastructure and those whom it considers appropriate targets for assasination will only lead to the usual high number of innocent civilian deaths and unending hardship. Real progress is only possible when all sides negotiate a solution to the primary cause of conflict, which is the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Such negotiations are unlikely to happen soon, but at the present moment all sides must recognize a cease-fire in order to avoid further escalation and destruction.

The ominous American declaration that it will not request that Israel agree to cease-fire agreements in Lebanon and Gaza may be the key to the logic of Olmert’s policy. It may be that the US senses the time is right to turn up the pressure on either or both Syria and Iran by using the Israeli army as its proxy. Israel in its present bellicose mood, may leap at the chance to hit Syria and Iraq with even tacit US backing. It is no secret that many in the US government supported by the same neocons who helped bring us the war in Iraq, are advocating regime change in both Syria and Iran. (For a very recent declaration see “Why Bush Should Go To Tel Aviv and Confront Iran" by William Kristol.) Both countries exercise what the US sees as a negative influence on the American efforts in Iraq. America is involved in an ongoing bitter dispute with the Iranians over nuclear proliferation. Both Syria and Iran through their support of Hamas are seen as an obstacle to a US- brokered Israeli/Palestinian settlement. It is instructive to note that not only are the Americans not criticizing Israel, but US official statements invariably echo the Israelis’ claim that both Syria and Iran are the parties responsible for the present escalation in violence in the region. Ze’ev Shiff, the military correspondent for Ha’aretz, helped intensify the war cries by writing that according to Israeli unnamed military sources, Iran directly planned the recent Hezbollah attacks and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.

cont'd next post

If America backs a prolonged Israeli assault on Hezbollah and Hamas, the suffering of many innocent Lebanese and the Palestinians will poison American relations with Arab countries in the Middle East, as well as mortally wound any hope of regional reconciliation. Moreover, if America raises the stakes in the Middle East by allowing Israel to expand its military targets to Syria Maybe the change of direction refers to the shift in policy regarding major military confrontation with Hezbollah. In an article in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz (July 15) titled, “There Are Days When The Country Says Enough,” Aluf Benn wrote that the new Israeli leadership is not continuing the policies of the Barak and Sharon governments, but rather acting with a “previously unseen lack of restraint” in regard to its use of military force in Lebanon. Benn points out that both Barak and Sharon avoided significant direct confrontation with Hezbollah, despite the latter’s occasional shelling of Israeli northern towns and its attacks upon Israeli soldiers. Barak threatened action, but in the end ignored a Hezbollah attack in 2000. Sharon responded with limited force, mainly directed against Syria, and negotiated a prison exchange with Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrullah. The present Israeli reaction represents a clear escalation in the use of force and a renunciation of the past strategy of negotiation for its captured citizens.

The massive military response in Gaza and Lebanon by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Defense Minister Amir Peretz, may be influenced by a desire to counter the criticism that they lack the military experience necessary to effectively defend the country. Additionally, because neither have significant military credentials, they may be transferring policy decisions to a military establishment which has in recent years become ever more willing and eager to use force to reshape political reality in the region. Also, the government may be feeling increased pressure from right wing criticism which has warned against withdrawing the army from Gaza in 2005 and Lebanon in 2000 and is presently claiming that the present crisis is a direct result of those withdrawals.

In spite of the significant internal political realities that are driving the Israeli aggression (including wide public support), the role of the United States is absolutely crucial in the present crisis . Israel seldom takes major military action without the consent of its American patron. The declarations of President Bush and other US government officials indicating that the US has no intention of pressuring Israel into accepting a cease-fire in either Gaza or Lebanon portend no quick end to the present Middle East fighting. Robin Wright reports in The Washington Post, (July 16) that “Israel, with U.S. support, intends to resist calls for a cease-fire and continue a longer-term strategy of punishing Hezbollah, which is likely to include several weeks of precision bombing in Lebanon, according to senior Israeli and U.S. officials.”

Israeli “precision bombing” which has already killed over 150 Lebanese civilians, will not help resolve the current violence. Israel is demanding that the Lebanese disarm Hezbollah. But the democratically elected Lebanese government, in which Hezbollah is a member, does not have a sufficiently strong army to disarm Sheik Nasrullah’s guerilla fighters. This army is extemely well armed and widely supported by the local Shiite population, who make up the largest ethnic voting bloc in Lebanon. Israel’s previous 17 year presence in Lebanon did not eradicate Hezbollah and it is unlikely to fare any better this time around. Just as in Gaza, Israeli unilateral military action against infrastructure and those whom it considers appropriate targets for assasination will only lead to the usual high number of innocent civilian deaths and unending hardship. Real progress is only possible when all sides negotiate a solution to the primary cause of conflict, which is the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Such negotiations are unlikely to happen soon, but at the present moment all sides must recognize a cease-fire in order to avoid further escalation and destruction.

The ominous American declaration that it will not request that Israel agree to cease-fire agreements in Lebanon and Gaza may be the key to the logic of Olmert’s policy. It may be that the US senses the time is right to turn up the pressure on either or both Syria and Iran by using the Israeli army as its proxy. Israel in its present bellicose mood, may leap at the chance to hit Syria and Iraq with even tacit US backing. It is no secret that many in the US government supported by the same neocons who helped bring us the war in Iraq, are advocating regime change in both Syria and Iran. (For a very recent declaration see “Why Bush Should Go To Tel Aviv and Confront Iran" by William Kristol.) Both countries exercise what the US sees as a negative influence on the American efforts in Iraq. America is involved in an ongoing bitter dispute with the Iranians over nuclear proliferation. Both Syria and Iran through their support of Hamas are seen as an obstacle to a US- brokered Israeli/Palestinian settlement. It is instructive to note that not only are the Americans not criticizing Israel, but US official statements invariably echo the Israelis’ claim that both Syria and Iran are the parties responsible for the present escalation in violence in the region. Ze’ev Shiff, the military correspondent for Ha’aretz, helped intensify the war cries by writing that according to Israeli unnamed military sources, Iran directly planned the recent Hezbollah attacks and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.

If America backs a prolonged Israeli assault on Hezbollah and Hamas, the suffering of many innocent Lebanese and the Palestinians will poison American relations with Arab countries in the Middle East, as well as mortally wound any hope of regional reconciliation. Moreover, if America raises the stakes in the Middle East by allowing Israel to expand its military targets to Syria or Iran, even on a limited basis, the prospects for all-out regional war will be exponentially increased.or Iran, even on a limited basis, the prospects for all-out regional war will be exponentially increased."

Israel attacked by Ministers over air war terror tactics
By KIRSTY WALKER, Daily Mail 21:19pm 23rd July 2006

Britain has signalled a major U-turn over the crisis in the Middle East with a string of senior ministers sharply criticising Israel's military tactics.

As the missile and rocket onslaught continued on both sides of the conflict, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett warned that Israel's attempts to target Hezbollah were 'not working' and suggested the Government had been misled over the raids.

Mrs Beckett also backed her junior minister Kim Howells, who risked a diplomatic rift with the US by publicly condemning the Israeli strikes.

He said they were not "surgical strikes" against militant group Hezbollah, but were hurting ordinary people and wreaking destruction on the country's infrastructure.

On a diplomatic mission to the Israeli city of Haifa, Mr Howells yesterday said he was growing 'very disturbed' the more he was learning about the extent of the military campaign - and called for "sanity."

Until now, Britain has insisted Israel has a right to fight back against Hezbollah. But senior figures within the Labour party are growing increasingly ill at ease at the mounting civilian death toll in Lebanon.

Israeli military sources were yesterday quoted as believing the Americans would allow them another week of bombardments before calling a halt.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend, Mrs Beckett questioned Israel's 'claims' to be targeting only Hezbollah hide-outs.

She said: "Israel has been saying all the way through that they are targeting Hezbollah. And there are bound to be problems because Hezbollah have entrenched themselves in relatively speaking ordinary neighbourhoods - not totally, but to a very large extent.

"Targeting Hezbollah is one thing and one understands why it is being done, but it is not working in the way that Israel had hoped and claimed that it was.

"And so that's why we have to continue to... urge recognition of that danger on Israel."

In the clearest signal yet that Britain is losing patience with Israel, the Foreign Secretary added: "We would like to see an end to the violence. We think there should be extreme caution exercised on both sides."

In Haifa, Mr Howells was forced to go into a secure room six times to avoid Hezbollah attacks, Embassy officials said.

But he expressed his anger at Israel at a press conference, saying: "I am very disturbed the more I hear about the extent of this military campaign. At some stages there are 60 jets out there over the Mediterranean waiting to hit targets. We want to see an early cessation of this conflict."

Mr Howells also stressed that Israel had to do more than just win a military battle and insisted his tough words to Israel had Tony Blair's backing.

He told Sky News: "What's going on over there won't be won simply by a military exercise, it's got to be a political victory as well. And that means that the forces of sanity have got to win out. It's got to be able to convince those people that it wants to live peacefully with the Lebanese."

The minister added: "I know that the British Prime Minister feels the same way. He is acutely aware that this is not just a military campaign, this needs political attention and it needs the involvement of the international community to solve it."

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott added: "Oone can understand that if you've got thousands of rockets being sent one way, attacks in another, that has meant war. War can't solve the situation."

The shift in rhetoric from British ministers came as diplomatic efforts began to resolve the crisis now entering its third week.

At least 375 Lebanese have been killed in Israel's 12-day offensive there, which began when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Hezbollah attacks have killed 37 Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Israel soon. Mr Howells - along with French and German ministers - met Israeli officials.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israel would accept a temporary international force - preferably led by NATO - in southern Lebanon to keep Hezbollah away from the border, a reversal of previous Israeli policy.

During another day of bloodshed, Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon, killing an eight-year-old boy, a Lebanese photographer, three civilians fleeing in a minibus, and three Hezbollah fighters.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah rockets crashed into Haifa, slamming into a house, an apartment building and a major road, and killing at least two people and injuring 15.

And diplomacy risked being undermined by reports that the Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided 5,000 lb bunker-busting bombs to Israel, which requested the shipment last week.

The UN's emergency relief chief Jan Egeland condemned the devastation in Beirut, describing it as "horrific" and a violation of humanitarian law.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hit back at criticism by accusing the international media of not properly portraying the "murderous viciousness" of Hezbollah.

He said: "The massive, brutal and murderous viciousness of Hezbollah is unfortunately not represented in its full intensity on television screens outside of Israel. A twisted image is presented, where the victim is presented as an aggressor."

Israel attacked by Ministers over air war terror tactics (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=397250&in_page_id=1770)

Rice flies in as all eyes turn to Syria
By Tim Reid in Washington Ned Parker and Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem
US has 'no quick fix' and rebuffs hint from Damascus at joining talks

CONDOLEEZZA RICE will arrive in Jerusalem today on a mission to end the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as Syria indicated for the first time that it was prepared to intervene.

As the US Secretary of State prepared to set out the American plan for ending the fighting - persuading Arab allies to isolate Syria and stop it from arming and funding Hezbollah - Israel said that it would agree to the deployment of a Nato force in southern Lebanon to keep guerrillas from attacking the border. After meetings today with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and tomorrow with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, Dr Rice will travel to an emergency conference in Rome on Wednesday, attended by officials from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the EU and the UN.

Dr Rice left Washington yesterday amid increasing condemnation from the UN and Britain over the scale of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. Criticism is likely to mount after the US was forced to admit that it was expediting the delivery of 5,000lb laser-guided "bunker buster" bombs to Israel under an agreement reached between the two countries last year.

With the US ruling out direct talks with Syria and Hezbollah, and with Arab allies refusing to host the emergency meeting because of the White House's rejection of an immediate ceasefire, Dr Rice arrives in the region at a time of intense distrust of American motives. She is almost wholly reliant on Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to pressure Damascus into disarming Hezbollah.

As she left Dr Rice said that there was "no quick fix" and that diplomacy would be difficult.

In a sign that Syria might be feeling the pressure from its Arab neighbours, Faisal al-Meqdad, its Deputy Foreign Minister, said Damascus was willing to have direct talks with the US to resolve the conflict.

That reconciliatory tone was countered, however, by Mohsen Bilal, the country's Information Minister, who said that Syria would enter the conflict if the Israelis invaded Lebanon. "If Israel makes a land invasion of Lebanon and gets near us, Syria will not stand by with arms folded," he told the Spanish newspaper ABC. "It will enter the conflict." He added that Syria would only co-operate with peace negotiations within the framework of a broader Middle East peace initiative that would include the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.

John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the UN, rebuffed Syria’s offer to help to broker a peace deal. "Syria doesn't need dialogue to know what they need to do," he said. He repeated Dr Rice's assertion that there would be no solution to the conflict until Hezbollah had been disarmed.

The diplomatic activity came after another day of violence. Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and east and south Lebanon killed six people and wounded 80, and Hezbollah rockets killed two and wounded 15 in Haifa. Jan Egeland, the UN's head of emergency relief, called the Israeli bombardment a "violation of humanitarian law".

Since the conflict began 12 days ago at least 365 people have died in Lebanon and 37 in Israel. Yesterday the Israeli military said that it had forced out Hezbollah guerrillas from the village of Maroun al-Ras, just inside Lebanon, where six Israeli commandos have been killed this week.

Amir Peretz, the Israeli Defence Minister, said that his country would agree to the deployment of a Nato force in southern Lebanon because of the "weakness of the Lebanese Army". His statement was the clearest indication yet of a tentative plan for withdrawal from Lebanon since the conflict started on July 12.

Rice flies in as all eyes turn to Syria (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2282975,00.html)

Quote from: Pastor Roger on July 23, 2006, 07:38:22 PM

Yep and it is no coincidence.

As you know brother, I also don't believe in coincidence. As you know, Iranian President Ahmadinejad romised an answer to the UN on 22 August.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared he will make an announcement on August 22 2006.

Some possible thoughts..................

This provides four possible scenarios I can think of, at the moment.

1. Iran will cooperate with the U.N.S.C. (I doubt it though.)

2. Iran will declare they have nuclear capability with at least (four?) missiles with nuclear warheads (common knowledge I believe, in intelligence circles) that can easily reach all of Israel and threaten to use these against Israel if that country does not immediately cease attacks on the Hezbollah and Lebanon. (I can see raghead Ahmadinejad bozo, doing this anyway.)

3. In the event that Israel does not immediately comply, Iran will declare war on Israel and fire nuclear missiles. (The start of Ezekiel 38 & 39?)

4. Iran is about to nuke Israel. (And lose big time, see above.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel 11:2-4 And now I will show you the truth. Behold, there shall arise three more kings in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than they all. And when he has become strong through his riches he shall stir up and stake all against the realm of Greece. 3 Then a mighty [warlike, threatening] king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his [own] will. 4 And as soon as he has fully arisen, his [Alexander the Great's] kingdom shall be broken [by his death] and divided toward the four winds [the east, west, north, and south] of the heavens, but not to his posterity, nor according to the [Grecian] dominion which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be torn out and uprooted and go to others [to his four generals] to the exclusion of these.

Jeremiah 5:20-22 Declare this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah: 21 Hear now this, O foolish people without understanding or heart, who have eyes and see not, who have ears and hear not: 22 Do you not fear and reverence Me? says the Lord. Do you not tremble before Me? I placed the sand for the boundary of the sea, a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass and by an everlasting ordinance beyond which it cannot go? And though the waves of the sea toss and shake themselves, yet they cannot prevail [against the feeble grains of sand which God has ordained by nature to be sufficient for His purpose]; though [the billows] roar, yet they cannot pass over that [barrier]. [Is not such a God to be reverently feared and worshiped?]

Matthew 24:3-10 While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age? 4 Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. 5 For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place; 8 All this is but the beginning [the early pains] of the birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish]. 9 Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. 10 And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.

Matthew 24:31-34 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other. 32 From the fig tree learn this lesson: as soon as its young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know of a surety that summer is near. 33 So also when you see these signs, all taken together, coming to pass, you may know of a surety that He is near, at the very doors. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation (the whole multitude of people living at the same time, in a definite, ]given period) will not pass away till all these things taken together take place.

Let us remember in our prayers, Israel tonight as we pray.
Bob

Iran soldiers killed in Lebanon transferred to Tehran via Syria

Follows info Revolutionary Guard units assisting Hezbollah against Jewish state
Posted: July 23, 2006
4:15 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers who were killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources told WorldNetDaily.

The information was confirmed by Israeli and Egyptian security officials. It follows scores of reports the past few days Iranian soldiers have been aiding Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in their attacks against Israel, including help with the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers.

The Lebanese sources said between six and nine deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were brought in trucks last week into Syria for flight back to Iran. They said the bodies were transported along with the tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians fleeing the country into Syria.

Since Israel began its military campaign in Lebanon two weeks ago following a Hezbollah attack on the Jewish state in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, Syrian authorities have reported more than 140,000 Lebanese have entered their country, mostly through open areas in the Syria-Lebanon border.

WND reported earlier this month Israeli security officials said they have "concrete information" hundreds of Iranian soldiers stationed at Hezbollah positions in Lebanon have aided in efforts to fire missiles into the Jewish state.

The Israeli officials said Iranian guards directed the firing two weeks ago of a radar-guided C–802 missile that hit an Israeli navy vessel off the coast of Lebanon, killing four soldiers. Israel says Iran acquired the missile from China.

The officials said the Iranian soldiers' duties include keeping custody of long-range missiles within Hezbollah's arsenal, including Zalzal rockets which are said to have a range of 125 miles, placing Tel Aviv within firing range.

Jordanian officials told WND they are "100 percent sure" Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit soldiers have fired rockets into Israel. They also said the Syrian army has provided Hezbollah with intelligence information on the locations of strategic Israeli targets to aid in Hezbollah rocket fire.

A Ba'ath party official operating out of the Golan Heights told WND he has information Iranian soldiers have been firing rockets into Israel.

A senior Egyptian security official told WND it would be "very logical" if Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers have been helping Hezbollah fire the rockets.

Israel has long maintained Iranian Revolutionary Guard units have traveled regularly to south Lebanon to help train local Hezbollah fighters in terrorist tactics and to fortify Hezbollah positions along Israel's northern border.

At times, Revolutionary Guard soldiers could be seen operating openly at Hezbollah outposts in plain view from the Israeli side, military officials say.

Iran and Syria are the largest financial sponsors of Hezbollah. Israel says many Hezbollah rockets were made in or upgraded by Iran.

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said Israel has information Hezbollah was trying to transfer the two soldiers it kidnapped to Iran.

Hezbollah has fired over 1000 rockets into northern Israeli towns the past two weeks. Dozens of rockets have slammed into Haifa, Israel's third largest city. Fifteen Israelis have been killed in the attacks, which have prompted over 2 million citizens – about one-third of the Jewish state – to live under the threat of rockets.

Syria warns against ground incursion
josh brannon, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 23, 2006

Israel and Syria went on high alert along their mutual border late Sunday after Syria's Information Minister Muhsein Bilal warned that his country would join the conflict if Israel entered Lebanon with ground forces.

"If Israel invades Lebanon then it will be only about 20 km. from Damascus and we will not stand with our hands tied," Bilal said in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC.

"We have cooperation forces on alert," he added. "If Israeli troops provoke us, Damascus will act to guarantee the national security of Syrian territory."

Following a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Sunday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israel had no intention of entering into a war with Syria.

Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky told the weekly cabinet meeting that the IDF was not operating near the Syrian-Lebanese border, to avoid unnecessary escalation.

"If Syria does not attack Israel, Israel will not attack Syria," Vice Premier Shimon Peres told a visiting delegation of the World Jewish Congress on Sunday.

"I wouldn't take it too seriously," Brig.-Gen. (res.) Shlomo Brom, senior research associate at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, said of Syria's tough talk, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. The former head of the Strategic Planning Division in the General Staff said Syria was ill-equipped for all out war against Israel.

"Even if the IDF were to attack within Syria's borders, it would not be in their interest to respond in face of Israel's overwhelming military superiority," Brom said. "The greatest difficulty faced by the IDF and other modern armies is the asymmetrical nature of warfare against guerrilla organizations. Unlike Hizbullah, Syria is full of juicy targets that the Israel Air Force could decimate within hours, and the Syrians know this."

Therefore, Brom added, the Syrians would rather use their proxy of Hizbullah to launch attacks than risk the destruction of its own military and strategic installations in an exchange with Israel.

According to Brom, Hizbullah's greatest asset was its ability to fire on Israel and then disappear into the surrounding countryside. Made up of 5,000-6,000 fighters hardened by 18 years of combat against IDF troops in Southern Lebanon, Hizbullah cells are able to capitalize on the rugged landscape in the region to frustrate the Israeli military machine.

IAF attack helicopter pilots were taking measures to stay out of range of advanced shoulder-fired missiles known to be in the possession of Hizbullah cells, military officials said.

Arab commentators have suggested that if its closest ally were be attacked, Iran would be obliged to respond following its February 2005 pledge to form a "united front" with Syria against any threats.

At the time, Iranian Vice President Muhammad Reza Aref said Iran was "ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats," and he urged other Islamic states to join in forming a powerful alliance in the face of "US and Israeli plots." The two countries have had close relations since the Islamic Revolution in 1978. In 1980, Syria backed Iran against Iraq, a fellow Arab nation, in their 1980-88 war.

Brom dismissed the doomsday scenario of Iran and Syria joining forces and igniting a regional war against Israel.

"They do not share a common border so Iran cannot move forces into the region to attack Israel from the north, and at the most we will have more ground-to-ground missiles launched at us from the East, and we have seen that, while unpleasant, Israel can withstand missile barrages on its cities."

Syria warns against ground incursion (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291978768&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran's attack on Israel has begun

Israel's war of self-defense in southern Lebanon is a response to an Iranian Shiite fanatical attack on the Israeli people
Yaakov Lappin

A sampling of foreign media coverage of the war on the Israeli-Lebanese border indicates that the international press has, once again, missed the story unfolding in the Middle East. :D

Hizbullah's rockets continue to pound Israeli cities, towns, and villages, creating a wave of Israeli refugees fleeing the north.

The displaced northerners can be seen all over Tel Aviv: They are families, young people, and children, all searching for accommodation and a place to rest.

The constant attacks by Hizbullah are creating daily, heart wrenching tragedies. Israelis are being killed and injured after trying to take cover from rocket barrages, or for simply going to work.

And there are the daily chilling air raid sirens which test the nerves. They signal yet another brutal Hizbullah assault on the civilian population centers of northern Israel.

Firm Israeli determination

Despite the hardships though, the Israeli people are almost unanimously united in their backing of the military's efforts to defend them, and their support for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

A firm determination is shared by nearly all of the people of this country to see this war through until the aggressors to the north are dealt with.

There is, however, a very serious twist to this war: It is no secret that Iran is using Lebanese territory as a frontline zone for an assault on northern Israel.

The terrorist organization of Hizbullah, which began this conflict with a completely unprovoked act of aggression, the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, is only part of the problem.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the fanatical Shiite regime in Tehran have created a mini-state in southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah's attack on Israel was given a green light in Tehran because Iran's official ideology, based on a fundamentalist Shiite theology, calls for the wiping out of Israel and a wave of attacks designed to establish global dominance of Shiite Islam.

"Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution of 1384 (2005) will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world, The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world," Ahmadinejad declared last year, six days after being appointed president of Iran, as rockets continued to flow into southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah controlled by Tehran

Ahmadinejad sincerely believes that his role on earth is to herald in a period of apocalyptic warfare to annihilate non-Shiite Muslims, and usher in the "return" of the twelfth imam, signaling the end of time and supreme rule of Shiite Islam.

The Shiite southern Lebanese Hizbullah state, the Iranian proxy entity, is being armed, funded, and controlled by Tehran via remote control, to directly serve this end.

This is why a high number of Arab heads of state, from Egypt through to Saudi Arabia, have blasted the Hizbullah – Iranian axis of aggression against Israel. Sunni Saudi Arabia, no great friend of Israel, is frightened by Iran's attempted takeover of the region.

Meanwhile, like a virus, the Shiite Hizbullah state is draining its host, Lebanon, of stability, security, and sovereignty.

Using human shields

Since Israel evacuated southern Lebanon six years ago, an act of good faith made by a hopeful neighbor striving for peace and respected international borders, Iran has sent in its Quds (Jerusalem) Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to provide Hizbullah with tens of thousands of rockets, missiles, and automatic weapons.

The Iranians and Hizbullah have spent over half a decade preparing for this war, and any illusion that it suddenly began out of the blue is a testament to the success of Iran's ability to keep its activities quiet.

As Iran prepares the region for its "Islamic revolution," its regional arm, Hizbullah, kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and has also taken hostage hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians - human shields being held against their will.

One of Hizbullah's most powerful weapons is the use of human shields. By hiding its soldiers and armaments among civilians in Lebanon, the organization can slow down the Israeli response and manipulate world opinion.

Reports from Lebanon that gun battles have broken out between southern Lebanese villagers trying to leave their villages, and Hizbullah gunmen who have trapped them with roadblocks, are therefore unsurprising.

Threat to global security

The Israeli people know that they are fighting a war against an irrational and belligerent Islamist alliance bent on destroying them and wreaking havoc in the world. Israel will never tolerate a cross-border attack on its sovereignty after withdrawing to its internationally recognized borders.

If the world is interested in peace, stability, and the right of the Israeli people to live safely, not to mention Lebanon's viablity as a sovereign nation-state, it should offer Israel unconditional support in its struggle against Hizbullah, and take a clear stand against Hassan Nasrallah's puppet masters in Tehran.

If, on the other hand, world leaders and the foreign media prefer to be duped by Hizbullah's dirty tactics, and condemn Israel for its war of self-defense, they will be aiding a growing and serious threat to global security, which other nations will also have to face not much further down the road.

Iran's attack on Israel has begun (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3279824,00.html)

Rice: Poor Syria Relationship Overstated
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
9:14 PM PDT, July 23, 2006

SHANNON, Ireland -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States' poor relationship with Syria is overstated, pointing out that there are existing channels for talking with Syrian leaders about resolving the Mideast crisis when they're ready to talk.

En route to the region, Rice noted that the United States still has a diplomatic mission and State Department officials working in the Syrian capital. That presence, she said, is a "channel for dealing with Syria."

"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the Syrians haven't acted," she said. "I think this is simply just a kind of false hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians.

"It's not as if we don't have diplomatic relations," she said. "We do."

The State Department considers Syria one of the world's state sponsors of terror. In recent weeks, the Bush administration has blamed it, along with Iran, for stoking the recent violence in the Middle East by encouraging the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to attack northern Israel.

The U.S. ambassador to Damascus was recalled last year after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Syrian officials have been blamed for the murder, which Damascus denies.

Rice's words to reporters on a flight from Washington to a refueling stop in Ireland came as she embarks on a difficult trip to the Middle East, where she will meet with key players trying to resolve the violence along the tense Lebanese-Israeli border.

And they came as Arab diplomats and analysts said Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working to entice Syria to end support for Hezbollah, a move that is central to resolving the conflict in Lebanon and unhitching Damascus from its alliance with Iran, the Shiite Muslim guerrillas' other main backer.

Arab diplomats in Cairo said the United States had signaled a willingness to re-engage Syria through Washington's encouragement of the Egyptians and Saudis to lean on Damascus to stop backing Hezbollah.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensititity of talks, Egyptian diplomats told the AP in Cairo that the American readiness to engage Syria grew in part out of a visit to Washington last week by Egypt's chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit where they met with Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

"The two officials told the administration that the best way to solve this problem is through isolating Syria from Iran, the two main backers of Hezbollah and Hamas," said one diplomat. "The interests of those countries are not always compatible, and if Syria is given a carrot it could help solve the crisis, leaving Iran in the shadows."

In a brazen raid into Israel on July 12, Hezbollah killed eight and captured two Israeli soldiers, provoking Israel's biggest military campaign against Lebanon in 24 years. The fighting has left hundreds of civilians dead, mostly in Lebanon.

Rice is facing increasing international pressure to call for an immediate cease fire. Yet she and President Bush have resisted, saying that any peace agreement must come with right conditions to ensure that it is sustainable. They particularly want to see an agreement that would help Lebanon control its entire territory, including the southern third that is dominated by Hezbollah.

Arabic for "Party of God," Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party with its own militia. Funded by Iran, Syria and other individual donors around the globe, it fills gaps left by Lebanon's weak government and provides the bulk of the health care, schools and other social services in southern Lebanon.

Yet Rice said any cease fire agreement would have to be signed by Lebanon, not Hezbollah.

"The last time that I looked, Hezbollah had even run for office as a part of the government of Lebanon," she said, referring to Hezbollah's presence in the Parliament.

"If there is a cessation of hostilities, the government of Lebanon is going to have to be the party," she said. "Let's treat the government of Lebanon as the sovereign government that it is."

Rice has tried to walk delicately between supporting the democratic government of Lebanon, while also not dictating to its ally Israel how it should handle its own security. Her posture has frustrated numerous allies.

"We all want to urgently end the fighting. We have absolutely the same goal," Rice said. But she added that if the violence ends only to restart within weeks, "then all of the carnage that Hezbollah launched by its illegal activities -- abducting the soldiers and then launching rocket attacks -- we will have gotten nothing from that."

Rice plans stops in Israel and then to Rome, where she will join a high-level conference of key players of the Middle East and the international community to focus on the political underpinnings of a potential cease fire. She's also focused on humanitarian aid for war-torn Lebanon.

Before departing Washington, Rice and Bush were joined by other senior administration officials at a White House meeting with Saudi leaders, who urged the United States to use its formidable clout with Israel to help end the fighting.

Rice said the Saudis are urging the international community to use the so-called Taif Agreement and a similar 2004 U.N. resolution as the foundation for peace. Taif calls for the government of Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah within six months and underscores that Syria should not be allowed "to constitute a source of threat to the security of Lebanon under any circumstances."

The Saudis have a special tie to Taif, because it gets its name from the Saudi city where the agreement was reached. Should it become a successful vehicle for peace, it would provide an Arab solution to the crisis hanging over Israel and Lebanon.

"We and the Saudis have the same goal," Rice said. "The Saudis talked a great deal about the importance of Taif and getting a solution that indeed does lead to the fulfillment of the obligations" under that 19-year-old agreement.

Rice also plans to attend an Asia regional forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday and Friday, where North Korea's recent missile launches and nuclear program are expected to be on the forefront of the agenda. She has not ruled out returning to the Middle East on her way home, "if that would be necessary or helpful," she said.

Rice: Poor Syria Relationship Overstated (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top11jul23,0,444141.story)

Mideast war will have consequences for Iran

Hezbollah's battle against Israel has served as a timely reminder of Iran's clout in the Middle East, and diplomats and analysts say the Islamic republic is set to reap or suffer the consequences of the conflict. Although Iran's leadership has denied any military or financial links to its fellow hardline Shiites in Lebanon, regime officials have for the past week been heaping praise on Hezbollah's "heroes" for their "great job". "Hezbollah and other groups standing against world oppression have been and are under the influence of the late Imam Khomeini's teachings and the Islamic revolution," Kazem Jalali, a prominent Iranian MP, said of what he viewed as the legacy of Iran's revolutionary founder.

"So there is moral relationship between them and the Islamic republic of Iran," he told AFP, while being at pains not to cross the semantic line separating father figure from financier. But in Israel and many Western capitals, Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers - the event which kicked off the assault on Lebanon - is viewed as being connected to a decision to refer the crisis over Iran's disputed nuclear drive back to the UN Security Council.

Western diplomats say Iran has in recent months underlined its influence across the region in messages that had been taken as a warning not to confront the country's atomic programme. "The nuclear case has no relation to the events in Lebanon," replied Jalali, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission. "The real issue was Zionists trying to divert attention from its killing of innocent people and inhuman acts."

Mohammad Sadeq Al-Hosseini, an independent political analyst, suggested Iran was playing a risky game - even though he argued the Iran-Hezbollah relationship may not be as simple as both sides in the dispute claim. "Hezbollah is holding the initiative, and it is Hezbollah that is drawing Iran towards itself rather than vice-versa," he said. "If Hezbollah wins, Iran can manoeuvre more on its nuclear case. If Hezbollah is weakened, Iran's position will also be weakened."

Analyst Hamid Jalaeipour, from Iran's sidelined reformist camp, also viewed Lebanon as a proxy battleground for Iran's standoff with the West. "The United States, Britain and Israel are fighting the Islamic republic in Lebanon. In the short term they are aiming to paralyse Hezbollah... but they want to weaken Iran's position in the region," he said. "Whether they will be able to do it or not is a different story, but I do not think the current situation is in Iran's favour," Jalaeipour added, underlining fears the conflict may yet widen.

This is view shared by many Western diplomats in Tehran. "The danger is that more and more decision-makers in Washington and elsewhere draw the conclusion that Iran is the main problem in the region and that action needs to be taken," a senior Western diplomat told AFP. "Iran could come out in a stronger position if it dons the cap of a mediator, as it has been asked to do," another Western envoy said. "If not, the prospect of a showdown between Iran and the Americans is sadly more likely."

But if the commentaries in Iran's hardline papers are anything to go by, the Islamic republic appears to be in no mood to settle for much less than Israel's defeat. "The myth of an undefeatable Israel has been thrown into the trash can of history by Hezbollah," trumpeted Hossein Shariatmadari in an editorial for his hardline Kayhan newspaper. "If there is ceasefire tomorrow, Israel will have witnessed an historical and huge defeat incomprehensible for any of the Zionists," said the editor, who is appointed by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The United States is trying to impose a resolution on our nuclear case... and has unleashed its rabid dog named the Zionist regime," noted the equally ultra-conservative Jomhuri Eslami daily. "But the Islamic republic of Iran has shown it will stand against the world oppressor with all its power until a time when it is able to wipe out the Great Satan in the region, namely the Zionist regime."

Mideast war will have consequences for Iran (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/analysis.asp?dismode=article&artid=803655121)

Nasrallah: Rocket attacks will continue despite ground operation

Hizbullah chief says IDF incursion in south Lebanon will not curb rocket fire on Israel, states Israel hyped up its achievements in battle. Nasrallah adds he does not rule out discussing diplomatic initiatives to end conflict
Associated Press

Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in remarks published Monday that an Israeli ground invasion would not prevent Hizbullah from firing rockets into northern Israel.

"Any Israeli incursion will have no political results if it does not achieve its declared goals, primarily an end to the rocketing of Zionist settlements in northern occupied Palestine," Nasrallah told As-Safir newspaper. "I assure you that this goal will not be achieved, God willing, by an Israeli incursion," he said.

His remarks came after Hizbullah fired dozens of rockets at Israel on Sunday.

Responding to reports about diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, Nasrallah said the priority was to end Israeli attacks on Lebanon, but added he was open to discussing initiatives.

Nasrallah would not take a stand on proposals to send an international force to southern Lebanon to keep the peace, but said it was "very noteworthy" that Israel first rejected and then accepted the idea of a NATO-led force.

In a shift of Israel's position, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday his country could accept an international force - preferably NATO - on its border to ensure the peace in southern Lebanon. "This shift in Israel's position must be studied and considered well before taking a positive or negative stand on this idea," he said.

'Israel's losses show weakness'

Nasrallah downplayed Hizbullah's loss of the strategic border village of Maroun al-Ras, saying Israeli media have hyped up the first major ground operation of the 13-day-old confrontation "as if it's the conquest of Stalingrad."

He said Israel's losses in the fighting for Maroun al-Ras showed the weakness of the Israeli army. Israel has said five soldiers were killed in the fighting there. Hizbullah reported three of its fighters killed in the area. Israel said Sunday two terrorists were captured. On Saturday, after fierce fighting, the Israeli military gained a foothold in Lebanon at Maroun al-Ras, a small village in hilly terrain with a commanding view of northern Israel.

The Israelis have not advanced since, despite Lebanese fears that troops could thrust deeper into Lebanon as they did during previous invasions in 1978 and 1982. "The enemy is seeking a military achievement in order to exaggerate it, and use it in the media and in politics," Nasrallah said.

Interested in prisoner swap

The chief of the Shiite organization indicated his group was still interested in a trade of two Israeli soldiers that Hizbullah captured in the brazen cross-border raid that sparked the current crisis, on July 12, for Arab prisoners held by Israel.

In previous statements, he has offered a swap, saying it was the only way for Israel to win the freedom of its soldiers. Israel has refused to negotiate and instead waged the current aerial offensive.

An envoy from Germany's Foreign Ministry visited Beirut on Sunday while the German foreign minister was in Israel, leading to speculation that the European nation may embark on a mission to negotiate the prisoner swap. Nasrallah said that Hizbullah has not been in contact with Germany but that the "German channel is still valid." He said he wouldn't object to other channels that the parties agree to.

In 2004, Germany negotiated a previous prisoner exchange between Hizbullah and Israel.

Nasrallah: Rocket attacks will continue despite ground operation (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280435,00.html)

IDF Conquers Hizbullah Strongholds, Continues Onward
16:20 Jul 23, '06 / 27 Tammuz 5766
by Ezra HaLevi

IDF forces conquered Hizbullah strongholds, destroyed missiles batteries and located missile caches inside a mosque over the weekend and early Sunday.

IDF forces took a ridge overlooking the Hizbullah stronghold of Bint J’bail Sunday. The village is northwest of Maroun A-Ras, the site of heavy battles, which was conquered over the Sabbath.

Maroun A-Ras was taken by IDF ground troops Saturday after days of fierce battles in the area. The Hizbullah bunkers in, around and below the village have all been raided and the IDF has now stationed troops in the village. Security forces in the area report they found scores of Katyusha shells, missile storage rooms and missile-launchers concealed in the village's mosque.

In addition to all residents of Lebanon living south of the Litani Rover, members of ten additional villages from which rockets have been fired were warned to evacuate their homes by 7 PM Saturday, ahead of IAF air strikes.

The Sayed al-Zahra facility in Sidon, run by a Hizbullah associated Islamic leader, was directly hit. This was the first time a target was hit in Sidon. Beirut was also hit early Sunday morning, with Hizbullah’s strongholds south of the city bearing the brunt of IAF bombs. A Hizbullah compound in Baal Beck was also struck, and the nearby Nabi Sheet.

Over the weekend, air strikes in Lebanon destroyed a building described as “Hizbullah Headquarters,” a half-dozen missile launchers, communications lines and a cache of long-range missiles, anti-tank missiles and guns. Several television broadcast facilities were also hit, presumably due to their complicity in broadcasting Hizbullah's Al-Manar television channel.

More than 1,800 targets have been hit by Israel's Air Force since the beginning of the Reengagement War.

Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said the air strikes will continue as long as they have to. "It takes time to hit at terrorism," he told reporters Friday. "We will fight terror wherever it is, because if we do not fight it, it will fight us - if we don't reach it, it will reach us."

Halutz added that Hizbullah has made a practice of using mosques to hide their Katyusha missile launchers.

Thousands of Israelis received their Tzav Shmoneh emergency call-up orders Thursday evening. Most will be taking the place of members of the standing army who will be headed into Lebanon in what the IDF brass is calling a limited ground invasion. As a result, in addition to the two million Israelis who spent this past Sabbath away from their northern homes or in bomb shelters, thousands more made due without their fathers and sons.

Responding to the extensive coverage of recent IDF casualities in both the print and televised media, IDF Commander of the North Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam urged Israelis to refrain from shedding tears for the fallen until the war is won.

"We have to change our way of thinking," he said. "Human life is important but we are at war and it costs human lives. We won't count the dead at present, only at the end. We'll cry for the dead and will encourage their brothers in arms. There are more places like Meron A-Ras, and unfortunately we'll have to reach them."

Asked the common question voiced by Israel's media - whether the IDF will become "bogged down in the Lebanese mud" - Maj.-Gen. Adam urged Israelis to exercise patience. "This is not a short story," he warned, "but it will not be never-ending either."

Meanwhile, in his weekly radio address, US President George W. Bush reassured those concerned that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's upcoming visit is intended to pressure Israel that Rice would "make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it."

Bush, referring to Syria and Iran, added: "Their actions threaten the entire Middle East and stand in the way of resolving the current crisis and bringing lasting peace to this troubled region."

IDF Conquers Hizbullah Strongholds, Continues Onward (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108063)

American Bombs Aid Israel´s 10-Day Victory Plan
08:03 Jul 24, '06 / 28 Tammuz 5766
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The American government is rushing a shipment of precision bombs to Israel, which is carrying out a 10-day plan to weaken Hizbullah before foreign pressure forces a cease fire.

The Bush Administration has given Israel one week to continue attacks on the Hizbullah terrorist infrastructure before Washington agrees to negotiations, according to the London Guardian.

The Bush administration accepted without debate a decision to rush to Israel precision bombs, despite the chances that Arab countries will compare American arms aid to that of Iran, which has helped armed Hizbullah, The New York Times reported.

The shipment of bombs is part of an arms sales deal approved last year, but the special request for laser-guided bombs indicates that the IDF wants to target many more terrorist sites in Lebanon. Last year's agreement allows Israel to buy "bunker buster" weapons that can penetrate underground terrorist command centers. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah is believed to be operating from underground.

The American-backed Israeli plan explains the change in the itinerary of American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who originally was scheduled to fly to Egypt and other Arab countries before visiting Israel this week. She now plans to fly on Monday without visiting Cairo.

Arab countries also don’t want to host Secretary Rice because of fears that they will be viewed as siding with the American rejection of an immediate cease fire, according to Martin Indyk, former United States ambassador to Israel.

Rice has flatly stated that the Bush administration is not interested in a cease fire that would return the situation in Lebanon to its former status quo. The U.S. has rejected a request from Saudi Arabia that it act to halt the Israeli retaliation. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said he gave American President George W. Bush a letter asking him to act for an immediate cease-fire "to stop the bleeding in Lebanon."

President Bush and Secretary Rice have agreed with Israel that Hizbullah must return two kidnapped terrorists and that the reality of the terrorist organization must be confronted before a cease fire can be discussed.

Following the meeting with the Saudi official, the White House said one of the subjects discussed was the "the humanitarian situation" in Lebanon.

Arab countries and foreign media have emphasized the number of civilians who have died in Israeli Air Force attacks on Hizbullah centers in Lebanon, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday complained to foreign reporters that they are not reporting the true picture.

A British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reporter admitted that he saw terrorists using private homes to direct terrorist activities and added," It is difficult to quantify who is a terrorist and who is a civilian."

Israel continued to strike back at Hizbullah Sunday night and has begun to weed out Hizbullah terrorists from southern Lebanon and take control of villages.

The IDF captured two terrorists early Monday, the first prisoners to be taken since Hizbullah began to attack northern Israel two weeks ago.

Hizbullah attacked Israel with more than 90 rockets on Sunday, killing two, including Habib Awad, an Arab who was working in a carpentry shop. Another rocket hit a car and killed the driver, Shimon Glikblich of Haifa, who is to be buried Monday. Three others suffered serious injuries.

The IDF estimates that Hizbullah's weapons stockpile has been depleted by 20 percent following more than 2,200 rocket attacks against Israel. Furthermore, the IDF has destroyed many weapons stockpiles and rocket launchers.

However, military sources said they fear Hizbullah may unleash longer-range missiles that can strike as far south as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The terrorist organization also has cells set up outside of Lebanon who may be planning to attack worldwide Israeli and Jewish targets.

American Bombs Aid Israel´s 10-Day Victory Plan (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108174)

Iran's Ahmadinejad tells Israel to pack up and go

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told arch-foe Israel to "pack up" and move somewhere outside the Middle East, Iran's State News Agency (IRNA) reported.

LONDON, July 24 (IranMania) - Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told arch-foe Israel to "pack up" and move somewhere outside the Middle East, Iran's State News Agency (IRNA) reported.

"I advise them to pack up and move out of the region before being caught in the fire they have started in Lebanon," said Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for the Jewish state to be relocated elsewhere on the planet.

Iran refuses to recognise Israel and opposes any two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or relocated as far away as Alaska, the report said.

Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon on July 12 after Shiite Hezbollah militiamen captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in attacks on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Jewish state is also continuing with its attacks on the Gaza Strip, with the aim of retrieving a soldier snatched by Palestinian militants and stopping rocket fire.

"Zionists have launched their own destruction by attacking Lebanon," Ahmadinejad added, while accusing Britain and the United States of being "accomplices in this regime's crimes".

Iran, like Syria, has been accused of financing and arming Hezbollah but has always maintained it only gives "moral" support.

On Saturday, Ahmadinejad lobbied Muslims to be more active in seeking an end to Israel's continuing assault on Gaza and Lebanon.

In a show of support, scores of young Iranian boys and girls staged a support demonstration opposite the Lebanese embassy in Tehran carrying Lebanese flag and pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Iran's Ahmadinejad tells Israel to pack up and go (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44549&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

War between Iran, Israel inevitable
Posted: July 24, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

With the decision to destroy Hezbollah by military force, the Israelis are playing for a fundamental power alignment in the Middle East. More than just a regional conflict with a local terrorist organization, Israel's fight continues to be about survival.

Yesterday, Iran's President Ahmadinejad declared that by attacking Lebanon, Israel had pushed the button of their destruction. ''I advise them [the Israelis] to pack up and move out of the region before being caught in the fire they have started in Lebanon,'' Ahmadinejad told the state news agency IRNA. ''The usurper Zionists thought attack on Lebanon would create a new atmosphere for them in the region,'' Ahmadinejad charged. ''They [the Zionists] have committed a big mistake.''

Since Israel pulled out of Lebanon in 2001, Hezbollah has boasted of its ability to destroy the Jewish state. Now, should Israel succeed in crushing Hezbollah with military force, Syria and Iran face the prospect of a major political setback in the world of radical Islam.

Iran created Hezbollah, dating back to the 1970s when Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadallah, the spiritual leader who created Hezbollah, and Ayatollah Khomeini, who was responsible for the 1979 Iranian revolution, were both exiled in Najaf in Iraq. Najaf remains a key holy city for Shiite Muslims since Najaf is where the Imam Ali lies buried, the brother-in-law of Prophet Muhammed who was the Prophet's first convert. The central division between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims is that Shiites believe the rightful line of succession from Prophet Muhammed begins with Imam Ali, not the secular caliphates whom the Sunnis have traditionally accepted as rightful leaders.

Today, Iran funds Hezbollah to the tune of $250 million a year.

Syria also has much invested in supporting Hezbollah. In March 2005, after the U.N. held Syria responsible for the assassination of former prime minister Hariri, Syria began to pull out of Lebanon some 25,000 Syrian military troops that had occupied Lebanon since the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s. To appreciate Syria's influence over Lebanon, we should recall that Lebanon's current President Lahoud stayed in power in 2004, beyond his six-year constitutional term, because Syria insisted upon it.

If today, Iran and Syria stand by idly and allow Israel to destroy Hezbollah, both Iran and Syria will suffer major setbacks not only in the region, but worldwide in the esteem of radical Islamic political parties and terrorist organizations.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the region is being postponed for a few hours, until President Bush has a chance to meet with Saudi Arabian officials, a meeting evidently requested by Saudi Arabia. We have seen Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt – all Sunni states – state their unprecedented open objection to Hezbollah rocket attacks against Israel.

This type of Arab opposition to forces attacking Israel would have been unimaginable in the 1950s, when Egypt's own President Nassar was leading the charge in the Islamic world to wipe Israel from the map. Today, Iran has taken up Nassar's dream. Now the Sunni states fear that Shiite Iran is gaining too much strength in the region, an ascendance which could threaten them next, especially if Iran is somehow successful in fulfilling the threat to wipe Israel from the map. Iran hates the U.S. and Israel first, but right after that, Iran next hates Sunni Muslims, against whom they have been fighting for centuries.

The White House may well hope Saudi Arabia could intervene to get Syria to stand down in their support of Hezbollah. Yet, every day as Israel gains against Hezbollah with military force, the likelihood increases that Syria will have no choice but to enter the war in support of Hezbollah. Syria predictably will call for a cease-fire that would freeze the status quo and stop the Israelis before they gain a decisive military victory over Hezbollah.

We should also remember that Russia is a strong supporter and military supplier to both Iran and Hezbollah. Russia and China have joined in the emerging ''Shanghai Cooperation Organization,'' something we also never expected to see happen thirty years ago. Iran attended the most recent meeting of the group in June 2006, a likely first move toward gaining full membership in what is emerging to be a regional anti-American economic and military pact.

President Bush is allowing Israel some time to attack Hezbollah, fully aware that Israel is doing the ''dirty work'' for us as well, in setting back a key terrorist threat. Yet, increasingly the discussion within the administration is searching for ways to identify an ''end game.'' If President Bush intervenes with Secretary Rice to end this conflict before Israel completes the job of destroying Hezbollah's military capabilities to attack Israel, we will only postpone the ultimate conflict which the Middle East cannot forever avoid.

As long as Ahmadinejad and the radical clerics who support him remain in power in Tehran, the war against Israel will continue. Ultimately, Israel cannot take the existential risk that will arise the moment Iran has the capability to finish the making of a deliverable nuclear weapon. We continue to believe that Iran will succeed enriching uranium to weapons grade by the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007.

If Syria refuses to step down to allow Hezbollah to be destroyed, a wider war in the region is inevitable, one way or the other.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that a war between Iran and Israel is inevitable, possibly only months away, unless Israel is allowed enough time and provided enough weapons to settle some key strategic survival issues right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

I think most Christians, know this already. ;D

Army chief: Nasrallah will be more careful in his next speech

Army chief says that if Hizbullah chief ever returns to Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, 'he will choose his words wisely.' Halutz estimates there are several hundred terrorists, some 500 civilians in Lebanese town
Hanan Greenberg

IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz responded Monday to Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah's statements regarding the fighting in Lebanon, and said that in his next speech the Sheikh will be more careful about what he says.

"Bint Jbeil is a symbol of Hizbullah. Nasrallah gave a speech there and I assume that in his next speech, if there will be one, he will choose his words wisely," said Halutz during a visit to the Tel Hashomer base to meet with new army recruits.

Halutz said he estimates that in the area surrounding Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon there are a few hundred terrorists alongside 500 civilians who didn't evacuate the area despite IDF warnings.

"We are operating there with infantry corps and armored corps with aerial back up. Our goal is to hit the terrorists," the chief of staff said, describing the battles taking place since the morning hours between Maron al-Ras and Jabal Bint Jbal.

The chief of staff visited an IDF recruitment base. New recruits asked the chief of staff on the continuance of IDF activities in Lebanon and wanted to know whether the divisions they would join were already fighting on the northern front.

"Our activities are defined by targets and missions, and this is not a simple thing. But this is the heart of the IDF's operational capability," the chief of staff said.

"The ground activities alone are not designed to change the reality but it supports the other efforts we are making from the air, the sea, and intelligence. The aim is to strike the terrorists capture whoever can be taken. We do not want to kill them but we want them to stop the terror. Whoever says 'enough' and comes out with raised hands, we will be responsible for their fate and treat them as best as possible. The ones paying a heavy price on what is happening in southern Lebanon are residents of the Shiite villages which Hizbullah is holding as hostages. I can say that until now 75 percent of those residents have fled their homes," Halutz said.

Chief of staff chats with new recruits

The chief of staff stressed that the IDF can operate for a long time in Lebanon, as long as necessary, and that there is action plan for long months.

"On the strategic level, enough aims have been obtained so that we have reached a very close level to what we set for ourselves. We are continuing to operate until we receive an order from the government to stop," he said.

Halutz said that "we are collecting goals accomplished every day and are harming the other side. Our measurement is not the number of Katyusha rockets – it could be that on the last day of fighting Katyusha rockets will still fall in Israel. We can't take out the last rockets from southern Lebanon and kill the last of the terrorists, but our central role is to provide a good starting point for the diplomatic process."

The chief of staff said that Hizbullah still had a collection of rockets, mainly short-range, but also long-range rockets. He did not rule out a scenario of the firing of rockets at Gush Dan (greater Tel Aviv) but did not give further details.

Army chief: Nasrallah will be more careful in his next speech (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280539,00.html)

Arab Leaders Fear Growing Clout Of Iran

By FAIZA SALEH AMBAH
Special to The Washington Post

July 24 2006

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- The war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has created widespread public support for the militant Shiite group among people across the Arab world.

But leaders appear uneasy about the conflict and fear it could boost the influence of Hezbollah's patron, Iran, analysts say.

Thousands of Egyptians and Jordanians have protested the Israeli assault, now in its second week, and hundreds of Saudis have signed petitions demanding a cease-fire. Many in the region have praised Hezbollah for its willingness to fight Israel.

But analysts say the governments of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt want a weakened and disarmed Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that sparked the Israeli assault by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. Leaders have criticized Hezbollah, which has since fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, for its July 12 cross-border raid and blamed it for provoking the massive Israeli offensive.

Adding to the tension is the widespread concern in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan - all U.S. allies - about Iran's growing regional influence, analysts said.

"There are two things that are wrong here: Hezbollah is armed, and its allegiance is to Iran. This doesn't help stability in Lebanon; and it makes it worse that Iran is trying to put Hezbollah in its sphere of influence, which extends from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon," said Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi writer and an adviser to the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

Jordan's King Abdullah, whose country hosts more than 1 million Iraqi refugees, the majority of them Shiites, has often warned about the ascendancy of Shiite dominance in the region. Iran and Iraq are predominantly Shiite, as is Hezbollah.

Abdullah "wants to stop the spread of Shiite influence in the region. He thinks Hezbollah's decisions are made in Tehran, and that Hezbollah's actions were timed so as to distract from international pressure on Iran's nuclear program," said Riyadh Mansour, international affairs editor at Addustoor newspaper in Jordan.

While rebuking Hezbollah, most Arab governments hope the United States through Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can persuade its ally Israel to cease hostilities, analysts say, because each day the assault continues they lose popularity and the respect of their people.

"Arab governments want Rice to come and impose a cease-fire because their citizens are watching Lebanese people being killed and injured on television every night, and Arab governments feel deep embarrassment," said Abdel-Monem Said Aly, director of the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

Photos of Lebanese toddlers killed by Israeli missile strikes and lying dead amid the rubble have been on the front-page of dailies across the region, and activists have circulated dozens of e-mails with graphic photos of Lebanese civilians and children killed or wounded in the strikes. Satellite stations al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya have broadcast blanket coverage of the crisis.

The crisis has exposed the weakness and powerlessness of the Arab governments, said Khalid al-Dakhil, assistant professor of political sociology at King Saud University in Riyadh. "They can't fight, and they can't bring peace. Not only can they not stand up to Israel or the United States; they're not even able to get a cease-fire."

As Israel has continued attacks on Lebanon's infrastructure, and Hezbollah has fought back, support for the Shiite militia has spiked across the region, turning its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, into an Arab hero. In demonstrations in Cairo and Amman, protesters carried giant posters of Nasrallah and burned Israeli and U.S. flags. They criticized their governments for not supporting Hezbollah.

Though the United States and Israel have designated Hezbollah and Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, as terrorist organizations, many Arabs view them as the only Arabs willing to resist and engage Israel, a widespread view shrewdly exploited by Nasrallah, who has been in hiding since the strikes began.

"A defeat in Lebanon will end the region's resistance movements, the Palestinian cause and impose Israel's conditions for a settlement," Nasrallah said in an al-Jazeera interview. "A defeat for us is a defeat for the whole Muslim nation."

Saudi lawyer Bassem Alem said Hezbollah's popularity stemmed from its "ability and willingness to strike at Israel, which has been killing Palestinians and Lebanese and grabbing Arab land for decades with impunity." The war on Lebanon has "created a clear and undeniable schism between the Arab public and the region's rulers," he said.

Arab Leaders Fear Growing Clout Of Iran (http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-hez0724.artjul24,0,2351641,print.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld)

Iran not to send troops to join conflict in Lebanon: spokesman
2006-07-25 01:12:47

Special report: Israel-Lebanon Conflicts

TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran will not dispatch its forces to join a conflict between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel, and it favors "legal and diplomatic" solutions, a government spokesman said on Monday.

While opposing aggression and oppression, Iran's foreign policy doctrines will not support sending troops in conflicts in other countries, Gholam-Hossein Elham told a weekly news briefing. Tehran favors use of "all legal and diplomatic ways" to halt Israel's military actions against Lebanon, the official IRNA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

Israel's ongoing attack against innocent civilians in Lebanon "has no justification," Elham said, adding that Israel's aim was to broaden its dominance in the region with the support of "certain big powers."

The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, has also said that Iran would not enter the current crisis in Lebanon militarily, while vowing to continue diplomatic and political supports to Lebanon, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

Iranian officials have reiterated indignation at Israeli offensives in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, calling on Islami ccountries to be more active in an effort to stop the conflicts. On July 12, Israel launched a massive offensive in Lebanon in retaliation for the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerillas in a border clash which also killed eight others. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon since the violence broke out, while Israeli jets and artillery have responded with massive bombardments on targets across Lebanon.

Over the past few days, Israel has carried out ground incursions into southern Lebanon in a bid to neutralize Hezbollah and remove the group from the border area.

Iran not to send troops to join conflict in Lebanon: spokesman (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/25/content_4873644.htm)

Ahmadinejad: Iran, Turkmenistan able to do great jobs
Ashkhabad, July 24, IRNA

Iran-Turkmenistan-Ahmadinejad
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday that Iran and Turkmenistan are capable of doing huge works through mutual cooperation.

Speaking in a meeting with his Turkmen counterpart, Saparmurat Niyazov at the Turkmen presidential palace, Ahmadinejad said, "We (the Iranian delegation to Turkmenistan) feel at home and hope that the visit will result in further expansion of mutual cooperation." Ahmadinejad said the Iranian and Turkmen nations are not divided and will remain 'friends and brothers' for ever.

"We consider Turkmenistan's progress as our own and will be happy with the country's growth and development," added the president.

The Iranian president said there has been no restriction in expansion of relations with Turkmenistan and Tehran is ready for cooperation with Ashkhabad.

Referring to his private talks with Niyazov, the Iranian president said important issues were taken into consideration in the meeting and the two sides stressed promotion of ties within the framework of national interests.

For his part, Niyazov said that Iran and Turkmenistan have had no problem and misunderstanding neither in the past nor present.

He stressed that the two countries' officials are relentlessly trying for expansion of the two-way ties.

Several cooperation agreements have been drafted and are ready for signing, said Niyazov, adding that bilateral transactions rose to dlrs 1.2 billion last year and to dlrs 600 million in the first half of 2006.

The Turkmen president said there are still abundant facilities for mutual cooperation and further attempts should be made to promote two-way ties.

To the end, Niyazov thanked the Iranian president, government and nation for their support, solidarity and cooperation with Turkmenistan.

Ahmadinejad: Iran, Turkmenistan able to do great jobs (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607241116191115.htm)

Minister criticizes lack of cooperation among Islamic states
Tehran, July 24, IRNA

Iran-Cooperation-Bangladesh
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saeedi-Kia here Monday said that due to lack of necessary cooperation among Islamic states, the enemies of Islam have become united in recent years to undermine Muslims.

He made the remark at the 4th meeting of Iran-Bangladesh Economic Commission, which opened at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

The minister said that the bloodshed of defenseless Muslim people, including women and children, has been witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.

Saeedi-Kia said that such a situation is against the benefits of Islamic nations and to the interest of their enemies.

"The 3rd joint economic commission meeting was held in Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka eight years ago. Thus the two countries have so far lost many opportunities for cooperation in various economic and technical fields, in particular construction," he added.

Putting the trade exchange between the two sides in 2005 at 70 million dollars, he said that given the capabilities and population of Iran and Bangladesh, the figure is negligible.

For his part, Bangladeshi Minister of Finance and Planning Mohammad Saifur Rahman, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the meeting, said that Israel's current crimes in Lebanon is considered as oppression against all Muslims.

He said that Islamic states are expected not to keep silent in the face of the present situation and should take necessary measures.

He put the economic growth rate of his country in 2005 at 6.5 percent and said that a seven percent target has been set for the current year, adding that to materialize it a 30-35 percent investment in the gross national product is required.

Turning to the recent economic liberalization in Bangladesh, he said that his country needs Iran's support in this respect.

Rahman, heading a delegation, arrived in Tehran on Sunday.

During its three-day visit, the minister and his entourage are scheduled to meet high-ranking Iranian officials.

Trade, economic issues, agriculture and fishery are among the issues to be discussed by the two sides.

Besides, implementation of infrastructural projects by Iranian enterprises in Bangladesh are also on the agenda of talks.

Minister criticizes lack of cooperation among Islamic states (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-18/0607247528182344.htm)

Nasrallah: I Told Lebanese Political Leaders We Would Abduct Israeli Soldiers
Special Dispatch - Lebanon/Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project
July 25, 2006
No. 1211

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah: I Told Lebanese Political
Leaders We Would Abduct Israeli Soldiers

On July 24, 2006, Al-Jazeera TV aired an interview with Hizbullah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

The following are excerpts from the interview:(1)

We Did Not Expect the Arab Regimes "To Participate in Spilling the Blood of
the Victim, and to Provide Cover for the Crimes of the Hangman"

Hassan Nasrallah: "The international community has never been with us, for
us to claim that 'today it is not with us, it is besieging us, abandoning
us, and neglecting us.' It has never been with us. On the contrary, it has
been against us in the things that matter. For example, we have been on the
American terrorism list since... since they began the terrorism list. We
were among the first to be included in the terrorism list. Some European
countries also include us in their terrorism lists. The position of the
international community is clear, and therefore, we are not surprised by the
international community, and we have never pinned our hopes on it."

[...]

"As for some of the Arab positions - this is, of course, something new.
True. In the past, some of the Arab regimes renounced the resistance and its
men. Today, we would accept it if the Arab regimes - I am being very
objective and realistic... We would accept it if they were neutral. That's
it. In the past, too, we accepted this from them. If you examine the
rhetoric of Hizbullah... Maybe the rhetoric of our Palestinian brothers is
different, and this is their right, because their circumstances are much
harsher than ours. They always attack, accuse, and denounce the regimes and
the rulers. This is not part of our rhetoric or writings. Why? Because we
have forgotten about them. There is no need for it. If you assume someone
exists, you can attack him, but if you feel that he does not exist, by
attacking him, you would be aggravating yourself for nothing.

"Once we used to ask the international community to denounce the hangman and
to have mercy on the victim. Then we got to the point where we said we would
accept it if they denounce the hangman and the victim alike. This has become
what we could expect from them. If a resolution denounces both the hangman
and the victim - fine. As for the Arab regimes - all we expect from them is
to be neutral. And if they do not want to be neutral - brother, let them
treat Israel and us equally. We would even accept it if they treat the
hangman and the victim equally. But for them to participate in spilling the
blood of the victim, and to provide cover for the crimes of the hangman - I
tell you that we did not expect this. This was indeed a surprise."

[...]

"I say categorically that the Israeli response to the capturing operation
could have been harsh, but limited, if not for the cover provided by the
Arabs and international community. It is not that Israel got the green light
from America, Ghassan. Israel received an American decision that said: 'Go
on and finish that business in Lebanon.'"

[...]

"In addition, some of the Arabs provided a cover, and encouraged Israel to
continue the battle. Israel was told that this is a golden and historic
opportunity to annihilate the resistance in Lebanon. They don't want to
annihilate only the resistance of Hizbullah in Lebanon. They want to
annihilate any motivation to conduct resistance in Lebanon, whether by
Hizbullah or anyone else. They want to bring the country to a situation in
which the word 'resistance' is considered derogatory. Martyr, jihad,
wounded, steadfastness, challenge, liberation, freedom, power, honor,
nobility, dignity - all these words must be removed from the vocabulary of
the Lebanese, from the press, the political writings, from the political
thinking, from the popular conscience. This is what Israel is doing. America
needs this if it wants to reorganize the region."

[...]

"I Say to the Arab Rulers... Remain Neutral"

Hassan Nasrallah: "I am convinced that even the sons, daughters, and wives
of some Arab rulers are with us. But I say to the Arab rulers: I don't want
your swords or even your hearts. All I want is for you to leave us alone, as
we say in colloquial Lebanese. In other words, remain neutral. We are fine
with that. You've said what you said - you can relax now, thank you very
much. Today there is a war that was imposed on Lebanon. Its purpose is to
eliminate anything to do with the resistance or its fighters in Lebanon, and
to punish Lebanon for defeating Israel. The truth is that the goal of the
war against Lebanon is to eliminate the Palestinian issue. Everybody knows
that the widespread Intifada in Palestine broke out following the victory in
Lebanon. What is happening in Palestine is a similar and improved version of
the Lebanese model. If today we destroy the Lebanese model, the message to
the Palestinians would be that they should despair."

[...]

"The [Lebanese] Government Statement Says That [the Armed Resistance] has
the Right to Liberate the Land and the Prisoners"

Hassan Nasrallah: "This thing you asked me about - that I didn't inform or
ask [the Lebanese government]...

"First of all, the government statement, on the basis of which we joined the
government, says that the Lebanese government adopts the resistance, and its
natural right to liberate the land and the prisoners. Okay, how is the
resistance supposed to liberate the prisoners? It should go to George Bush?
I cannot and will not go to George Bush. When you say 'the right of the
resistance,' you are not talking about the foreign ministry. You are talking
about the armed resistance, and the government statement says that it has
the right to liberate the land and the prisoners. I am a resistance
movement. I am armed. That's one thing. This is the government statement, on
the basis of which the government won the parliament's vote of confidence.

"Second, during the [Lebanese national] dialogue... Some people are now
saying that I did or didn't say certain things... There are recordings. Yes,
I did tell them that we are keeping the border calm, because this was our
policy. But there are two issues in which we cannot tolerate this calm. I
raised four issues. Two issues can bear delays, procrastination,
postponement, and reminders. No problem. The first is the continued
occupation of the Shab'a Farms. Never mind, we can take our time on this.
This is a small and limited piece of land. We will not start a war over the
Shab'a Farms. I'm referring to the kind of war we have now. The second issue
was the aerial and naval violations [of sovereignty], and even violations by
ground forces. We can tolerate this. True, violations of our sovereignty are
deplorable. But are we supposed to destroy the world because of it? No. Two
issues cannot tolerate any delay. One is the issue of the prisoners, because
of the human suffering. The second
issue is any attack against civilians. I told them on more than one
occasion that we are taking the issue of the prisoners seriously, and that
abducting Israeli soldiers is the only way to resolve it. Of course, I said
this in a low-key tone. I did not declare in the dialogue: 'In July I will
abduct Israeli soldiers.' This is impossible."

"I Told Them [Lebanese Political Leaders] That We Must Resolve the Issue of
the Prisoners, and That the Only Way to Resolve it is by Abducting Israeli
Soldiers"

Interviewer: "Did you inform them that you were about to abduct Israeli
soldiers?"

cont'd next post

Hassan Nasrallah: "I told them that we must resolve the issue of the
prisoners, and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli
soldiers."

Interviewer: "Did you say this clearly?"

Hassan Nasrallah: "Yes, and nobody said to me: 'No, you are not allowed to
abduct Israeli soldiers.' Even if they had told me not to... I'm not
defending myself here. I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers, in
meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country. I don't
want to mention names now, but when the time comes to settle accounts, I
will. They asked: 'If this happens, will the issue of the prisoners be over
and done with?' I said that it was logical that it would. And I'm telling
you, our estimation was not mistaken. I'm not exaggerating. Anywhere in the
world - show me a country, show me an army, show me a war, in which two
soldiers, or even civilian hostages, were abducted, and a war was waged
against a country - and all for two soldiers. This has never happened
throughout history, and even Israel has never done such a thing."

[...]

"If 60-70 people know all the details of an abduction operation, can it
possibly be successful? No, it cannot. All the more so if I inform a
government, which has 24 ministers, the heads of the three government
branches, political forces, and coalitions. When we held the national
dialogue, we talked and discussed things, and an hour later, the protocols
of the meetings reached the embassies. Do you want me to tell the entire
world that I am about to carry out an abduction operation? It's not
logical."

[...]

"It is true that I did not inform the Lebanese government, but I did not
inform my closest allies either. Syria and Iran did not know. No Syrian or
Iranian knew. They did not know, and I did not consult any of them."

[...]

How Can the War Affect the Iranian Nuclear Dossier?

Hassan Nasrallah: "On the Iranian issue... Now there is a war in Lebanon. In
one, two, or three months it will end. How long can it possibly last? Once
the war is over, in what way will it affect the Iranian nuclear dossier?
What effect will it have on it? On the contrary, if this is in any way
connected to the Iranian nuclear dossier, the war being waged against
Lebanon does not serve its interest. The Americans and the Israelis have
always taken into account that if a confrontation breaks out with Iran,
Hizbullah might intervene in Iran's favor. So striking Hizbullah now would
weaken, rather than strengthen, Iran on the nuclear issue."

[...]

"Hizbullah has Always Placed Lebanese National Interests Above any Other
Interest"

Hassan Nasrallah: "Hizbullah has always placed Lebanese national interests
above any other interest. During the national dialogue, I said to them: You
have known us for 23-24 years. I am ready to tell each and every one of them
which battles he has fought - some of them, not all of them... I am ready to
tell some of them which battles they have fought for the sake of foreign,
rather than Lebanese, interests. Tell me when we, Hizbullah, did anything to
Lebanon, or led it into war, for the sake of foreign, rather than Lebanese,
interests. They could not give me a single example."

[...]

"Victory in this case does not mean that I will enter and conquer the north
of Palestine, and liberate Nahariya, Haifa, and Tiberias. This is not one of
our slogans. This is a long process, which pertains to the Palestinians and
to the nation. This is another issue. The victory that we are talking
about - If the resistance survives, this will be a victory. If its
determination is not broken, this will be a victory. If Lebanon is not
humiliated, if its honor and dignity remain intact, if Lebanon continues to
face all alone the strongest military force in the region, and if it
perseveres and refuses to accept any humiliating terms in the settlement of
this issue - this will be a victory. If we are not militarily defeated, this
will be a victory. As long as a single missile is launched from Lebanon to
target the Zionists, as long as a single fighter fires his gun, as long as
someone plants an explosive device for the Israelis, this means that the
resistance still exists."

[...]

"Today, we Shi'ites are fighting Israel. Our fighting and perseverance
ultimately serve our brothers in Palestine, who are Sunni, not Shi'ite. In
other words, we, Shi'ites and Sunnis, fight side by side against Israel,
which is supported and strengthened by America. I'm telling you that if
[Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert reaches a point at which he says to the
Americans, 'I cannot complete this,' Bush will say to him, 'You go on, and
if you encounter a problem, I will resolve it for you.' This is what I meant
when I talked about 'a battle of the nation,' and I saw [on TV] that you
commented on this. I am not fighting on behalf of the nation. But I say that
the outcome of the battle that Hizbullah is fighting in Lebanon, for better
or worse, is an outcome for the nation. Defeat in Lebanon is defeat for the
nation, and victory in Lebanon is victory for the nation, just like in
2000."

[...]

"For 23 years, we have been talking to our people, motivating them, talking
about martyrdom, the honor of martyrdom, and the place of the martyrs. Do
the Zionists, or those who encourage them, believe that I, or anyone in the
Hizbullah leadership, fears martyrdom? We love martyrdom. We take
precautions in order to prevent Israel from making any gains. But on the
personal level, and as a personal aspiration, each and every one of us hopes
to be destined to martyrdom at the hands of those people, the killers of the
prophets and the messengers, and most hostile to the believers, as it says
in the Koran."

Nasrallah: I Told Lebanese Political Leaders We Would Abduct Israeli Soldiers (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30260)

Syria offers to talk but warns it may join conflict

By Tim Reid in Washington and Ned Parker and Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem
Latest reports at Times Online TV

CONDOLEEZZA RICE will arrive in Jerusalem today on a mission to end the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as Syria indicated for the first time that it was prepared to intervene.

As the US Secretary of State prepared to set out the American plan for ending the fighting - persuading Arab allies to isolate Syria and stop it from arming and funding Hezbollah - Israel said that it would agree to the deployment of a Nato force in southern Lebanon to keep guerrillas from attacking the border. After meetings today with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and tomorrow with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, Dr Rice will travel to an emergency conference in Rome on Wednesday, attended by officials from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the EU and the UN.

Dr Rice left Washington yesterday amid increasing condemnation from the UN and Britain over the scale of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. Criticism is likely to mount after the US was forced to admit that it was expediting the delivery of 5,000lb laser-guided "bunker buster" bombs to Israel under an agreement reached between the two countries last year.

With the US ruling out direct talks with Syria and Hezbollah, and with Arab allies refusing to host the emergency meeting because of the White House's rejection of an immediate ceasefire, Dr Rice arrives in the region at a time of intense distrust of American motives. She is almost wholly reliant on Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to pressure Damascus into disarming Hezbollah.

As she left Dr Rice said that there was "no quick fix" and that diplomacy would be difficult.

In a sign that Syria might be feeling the pressure from its Arab neighbours, Faisal al-Meqdad, its Deputy Foreign Minister, said Damascus was willing to have direct talks with the US to resolve the conflict.

That reconciliatory tone was countered, however, by Mohsen Bilal, the country's Information Minister, who said that Syria would enter the conflict if the Israelis invaded Lebanon. "If Israel makes a land invasion of Lebanon and gets near us, Syria will not stand by with arms folded," he told the Spanish newspaper ABC. "It will enter the conflict.” He added that Syria would only co-operate with peace negotiations within the framework of a broader Middle East peace initiative that would include the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.

John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the UN, rebuffed Syria’s offer to help to broker a peace deal. “Syria doesn’t need dialogue to know what they need to do,” he said. He repeated Dr Rice’s assertion that there would be no solution to the conflict until Hezbollah had been disarmed.

The diplomatic activity came after another day of violence. Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and east and south Lebanon killed six people and wounded 80, and Hezbollah rockets killed two and wounded 15 in Haifa. Jan Egeland, the UN’s head of emergency relief, called the Israeli bombardment a “violation of humanitarian law”.

Since the conflict began 12 days ago at least 365 people have died in Lebanon and 37 in Israel. Yesterday the Israeli military said that it had forced out Hezbollah guerrillas from the village of Maroun al-Ras, just inside Lebanon, where six Israeli commandos have been killed this week. Two Hezbollah fighters were captured.

Amir Peretz, the Israeli Defence Minister, said that his country would agree to the deployment of a Nato force in southern Lebanon because of the “weakness of the Lebanese Army”. His statement was the clearest indication yet of a tentative plan for withdrawal from Lebanon.

Syria offers to talk but warns it may join conflict (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2282975,00.html#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=World)

Europe Won't Call Hizballah Terrorists
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
July 24, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Despite growing international awareness about the dangers posed to Mideast stability by Hizballah, the European Union has yet to outlaw the group or move to block its funding.

E.U. countries have not reached consensus on the matter, because some governments argue against treating as a terrorist group an organization that is involved in the Lebanese political system.

An E.U. terrorism list names 27 organizations, some of which have not carried out attacks for many years. But Hizballah is omitted, even though a separate list of 26 terrorist individuals does name Hizballah second-in-command Imad Mugniyah, one of the FBI's most wanted men.

The anomalous situation could pose difficulties should European peacekeepers be deployed in southern Lebanon, as proposed unexpectedly by the Israeli government at the weekend.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israel may accept a NATO peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to protect its northern flank against Hizballah attacks. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton expressed cautious support for the idea, but said there had been no consideration given to U.S. troops being involved.

If European forces were deployed, they could come from countries that do not share a common approach towards Hizballah.

The Netherlands, for example, went against the flow in 2004 when it said its intelligence assessment had found Hizballah's political and terrorist activities fell under a single coordinating council. It notified other E.U. members that it was no longer drawing a distinction between the two.

Britain does draw the distinction, but in its case has banned what it says is the "terrorist wing," the Hizballah External Security Organization, rather than Hizballah in its entirety. Other E.U. member states have done neither.

In contrast to the ambivalence of E.U. governments, lawmakers in the European Parliament last year passed a resolution by 473 votes to eight calling Hizballah a terrorist group and calling for "all needed measures to put an end to the terrorist activities of this group."

But E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana, visiting Israel last week, said there was no plan to add Hizballah to the terrorism list, since the E.U. did not have enough information to determine whether it should be designated. The issue was a legal and not a moral one, Solana was quoted as saying.

Hizballah has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon and abroad, including suicide bombings against the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in 1983, and the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina in 1992 and 1994.

It has also been active in Europe, where between 1986 and 1996 it was blamed for attacks - or foiled plots - in France, Cyprus, Spain, Britain and Romania.

The U.S. has long urged the E.U. to add Hizballah to its terrorist list, a step that would deprive the group funding from sympathizers and Islamic "charities" in Europe. France, which has historical links to Lebanon, has led opposition to the move, citing its political activities.

Election platform - 'Armed resistance'

Few dispute that Hizballah enjoys substantial political support in Lebanon. The group holds 14 seats in Lebanon's 128-member parliament and, when joined with coalition partners including the Shi'ite Amal control more than 27 percent of the legislature.

The Israeli government itself appears resigned to the fact that Hizballah will continue to be a political force in Lebanon.

The Washington Post Sunday quoted Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon as saying Israel would accept the continued existence of Hizballah as a party engaged in the Lebanese political system, but without terrorism and military capabilities.

But Hizballah, an Iranian creation, has based its identity on the fight against Israel - in last year's election, it campaigned on a plank of continued "armed resistance" against Israel.

It's a stance Hizballah maintains despite Israel having withdrawn from a narrow security zone in southern Lebanon six years ago. Since then, apart from sporadic fighting on Israel's northern border, it has also played a bigger role in Palestinian terrorism against Israel, while defying a 2004 U.N. resolution requiring that it disarm.

Senior Hizballah figure Sheikh Naim Qassem told Lebanese television in 2003: "We believe that our political endeavors are combined with our resistance operations, which cannot be separated from our political activity."

Qassem is a member of a nine-person governing body, the "Decision-Making Shura," headed by Hassan Nasrallah.

According to a 2003 report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies in Israel, the Shura oversees sub-councils including a political council and a military council.

It said the Shura comprised seven Lebanese - including Nasrallah, Qassem, and Mugniyah - and two Iranians.

Europe Won't Call Hizballah Terrorists (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200607/INT20060724a.html)

SE Asian Muslims Say They Will Join Hizballah's Fight
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
July 24, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Muslims in Southeast Asia are protesting Israel's offensive against Hizballah, and in Indonesia, Islamists reportedly were registering as "volunteers" to travel to the region to fight against the Jewish state.

The foreign ministry in Jakarta said it knew of no Indonesians who had yet left the country headed for the Middle East, although spokesman Desra Percaya said it was aware that some were prepared to do so.

He said while he understood Indonesian Muslims' feeling of "sympathy and solidarity" for the Lebanese and Palestinians, there was no need for Indonesians to volunteer to fight. What the Palestinians and Lebanese needed was humanitarian assistance.

The Aceh division of an organization called the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) claims to have signed up more than 90 volunteers for a "jihad," state Antara news agency reported.

"We are ready to be sent to Palestine and Lebanon as volunteers and martyr fighters to fight Israel," the group's chairman, Yusuf Al Qadrawi, told journalists.

He said the applicants from Aceh would join others in Jakarta before heading for the Middle East.

According to other Indonesian media reports, Suaib Didu, the head of an Islamic students group, said 217 volunteers calling themselves Palestine Jihad Bombing Troops were planning to travel to Lebanon to join Hizballah's fight.

A group of 12 volunteers dressed in black and wearing balaclavas were presented at a press conference in Jakarta, where Suaib said the larger group included Muslims from across Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Bangladesh.

He said the plan had not been sanctioned by the Indonesian government.

The Jakarta Post quoted a Muslim scholar, Azyumardi Azra, as saying the volunteers would do better by helping Indonesian "earthquake and tsunami survivors and people living in poverty."

Prof. Zachary Abuza, a speci***t in South-East Asia terrorism at Simmons College in Boston, said Indonesian radicals had threatened in the past to go to Iraq to fight against the Americans, but "few actually made it."

This time it could be different, he wrote on the Counterterrorism Blog website.

"Southeast Asian Islamists and jihadists are always seeking to bring the Islamic periphery into the Muslim core, and convince their Arab coreligionists that they are true Muslims. There is no better way to prove their Islamic faith than to fight against Israel in the Holy Land," Abuza said.

"Second, jihadists across southeast Asia have been seeking for ways to both recruit anew and to tap into more mainstream Islamist movements."

Thousands of Indonesians protested Sunday against Israel, burning Israeli and U.S. flags and calling on their government to urge the U.N. to intervene to stop the violence. Demonstrators at one protest, in South Sulawesi, called for jihad and for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wrote to U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, saying Indonesia was prepared to contribute troops to a U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, an offer also made by Indonesia's ambassador to the U.N. at an open session of the Security Council on Friday.

Yudhoyono has also called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hizballah.

Indonesia's Muslim neighbor, Malaysia, also offered to send troops to a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Malaysia currently chairs the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which said the crisis was "caused by the continuous Israeli aggression on Lebanon." The 56-state OIC has also called Israel's actions "a threat to international peace and security."

In Kuala Lumpur, hundreds of protestors outside the U.S. Embassy burned Israeli flags and chanted "Death to Israel." Neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has diplomatic relations with Israel.

Llater this week, Kuala Lumpur will play host to ministers from 25 Asian and Pacific Rim nations meeting for the region's biggest security conference.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was earlier scheduled to participate, although it remains unclear whether she will attend, given her Mideast diplomatic mission, which starts on Monday.

SE Asian Muslims Say They Will Join Hizballah's Fight (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200607/INT20060724b.html)

Int'l Media Is Portraying Victim As Aggressor, Olmert Says
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
July 24, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Ahead of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the volatile Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other senior Israeli officials met with the foreign ministers of France and Germany on Sunday.

Olmert asked both his German and French guests separately if their countries would tolerate rockets raining down on their cities.

About one million Israelis have been virtually living in bomb shelters and security rooms in northern Israel for almost two weeks now. That would be like 7 million French or 12 million Germans, Olmert said.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy had to duck into a residential building during a tour of Haifa on Sunday when an air raid siren sounded.

Ahead of his meeting with German Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Olmert said Hizballah was operating at the behest of Iran and Syria and said the situation was not being portrayed fairly in the international media.

"I regret that the wickedness, the malice and the murderous brutality of Hizbullah are not fully shown on television screens outside Israel. There is a distorted picture in which the victim is portrayed as the aggressor," Olmert said.

Syria's information minister Mohsen Bilal said his country would not sit by if Israeli ground troops invaded Lebanon.

"If Israel invades Lebanon over the ground and comes near to us, Syria will not sit tight. She will join the conflict," Bilal said in an interview published in the Spanish newspaper ABC on Sunday.

Both Syrian- and Iranian-made missiles are being launched at Israeli communities. But Olmert said Israel had no intention of attacking Syria.

"Israel does not intend to attack Syria. However, if Syria intervenes, we will respond sharply. We are not active in Syria at the moment, and they have no reason to intervene," Olmert said.

Thousands of Lebanese have flooded over the border into Syria.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also made more inflammatory comments over the weekend.

"Israel pushed the button of its own destruction by attacking Lebanon," Ahmadinejad told education officials on Sunday.

He did not give details but said "the people of the region will respond" if Israel and its allies don't apologize for their policies.

Int'l Media Is Portraying Victim As Aggressor, Olmert Says (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200607/INT20060724d.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now is this any suprise, to some of us??

Suicide armies launched

From NICK PARKER
Chief Foreign Correspondent
in Lebanon

TEAMS of Iranian suicide bombers were heading for Lebanon’s war zone last night in a terrifying bid to spark meltdown in the Middle East.

Twenty-seven martyrdom-seekers have been sent to Syria on their way to front line positions.

The mad fanatics, belonging to the Iranian Martyrs of Islam World Movement, have been training for months to wreak maximum havoc on military and soft civilian targets. Their aim is to spark terror which will detonate all-out war and suck Western nations into a final bloody showdown.

A spokesman for the martyrs group said yesterday: “Two teams of 18 and nine have gone to Syria separately.

“They have been deployed on a voluntary basis in order to get to the areas of conflict in any way they can.”

The man, named only as Mohammadi, claimed the 27 were picked from 55,000 who registered in Iran. They were briefed and have completed the “relevant courses” so that they could perform both military services and helping the wounded.

Mohammadi added: “If Israel would decide to occupy Lebanon again, they will carry out martyrdom-seeking operations.”

The would-be bombers are also trained to recruit local volunteers and create new cells of suicide attackers.

All of them are fluent in Persian and Arabic, and some speak English.

Mohammadi insisted that the MIWM group has no links with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Another Iranian source close to the group, named as Mohammad Ali Samadi declared: “The first two groups of esteshhadioun (volunteers of martyrdom) have already reached Lebanon.

“They have received adequate training to fight beside their Lebanese brothers. They will identify Zionist targets and attack them with actions of martyrdom.”

The fanatics also aim to avenge deaths and injuries to people like those caught in the Israeli air strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.

The deployment of suicide squads will strengthen US claims that Iran is the power behind the current turmoil in Lebanon.

Security has been stepped up amid fears of suicide attacks on soft targets in Beirut and areas close to the Israeli border where fighting is raging. A Lebanese security official said: “It is the nightmare we’ve been dreading.”

Israeli troops yesterday seized two Hezbollah guerrillas during fighting in Maroun al-Ras.

The death toll in the conflict continues to mount. At least three people died when Israeli warplanes struck a minibus carrying 16 villagers fleeing from Tairi in Lebanon.

Hezbollah continued rocket attacks across northern Israel. Two people died as more than a dozen missiles hit Haifa. One was killed in a factory — on the day residents returned to work after a week of sheltering from the bombing.

A total of 17 Israelis have been killed by Hezbollah rockets and 19 Israeli troops have died. And 381 Lebanese have been killed.

A UN observer was injured in the crossfire. Italian Capt Roberto Punzo was hit in the stomach by shrapnel. He was last night undergoing surgery.

Reconciliation Is Possible, Says Benedict XVI

At Prayer Vigil for Peace Between Israel and Lebanon

RHEMES-SAINT-GEORGES, Italy, JULY 24, 2006 (Zenit.org).- At a vigil for peace between Israel and Lebanon, Benedict XVI urged reconciliation in response to violence.

"Lord, free us from all evils and grant us peace; not tomorrow or the day after, grant us peace today!" the Pope implored on Sunday. He was presiding at the vigil in the church of Rhemes-Saint-Georges, near Les Combes, in the Italian Alps where he is spending his holidays.

Following a brief Liturgy of the Word which began at 5:30 p.m., the Holy Father presented the Christian vision of peace in a homily delivered without notes. In his homily he commented on the passage of the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, which presents Christ as "our peace."

Addressing some 100 faithful gathered in the church and in the presence of Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi of Aosta, the Pope referred to the disappointment that can be felt given the violence of men against their brothers.

"There is still war between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Others foment war and all is still full of enmity, of violence. Where is the efficacy of your sacrifice? Where in history is this peace of which your apostle speaks to us?" Benedict XVI asked, addressing himself to Jesus.

The Lord's reconciliation is the answer, the Holy Father said, according to a report by Vatican Radio. "His sacrifice did not remain without efficacy," the Pope insisted.

As proof, he mentioned "the great reality and communion of the universal Church," as well as the "islands of peace in the body of Christ," in particular, the saints of charity "who created oases of God's peace in the world."

Islands

Martyrs are also these "islands" as they have given "witness of peace, of the love that puts a limit to violence," the Holy Father said.

In fact, according to the Bishop of Rome, man's violence has a limit: the love of Christ.

"The Lord conquered on the cross," he observed. "He did not conquer with a new empire, with a more powerful force to destroy others; he did not conquer in a human manner, as we would imagine, with a stronger empire.

"He conquered with a love that goes unto death. This is God's new way of conquering. He did not oppose violence with greater violence. He opposed violence precisely with the opposite: love to the end, to his cross."

The Pope exhorted the faithful to trust in this divine love to be able to be peacemakers.

It is necessary to take our love to all the suffering, knowing that the Judge of the Last Judgment identifies with them, he said.

The central truth of Christianity, "God is love," must never be obfuscated, but must be reappraised in dialogue with the rest of religions, the Pontiff contended.

He continued: "Today in a multicultural and multireligious world, many are tempted to say: It is better for peace in the world between religions and cultures not to speak too much of the specific character of Christianity, that is, of Jesus, of the Church, and of the sacraments. Let's leave to one side the things that might be less common."

"But it isn't true," replied the Pope. "Love, the message of love and of all that we can do for those who suffer in this world must also be supported by the testimony of this God, of God's victory precisely in the nonviolence of his cross."

Reconciliation Is Possible, Says Benedict XVI (http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=93052)

WTO global trade talks collapse

Monday 24 July 2006, 22:39 Makka Time, 19:39 GMT

The Doha round of global trade talks in Geneva has collapsed after top powers failed to agree on steps to free up trade.

Announcing the talks at the World Trade Organisation had been suspended, Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath said it could take “from months to years” to restart the negotiations.

"This is a serious setback, a major setback," said Celso Amorim, the Brazilian foreign minister.

The complex talks were launched in Doha, Qatar, five-years ago in a drive and described as a "once-in-a-generation chance" to boost the global economy and lift millions out of poverty worldwide.

But the Doha round stalled after 14 hours of talks between the G6 members - the US, EU, Brazil, Australia, Japan and India - yielded no breakthrough in reducing farm subsidies and lowering agricultural tariffs.

Dead end

Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, told journalists that Washington had been "unwilling to accept or indeed to acknowledge the flexibility shown by others."

Peter Mandelson said the US was not being flexible

Christine Lagarde, the French trade minister, blamed "intransigence" by the US for the dead end.

But the US said the EU and other "protectionist" WTO members had not lowered farm tariff barriers enough to allow it to move further on subsidies.

France believes countries should now seek regional trade negotiations as a way around the impasse.

Hopes remain

Washington has said its offer to reduce farm subsidy limits by 60 per cent was significant, but trade rivals argued the cuts left real spending unaffected.

Diplomats said Mandelson had spelt out how close Brussels could get to the level of tariff and subsidy cuts demanded by developing countries, but that was not enough for the US.

Ahead of the talks Pascal Lamy, the WTO director general, had said the US must offer deeper cuts in its farm subsidies, the EU must further drop barriers to farm goods' imports and the big developing countries must agree to open up their markets for industrial goods.

Despite the failure of the talks, all G6 members say they remain committed to the multilateral trading system and to the eventual completion of the Doha round, even if they could not say how or when the negotiations could be revived.

The process is running out of time as the authority of George W. Bush, the US president, to "fast track" the trade deal - which allows the White House to make deals that can be either approved or rejected by Congress, but not amended - runs out in mid-2007.

The G6 countries account for some three quarters of world trade and consequently represent a wide range of commercial interests.

WTO global trade talks collapse (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9952A3CE-4FEA-4057-B1C7-647C8D26FB5F.htm)

Pakistan builds plutonium reactor
Plant could supply material for 40-50 nuclear bombs a year

By Joby Warrick
The Washington Post
Updated: 10:00 p.m. MT July 23, 2006

Pakistan has begun building what independent analysts say is a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium, a move that, if verified, would signal a major expansion of the country's nuclear weapons capabilities and a potential new escalation in the region's arms race.

Satellite photos of Pakistan's Khushab nuclear site show what appears to be a partially completed heavy-water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year, a 20-fold increase from Pakistan's current capabilities, according to a technical assessment by Washington-based nuclear experts.

The construction site is adjacent to Pakistan's only plutonium production reactor, a modest, 50-megawatt unit that began operating in 1998. By contrast, the dimensions of the new reactor suggest a capacity of 1,000 megawatts or more, according to the analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security. Pakistan is believed to have 30 to 50 uranium warheads, which tend to be heavier and more difficult than plutonium warheads to mount on missiles.

"South Asia may be heading for a nuclear arms race that could lead to arsenals growing into the hundreds of nuclear weapons, or at minimum, vastly expanded stockpiles of military fissile material," the institute's David Albright and Paul Brannan concluded in the technical assessment, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post.

The assessment's key judgments were endorsed by two other independent nuclear experts who reviewed the commercially available satellite images, provided by Digital Globe, and supporting data. In Pakistan, officials would not confirm or deny the report, but a senior Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that a nuclear expansion was underway.

"Pakistan's nuclear program has matured. We're now consolidating the program with further expansions," the official said. The expanded program includes "some civilian nuclear power and some military components," he said.

The development raises fresh concerns about a decades-old rivalry between Pakistan and India. Both countries already possess dozens of nuclear warheads and a variety of missiles and other means for delivering them.

Pakistan, like India, has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. One of its pioneering nuclear scientists, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who confessed two years ago to operating a network that supplied nuclear materials and know-how to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

U.S.-India cooperation
The evidence of a possible escalation also comes as Congress prepares to debate a controversial nuclear cooperation agreement between the Bush administration and India. The agreement would grant India access to sensitive U.S. nuclear technology in return for placing its civilian nuclear reactors under tighter safeguards.

No such restrictions were placed on India's military nuclear facilities. India currently has an estimated 30 to 35 nuclear warheads based on a sophisticated plutonium design. Pakistan, which uses a simpler, uranium-based warhead design, has sought for years to modernize its arsenal, and a new heavy-water reactor could allow it to do so, weapons experts say.

"With plutonium bombs, Pakistan can fully join the nuclear club," said a Europe-based diplomat and nuclear expert, speaking on condition that he not be identified by name, after reviewing the satellite evidence. He concurred with the Institute for Science and International Security assessment but offered a somewhat lower estimate -- "up to tenfold" -- for the increase in Pakistan's plutonium production. A third, U.S.-based expert concurred fully with the institute's estimates.

Pakistan launched its nuclear program in the early 1970s and conducted its first successful nuclear test in 1998.

The completion of the first, 50-megawatt plutonium production reactor in Pakistan's central Khushab district was seen as a step toward modernizing the country's arsenal. The reactor is capable of producing about 10 kilograms of plutonium a year, enough for about two warheads.

Construction of the larger reactor at Khushab apparently began sometime in 2000. Satellite photos taken in the spring of 2005 showed the frame of a rectangular building enclosing what appeared to be the round metal shell of a large nuclear reactor. A year later, in April 2006, the roof of the structure was still incomplete, allowing a unobstructed view of the reactor's features.

"The fact that the roof is still off strikes me as a sign that Pakistan is neither rushing nor attempting to conceal," said Albright of the institute.

Slow pace of construction
The slow pace of construction could suggest difficulties in obtaining parts, or simply that other key facilities for plutonium bomb-making are not yet in place, the institute report concludes. Pakistan would probably need to expand its capacity for producing heavy water for its new reactor, as well as its ability to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract the plutonium, the report says.

After comparing a sequence of satellite photos, the institute analysts estimated that the new reactor was still "a few years" from completion. The diameter of the structure's metal shell suggests a very large reactor "operating in excess of 1,000 megawatts thermal," the report says.

"Such a reactor could produce over 200 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium per year, assuming it operates at full power a modest 220 days per year," it says. "At 4 to 5 kilograms of plutonium per weapon, this stock would allow the production of over 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year."

There was no immediate reaction to the report from the Bush administration. Albright said he shared his data with government nuclear analysts, who did not dispute his conclusions and appeared to already know about the new reactor.

"If there's an increasing risk of an arms race in South Asia, why hasn't this already been introduced into the debate?" Albright asked. He said the Pakistani development adds urgency to calls for a treaty halting the production of fissile material used in nuclear weapons.

"The United States needs to push more aggressively for a fissile material cut-off treaty, and so far it has not," he said.

Pakistan builds plutonium reactor (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14003288/)

Israel, Iran and the US: Who Will be Blamed for Nuclear War?

By Prof. Jorge Hirsch

July 24, 2006

The war on Lebanon [current flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah] may well escalate to the point where the US will use nuclear weapons against Iran, in what would be the first use of nuclear weapons in war since Nagasaki. And the world may well blame the Jewish State.

Israel's bombing campaign is causing immense suffering, is in blatant violation of the Geneva conventions, and deserves the strongest of condemnations. It is especially important for the Jewish community today to distance itself from Israel's immoral government policies and US's support for them. Many Jews are doing this, unfortunately, many are not. "Thousands of American Jews clogged the streets" in New York and elsewhere in the US in support of Israel's actions, reports the Jerusalem Post. Both Houses of the US Congress have just passed solidly backed bipartisan resolutions supporting Israel's actions in Lebanon, to "solidify long-term backing of Jewish voters" according to the Washington Post.

The irony is, Israel's war crimes are going to be dwarfed in comparison to the crime against humanity that would [will] take place if the US uses nuclear weapons against Iran. Israel, by its disproportionate reaction and by accusing Iran (without proof) of being behind Hezbollah's actions, will be seen as having played a key role if the conflict escalates to engulf Iran and the United States. Yet the motivation for those that want this to happen is not to ensure Israel's hegemony in the Middle East, rather it is to ensure US hegemony in the world.

Israel's Interests

It goes without saying that Israel would benefit from the destruction of Hezbollah. Yet it is hard to see how the indiscriminate attack against Lebanon that is taking place will achieve anything other than strengthening the already strong support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Arab world. Shmuel Rosner argues in a Haaretz OpEd that Israel is "America's deadly messenger", being used to promote Bush's "democracy agenda". It certainly appears that Israel's current actions are irrational and self-destructive. Unless their real aim is to draw Syria and Iran into the conflict, following directions from Washington. At the very least it is clear that Israel would not be doing this in the absence of a guarantee from the US that it will intervene if the conflict widens, which in any event Bush has already publicly announced.

If Iran enters the conflict and shoots a single missile against Israel, the US will step in and destroy the military infrastructure of Iran by aerial bombardment. As suggested by Seymour Hersh and others, this is likely to involve the US use of nuclear "bunker busters".

It has been predicted that if the US or Israel attack Iran, Iran will unleash Hezbollah who will carry out devastating attacks against Israel. "Hizbollah was also seen as a means of tying our hands on the Iranian nuclear threat," says an Israeli official. Well, we are in the dress rehersal, and we are seeing that despite all the hype, Hezbollah is a paper tiger. Green light for the Iran attack.

Iran's Interests

What is really unusual about the current flare-up in the Middle East is the barrage of strident denunciations against Iran, from the Bush administration, politicians from across the political spectrum, and the mainstream media, that uniformly accuse Iran (without presenting evidence) of being behind the Hezbollah actions. This has never happened before when there was conflict in Lebanon where Hezbollah was involved, why now?

One argument is Ahmadinejad's stated animosity against Israel. However, that has been Iran's stated position since 1979.

The other argument is that Iran is trying to "divert attention" from the nuclear issue. That defies the most elementary logic. If Iran was really intent in getting nuclear weapons and destroying Israel, it would try to keep things as quiet as possible until it gets those nuclear weapons, several years into the future.

The reality is that, whether one ascribes to Iran evil or benign intentions, Iran draws no benefit whatsoever from the current turmoil in Lebanon. Neither does Syria. Consequently the rhetoric from the US and Israel suggests a deliberate attempt to draw Syria and Iran into the conflict.

US Interests

A US attack on Iran has been predicted by analysts for several years. The US policy vis-a-vis Iran is clearly directed towards confrontation rather than accommodation. There are many reasons for the US to attack Iran, including the control of energy resources, suppression of a regional power opposite to US and Israeli interests, etc. However I have argued for many months that the key reason for the US to seek a military confrontation with Iran is that it will "force" the US to cross the nuclear threshold and use low yield nuclear weapons against Iranian installations. And this is seen as essential to further US geopolitical goals.

The United States used nuclear weapons against Japan not because it had to. It did so to demonstrate to the world that it was in possession of a new weapon that packed the destructive power of thousands of bombing missions into a single one. To tell the rest of the world, beware.

Since then, it has spent over 5 trillion dollars in building up its nuclear arsenal, but nuclear weapons have become "unusable" after 60 years of non-use. America has achieved nuclear primacy but it is useless, until it shows that nuclear weapons are usable again.

Low yield B61-11 nuclear bunker busters have already been deployed, just in case "surprising military developments" give rise to "military necessity". Once Iran is drawn into a conflict and shoots a single missile against Israel or US forces in the region, the US administration will argue that the next Iranian missile could carry chemical or biological warheads and cause untold casualties among Americans, Iraqis or Israelis. A low yield nuclear bunker buster will be touted as the most "humane" way to prevent further loss of life.

cont'd next post

What could happen

In 1941, a vast military effort was started by the United States to create nuclear weapons, culminating in the Trinity test and subsequent bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The effort was shrouded in secrecy and any moral qualms were set aside. When it succeeded, it was argued that many American and Japanese lives had been saved by nuking Japan into surrender.

Any speculation during the period 1941-1945 that the United States had 100,000 people devoted to create a secret weapon million-fold more powerful than any known weapon would have been dismissed as the ultimate "conspiracy theory".

Similarly, much evidence indicates that a deliberate project, shrouded in secrecy, exists today that will culminate in the nuking of Iran, to "save lives". Many are privy to parts of the plan, as Seymour Hersh revealed, only a few know the plan in its entirety. Low-yield nuclear bunker busters would be used, untested but as reliable as the untested "Little Boy" that leveled Hiroshima. Americans will buy the "military necessity" argument because it will be true: American troops in Iraq will be sitting ducks facing Iranian missiles, with or without WMD warheads.

After the US uses nuclear weapons again, it will have established the usability of its nuclear arsenal against non-nuclear countries. It will be possible to wage war "on the cheap", saving many American lives in future conflicts. "Support the troops" is the one thing all Americans, no matter how diverse their views are, agree on.

It should not be allowed to happen. The President has sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons against Iran. We know from previous actions of this administration what Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are capable of. There have been radical changes in US nuclear weapons policies and in preemption "doctrine", and the Bush announcement that the nuclear option is "on the table". In response, there needs to be a strong groundswell call to restrict the absolute presidential authority of this President to order the use of nuclear weapons against Iran. By the general public, by "antinuclear" organizations, by scientific, political and professional organizations. To push Congress into action before it is too late. Without a "nuclear option", the US will be more interested in negotiation than in confrontation with Iran.

Cui Bono?

In the short term, Israel certainly will benefit from the destruction of Iran's military capabilities.

But Israel will not enjoy peace as a result, because the nuking of Iran will create enormous animosity against Israel in the Muslim world and beyond. To the extent that the world buys the US fable that the nuking of Iran was required by "military necessity" and not premeditated, Israel (and Jews worldwide) will bear a heavier than deserved brunt for having contributed to "precipitate" these events.

The US will reap enormous benefits. Flexing its nuclear muscle, it will establish its absolute hegemony in the Middle East and Central Asia and beyond, and gradually squeeze China and Russia into nuclear disarmament and complete submission.

In the end of course we will all lose. Because the nuclear genie, unleashed from its bottle in the war against Iran, will never retreat. And just like the US could develop nuclear weapons in only 4 years with completely new technology 60 years ago, many more countries and groups will be highly motivated to do it in the coming years.

Think about the current disproportionate response of Israel, applied in a conflict where the contenders have nuclear weapons. 10 to 1 retaliation, starting with a mere 600 casualties, wipes out the entire Earth's population in eight easy steps. Who will be willing to stop the escalation? The country that lost 60,000 citizens in the last hit? The one that lost 600,000? 6 million?

As the nuclear holocaust unfolds, some will remember the Lebanon conflict and subsequent Iran war and blame it on Israel. Others will properly blame Americans, for having allowed their Executive to erase the 60-year old taboo against the use of nuclear weapons, first in doctrine and then in practice, despite having the most powerful conventional military force in the world. Others of course will blame "Muslim extremism".

And then the blaming will wither away as a three-billion-year old experiment, life on planet Earth, comes to an end. ???

Israel, Iran and the US: Who Will be Blamed for Nuclear War? (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060724&articleId=2807)

I would suggest that he pick up a Bible...... ;D

South Korea, Indian rank first in UN leader poll

By Evelyn Leopold and Irwin Arieff 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon and U.N. official Shashi Tharoor received the most endorsements in the Security Council's straw poll for the next U.N. secretary-general, diplomats said on Monday.

In a novel procedure, the 15 council members, in a secret ballot, checked one of three boxes next to each of the four announced candidates: "encourage," "discourage," and "no opinion."

Each of the four announced candidates were informed of their rankings and the race is far from over, with other names expected to emerge.

But diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the ballots, said Ban received the most favorable votes followed by Tharoor, an Indian novelist and the head of the U.N. Department of Public Information.

Ban received 12 "encouragements," one "discourage" and two "no opinions." Tharoor followed with 10 "encouragements," two "discouragements" and three "no opinions."

The other two, whose countries have nominated them, came in third and fourth place. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai received seven "encouragements," three "discouragements" and five "no opinions." The vote for Sri Lankan, Jayantha Dhanapala, a former U.N. disarmament under secretary-general, was five "encouragements," six "discouragements" and four "no opinions."

"As the various candidates consider what the votes were compared to what they received, there may now be decisions either for additional candidates to enter the race or for one or more candidates in the race to drop out," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters.

"That is obviously a question for the candidates themselves to decide, based on their own assessment of how the vote went," he said. The candidates are to be informed their rankings.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary-general in the 61-year-history of the United Nations, ends his 10 years in office on December 31. A secretary-general is elected for a five-year term but can be re-elected.

Monday's ballots made no distinction between permanent members with veto power and the other 10 elected members.

Asian nations have contended that tradition requires rotating the job between regions and that it is their turn for the post. Even President Bush conceded the next secretary-general would come from Asia. Bolton said the door should be open to candidates from all regions.

Other names floated in U.N. corridors but not nominated include Kemal Dervis, the Turkish chief of the U.N. Development Program; Jordan's Prince Zeid al-Hussein, who is his country's U.N. ambassador; and Goh Chok Tong, former prime minister of Singapore.

In the past, decisions on picking the secretary-general have been made at the last minute after haggling among the five permanent veto-bearing members: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

The United States 10 years ago was instrumental in getting Annan elected after it vetoed his predecessor, Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Tharoor said that he was gratified by the support. "I have the highest personal regard for Mr Ban but believe I offer a genuine alternative, of a candidate from the South who can articulate a positive vision for a U.N. of the 21st century."

"I believe this result marks a good beginning on which I hope to build in subsequent ballots," Tharoor said.

South Korea, Indian rank first in UN leader poll (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060724/wl_nm/un_leader_dc)

Completing the arrangement
By Zvi Bar'el

The Lebanese government is pleased with itself, and Syria, too, has reasons to smile. As the fighting continues, Lebanese government officials are coming up with new definitions for what is known as "the complete arrangement," the one that is supposed to replace the arrangement that existed before July 12.

And so July 12 is joining the long line of historical dates that mark the stages of Lebanon's "new" independence just like February 14, the date of Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005; or May 25, the date of the Israel Defense Forces withdrawal from Lebanon.

Saturday saw another development in the status of Fuad Siniora's government versus the strength of Hezbollah. After the government received "a franchise" to enter into negotiations on a prisoner-exchange deal, Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah representative, announced that once the IDF withdrew from the Shaba Farms area, Hezbollah's role as a "liberating" army would be over, and it would stick to a purely a defensive role.

Advertisement

This is a very significant statement, because it begins to define the conditions for Hezbollah's disarmament.

The government of Lebanon, Hezbollah, the United States, France and the United Nations have all realized now that the key to achieving a long-term and sustainable cease-fire by means of the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the south lies in a resolution to the Shaba Farms dispute.

At this stage, however, it is not enough for only Hezbollah and the Lebanese government to agree that the return of the Shaba Farms area would spell an end to the movement's "liberating" role. Syria is no less an important player in this regard. In keeping with maps approved by the UN, the Shaba Farms area lies in Syrian territory, so an official document in which Damascus relinquishes the area would be required too. For years now, Damascus has refused to provide such a document.

Will Syria agree to grant one now? An agreement to this end may be reached later in the week, when Syria learns both that it is the only one standing in the way of a settlement, and more importantly, according to Lebanese sources, that Washington is likely to offer Damascus a generous benefits package and a warm return to the "family of nations."

The next stage would have to be securing Israel's consent to withdraw from the Shaba Farms area, as this would then be a withdrawal from Lebanese territory; and only then could the Lebanese Army take up positions in the south, perhaps with the assistance of a multinational force if Hezbollah gives its okay.

Completing the arrangement (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742228.html)

Pontificating Against Israel
By Joseph D'Hippolito
July 25, 2006

As Israel began its latest campaign of self-defense, the Vatican’s leading government official rushed to join his peers on the speeding bandwagon of international disapproval.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state and effectively its prime minister, condemned Israel’s attack against Hezbollah’s positions in Lebanon and the resources the terrorist group could exploit.

“In particular, the Holy See deplores right now the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and assures its closeness to those people who already have suffered so much to defend their independence,” he told Vatican Radio on July 14. “The right of defense on the part of a state does not exempt it from its responsibility to respect international law, particularly regarding the safeguarding of civilian populations.”

Perhaps someone should ask the good cardinal how Israel should respond to enemies who have publicly expressed their desire to destroy it, who have rejected various peaceful settlements, ignored concessions and who continue to murder and maim Israeli civilians. Perhaps someone should ask the cardinal how any nation facing a similar situation should respond.

In any event, Sodano’s words expose three facts of life in Rome. One is the Vatican’s remarkable lack of empathy or compassion for Israeli victims of terrorist atrocities. Another is a policy toward Israel that has outlived its usefulness. The final fact is Sodano’s pending obsolescence.

Sandro Magister, the veteran Vatican correspondent for Italy’s L’Espresso, pointedly described on July 19 the hypocrisy concerning Israel – especially considering Pope Benedict XVI’s warm outreach to Jews: “…it is striking that Benedict XVI is not defending the existence of Israel – which its enemies want to annihilate as the final aim of the conflict underway – with the same explicit, strong determination with which he repeatedly raises his voice in defense of the ‘non-negotiable’ principles concerning human life.”

That silence reflects a position toward Israel revolving around support for civilian Arab populations – especially Palestinians and Arab Christians – as a counterweight to Israeli power. Vittorio Parsi, professor of international relations at the Catholic University of Milan, described that policy in 2003 for the Italian magazine Diritto e Libertà.

“Regarding the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Vatican's political stance has been and remains directed by a cornerstone and long-held principle within Church tradition: that is, attention must be given to peoples and not their governments,” Parsi wrote. Given that cornerstone and the lack of a Palestinian state, which the Vatican supports establishing, “it is by the side of (the Palestinian) populace that the Vatican has decided to stand firm, without its choice implying any anti-Israeli discrimination.”

Parsi, who also serves as a columnist for the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, further analyzed the Vatican’s policy toward Israel with respect to issues that are particularly relevant now.

Self-defense: “The Vatican’s concept of security is by definition one which refers to the notion of collective safety and multi-lateral ways of its realization. In addition, this notion tends toward a criteria of balance that, from Rome’s perspective, is an irrefutable aspect of Middle Eastern policy. What’s more, for the Holy See, security must be achieved while respecting the norms of international law.

“Israel, on the other hand, holds that security must be a prerequisite for any further step toward achieving a solution to the conflict and can be unilaterally guaranteed with all necessary means. In terms of international law, Jerusalem then is seen to have assumed an increasingly open critical position over the years.”

Syrian influence in Lebanon: “…Lebanon is considered by Israel simply as a Syrian protectorate, especially because of the openly managerial role Damascus has played for more than two decades in Lebanon. For Israel, once the Syrian issue is resolved, the logical result will be the end of interference in Lebanon.

“For the Vatican as well, both Lebanon and Syria are connected, but in the sense that its strategy is to consolidate Lebanese integrity and independence in the Arab world with the goal of safeguarding the conspicuous Christian presence in the region. Perhaps it is in this sense that we can understand why the Vatican has maintained particularly prudent relations with Damascus - which, in actual fact, violates Lebanese sovereignty much more than Jerusalem does.”

Iran: “Israel maintains that the Islamic republic is even a more serious threat than was Saddam Hussein's regime. What is alarming to the Israeli government is not so much Iran's support of Hezbollah militia as much as it is the Iranian nuclear program.

“The Holy See appears, however, much more inclined toward Iran. Above all, it is particularly careful to exploit reformist efforts…At the same time, the Vatican greatly fears that Israel may opt for a preventive strike against Iranian nuclear reactors, thus provoking widespread conflict arising from unforeseeable consequences."

The Vatican’s stance regarding Israel, forged during the papacy of Pope John Paul II, has proven useless in mitigating geopolitical conflicts between Israel and its enemies. It has also failed on a moral level, not only by ignoring terrorism against Israeli civilians but also by failing to protect Arab and Palestinian Christians against Muslim oppression.

cont'd next post

In a September interview with the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa – who represents the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which governs church property –bluntly described the difficulties Palestinian Christians face: “What do you mean by difficulties between Israel and the Vatican? We Christians in the Holy Land have other problems. Almost every day – I repeat, almost every day – our communities are harassed by the Islamic extremists in these regions. “And if it's not the members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, there are clashes with the 'rubber wall' of the Palestinian Authority, which does little or nothing to punish those responsible. On occasion, we have even discovered among our attackers the police agents of Mahmoud Abbas or the militants of Fatah, his political party, who are supposed to be defending us.”

Sodano’s remarks also reflect what Parsi called the “pro-Arab prejudice” that “persists in some noteworthy exponents within Vatican hierarchy.” Few such exponents are more noteworthy than Sodano himself.

As secretary of state, Sodano is responsible for the Vatican’s communications outlets – including its newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, which constantly displays an anti-Israel attitude. The magazine from Sodano’s own office, Civilita Cattolica, complements L’Osservatore with anti-American rhetoric “after the fashion of the radical left of Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore,” Magister wrote.

Moreover, Magister describes Sodano as “a great admirer of Yasser Arafat” and “a supporter of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah,” whose support for Palestinian extremists and opposition to Israel was explored in FrontPageMag.com's “Patriarch of Terror.”

Sodano has gone so far as to use duplicitous means to promote his agenda, even at the expense of the Vatican’s diplomatic credibility and Benedict’s dignity.

The secretary of state took advantage of the pope’s vacation in July 2005 to prepare a statement in Benedict’s name that condemned recent terrorist attacks “in various countries like Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Great Britain.” Omitted was any reference to a suicide bombing in Netanya, an Israeli coastal resort. Five victims died and 90 were wounded.

Sodano publicized the statement July 24, 2005. One day later, Israel’s foreign ministry filed a protest. Tensions reached the point where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke directly with Sodano, who tried to shift the blame to the Vatican’s press secretary, Joaquin Navarro-Walls, who accompanied Benedict on vacation.

But mandatory retirement is forcing the 78-year-old Sodano out. Pope Benedict himself testified to Sodano’s rapidly diminishing influence by publicly contradicting him July 18, when the pope supported the G8 summit’s blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for hostilities.

Sodano’s replacement, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will assume office September 15 as part of Benedict’s gradual, meticulous housecleaning of high Vatican offices. That housecleaning includes a subtle shift in policy regarding Israel.

Magister reported in L’Espresso on March 6 that Benedict plans to promote Pizzaballa and appoint him as the bishop for Hebrew-speaking Christians in Israel. Pizzaballa “is viewed very favorably by the Israeli authorities,” Magister wrote.

That move complements another that Benedict made last September. To mitigate Sabbah’s influence, the pope appointed Fouad Twal, the former Archbishop of Tunis, as Sabbah’s auxiliary. Twal – expected to replace Sabbah in two years – is “regarded in Israel as far more acceptable,” wrote Abdal-Hakim Murad, a Muslim commentator in Britain.

Father David Jaeger, a member of the Franciscan Custody and a canon lawyer who has advised the Vatican concerning Israel, implied the policy shift on Vatican Radio one day before Sodano made his remarks: “It is necessary to understand the depth and force of Israel’s anger. The Lebanese government has a choice: It can continue to allow Hezbollah to control southern Lebanon or it can show some courage, reaffirm Lebanese sovereignty and suppress Hezbollah.”

Pope Benedict also seeks a more confrontational approach toward Islam, especially regarding religious freedom for Christians in Muslim countries. In the process, Benedict seems to be less willing to disregard Islamic radicalism for the sake of ecumenical dialogue than his predecessor. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican’s foreign minister, expressed this new direction in May during an address to the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants. Some excerpts:

…one notices a recent general tendency of the Muslim-majority countries to promote, even outside their own borders, an increasingly radical form of conduct in conformity with Islamic precepts, and to assert a greater public presence of such conduct. This phenomenon … results in a religious fanaticism that exerts strong social and institutional pressure upon minorities of other faiths…In the realm of principle, it must be said that in the face of Islam the Church is called to live out its own identity to the full without drawing back, and to take clear and courageous positions in asserting the Christian identity. We know well that radical Islam takes advantage of anything that it interprets as a sign of weakness. It is evident that the initiatives for dialogue on religious topics do not belong to the states, but to religious leaders, although they can be facilitated by political officials.

But if the Vatican is serious about changing its policy toward Israel – and if it really believes its rhetoric about supporting peoples rather than their governments – it must forcefully and unequivocally offer the same support to Israeli victims of terror as it does to Arab victims of war and religious persecution.

Otherwise, intelligent people will recognize the Vatican’s support for the innocent as nothing but a cover for its own geopolitical interests and cynical personal agendas – as, unfortunately, it has been to this point.

Iran's showdown with the West

David Frum
National Post
Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Here's what we don't know: We don't know whether Hezbollah anticipated the strong Israeli reaction to its kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.

That means we don't know whether Hezbollah intended to trigger a major regional war -- or whether it complacently assumed it could pressure Israel into a 400-to-1 prisoner exchange like the one Hezbollah extracted in 2004.

But here's what we do know: We know that the missile that wrecked an IDF warship and killed four sailors on July 15 was manufactured in Iran to a Chinese design. We know that Hezbollah's longer-range weapons are commanded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. We know that Hezbollah's fighting forces were equipped and trained by Iranian officers. And we know above all that Hezbollah is financed, equipped, and trained by the Iranian secret service. It carries out terror missions on behalf of Iran. For all practical purposes, Hezbollah is an arm of the Iranian state.

And when Hezbollah goaded Israel into war, the war it triggered was not a war between Israel and Lebanon.

The war Hezbollah provoked is a war between Israel and Iran, with Hezbollah as Iran's proxy -- and the people of Lebanon as Iran's victims. The Lebanese have been kidnapped by Iran as surely as those two Israeli soldiers abducted on the northern border.

Israel has recognized that tragic fact. It has fought this war on its northern border as humanely as it can. Flip the switch in Beirut and the lights come on; open the taps, and the water flows. Essential services have been spared. The runways at Beirut Airport have been bombed to stop reinforcements to Hezbollah, but the control towers and the newly built terminal have been spared because Lebanon will need them later.

Unintended civilian casualties have tragically occurred, as they do in any war. But Israel's sincere and costly attempts to minimize the loss of innocent life present a stark contrast with Hezbollah's deliberately atrocious war methods.

Hezbollah has boasted that it has tried to fire missiles into Haifa's chemical factories, in hope of releasing gases to poison the civilian population. Hezbollah rocket warheads arrive crammed with ball bearings, so as to inflict maximum death and suffering upon the civilian populations at which they are fired.

Nobody wants the war to last a minute longer than it needs to. But ironically, letting this war go to the finish would be a far more humane policy than the UN's call for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

If the war ends today, it ends with Hezbollah bloodied, but intact. It ends with Hezbollah still in possession of much of southern Lebanon, ready to be resupplied and reinforced by Syria and Iran. It ends with Hezbollah able to boast that it fought a war with Israel that ended with Israeli concessions. In other words: it ends with a Hezbollah, which is to say an Iranian, victory.

What would happen then? Well, such a victory would finish forever the hopes of those Lebanese, the majority of the population, who want to see their country regain its national independence.

And it would embolden the mullahs of Iran. In the early 1990s, the mullahs launched a global terror campaign. They assassinated Iranian dissident exiles in the streets of Paris and the restaurants of Berlin. In 1994, they bombed the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, killing almost 100 people, and bombed the Israeli embassy.

In 1996 they attacked the Khobar Towers barracks in Saudi Arabia, killing 17 Americans. That last attack was too much even for the Clinton admininstration, which issued an ultimatum to the Iranians. Overt Iranian violence subsided. Instead, the Iranians redoubled their investment in their nuclear bomb program so that next time, they could kill with impunity.

"Next time" is now here. Intended or not, the war on Israel's northern border is Iran's showdown with the West.

Now see the stakes if Iran loses. If Hezbollah is destroyed as a military force, Iran loses its most potent weapon of attack and retaliation against the Western world.

Through the years of negotiating with Iran over its nuclear bomb program, the Iranians have repeatedly threatened: "If you should dare ever to strike our nuclear facilities, we will unleash a global Hezbollah terror campaign against oil in the Persian Gulf, against Israel, against Europe, against the United States!" No more Hezbollah means no more such terror threats.

When negotiations over the nuclear program resume, they will resume with the West powerfully strengthened and Iran visibly weakened by the failure of Iran's own reckless aggression. This will be Israel's achievement -- and Israel's latest gift to the peace of the world.

To achieve this positive result, however, Israel must be allowed to finish the job. Israel must be allowed to shatter Hezbollah as a military force and put an end to its state-within-a-state in southern Lebanon.

Once that work is done, the international community can act to rebuild and restore. There has been talk of replacing Hezbollah with an international military force. The right kind of force should be welcome. Not a UN force obviously: the UN force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, not only stood by as Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers, but actually helped cover up for Hezbollah by concealing videotape it had recorded of the attack.

But a NATO force, perhaps led by France, which has strongly championed Lebanese independence from Syria -- such a force could open the way to peace, reconstruction, and the full democratization of Lebanon.

All that comes later. There is a war to be won first. We grieve for the innocent Lebanese victimized by Iran's terror war.

But we remember too the millions of other innocents for whom we would have to grieve unless Iran's power to wreak terror, next time with nukes, is taken away in time.

Iran's showdown with the West (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=1d839117-6295-417c-a349-38803ac35fb7&k=61710)

A STATEMENT BY THE SAUDI ROYAL COURT (Lebanon/Gaza)

JEDDAH, JULY 25, SPA(Saudi Press Agency) -- FOLLOWING IS THE STATEMENT
ISSUED TODAY BY THE ROYAL COURT:

" THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA HAS UNDERSTAKEN THE ROLE REQUIRED OF IT BY ITS
RELIGIOUS AND NATIONAL DUTY WITH REGARD TO THE SITUATION IN THE REGION AND
REPERCUSSIONS OF EVENTS IN LEBANON AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES.
IN THIS REGARD, IT HAS CAUTIONED, WARNED AND EXTENDED ADVICE. FURTHERMORE,
IT HAS STRIVEN FROM THE FIRST MOMENT TO STOP THE AGRRESSION, MOVING ON MORE
THAN ONE FRONT AND BY MORE THAN ONE MEANS, TO PERSUADE THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY TO FORCE ISRAEL TO AGREE TO A CEASEFIRE.

MEANWHILE, THE KINGDOM HAS DISPATCHED HRH THE FOREIGN MINISTER AND HRH THE
SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET H.E. THE U.S.
PRESIDENT IN WASHINGTON AND INFORM HIM OF ITS VIEWS ON THE GRAVE AND
UNPREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE UNREMITTING ISRAELI AGGRESSION IF MATTERS
WENT BEYOND CONTROL. THE KINGDOM HAS ALSO ASKED PERSONAL ENVOYS TO VISIT THE
CAPITALS OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL'S PERMANENT MEMBER STATES TO CONVEY THE
SAME MESSAGE.

THE ARABS HAVE PROCLAIMED PEACE AS A STRATEGIC OPTION FOR THE ARAB NATION.
THEY PRESENTED A JUST AND DISTINCT PLAN FOR REGAINING THE OCCUPIED ARAB
TERRITORIES IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. THEY REFUSED TO RESPOND TO PROVOCATIONS
AND IGNORED ANTI-PEACE EXTREMIST CALLS. IT SHOULD BE STATED THAT PATIENCE
COULD NOT LAST FOREVER. IF THE ISRAELI MILITARY BRUTALITY PERSISTED WITH
KILLINGS AND DESTRUCTION NO ONE COULD PREDICT THE CONSEQUENCES AND THAN
REGRETS WILL BE IN VAIN.

THEREFORE, THE KINGDOM ADDRESSES AN APPEAL AND A WARNING TO THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN ITS ENTIRETY, AS REPRESENTED BY THE U.N. AND IN
PARTICULAR THE U.S.

THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA CALLS ON ALL TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH HONEST,
CONSCIOUS AND INTERNATIONAL MORAL AND HUMANITARIAN LAWS. IT ALSO WARNS ALL
THAT IF THE PEACE OPTION IS REJECTED DUE TO THE ISRAELI ARROGANCE THEN ONLY
THE WAR OPTION REMAINS AND NO ONE KNOWS THE REPERCUSSIONS BEFALLING THE
REGION, INCLUDING WARS AND CONFLICT THAT WILL SPARE NO ONE INCLUDING THOSE
WHOSE MILITARY POWER IS NOW TEMPTING THEM TO PLAY WITH FIRE.

"IN TANDEM WITH ITS POLITICAL MOVES,THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA IS CONSCIOUS
THAT THE HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE IN LEBANON AND PALESTINE REQUIRES GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM ALL ARABS, MUSLIMS AND HONORABLE PEOPLE.

BASED ON THE ABOVE, THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES HAS ADDRESSED A
CALL FOR A POPULAR FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN STARTING TOMORROW URGING ALL SAUDI
CITIZENS TO SHOW THE USUAL GENEROSITY AND COMMITMENT TOWARDS THE ARAB AND
MUSLIM NATION.

WITH REGARD TO THE RECONSTRUCTION OF LEBANON AND PALESTINE IN THE WAKE OF
THE HUGE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY THE ISRAELI AGGRESSION, THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI
ARABIA IS PLEASED TO BE THE FIRST TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THESE EFFORTS:
WITHIN THIS CONTEXT, THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES HAS ISSUED HIS
DIRECTIVES TO EARMARK AN $500 MILLION GRANT FOR THE LEBANESE PEOPLE TO FORM
THE NUCLEUS OF AN ARAB AND INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF
LEBANON. HE HAS ALSO DIRECTED THAT AN AMOUNT OF $1 BILLION TO BE DEPOSITED
WITH THE LEBANESE CENTRAL BANK IN SUPPORT OF THE LEBANESE ECONOMY. MOREOVER,
THE KING ORDERED THE ALLOCATION OF A $250 MILLION GRANT FOR THE PALESTINIAN
PEOPLE, AS A NUCLEUS FOR AN ARAB AND INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR THE
RECONSTRUCTION OF PALESTINE.

THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA URGE ALL ARABS AND
ISLAMIC NATIONS AS WELL AS WORLD COUNTRIES TO LIVE UP TO THEIR ROLE AND
RESPONSIBLITIES TOWARDS CURRENT EVENTS WITH A VIEW TO ENABLING THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO EXTEND EFFECTIVE AND TANGIBLE ASSISTANCE TO
LEBANON AND PALESTINE RATHER THAN STATEMENTS OF CONDEMNATION AND
DENUNCIATION.

MAY ALLAH HELP US TO HOLD FAST OUR FAIR STANCES AND GRANT US PATIENCE AT
TIMES OF HARDSHIPS."

STATEMENT BY THE SAUDI ROYAL COURT (Lebanon/Gaza) (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30281)

Ahmadinejad: Lebanon Will Determine the Future of Humanity
Special Dispatch - Iran
July 26, 2006
No. 1212

Iranian President Ahmadinejad on IRINN TV: "Lebanon is the Scene of an
Historic Test, Which Will Determine the Future of Humanity"

The following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on July 23,
2006.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "In my opinion, Lebanon is the scene
of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity. Everyone
must be put to the test. Everyone. It is inconceivable for anyone who calls
himself a Muslim and who heads an Islamic state to maintain relations under
the table with the regime that occupied Jerusalem. He cannot take pleasure
in the [Israeli] killing of Muslims yet present himself as a Muslim. This is
inconceivable, and must be exposed. Allah willing, it will. You will see.

"This is a mirror that will reveal everyone's true essence. This is not one
of those ordinary tests. Not at all. It will expose everything. A bunch of
people with no honor rule some countries in the region. People are being
killed before their eyes, while they play games, giving compliments to one
another. They think they can let time go by until this issue is forgotten,
and then return to the scene. No, they are mistaken.

"In this case, they must make their position clear. Of course, some of them
have taken positive positions, but others have buried their heads in the
sand. Their true character will be exposed in this scene. For them, this is
'the Day that all things secret will be tested.' They will reach this day.
The hypocrisy must be exposed."

[...]

"England was the founder of this sinister regime. It is an accomplice to all
its crimes. America, which supports it now, is an accomplice to all its
crimes. They are the ones who started this fire. They are the ones who
support [Israel], and encourage it to strike at the people in such a manner.
They say: 'They took two of our soldiers.' Fine, but you took 5,000 of
theirs. Sit together and have a prisoner exchange. But you are destroying
the life of an entire people, and harming innocent people - all for two
soldiers? Do you value human life at all?

"They even lie to those wretched people whom they have collected from around
the world and brought to the occupied lands. In fact, their leaders are
having a good time around the world. After all, they are not in the
battlefield. They are outside the scene. They have collected a bunch of
people and put them there to serve as their shields, so they can realize
their colonialist, domineering goals."

Ahmadinejad: Lebanon Will Determine the Future of Humanity (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30279)

Israel to control zone until forces arrive
26 July 2006

JERUSALEM: Israel will control a security zone in southern Lebanon until an international force can be deployed to take it over, Defence Minister Amir Peretz said on Tuesday.

Israel believes a 10,000- to 20,000-member stabilisation force will be needed and that it could be deployed one to two weeks after Western powers approve it, senior Israeli government officials said.

The estimate of 20,000 would be nearly double the size of the multilateral force being discussed by European powers.

Defence officials would not say whether Israeli troops would occupy the zone along the border or control it using aircraft and artillery fire.

"We pushed them back and there will be no return to the situation before," a senior defence source said.

Peretz said Israeli forces would fire at anyone who enters the no-go zone, though he did not say how deep into Lebanese territory it would stretch.

Israeli government sources estimated the zone's width at 3-4km. Western diplomats briefed by the Israeli government said it could be as wide as 5-10km in some places.

"We have no other option... We will have to build a new security strip, a security strip that will be a cover for our forces until international forces arrive," Peretz said.

Government officials said Israel intended to keep up its offensive against Hizbollah until the multilateral force begins deploying along the southern border and at crossing points between Lebanon and Syria to prevent Hizbollah from re-arming.

"There cannot be an interim," said a senior Israeli government official. "It would be a free time for Hizbollah to return to the border."

Asked how long the deployment of the security force would take, the official said: "The force can be deployed in stages. It can be done in one to two weeks."

A CEILING OF 20,000

Western diplomats and analysts said the international force would include infantry, armoured units and special forces trained in handling crisis situations.

Diplomats briefed by the Israeli government said the 20,000 figure included logistical support units. A contingent would train the Lebanese army.

A senior Israeli government official described the 20,000 figure as "a ceiling". A Western diplomat called it Israel's "opening bid" in negotiations over the proposed force.

"It's a lot to ask for an international force... in a hostile environment," said one diplomat briefed on Israel's plans.

Israel wants the proposed force to secure the Lebanese side of the Israeli border with the help the Lebanese army.

Israel and the United States also want to push Hizbollah at least 20km from the border.

Hizbollah is believed to have long-range rockets that could strike the densely populated Tel Aviv area, some 130km from the southern Lebanese border.

"Unless we stop the resupply (of rockets), 20km is meaningless," an Israeli official said.

One option that Israeli officials said they would not object to is the deployment of Egyptian troops along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Lebanon borders Syria for about 375km to the north and to the east, and Israel for about 79km to the south.

"How do you hermetically seal a country that borders on Syria and the sea? It's a huge job," another Israeli government official said.

Israel to control zone until forces arrive (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3744493a12,00.html)

Hizbullah: IDF onslaught was unexpected
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 25, 2006

A senior Hizbullah official said Tuesday the guerrillas did not expect Israel to react so strongly to its capture of two IDF soldiers this month.

Mahmoud Komati, the deputy chief of the Hezbollah politburo, also said that his group would not lay down arms.

His comments were the first time that a leader from the Islamic militant group has suggested it miscalculated the consequences of the July 12 cross-border raid that seized the two.
"The truth is - let me say this clearly - we didn't even expect (this) response.... that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war against us," said Komati. (Liar y'all knew exactly what you were doing....... DW)

He said Hizbullah had expected "the usual, limited response" from Israel. (Once burned, maybe a mistake. Twice burnt, shame on you. Three times burned, look out...... DW)

In the past, he said, Israeli responses to Hizbullah actions included sending in commandos into Lebanon and kidnapping Hizbullah officials or briefly targeting specific Hizbullah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

He said his group had also anticipated negotiations to swap the soldiers with three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a mediator as it has in past prisoner exchanges.

Komati also gave higher casualty figures for the guerrillas than the 11 the group has reported so far in the 13-day-old conflict. He said that as of Monday 25 were killed, including 17 in ground fighting with IDF troops assaulting several south Lebanese border towns since the weekend.

Later Tuesday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of two more guerrillas in the border fighting, bringing the total toll to 27.

Israel has said Hizbullah is greatly underreporting its casualties. The IDF chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Udi Nehushtan, said Tuesday in Jerusalem that "some dozens" of Hezbollah fighters have been killed in past two weeks.

Despite Israel's and Hezbollah's claims over the number of guerrillas killed, it was not possible to independently determine the number or sometimes to distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The Health Ministry said Tuesday that 375 civilians had been killed in the campaign, in addition to 20 Lebanese soldiers. The Hezbollah claim on the death toll would bring the total to 422 dead in Lebanon. The number is an increase over the latest toll from security forces because the ministry counts those who die later in the hospital. On Tuesday, eight people were confirmed killed - six civilians and the two Hezbollah fighters.

At least 41 Israelis have been killed in the campaign, including 24 soldiers.

Hizbullah: IDF onslaught was unexpected (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291996655&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iranian soldiers join Hizbullah in fighting

Lebanese sources say Revolutionary Guard units aiding Hizbullah against Jewish state, report bodies of dead Iranian soldiers transferred to Tehran via Syria
Aaron Klein, WND

The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers who were killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources told WorldNetDaily.

The information was confirmed by Israeli and Egyptian security officials. It follows scores of reports the past few days Iranian soldiers have been aiding Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon in their attacks against Israel, including help with the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers.

The Lebanese sources said between six and nine deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were brought in trucks last week into Syria for flight back to Iran. They said the bodies were transported along with the tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians fleeing the country into Syria.

Since Israel began its military campaign in Lebanon two weeks ago following a Hizbullah attack on the Jewish state in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, Syrian authorities have reported more than 140,000 Lebanese have entered their country, mostly through open areas in the Syria-Lebanon border.

Israel: Hizbullah using Iranian missiles

WND reported earlier this month Israeli security officials said they have "concrete information" hundreds of Iranian soldiers stationed at Hizbullah positions in Lebanon have aided in efforts to fire missiles into the Jewish state.

The Israeli officials said Iranian guards directed the firing two weeks ago of a radar-guided C–802 missile that hit an Israeli navy vessel off the coast of Lebanon, killing four soldiers. Israel says Iran acquired the missile from China.

The officials said the Iranian soldiers' duties include keeping custody of long-range missiles within Hizbullah's arsenal, including Zalzal rockets which are said to have a range of 125 miles, placing Tel Aviv within firing range.

Jordanian officials told WND they are "100 percent sure" Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit soldiers have fired rockets into Israel. They also said the Syrian army has provided Hizbullah with intelligence information on the locations of strategic Israeli targets to aid in Hizbullah rocket fire.

A Ba'ath party official operating out of the Golan Heights told WND he has information Iranian soldiers have been firing rockets into Israel.

A senior Egyptian security official told WND it would be "very logical" if Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers have been helping Hizbullah fire the rockets.

'Hizbullah trying to transfer kidnapped soldiers to Iran'

Israel has long maintained Iranian Revolutionary Guard units have traveled regularly to south Lebanon to help train local Hizbullah fighters in terrorist tactics and to fortify Hizbullah positions along Israel's northern border.

At times, Revolutionary Guard soldiers could be seen operating openly at Hizbullah outposts in plain view from the Israeli side, military officials say.

Iran and Syria are the largest financial sponsors of Hizbullah. Israel says many Hizbullah rockets were made in or upgraded by Iran.

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said Israel has information Hizbullah was trying to transfer the two soldiers it kidnapped to Iran.

Iranian soldiers join Hizbullah in fighting (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280446,00.html)

Iranian report: Suicide bombers en route to Lebanon

Iranian news agency claims expeditionary force of suicide bombers sent from Tehran via Syria to Lebanon. Its goal: To wreak havoc near military, civilian targets, trigger civil war in Lebanon
Roee Nahmias

Is Tehran stepping up its involvement in the Israeli-Lebanese confrontation? Iran is set to send the first group of suicide bombers to Lebanon on Wednesday, the Iranian news agency ILNA reported.

The expeditionary force, dubbed by the Iranian regime as "Loyalists of Islamic Justice," will be the first ever to be sent to Lebanon. According to the report, the force is compiled of seekers of the Shahadah (death for the sake of heaven), who are set to depart from Tehran after the noontime prayer on Wednesday.

Other reports claimed that two groups made up of 27 volunteers have already left for Syria on their way to Lebanon. The volunteers' task, after having undergone a months-long training, would be to carry out suicide bombings aimed at wreaking havoc and fear around military and civilian targets. According to the report, the group's mission is to trigger a civil war within the divided Lebanese society, and cause the situation in the country to deteriorate even further.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in this regard that "the storm in the Middle East is approaching. Those who caused the storm shall bear the consequences."

Israel: Iran is aiding Hizbullah

Meanwhile, Israeli officials said that Iran continues to transfer arms to Hizbullah via the Damascus airport, and that soldiers of the country's Revolutionary Guards have already joined the organization in the fighting.

"The last time we detected their involvement was when a missile was fired at an Israeli missile boat off Lebanon's shores," a senior official said. Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly denied Israel's claims in his recent public appearances, and stated they were an example of Israel's disrespect for the organization.

At the same time, Hizbullah has also increased its efforts to launch terror attacks into Israel through the Palestinian territories. according to the official, "Hizbullah's unit that controls agents abroad is very active nowadays. They have been trying to send money and encourage their operatives to launch terror attacks, especially in northern Samaria."

'Syria continues to send arms to Lebanon'

"The current operation has curbed some of the communication and the funneling of funds, but we must remember Iran is always there to back Hizbullah, and it is indeed very involved."

Another element involved in the fighting is Syria, which continues to transfer Syrian-made arms to Hizbullah. "Syria has been transferring its 200 millimeter-diameter rockets to southern Lebanon since the summer of 2001, and we have alerted about this before, to heads of Arab and western states," the official said.

However, "Syria fears that Israel will attack it, although Israel promised not do so. The Syrians are readying their weapons and we can see and hear that," he stated.

Iranian report: Suicide bombers en route to Lebanon (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3281418,00.html)

Nasrallah orders 'beyond Haifa' attacks

Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah says his group's fighters would begin rocket attacks deeper into Israel, south of Haifa; adds that Israel's military offensive in Lebanon is part of US-Israel plan for 'a new Middle East' where 'resistance movements must be eliminated'
Associated Press

Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has said his group's fighters would begin rocket attacks deeper into Israel, south of the Israeli port of Haifa.

Speaking to his group's mouthpiece al-Manar TV, Nasrallah said Israel's two-week-long military offensive against Lebanon was linked to a U.S.-Israeli plan for "a new Middle East," a term used repeatedly by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her just concluded visit to the region.

He also said Israel would have attacked his forces in southern Lebanon by October but moved early when his group captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

"In an American and Zionist assessment, there are obstacles to a new Middle East. In the new Middle East, the Palestine cause should be liquidated," Nasrallah said in a televised speech aired also aired on Lebanese and Arab satellite channels early Wednesday.

"In the new Middle East, there is no place for any resistance movement. The resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon must be eliminated," Nasrallah added.

Nasrallah said his organization was ready to discuss an end to the fighting, but the dignity and national interest of Lebanon was what he termed a "red line," a reference to the heavy Israeli bombing and ground assaults on the country.

"There is no way that we can accept any humiliating conditions on us, our people or our country...especially after all these sacrifices. ... we are open to political discussions and solutions with flexibility, but the dignity and national interest is a red line."

The bearded Shiite Muslim cleric also said Israel could not win a ground war against his group, who would continue firing rockets into Israel no matter how far north Israeli forces penetrated into Lebanon.

"The goal of the incursion to prevent the rocketing of the settlements will not be achieved," he said. "The

rocketing will continue no matter what the incursion is. We are ready for a ground confrontation. We will have the upper hand in a ground confrontation. We will recover any land occupied by the enemy," Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah orders 'beyond Haifa' attacks (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3281439,00.html)

Grassroots Support for Israel From Abroad
00:32 Jul 26, '06 / 1 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Messages of solidarity with Israel are coming from delegations visiting the country, as well as from rallies overseas. Even US troops in Iraq have expressed their support.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert thanked a delegation of the Jewish Federations of North America Tuesday for their solidarity with Israel. He told the delegates that Hizbullah terrorists "are fighting against innocent civilians and... are not fighting against those who can fight back."

"This is the war of the Israeli people and of Israeli society," the prime minister said. "This is a complex confrontation [and] this is a long process.... The Jewish and human warmth that you are providing to the population reinforces the important message that we are all responsible for each other."

European Jewish leaders are also visiting Israel this week in a show of solidarity. A European Jewish Congress (EJC) mission to Israel included representatives of 24 European Jewish communities, as well as non-Jewish lawmakers from France, Ukraine and the Netherlands. The delegation is led by Israel Singer, chairman of the Policy Council of the World Jewish Congress, and Pierre Beisnainou, president of the EJC.

The French Jewish umbrella organisation, CRIF, organised its own solidarity visit to Israel. Over 70 Jewish community leaders from France arrived in Israel on Monday.

Christian Zionist individuals and groups are also expressing their support for Israel at this time. Some hotels in the north of the country reported that they have seen a few Christian Zionist pilgrims who refuse to be scared away by the Islamist attacks. US-based Christian broadcaster Earl Cox is calling on Christians across America to join him in prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem beginning on Sunday, July 30. In a statement, Cox said, "Our Jewish brothers and sisters need friends now more than ever before since becoming a nation in 1948. Christians must put prayer boots on the ground in Israel to fight the spiritual war being waged against Israel, while Israel fights the physical war."

Outside of the country, Jewish communities have been holding and planning events in support of Israel.

In London, several thousand people turned out at a solidarity rally on Sunday. Israeli Ambassador Zvi Haifetz and British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks were among those on the list of speakers. The event followed a large anti-Israel protest held earlier in the day.

In Rome, both right-wing and left-wing Italian politicians joined hundreds of people in a public display of support for the Jewish State. The rally was held outside Rome's main synagogue, in the former Jewish ghetto, on Monday. Among those addressing the crowd were outgoing Israeli ambassador to Italy Ehud Gol, Rome’s mayor Walter Veltroni, leader of the Left-Democrats Piero Fassino, and leader of the rightist National Alliance party, former Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini.

In North America, the Jewish communities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Baltimore and St. Louis, among others, have had, or will soon hold, rallies in solidarity with Israel in its war against Arab terrorism.

Among the largest of the rallies held in the US was the Sunday gathering in Los Angeles, which drew about 10,000 people. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center opened the event and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also addressed the crowd.

"While we all regret the loss of innocent life, there is no doubt that Israel has the right to take all appropriate steps to keep its people safe," Gov. Schwarzenegger said.

American soldiers stationed in Iraq have also sent messages of support and encouragement to the IDF via a new web site established to express solidarity with Israel. "Take care of the Hizbullah; we will take care of Iran," wrote one US soldier. Another wrote, "From Iraq, we wish good tidings for you brave IDF soldiers. The American army is 100 percent for Israel."

More than 400 messages from outside Israel have been sent to IDF soldiers via the new site thus far. British citizen John Wilkes, who established the forum, says that he did so primarily out of concern for a friend of his in the IDF.

Grassroots Support for Israel From Abroad (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108366)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My own message, to Israel is in here too. :D

Hizbollah defiant ahead of talks

July 26, 2006 - 7:54AM

Hizbollah's leader vowed he would not accept any "humiliating" conditions for a ceasefire with Israel ahead of an international conference in Rome aimed at seeking an end to the 15-day-old conflict.

An Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon killed four United Nations peacekeepers on Tuesday night prompting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to call for an Israeli probe into the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the UN post.

"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert," Annan said.

Lebanon and its Arab allies will plead for an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hizbollah at the Rome conference on Wednesday, but the US will insist a lasting solution needs to be agreed first.

Israel, with apparent US approval, has declared it would forge on with its two-week-old campaign against the Shi'ite guerrillas.

It also said it plans to set up a free fire "security strip" in Lebanon until international forces deploy.

Arab leaders and Annan want the Rome meeting to call a quick halt to the war which has killed 418 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis since July 12.

But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who reached Italy late on Tuesday after visiting Beirut and Jerusalem, says she prefers to get conditions right for "a durable solution".

In a televised address Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the conflict with Israel had entered a new phase and that Israeli incursions into southern Lebanon would not stop Hizbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.

"We cannot accept any condition humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance," Nasrallah said.

Hizbollah wants a ceasefire to be followed by negotiations on swapping two Israeli soldiers it captured in a cross-border raid on July 12 for Arab and Lebanese prisoners in Israel.

The United States demands that Hizbollah free the soldiers unconditionally and pull back from the border before disarming.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib spoke of a "clear Arab stance in Rome demanding an immediate ceasefire" and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Italy's priority for the talks was a ceasefire, followed by humanitarian assistance.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, has blamed Hizbollah for starting the fighting, but in outspoken new comments, King Abdullah said Israel risked sparking a wider regional war.

A spokesman for Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed Rice's line, saying diplomatic efforts should push for a ceasefire that "isn't just another sticking plaster".

Israel is not invited to the Rome talks and neither is Syria, Hizbollah's main ally along with Iran.

Israel, the US and the Europeans agree on the need to see Hizbollah disarmed, but some of the Europeans think this should not be a pre-condition for any peace deal.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the gap in aspirations for the talks was "really worrying".

The Rome meeting will also seek agreement on what kind of stabilisation force could be sent into southern Lebanon, a mission fraught with danger unless Hizbollah consents.

Rice has called for a more "robust" force than the existing UN force of 2,000 troops, but there is disagreement on whether it should be led by NATO - favoured by Israel but tricky in political and practical terms for NATO members - or by the United Nations, or simply with UN authorisation.

Senior Israeli government officials said a 10,000 to 20,000 member force would be needed and that it could be deployed one to two weeks after Western powers approve it.

The estimate of 20,000 would be nearly double the size of the multilateral force being discussed by European powers.

"The important point in encouraging countries to join such a force is to know there is a genuine international consensus behind it," said a Blair spokesman. "That is tomorrow's point."

United Nations humanitarian agencies said they were still largely blocked from bringing relief supplies into Lebanon and from getting wounded and very sick people to hospitals.

Lebanon says Israel's bombardment has displaced a fifth of its population. Most of its dead are civilians.

Hizbollah defiant ahead of talks (http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Hizbollah-defiant-ahead-of-talks/2006/07/26/1153816214206.html)

US Cops Continue Studying Counterterrorism in Israel

[jim_kouri.gif]

By Jim Kouri

(AXcess News) New York - A private US-Israeli company, Security Solutions International, is responding to the need for better quality training by sponsoring a training missions to Israel for US law enforcement and security officers.

While the Department of Homeland Security continues to fund courses for law enforcement at local community colleges and other educational institutes, they are not exactly what most first responders really need. "I think that while the curriculum in these courses is well thought out, law enforcement needs to have real-time, real-world experience of the terror situation to be able to really counter terror," says Henry Morgenstern, Security Solutions' President.

SSI looked at what first responders really need and has created a training mission that reflects US security needs. The participants will be looking at the main areas of Homeland Security -- Port Security, Airports, Malls and Public Events, Critical Infrastructure and Government buildings -- and seeing for themselves what security measures the Israelis have in place to protect against terror attacks.

According to Morgenstern, the group is a mixture of law enforcement personnel (from patrol officers right up to police captains) from local, state and federal agencies, and Fortune 500 and other private security officers. They will be going out every day to get a detailed view of the Israeli security arrangements and then coming back for another four hours of classroom training daily on a variety of subjects. The participants will be learning about a wide variety of subjects including: suicide bombers, IED (improvised explosive devices), dealing with suspicious objects and much more.

Despite the poor response from Homeland Security funding that clearly stipulates monies for learning about the terror threat as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative, many participants are willing to fund the cost of the training even if it comes from their own pockets.

"I tried with my department but could not get the grant money. I think this is so worthwhile so I decided to pay for the trip myself," says a police officer from Texas, "I mean where else can you find out what you really can do to stop terror if not Israel."

US Cops Continue Studying Counterterrorism in Israel (http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=10581)

Hezbollah: War With Israel Will Widen

Hezbollah's representative in Iran struck a defiant tone Monday, warning that his Islamic militant group plans to widen its attacks on Israel until "no place" is safe for Israelis.

Hossein Safiadeen also reinforced earlier threats by Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to widen the scope of attacks, which have included unprecedented missile strikes deep into northern Israel.

"We are going to make Israel not safe for Israelis. There will be no place they are safe," Safiadeen told a conference that included the Tehran-based representative of the Palestinian group Hamas and the ambassadors from Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority.

"You will see a new Middle East in the way of Hezbollah and Islam, not in the way of Rice and Israel."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Beirut on Monday while en route to Israel. Rice met with Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora about the surge in fighting along the southern border in the last two weeks.

Rice told him, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness."

Safiadeen's comments reflected the deep opposition within Hezbollah to the efforts to broker a truce, including apparent attempts by Arab powers to pressure Syria into ending its support for Hezbollah, leaving Iran as the group's lone major backer.

Iran and Syria are the main sources of funds and equipment for Hezbollah, which was founded in the early 1980s and took inspiration from Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Syria said Sunday it was willing to work with the United States and others to press for an end to the worse Arab-Israel battles in 24 years - but set conditions that Israel is unlikely to accept. Those conditions include a broader regional peace initiative that would discuss the return of the Golan Heights, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

Arab powerhouses Egypt and Saudi Arabia also were pushing Syria to end its support for Hezbollah fighters, Arab diplomats in Cairo said.

Safiadeen told The Associated Press he "had no news" about Syria considering withdrawing its support for Hezbollah, which touched off the crisis July 12 with a cross-border raid that captured two Israeli soldiers.

"We will expand attacks," he said. "The people who came to Israel, (they) moved there to live, not to die. If we continue to attack, they will leave."

Israel claims Iran has supplied Hezbollah with long-range missiles, which have hit the port of Haifa and other places. Iran denies the charges but does not hide its high-level support for Hezbollah.

"This war will be remembered as the beginning of the end for Israel," Safiadeen said.

Nasrallah said in remarks published Monday that an Israeli ground invasion would not prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets into northern Israel.

"Any Israeli incursion will have no political results if it does not achieve its declared goals, primarily an end to the rocketing of Zionist settlements in northern occupied Palestine," Nasrallah told As-Safir newspaper. "I assure you that this goal will not be achieved, God willing, by an Israeli incursion."

Responding to reports about diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, Nasrallah said the priority was to end Israeli attacks on Lebanon, but he added that he was open to discussing initiatives.

Those attending Monday's conference included a top Foreign Ministry official and Gen. Mirfaisal Bagherzadeh of the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

The Palestinian ambassador, Salah Zavavi, said he believes the chances for a comprehensive political solution have passed. Israel also is battling Hamas-backed militiamen in the Gaza Strip claiming to hold an Israeli soldier missing since an ambush last month.

Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections last month but has been snubbed by Israel and many Western countries as it refuses to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

"The resistance groups will not accept a political end to this," Zavavi said. "They will not put down their weapons."

Hezbollah: War With Israel Will Widen (http://www.newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/7/24/94557.shtml?s=ic)

2 U.N. Peacekeepers Killed In Lebanon
Two More Feared Dead After Israel Hits Observation Post

(CBS News) JERUSALEM An Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon, killing two peacekeepers and leaving two others feared dead in what appeared to be a deliberate strike, U.N. chief Kofi Annan 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 U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

Annan issued a statement saying two U.N. military observers were killed with two more feared dead. Earlier, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Security Council was informed that four officers were killed, but he had no other information.

Rescue workers were trying to clear the rubble, but Israeli firing “continued even during the rescue operation,” Struger said.

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 Defense Forces of a U.N. Observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in the statement.

Annan also said in his statement that the post had been there for a long time and was marked clearly, and was hit despite assurances from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. 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 U.N. positions and personnel must stop," Annan said in the statement.

U.N. officials said four observers were in the post when the bomb hit, and the building had been destroyed. Two bodies had been recovered and two were unaccounted for, apparently still in the rubble. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Since Israel launched a massive military offensive against Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, an international civilian employee working with UNIFIL and his wife have been killed in the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in the southern port city of Tyre.

Five UNIFIL soldiers and one military observer have also been wounded, Struger said.

The strike comes just hours after the departure of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from the Mideast as Israel resumed its bombings of Beirut, while Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks into northern Israeli cities.

A series of at least four heavy blasts were heard in Beirut, the first Israeli strikes in the city in nearly two days. A grey cloud billowed up from the capital's southern district, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been heavily bombarded.

But there were no reports of casualties, and there may not have been any casualties, reports CBS News' Vicki Barker. The neighborhood hit has been bombed so often in the past two weeks that most of the residents have fled, many now camping out at schools and public parks.

Israeli troops sealed off a Hezbollah stronghold in fierce fighting in south Lebanon and warplanes struck the market city of Tyre Tuesday, killing six people.

Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsh told CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan that he didn’t feel any political pressure to stop anytime soon.

"We have plenty of time, and I intend to use it. As long as it takes," he said.

An official with the U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of operations in Lebanon, says the Israelis believe there are 1,000 hard-core Hezbollah and 2,000 to 3,000 part-time fighters that still have to be rooted out of southern Lebanon, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. They expect the incursion to take another two weeks.

More than 424 people have been reported killed in Lebanon and Israel since fighting broke out July 12.

Israeli military said it had killed at least 40 Hezbollah guerrillas in what it calls the "capital of terror" in southern Lebanon, Bint Jbeil. Armored brigade commander Col. Amnon Eshel Assulin, told the Jerusalem Post that the operation proves the army's ability to reach any location in Lebanon, even Beirut, if Israel decides to enter the Lebanese capital.

A 15-year-old girl in the Arab town of Maghar was killed and at least 23 others were injured by a Hezbollah rocket, while at least five people were injured in Haifa, one seriously and two moderately. One rocket hit a bus, but only the driver was aboard at the time. One Haifa man died of a heart attack after a rocket landed near his home, medics said. Israel Radio said the man was running toward a bomb shelter when he collapsed.

Most shops and businesses in Haifa remain closed, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. An eight-story apartment building was destroyed by a Hezbollah rocket Tuesday.

Rockets also hit the towns of Kiryat Shemona, Nahariya, Tiberias, Acre and Safed.

Israel claimed its planes had destroyed the Katyusha launcher that had fired Tuesday's rockets at Haifa.

Rice, leading the first high-level U.S. diplomatic mission since war broke out in Lebanon, said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region.

"I have no doubt there are those who wish to strangle a democratic and sovereign Lebanon in its crib," Rice said. "We, of course, also urgently want to end the violence."

Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they prepared to meet in his office, Rice reiterated the United States position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions that make an enduring peace. She said she has "no desire" to be back in weeks or months after terrorists find another way to disrupt any potential cease fire.

Olmert welcomed Rice warmly and vowed that "Israel is determined to carry on this fight against Hezbollah." He said his government "will not hesitate to take severe measures against those who are aiming thousands of rockets and missiles against innocent civilians for the sole purpose of killing them."

Later, Olmert told a group of new immigrants from France that Israel has the stamina for a long fight and is determined to defeat Hezbollah.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later Tuesday, Rice said, "We need to get to a sustainable peace; there must be a way for people to reconcile their differences."

Rice, who has disappointed some U.S. allies with her support of Israel, also met Tuesday with Peretz. Rice made no public remarks after her meetings with Olmert and Peretz.

But Peretz said Israel still has U.S. support, reports CBS News correspondent Dan Raviv.

"We want to defend our citizens, and we have broad international support ... We have no desire to open a war against Syria," Peretz said.

Syria's military is at its highest state of alert in recent years, Israel's intelligence chief told a parliamentary committee, but it's a defensive mode. Major General Amos Yadlin said "neither Syria nor Israel are interested in a military clash," but Hezbollah would like to involve Syria.

The Bush administration has said it wants to address the overall threat from Hezbollah, a Shiite militia in Lebanon, by creating conditions that will give the weak Lebanese government control over its entire territory, including south Lebanon, which is under Hezbollah control.

In a brazen July 12 raid into northern Israel, Hezbollah killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two others, provoking Israel's biggest military campaign against Lebanon in 24 years. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli communities.

Israeli forces have been hammering Gaza to the south since shortly after the June 25 capture of an Israeli soldier by militants linked to Hamas group. The subsequent turmoil has highlighted the weakness of Abbas, a moderate whose Fatah party lost parliamentary elections to Hamas in January.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have said the two attacks were not connected. Israel has responded with force on both fronts. The U.S. has insisted it will not support an immediate cease-fire if the conditions behind the fighting aren't addressed.

2 U.N. Peacekeepers Killed In Lebanon (http://cbs11tv.com/national/topstories_story_206180457.html)

Rice battles to bring together Mideast foes
26 July 2006

ROME: After two days of diplomatic shuffling between Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still looked far on Tuesday from the "sustainable" end to hostilities that Washington wants.

Officials travelling with Rice, who arrived in Rome late on Tuesday for an international meeting on Lebanon, have lowered expectations of a ceasefire deal emerging soon after the meeting in Italy where conditions for a cessation of violence will be discussed as well as the humanitarian crisis.

While Rice pressed on with diplomacy, the fighting raged after an apparent lull on Monday during her surprise visit to Lebanon. Israeli planes bombed south Beirut and Hizbollah rockets hit northern Israeli towns.

In a sign of how sensitive Rice's talks have been with leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian president, Rice has only read from prepared statements and refused to answer any questions about her efforts to stop fighting between Hizbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon and Israeli forces.

Aides say she wants to keep a low profile so as not to scupper chances of a diplomatic breakthrough.

Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as many European countries want an immediate ceasefire but Washington argues it is better to wait for a "sustainable" deal than a hasty truce that breaks down before the ink is dry.

"It's not a question of delaying it (a ceasefire). We would like it to happen tomorrow if all the pieces were in place," said David Welch, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs.
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"We feel some urgency about this, but the object here is to create conditions for a sustainable ceasefire," added Welch, speaking en route to Rome on Rice's plane.

Hizbollah is not represented at the conference and neither is Israel. Any ceasefire deal would have to be agreed by the Jewish state but Washington insists Syrian-backed Hizbollah does not need to be included and it says Lebanon's interests are represented by the anti-Syrian government of Fouad Siniora.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Siniora joined Rice for a private dinner in Rome on Tuesday night to discuss Lebanon but they declined comment on arrival at the hotel.

More than 400 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in two weeks of fighting that began with Hizbollah abducting two Israeli soldiers. The Israeli death toll is at least 42.

A key issue under discussion in Rome is the creation of an international force in southern Lebanon.

A senior official in the administration of US President George W Bush said there was still no agreement over the size of such a force, how far it could go in disarming Hizbollah, who would be involved or whether it would be a Nato force.

After the Rome conference, Rice is scheduled to go to Malaysia to meet Asian ministers but she said she may return to the Middle East on her way home to Washington if it looks as if she can move the process forward.

Rice battles to bring together Mideast foes (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3744578a12,00.html)

Rice sets tough terms for Lebanon ceasefire
25 July 2006

BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put forward proposals to Lebanon to end Israel's war on Hizbollah but insisted a ceasefire could only come as part of a wider deal, Lebanese politicians said.

During a surprise visit to Beirut, a city pounded repeatedly by Israeli air strikes since the 13-day-old war began, Rice extended sympathy to the government but offered little hope for an immediate end to the conflict.

"Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," Rice told Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.

But Rice told Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hizbollah who is also close to Syria, a ceasefire must be part of a deal that included Hizbollah's withdrawal beyond the Litani River, 20km north of Israel, and deployment of an international force in the border region, a Lebanese political source said.

She told Berri: "the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12", referring to the day Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers during a raid into Israel, sparking a war in which 378 people in Lebanon and 41 Israelis have died.

Berri did not reject Rice's proposal but said there should be a sequence of events - "ceasefire, exchange of prisoners, and then discussing all other matters", the source said.

The prime minister's office suggested Siniora was more open to Rice's proposal, saying he discussed the ideas she presented and "ways of developing them".

Israel, where Rice arrived later on Monday, has demanded the release of its soldiers and a Hizbollah withdrawal before it stops the bombardment.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he would press for a truce as well as the deployment of an international force in south Lebanon at a Rome ministerial meeting this week.

But shortly after Rice left Lebanon, the White House reiterated its opposition to an immediate ceasefire, saying it would be unenforceable.

Siniora told Rice that the Israeli bombing had displaced 750,000 people in Lebanon, almost one-fifth of the population, and inflicted multi-billion dollar loses to the economy, a statement from his office said.

Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said this was "the hour of greatest need for the Lebanese people" as he launched a UN appeal for $US150 million ($NZ241.54 million) in aid. The United States pledged to contribute $US30 million to the appeal.

Rice told reporters in Beirut: "I am deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring."

Hizbollah said it had shot down an Israeli helicopter and hit five tanks in fierce battles after Israeli forces pushed north from a border village.

Israel's army said two airmen died in the helicopter crash, which it said was probably caused by a technical fault, and two soldiers were killed in the fighting.

The tank thrust towards Bint Jbeil, about 4km inside Lebanon, was one of several recent Israeli forays in search of Hizbollah fighters and rocket-launchers.

Israel plans a sweep of Bint Jbeil, which army spokeswoman Brigadier-General Miri Regev said had become a "centre for Hizbollah terrorists" firing Katyusha rockets across the border.

Israeli air raids killed at least eight people and wounded 50 in south Lebanon. Bombs also hit a Shi'ite area of Beirut.

Hizbollah rockets struck Haifa, Nahariya and the border town of Shlomi, wounding at least four people. Rockets have killed 17 Israeli civilians so far. Twenty-four soldiers have also died.

Israel, after initially dismissing the idea, now says it would accept an international force to dislodge Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas from south Lebanon.

But just as Hizbollah has fought Israeli attempts to drive it from the south, it would surely resist military coercion by any international force, assuming one could be assembled.

Several European Union nations said they were ready to contribute to a UN peace force for Lebanon, but EU officials said questions remained over how it could fulfil its mission.

Rice is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before discussing the crisis with European and Arab officials in Rome mid-week.

Israel's Lebanon offensive coincided with an Israeli military push into the Gaza Strip to try to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants on June 25.

Israel has killed 121 Palestinians in a nearly month-long offensive in Gaza to free the soldier and halt rocket fire.

Rice sets tough terms for Lebanon ceasefire (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3743245a12,00.html)

HIZBALLAH SIGNALS BATTLEFIELD SETBACKS, BLAMES AND TARGETS U.S.

By Michael Widlanski 25 July 2006

Hizballah's main media outlet tonight appeared to be preparing its home
audience for serious military setbacks for the Iranian-sponsored Islamic
terror group, and it deepened its hostile focus on the United States-not
just Israel-perhaps as an explanation for the difficult days ahead.

"Land is not the most important factor, but rather the spirit of the
people," declared a strategic commentator identified as Dr. Col. Amin
Akhtai, interviewed on the television station that until now has been
bragging about battlefield successes.

Dr. Akhtai said that Hizballah was not concerned about loss of terrain,
because "perhaps the remaining terrain is better suited for defense."

But perhaps the most telling symptom of his remarks was the fact that he
prefaced them with a lengthy and uncharacteristic eulogy to "those heroes
who have become martyrs in the defense of Lebanon."

It was a stark departure for Hizballah, which has until now almost not
admitted any battlefield deaths or injuries, but according to Israeli
sources more than 150 Hizballah fighters have been killed and tens have been
captured especially in the fighting for Bint Jbeil, an area the Israelis
have called "the Hizballah capital."

Another sign of definite Hizballah weakness and even panic was the
growing tendency of Hizballh commentators and talk show hosts to place blame
on Arab governments for not coming to the aid of Hizballah.

"Where are the Arabs?" one tv host asked an Egyptian military expert.

But the most venomous tones were reserved for the United States.

"America is the greatest enemy," shouted an Egyptian security expert
identified as Egyptian parliament member Mustafa Baqri.

His view was seconded by strategic expert Dr. Akhtai, who was especially
critical of the Bush Administration's decision to send Israel GPU
"bunker-buster" laser-guided "smart bombs."

"America is the one who is confronting Hizballah," said Akhtai, but he
added, "the new weapons don't frighten us. Even one thousand such weapons
will not change the situation."

Another new feature of Al-Manar television's regular war programming is
increasingly anti-American cartoons and film montages that are shown
sometimes ten or twenty times a day.

One new montage aired Tuesday night features a picture of President
George Bush holding an axe under a headline: "rais al-ijraam"-"the President
of Crime."

HIZBALLAH SIGNALS BATTLEFIELD SETBACKS, BLAMES AND TARGETS U.S. (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30285)

Iran: Ignore us at your peril
Alistair Lyon | Beirut, Lebanon
26 July 2006 07:16
Israel's killing of four United Nations observers piled pressure on an international conference in Rome on Wednesday to end a 15-day-old Middle East conflict, as Hezbollah vowed not to accept any "humiliating" truce terms.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded Israel investigate the "apparently deliberate targeting" of a UN post in southern Lebanon where an Israeli air strike killed the four UN military observers on Tuesday.

Israel, waging a military offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah guerrillas, announced it would hold a probe and expressed regret at the deaths but said it was shocked Annan had suggested the observers may have been deliberately targeted.

A Chinese national was among the four observers killed, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. It said the other three were from Finland, Austria and Canada.

UN officials said the air strike had caused the building housing the observers to collapse and that rescue teams had been sent to retrieve the bodies from the rubble.

"[This] attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire," Annan said in a statement.

With international concern already high over civilian casualties, Lebanon and its Arab allies will plead at the Rome talks -- due to start at 8am GMT -- for an immediate truce but Washington says a lasting solution needs to be agreed first.

Israel, with apparent US approval, has said it would press on with its offensive. It also said it planned to set up a "security strip" in Lebanon until international forces deploy.

"We cannot accept any condition humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance," said Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group triggered the war by capturing two Israeli soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid.

The war, in which 418 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis have been killed, was entering a new phase, Nasrallah said in a televised address.

"In the new period, our bombardment will not be limited to Haifa," he said, suggesting his guerrillas would hit towns deeper inside Israel. Hezbollah has hit Haifa, Israel's third largest city 35km south of Lebanon, for the first time with rockets.

'A durable solution'
Israel has also been waging a military campaign in Gaza since June 28 to recover a soldier seized by Palestinian militants. Eight Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, seven by what witnesses described as a tank shell attack and what the Isareli army said was an air strike aimed at militants.

Arab leaders and Annan want the Rome conference to call a quick halt to the conflict but US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has visited Beirut and Jerusalem, says she prefers to get conditions right for "a durable solution".

Israel and Syria, Hezbollah's main ally along with Iran, have not been invited to the Rome conference.

Iran warned the West on Tuesday that attempts to broker a peace deal are destined to fail and it predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in.

Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesperson in Tehran, said: "They should have invited all the countries of the region, including Syria and Iran, if they want peace. How can you tackle these important issues without having representatives of all countries in the region?"

Fears that the conflict could spread across the region intensified on Tuesday. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a normally placid US ally, warned that "if the option of peace fails as a result of Israeli arrogance, then the only option remaining will be war, and God alone knows what the region would witness in a conflict that would spare no one".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesperson, confronting criticism that the prime minister had failed to call for an immediate ceasefire, insisted he had been working "on a daily, almost hourly basis" for more than a week on the details of a Rome deal.

Hezbollah wants a truce to be followed by talks on swapping the two Israelis for Arab and Lebanese prisoners in Israel. The United States demands Hezbollah free the soldiers unconditionally and pull back from the border before disarming.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib spoke of a "clear Arab stance in Rome demanding an immediate ceasefire" and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Italy's priority for the talks was a ceasefire, followed by humanitarian assistance.

Israel, the United States and European countries agree on the need to see Hezbollah disarmed, but some of the Europeans think this should not be a precondition for any peace deal.

The Rome meeting will also seek agreement on what kind of international force could be sent into southern Lebanon -- a mission fraught with danger unless Hezbollah consents.

UN humanitarian agencies said they were still largely blocked from getting relief supplies into Lebanon and from getting wounded and very sick people to hospitals.

Lebanon says Israel's bombardment has displaced a fifth of its population. Most of its dead are civilians.

Israel launched air strikes in Gaza on Wednesday, killing a Hamas militant and wounding at least eight other Palestinians, witnesses said. Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships pushed nearly 1km into the northern Gaza Strip.

Iran: Ignore us at your peril (http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=278703#)

Hizbullah sending text messages to Israelis?

‘Now Now Now ..Go out from your home Hizballah willing shelling of the area’ reads text message received by dozens of Orange cell phone service subscribers Wednesday. Orange: We'll block messages
Tali Tzin

Dozens of Israeli customers of the Orange cellular service provider received unexpected SMS messages on their phones Wednesday evening, with the English message:

"Now Now Now...Go out from your home Hizballah willing shelling of the area, Israel Government Cheating you And refuse recognition Defeat.”

It was not yet clear whether Hizbullah operatives were in fact behind the messages of intimidation, or whether the messages were no more than a joke in poor taste by other network subscribers.

Upon receiving the message, Shlomit Morad from Or Akiva next to Caesarea, told Ynet, “I immediately understood that someone managed to break into the Orange database and that it of course wasn’t a personal message. This is their psychological warfare. The message came from a foreign number and not a recognized number.”

Hizbullah rockets have not hit the Or Akiva area, some distance south of Haifa, although the terror organization has threatened to target areas south of Haifa such as Netanya and Tel Aviv.

“I immediately understood that it was related to the events here. My daughter also got the same message to her cell phone. I called Orange to report it, and they took all the details,” Morad added.

Regarding how she felt upon receiving the message, Morad said, “I’m generally stressed by the situation. But we can deal with this – it’s not as horrible as all the other things happening in this war.” But all the same, she did not completely disregard the cautions. “Maybe now it is our turn. We’re getting ready,” she said.

'Surprise, a little amused'

Uri Goldberg, a resident of Herzliya near Tel Aviv also received the SMS.

“I was surprised by the message, a little amused, but not particularly frightened. I’m not taking it seriously. I don’t think someone would send would send me a little message to warn of future bombardments. But I give them credit – they really could be sending text messages, it’s not completely unrealistic.”

Efrat, from the town of Rehovot next to Tel Aviv, received an identical message.

“We didn’t take it seriously. My father told me it was a number from abroad. He noticed that it wasn’t a number from within Israel.”

Rani Rahav, a spokesperson for Orange, responded that the text messages were coming from a small service provider “somewhere out there in the Pacific Ocean. We are working right now to block the provider from transmitting further messages to Orange customers.”

Hizbullah sending text messages to Israelis? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3281951,00.html)

Israel-Lebanon -ISESCO ISESCO condemns Israeli military aggressions on Lebanon
Tehran, July 26, IRNA

Islamic States Educational, Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) has condemned in the strongest term Israeli aggressions on Lebanon.

According to the Public Relations Department of Ministry of Education, ISESCO deplored Israeli bombardment of civilians in Lebanon.

"The attacks so far has targeted civilian infrastructure of Lebanon leading to death of several hundred innocent children and women and destruction of bridges, houses and educational and cultural institutions," ISESCO said in a statement.

ISESCO said that its member states stand by Lebanon in resisting the enemy's disproportionate use of force against civilians living on border areas with the occupied territories of Palestine.

"What the occupying regime of Israel is doing is gross violation of the principles the humanity upheld along the history."
It said that unfortunately the aggression enjoys the blessings of big powers and they are against international laws and human rights.

ISESCO called on international organizations to perform their legal obligations and responsibilities and make Zionist regime to respect laws and the nations' rights for defense against occupation and military aggression.

It deplored that attacks of the occupying regime in past two weeks have targeted women and children, infrastructural facilities, mosques, hospitals and educational centers in Lebanon.

ISESCO was established on January 1981 in Morocco with the goals of improving Islamic culture and Arabic as language of the holy Qur'an, supporting active organizations in the fields of education, science, communications and universities and strengthening special centers to support the scientific and educational bodies.

Iran is one of its members and its regional branch was established on January 2003 in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

ISESCO condemns Israeli military aggressions on Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0607268926184042.htm)

Iranian embassy condemns Israeli atrocities in Lebanon & Palestine
Kuala Lumpur, July 26, IRNA

Wellington-Embassy
Iranian Embassy in Wellington, capital city of New Zealand, in a statement released on Wednesday, said the aggressive measures of the Zionist regime in Gaza and Lebanon are against the international laws.

The statement, a copy of which was sent to IRNA, said, "It is with great sorrow and deepest concern to witness two weeks of death and destruction brought by the barbaric Israeli regime through constant bombardment of the civilian targets and Lebanon's infrastructure as well as atrocities in Gaza.

Regrettably, all this is happening with the unconditional support of US and another permanent members of the United Nations." "These atrocities which are in clear violation of the
International Laws and Conventions have caused hundreds of deaths, numerous injuries and displacement of thousands of civilians, tearing Lebanon into shreds, and reversing it at least for fifty years," the Statement added.

International Community, United Nations and other International bodies responsible for the global peace and security stand at their lowest level of morality by silently allowing all these tragedies happening, it said.

The Embassy strongly condemns the disproportionate use of force nd the death and destruction caused by the Zionist regime in Lebanon and Palestine, and asks for their immediate cessation.

Middle East crisis is the result of six decades long injustice, deprivation and tyranny resulting in the deep anger and frustration of its population. No military might, excessive use of force or bullying can resolve this problem and will only add to the complexities of the situation. There will be no solution and durable peace unless legitimate rights of the Palestinians, Lebanese and other nations of the region are fully recognized, fulfilled and respected.

Embassy calls on the peace loving and independent nation of New Zealand to raise their voice against this grave tragedy, ask for an urgent end to the bloodshed and also show their generosity to the people of Lebanon and Palestine by contributing to the international relief funds and other agencies announced for the injured and displaced people of Lebanon and Palestine.

Iranian embassy condemns Israeli atrocities in Lebanon & Palestine (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607268705220234.htm)

Dump Condi: Foreign policy conservatives charge State Dept. has hijacked Bush agenda

Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration’s national security and foreign policy agenda.

The conservatives, who include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle and leading current and former members of the Pentagon and National Security Council, have urged the president to transfer Miss Rice out of the State Department and to an advisory role. They said Miss Rice, stemming from her lack of understanding of the Middle East, has misled the president on Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"The president has yet to understand that people make policy and not the other way around," a senior national security policy analyst said. "Unlike [former Secretary of State Colin] Powell, Condi is loyal to the president. She is just incompetent on most foreign policy issues."

The criticism of Miss Rice has been intense and comes from a range of Republican loyalists, including current and former aides in the Defense Department and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. They have warned that Iran has been exploiting Miss Rice's inexperience and incompetence to accelerate its nuclear weapons program. They expect a collapse of her policy over the next few months.

"We are sending signals today that no matter how much you provoke us, no matter how viciously you describe things in public, no matter how many things you're doing with missiles and nuclear weapons, the most you'll get out of us is talk," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.

Miss Rice served as Mr. Bush's national security adviser in his first term. During his second term, Miss Rice replaced Mr. Powell in the wake of a conclusion by the White House that Mr. Bush required a loyalist to head the State Department and ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflected the president's agenda.

"Condi was sent to rein in the State Department," a senior Republican congressional staffer said. "Instead, she was reined in."

Mr. Gingrich agrees and said Miss Rice's inexperience and lack of resolve were demonstrated in the aftermath of the North Korean launch of seven short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles in July. He suggested that Miss Rice was a key factor in the lack of a firm U.S. response.

"North Korea firing missiles," Mr. Gingrich said. "You say there will be consequences. There are none. We are in the early stages of World War III. Our bureaucracies are not responding fast enough. We don't have the right attitude."

Several of the critics have urged that Mr. Bush provide a high-profile post to James Baker, who was secretary of state under the administration of Mr. Bush's father. They cited Mr. Baker's determination to confront Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in 1990.

A leading public critic of Miss Rice has been Richard Perle, a former chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and regarded as close to Mr. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Mr. Perle, pointing to the effort by the State Department to undermine the Reagan administration’s policy toward the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, has accused Miss Rice of succumbing to a long-time State Department agenda of meaningless agreements meant to appease enemies of the United States.

"Condoleezza Rice has moved from the White House to Foggy Bottom, a mere mile or so away," Mr. Perle wrote in a June 25 Op-Ed article in the Washington Post that has been distributed throughout conservative and national security circles. "What matters is not that she is further removed from the Oval Office; Rice's influence on the president is undiminished. It is, rather, that she is now in the midst of—and increasingly represents—a diplomatic establishment that is driven to accommodate its allies even when (or, it seems, especially when) such allies counsel the appeasement of our adversaries."

Mr. Perle's article was said to have reflected the views of many of Mr. Bush's appointees in the White House, Defense Department and State Department. Mr. Perle maintains close contacts to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams and Mr. Cheney's national security adviser, John Hannah.

A major problem, critics said, is Miss Rice's ignorance of the Middle East. They said the secretary relies completely on Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who is largely regarded as the architect of U.S. foreign policy. Miss Rice also consults regularly with her supporters on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Richard Lugar and the No. 2 Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

The critics said Miss Rice has adopted the approach of Mr. Burns and the State Department bureaucracy that most—if not all—problems in the Middle East can be eased by applying pressure on Israel. They said even as Hezbollah was raining rockets on Israeli cities and communities, Miss Rice was on the phone nearly every day demanding that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert exercise restraint.

"Rice attempted to increase pressure on Israel to stand down and to demonstrate restraint," said Stephen Clemons, director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation. "The rumor is that she was told flatly by the prime minister's office to back off."

The critics within the administration expect a backlash against Miss Rice that could lead to her transfer in wake of the congressional elections in 2006. They said by that time even Mr. Bush will recognize the failure of relying solely on diplomacy in the face of Iran's nuclear weapons program.

"At that point, Rice will be openly blamed and Bush will have a very hard time defending her," said a GOP source with close ties to the administration.

Dump Condi: Foreign policy conservatives charge State Dept. has hijacked Bush agenda (http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Condi2.htm)

Iranian Volunteers Set Off for Lebanon

By BRIAN MURPHY
Associated Press Writer
Last Updated:July 26. 2006 4:59PM
Published: July 26. 2006 4:59PM

Surrounded by yellow Hezbollah flags, more than 60 Iranian volunteers set off Wednesday to join what they called a holy war against Israeli forces in Lebanon.

The group - ranging from teenagers to grandfathers - plans to join about 200 other volunteers on the way to the Turkish border, which they hope to cross Thursday. They plan to reach Lebanon via Syria over the weekend.

Iran says it will not send regular forces to aid Hezbollah, but apparently it will not attempt to stop volunteer guerrillas. Iran and Syria are Hezbollah's main sponsors.

Organizers said the volunteers were not carrying weapons, and it was not clear whether Turkey would let them pass.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not say Wednesday if they would be allowed to cross. Iranians, however, can enter Turkey without a visa and stay for three months.

"We are just the first wave of Islamic warriors from Iran," said Amir Jalilinejad, chairman of the Student Justice Movement, a nongovernment group that helped recruit the fighters. "More will come from here and other Muslim nations around the world. Hezbollah needs our help."

Military service is mandatory in Iran and nearly every man has at least some basic training. Some hard-liners have more extensive drills as members of the Basiji corps, a paramilitary network linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Other volunteers, such as 72-year-old Hasan Honavi, have combat experience from the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

"God made this decision for me," said Honavi, a grandfather and one of the oldest volunteers. "I still have fight left in me for a holy war."

The group, chanting and marching in military-style formation, assembled Wednesday in a part of Tehran's main cemetery that is reserved for war dead and other "martyrs."

They prayed on Persian carpets and linked hands, with their shoes and bags piled alongside. Few had any battle-type gear and some arrived in dress shoes or plastic sandals.

Some bowed before a memorial to Hezbollah-linked suicide bombers who carried out the 1983 blast at Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen. An almost simultaneous bombing killed 56 French peacekeepers.

Speakers praised Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and laid scorn on Muslim leaders - including their own government - for not sending battlefield assistance to Hezbollah since the fighting erupted two weeks ago.

Even if the volunteers fail to reach Lebanon, their mobilization is an example of how Iranians are rallying to Hezbollah through organizations outside official circles.

In Iraq, dozens of volunteers helped enlist Iraqis willing to fight along Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon at a Shiite party headquarters in the southern city of Basra. The party's Secretary General Yousif al Mousawi said about 200 people signed up within two hours on Wednesday night.

Iran insists it is not directly involved in the conflict on the military side, but it remains the group's key pipeline for funds. Iran has dismissed Israel's claims that Hezbollah has been supplied with upgraded Iranian missiles that have reached Haifa and other points across northern Israel.

"We cannot stand by and watch out Hezbollah brothers fight alone," said Komeil Baradaran, a 21-year-old Basiji member. "If we are to die in Lebanon, then we will go to heaven. It is our duty as Muslims to fight." (I hate to burst their bubble, the only place they are going is hell..... DW)

Iranian Volunteers Set Off for Lebanon (http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/API/607260870&cachetime=5)

A peace to end all peace
Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 26, 2006

David Fromkin's excellent study of the World War I peace settlement's effect on the Middle East was titled A peace to end all peace. That title would be equally apt for a proposal put forth by Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and France for ending the current round of fighting in Lebanon.

According to Haaretz, the proposal calls for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire, followed later by implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which mandates Hizbullah's disarmament and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Israel-Lebanon border.

However, there are two catches: Resolution 1559 would be implemented only via negotiations among the various Lebanese factions, and only if Israel agrees to withdraw from a small piece of land called Shaba Farms.

Conditioning the resolution's implementation on the agreement of all Lebanese factions, including Hizbullah, virtually guarantees that it will never be implemented at all.

These factions have already been conducting a so-called "national dialogue" on this issue for a year, yet far from producing progress toward Hizbullah's disarmament, Hizbullah's arsenal has grown steadily during this period.

There is no reason to believe that another round of "national dialogue" would end any differently: Not only would Hizbullah certainly veto its own disarmament; the other Lebanese factions seem unlikely even to press very hard, given their unanimous public defense over the last two weeks of Hizbullah's "right" to attack Israel.

EVEN MORE serious, however, is the proposal that Hizbullah's disarmament be conditioned on an Israeli withdrawal from Shaba Farms, thereby rendering meaningless the UN's own certification, just six years ago, that Israel had withdrawn from every last inch of Lebanese territory.

This certification, unanimously issued by the UN Security Council following Israel's pullout from Lebanon in May 2000, was based on the recommendation of UN experts who carefully studied old maps of the border and compared them to Israel's withdrawal line.

However, Hizbullah rejected the UN's determination, claiming that an additional bit of land, Shaba Farms, was also Lebanese (the UN experts deemed this land Syrian). Therefore, it announced, it had every right to continue attacking Israel in order to "liberate" Shaba Farms.

SUCCESSIVE Lebanese governments - both the former Syrian-controlled government and the new government elected following Syria's ouster from Lebanon - promptly backed this claim, and the international media followed suit: Within months, the UN determination that Shaba Farms was not Lebanese had virtually disappeared from coverage of the region; instead, the area was referred to as "disputed territory."

Now the Saudi-Lebanese-French proposal seeks to reverse the UN's finding entirely: By declaring that Israel must withdraw from additional territory before Beirut is obliged to take the steps needed to stop attacks against Israel from Lebanon, it essentially implies that Israel is still occupying part of Lebanon, and therefore continued attacks against it are justified.

Moreover, the UN itself appears to be backing this proposal: While UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has not (as of this writing) formally thrown his weight behind it, the UN delegation that he sent to the region last week to draft recommendations on ending the fighting reportedly told him that the Shaba Farms issue must be resolved as part of any deal, since otherwise Hizbullah would continue using it as a pretext to attack Israel.

IF THE international community gives into this Hizbullah blackmail it will decisively preclude peace in the Middle East for decades to come - because it will ensure that no deal is actually final. Instead, each agreement will merely be the starting point for a new round of territorial claims.

Clearly, Israel would have no incentive to withdraw from additional territory under these circumstances.

The point of withdrawing fully to a recognized international border is to (a) eliminate the other country's reasons for hostilities and (b) ensure the international community's backing should the other country nevertheless continue hostilities. If instead, the international community decides that continued attacks against Israel are grounds for redrawing the recognized international border in the aggressor's favor, such withdrawals are not only pointless from Israel's standpoint, they are actually counterproductive, simply inviting further territorial losses, salami-style.

Even more importantly, a Hizbullah victory over Shaba Farms would completely eliminate the incentive for other countries to ensure that radical organizations within their borders keep the peace with Israel.

Why should they, if a mere six years of laying claim to a new bit of territory, accompanied by sporadic guerrilla and/or terror attacks against Israel, are sufficient to get the international community to back the new claim?

This is particularly true given that even in countries that have signed treaties with Israel, hatred for Israel remains intense.

A Pew Global Research poll from June 2003, for instance, found that 85 percent of Jordanians, 80% of Palestinians and 90% of Moroccans believe that "the rights and needs of Palestinians" cannot be met unless Israel is eradicated. (This poll did not include Egypt, but other polls show similar anti-Israel sentiment in that country.)

Thus if Hizbullah's tactic proves successful, it will be a win-win proposition for every government in the Middle East: They can simultaneously satisfy their populations by allowing hostilities with Israel to continue, retain international backing and support by pleading inability to control the radicals, and expand their borders at Israel's expense into the bargain by claiming that additional Israeli concessions are needed to persuade the radicals to stop fighting.

WHEN ISRAEL left Lebanon in 2000 it obtained the most binding international certification possible that it had withdrawn fully. By declaring that Israel must nevertheless make further territorial concessions in order to end cross-border aggression from Lebanon, the Saudi-French-Lebanese proposal effectively overturns the longstanding UN principle that acquiring territory through force is unacceptable and legitimizes such cross-border aggression as a means of achieving territorial goals.

Thus unless the rest of the international community decisively rejects the idea of conditioning Hizbullah's disarmament and the Lebanese army's redeployment on an Israeli withdrawal from Shaba Farms, the Lebanese cease-fire deal will prove the death knell of Middle East peace for many years to come.

A peace to end all peace (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292005944&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Arabs want unconditional ceasefire; Khatib in Rome

King calls Annan

Agencies

THE ARAB WORLD wants an immediate Mideast ceasefire without conditions but Israel won't stop its bloody offensive until its captured soldiers are released and a defanged Hizbollah is pushed back from its northern border.

Among the possible solutions to be discussed at a meeting of key Mideast players in Rome on Wednesday is letting Arab leaders figure out what to do about Hizbollah's weapons and assembling a strong international peacekeeping force along Israel's border.

The meeting will have some common ground. Most of the participants — which include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United States, the European Union, Russia and others — agree on the need for a ceasefire and a beefed up multinational force on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib left yesterday for Rome to take part in the event, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

"There will be a clear Arab stance in Rome demanding an immediate ceasefire and strengthening the Lebanese government to allow it to assert its authority on all Lebanese territory," Khatib said.

"We want an effective international presence that is capable of stopping the shelling and the war launched against Lebanon.”

Most also agree that something needs to be done about Hizbollah's armed “state within a state” in south Lebanon, which it has used during the current crisis to launch nearly 1,300 rockets at Israel.

But Hizbollah, the Lebanese government and moderate Arab countries have said discussion of the above issues can only come after a ceasefire, not before — a position rejected by Israel and the United States.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that all the pieces of a ceasefire package must be implemented at the same time to avoid the same fate as other failed Mideast peace plans that relied on the “sequential approach.”

King Abdullah telephoned Annan yesterday and discussed the crisis, urging more UN efforts to end the fighting, Petra said.

The international effort to broker a ceasefire will not succeed unless Israel feels it has achieved its main goals: To remove the threat of future Hizbollah attacks and to secure the freedom of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hizbollah fighters precipitated the current crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's calls for an “enduring” and “sustainable” peace during her visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday reflected the Bush administration's support for Israel's aims.

It's more than just a matter of pride. Israel fears that any perceived weakness in its current fight against Hizbollah will be a boost to all Islamic fighters out to destroy it and to their main patron, the potentially nuclear-armed Iran.

“From the Israeli point of view to reach a ceasefire right now without reaching some or most of its strategic goals is not just counterproductive but dangerous,” said Israeli counter-terrorism expert Boaz Ganor.

Because of the near impossibility of beginning a negotiating process with either Hizbollah or its main supporter Iran — and considering the weakness of the pro-Western Lebanese government — Ganor argues that the right address for negotiations is Syria, which like Iran supports, arms and funds Hizbollah.

Arab diplomats reported some progress on that front over the weekend, saying both Egypt and Saudi Arabia — Mideast heavyweights which are struggling to combat the growing influence of Islamic fighters at home — were working to entice Syria to end its support for Hizbollah.

However, the Bush administration has made it a policy not to speak with regimes it doesn't like, so it's hard to see how diplomacy with Syria could end the fighting, which so far has killed 422 people in Lebanon and 43 in Israel.

During Rice's visit to Beirut on Sunday, Lebanese politicians reportedly proposed to her that the country's factions sit down together after a ceasefire to figure out how to implement the 1989 Taif Accord, which calls for extending the central government's sovereignty throughout Lebanon, with a single army.

Having Arab leaders take charge of efforts to disarm Hizbollah is likely to be one of the options discussed in Rome on Wednesday, as is the creation of an international “stabilisation” force that could help the Lebanese army take control of areas vacated by Hizbollah.

Assembling such a force is likely to prove difficult.

Israel says it prefers a NATO-led coalition, but the alliance's member states are already stretched in missions elsewhere. And the traumatic history of peacekeeping in Lebanon — often ending in bloody quagmires — works against nations committing themselves to another try.

The complexity of the required negotiations make a quick resolution of the crisis “almost unimaginable,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US Mideast negotiator who is now a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

However, Miller suggested that Rice use her influence with Israel to win a promise from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to halt fire as soon as Washington decides that basic conditions have been met, such as a Hizbollah-free buffer zone in south Lebanon, an international force and “maybe some sort of prisoner deal way out in the future.”

“She can use that leverage with the Arabs to get them to lean on the Syrians. She can use that leverage with the Europeans to get them to commit forces,” Miller said.

The feeling that the crisis is not likely to end any time soon gained credence on Tuesday when Olmert told a group of immigrants from France that Israel has “the stamina for a long struggle.” Each of the parties to the current conflict have different issues they'd like addressed in any ceasefire deal.

Lebanon, for instance, says Israel must withdraw from a tiny border region called Shebaa Farms, in addition to handing over maps of mine fields Israel laid during its 18-year occupation of south Lebanon.

Hizbollah wants to swap Arab prisoners held in Israel for the two Israeli soldiers, and insists its future role in south Lebanon be worked out — after a ceasefire — in an internal Lebanese conference.

Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, the director of the Palestinian think tank Passia, argues that negotiations on the Lebanon fighting should not be handled separately from Israel's other crisis: A monthlong battle in the Gaza Strip with Hamas, which also captured an Israeli soldier during a brazen cross-border raid on June 25.

“I don't see Hamas selling out Hizbollah for a separate deal,” Abdul-Hadi said, adding that the people are in no mood to give in to Israeli demands.

“People in Gaza as well as in Beirut are accepting the sacrifices, are accepting the pain and they are filled with steadfastness, with national pride and no surrender,” he said.

Arabs want unconditional ceasefire; Khatib in Rome (http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news2.htm)

The roaring Iranian rat
Posted: July 27, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006

Ultimate responsibility for the intense fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon can be directly traced to several American presidents, especially to one Democrat who has been busy building houses ever since he left the Big Bungalow on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Fearing an East-West clash of apocalyptic proportions, Lyndon Johnson thought it best to confront the powerful Soviet Union and China in an indirect manner. He would inflate John F. Kennedy's mini-war against Soviet and Chinese-backed fighters in relatively insignificant Vietnam into a major conflict. His successor, Richard Nixon, further fanned the flames before finally agreeing to a cease-fire in January 1973. After the Communist north violated it, Nixon rushed to pull remaining war-weary U.S. forces out of the southern half of the divided Southeast Asian country, climaxing with a humiliating final retreat in April 1975. As expected, South Vietnam was then completely overrun by Communist fighters, who subsequently proved uninterested in conquering their neighbors as part of the dreaded "domino" disaster that had long been forecast if America did not decisively win the costly war.

Tired of overseas adventures, a majority of American voters were then ready to scale back their country's international policeman role. This led to Jimmy Carter's election as commander in chief in 1976 after running on a fairly pacifist platform.

During the latter years of his watch, a turban bound mullah named Ruhollah Khomeini took over a Middle East country called Iran. His January 1979 Shiite Islamic Revolution was met with shocked surprise in Washington, which was then obsessed with Soviet designs on nearby Afghanistan. After all, the radical Muslims were our allies against the red superpower giant that was preparing to end all life on planet Earth in some insane nuclear showdown – not!

The Muslim fundamentalist leader was fit as a fiddle to move to Tehran and take over the reigns of power. This was largely because Carter had naively allowed him to come to America the previous October to receive first-class medical attention.

After ousting the pro-West Shah, the Shiite ayatollah repaid Carter's kindness by sanctioning the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran. Over 50 Americans, mostly government diplomats and employees, were taken captive in the November 1979 action, being held hostage for over one year. Operating in the still strong shadow of the Vietnam fiasco, Carter refused to see the seizure for what it was – a clear act of war – and ordered relatively feeble (and definitely ineffective) military measures to free the hostages, who were only released when Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president in January 1981.

Flagging American resolve to take on its declared enemies when actually necessary was thankfully reversed during the Reagan years. But the tall ex-actor also contributed to the current Mideast crisis. Fearing an atomic showdown with Moscow, he ordered Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to cancel his defense minister's rational plan to fully oust Syrian occupation forces from all of Lebanon in 1982. Thus, Ariel Sharon's prescient goal to free Lebanon from Syrian (and thus Iranian) domination was thwarted, which opened the door for Khomeini to establish an enduring alliance with Syria that rapidly led to the formation of the extremist Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

The Shiite force quickly proved to be a faithful Iranian-Syrian anti-American puppet when its operatives destroyed U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut in October 1983 – the deadliest terrorist atrocity against American servicemen to this day. But this clear act of war was also basically ignored by Soviet-obsessed White House personnel, who simply ordered a humiliating retreat from the battle zone. Hezbollah-Iran-Syria had won, and this fact would set the tone for their later "victory" over war-weary Israeli forces that were rushed from the Land of the Cedars in a virtual summer rerun of the U.S. flight from Saigon.

The May 2000 Israeli getaway left its faithful Maronite-run South Lebanese Army allies dazed and confused, and in instant mortal danger from advancing Hezbollah forces. This guaranteed that no Lebanese Christian groups would ever fully ally themselves again with the Jewish-run state.

Meanwhile, Iran had succeeded in crushing the U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian "land for peace" process. It began supplying weapons and training to Hamas and Islamic Jihad Palestinian terrorists – mainly via Hezbollah channels – soon after the 1993 Oslo peace accord was signed on the White House lawn by Yassar Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin. Emulating Hezbollah's mushrooming suicide attacks against IDF soldiers in Lebanon, Hamas launched its first deadly bus bombing in April 1994, followed by a flood of such wicked assaults in early 1996. Two months later, Hezbollah let loose with a massive rocket blitz upon northern Israel, leading to the election of Binyamin Netanyahu in May and the total collapse of the peace process four years later.

And so we come to today. Israel has been forced to re-enter Lebanon and the Gaza Strip with its relatively big guns blazing, leading to inevitable Arab and international condemnation. Its unilateral pullouts from both places – demanded by Lebanese and Palestinian leaders – have been tragically reversed amid a flood of blood. All this as Iran's outrageous "president," under orders from chief dictator Ayatollah Khameini, repeatedly vows to wipe Israel off of the Middle East map, probably with nuclear weapons.

Is the current White House occupant finally ready to admit that the insidious theocratic Iranian regime has long ago declared war to the death not only against its main Mideast ally Israel, but also against America? Stay tuned. I'm not overly optimistic that the gravity of Iran's threat to Western interests is fully understood yet in Washington's halls of power, given that so much time, money and military lives have been spent going after a regional mouse named Saddam, followed by hopeless attempts to bring enduring "democracy" (how about simple stability?) to his basket-case, internally divided country. All of that has only served to divert vital attention from the far more dangerous regional rat lurking right next door – Iran – and its supplicant surrogates, Syria and Hezbollah.

Chinese team to head for Lebanon on aftermath of dead UN observer
2006-07-27 15:29:02

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese team is to set off late Thursday for Lebanon to handle the case of a Chinese UN observer's death there, according to diplomatic sources.

The Chinese victim Du Zhaoyu was killed in an Israeli air raid on a UN post in south Lebanon on Wednesday.

The team, consisting of six personnel from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense, is to deal with the aftermath and escort Du's remains back home.

Du's wife Li Lingling will also go to Lebanon along with the team.

Du, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) with a postgraduate degree, was born in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province. He was sent to Lebanon last December as a UN observer.

After Du's death, the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense has made several representations to the Israeli side in different ways, and required the Israeli side to properly handle the aftermath and well protect Du's remains.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday expressed his "deep condolences" over Du's death, and demanded the Chinese departments concerned to properly deal with the aftermath of the incident and take every measure necessary to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals in Lebanon.

Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan has urged relevant departments to intensify negotiations with the UN and the conflicting parties of Lebanon and Israel. He also called for efforts to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

Liang Guanglie, chief of the PLA general staff, sent a letter of condolences to Du's family and has made specific requirements for the aftermath. Both Cao and Liang expressed their deep condolences over Du's death and sincere sympathy for his family.

Wednesday's air raid killed four UN observers. Besides Du, the other three were from Finland, Austria and Canada. Enditem

Chinese team to head for Lebanon on aftermath of dead UN observer (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/27/content_4884793.htm)

Chirac: France Has Proof Of Iran's Involvement In Lebanon

PARIS (AP)--French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday Iran supplied arms and funds to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerrillas and had a measure of responsibility in the conflict.

In response to a question about Iran, Chirac said, "Information that we possess proves that sophisticated arms and financing are sent by Iran, apparently via Syria, to the Hezbollah. This is a problem."

He was confirming reports that Hezbollah was using Iranian weapons in its strikes.

"Indeed, Iran has its share of responsibility in the current conflict," Chirac said. He didn't, however, specifically accuse Tehran of triggering the violence with Hezbollah's capture two weeks ago of two Israeli soldiers.

Chirac said also the North Atlantic Treaty Organization shouldn't lead a proposed international force in Lebanon, saying the alliance is seen in the region as "the armed wing of the West."

"As far as France is concerned, it is not NATO's mission to put together such a force," Chirac told the daily newspaper Le Monde, saying there were technical as well as political reasons for his stance.

"Whether we like it or not, NATO is perceived as the armed wing of the West in these regions, and as a result, in terms of image, NATO is not intended for this," he said.

Israel has suggested it would prefer a NATO-led coalition in Lebanon, not the traditional U.N. peacekeeping force that has tried but failed to bring peace to Lebanon over the last three decades.

France said earlier this week that a multinational force should be placed under U.N. authority.

Chirac insisted a ceasefire was "essential" followed by a political accord, " to be implemented after the ceasefire," before any multinational force is put in place.

"This implies that the Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah should be freed, as should the soldiers taken hostage by Hamas," Chirac said.

France said earlier this week that a multinational force should be placed under U.N. authority. However, Chirac's interview was the first time the French position had been spelled out in detail.

He said the hoped-for political accord should be negotiated on the one hand between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah and, on the other, between the international community, Lebanon and Israel.

Chirac pledged EUR15 million in humanitarian aid for Lebanon and said France would consider leading an international force if conditions were met.

He said he didn't believe the force should have the responsibility of disarming Hezbollah, but that it was up to Lebanon. "Hezbollah, once disarmed, is set to be a political force in Lebanon," Chirac said.

Distancing himself from the U.S. stance, Chirac reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East, saying Israel's bombing of a U.N. observation post in southern Lebanon showed how dire the situation was. Four peacekeepers were killed.

"We can only condemn this act, which demonstrates more than ever how urgent it is to end the fighting," Chirac said.

Chirac: France Has Proof Of Iran's Involvement In Lebanon (http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20060726\ACQDJON200607261016DOWJONESDJONLINE000891.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na)

Syria demands truce, prisoner swap in Lebanon crisis
July 27, 2006

Lebanese civil defence rescue workers carry the body of an eight-year-old Lebanese girl, buried under the rubble of a residential building hit by Israeli air strikes in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre. Syria has called for a ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners and Israel's withdrawal from oc

Syria has called for a ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners and Israel's withdrawal from occupied Arab lands in order to resolve the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

"To resolve the crisis in the region it is necessary to decree a ceasefire, proceed with a prisoner exchange and for Israel to withdraw from all occupied Arab territory," Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said Wednesday.

Quoted by the official SANA agency, Bilal said such a withdrawal must encompass the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967 and subsequently annexed, including the Shebaa Farms, now claimed by Lebanon with Syria's blessing.

Bilal also said the people of the Middle East would themselves define their region after Washington repeatedly called for "a new Middle East".

"The peoples of the region will define the Middle East that they want. No force can replace them. The people will determine their future," Bilal was quoted as saying.

His comments came after Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Syria could intervene in the ongoing crisis, laying down similar conditions in an interview.

"We are ready to intervene to play a positive role. We ask that the United States put pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners," Muallem told Italian daily La Repubblica.

The minister, whose country is not taking part in Wednesday's international conference in Rome on the crisis, also reiterated denials that Syria supplies Hezbollah with arms.

"Hezbollah has an arsenal allowing it to fight for weeks, and the arms definitely do not go through Damascus," he was quoted as saying.

Muallem also rejected Israel's position that it could defeat the Shiite movement.

"It can't happen, because Hezbollah represents a third of the Lebanese population," he said.

He also said he regretted "not having been invited" to the 15-nation talks in Rome, although he "appreciated" Italy's initiative to host the meeting.

Syria demands truce, prisoner swap in Lebanon crisis (http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=297170&ChannelId=4)

Syria expects gains from war
Web posted at: 7/27/2006 8:5:49
Source ::: Agencies

damascus • Two weeks after Israel began its onslaught on Lebanon, Syria feels confident the outcome will lessen its isolation and help the Baathist government negotiate a deal to regain the Golan Heights, officials and diplomats say.

"Bashar Al Assad must feel pretty confident right now. Hezbollah has proved more than a match for the Israelis," one diplomat said.

"He is receiving calls left and right. Syria is vital to help end this crisis," he said, referring to calls from Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and other foreign officials to the Syrian president.

A senior German diplomat visited Syria last week and a Norwegian envoy is expected yesterday as fighting rages between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

However, there has been no contact between Syria, which resolutely backs Hezbollah, and Washington, Israel's chief ally.

Damascus has offered to engage in a dialogue with Washington to end the war and find the basis for regional peace. The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said it was "hard to see" benefits from a Syrian-US dialogue.

"The irony is that Syria and the United States want both to reshape the Middle East. There is a lot of common ground between them although the Golan Heights is paramount on the Syrian agenda," the diplomat in Damascus said.

Syria has ignored calls by the US to pressure Hezbollah to free two Israeli soldiers captured by its fighters on July 12, setting off massive Israeli reprisals against Lebanon, and stop rocket attacks on Israel.

Syria, a self-proclaimed champion of Arab rights and the issue of Arab land occupied by Israel, was further isolated after last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri.

Israel's attack on Lebanon, however, has thrust Syria back into the international arena, with fears growing of the confrontation expanding into a regional war.

Any settlement, Syrian officials say, will have to address the status of Hizbollah and its demands, which Syria supports.

These include a prisoner exchange and an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms, an area near the Golan Heights that Lebanon says is Lebanese but the United Nations and Israel consider Syrian.

Syria has denied reports in the Israeli press that it has approached Israel to restart negotiations in the Golan, an area of 1,759 sq km (680 sq miles) in southern Syria.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights 1967. Syria lost 3,000 soldiers defending the mountainous plateau overlooking Damascus.

The last round of talks between Israel and Syria over the Golan came close to a deal but foundered in 2000, mostly over who would control the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The state newspaper Tishreen indicated that Syria was keen not to be left out of US plans for a post-war settlement.

"The peace process has been placed in the American freezer with an Israeli lock for the last five years. The US administration has to employ its huge capability for a sustainable peace," Tishreen said.

Syrian officials say Israel cannot afford to become bogged down in a war of attrition in Lebanon. "There is no need to contemplate whether Syria should re-supply Hezbollah with arms. It still has missiles to last for months," one official said.

Syria expects gains from war (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News200607278549.xml)

Israel OKs call-up of 30,000 reservists

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago

JERUSALEM - Israel's government decided Thursday not to expand its battle with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon for now, but authorized the army to call up 30,000 reserve soldiers in case the fighting intensifies. Lebanese officials estimated a civilian death toll as high as 600.

With Hezbollah allies Iran and Syria reportedly meeting in Damascus to discuss the crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was "willing and ready" to return to the region to work for a sustainable peace agreement.

But President Bush suggested he would support the offensive for as long as it takes to cripple Hezbollah. He also sharply condemned Iran for its support of the Shiite Muslim militant group.

The callup signaled that Israel was settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, one that could grow far bloodier if Israel decides its air attacks and small-scale invasion into Lebanon are not working and sends in thousands of more ground forces.

With no end in sight after 16 days of intense fighting, al-Qaida's No. 2 man vowed to attack "everywhere" until Islam prevails.

In recent days, senior Israeli generals urged the government to authorize a broader ground campaign in southern Lebanon, which they said would help the thousands of troops already engaged in bloody battles there.

Israel's security Cabinet authorized the army to call up three additional reserve divisions to refresh the troops in Lebanon if they are needed, but rejected the generals' advice to expand the offensive.

However, Justice Minister Haim Ramon said the failure of world leaders to call for an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah — an assertion hotly rejected by European officials.

Wednesday's conference ended in disagreement, with most European leaders calling for an immediate cease-fire and the United States wanting to give Israel more time to neutralize Hezbollah.

"We received yesterday at the Rome conference permission from the world .... to continue the operation, this war, until Hezbollah won't be located in Lebanon and until it is disarmed," Ramon told Israel's Army Radio.

European leaders said Ramon was mistaken.

"I would say just the opposite — yesterday in Rome it was clear that everyone present wanted to see an end to the fighting as swiftly as possible," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday struck roads and houses, many believed to be the deserted homes of Hezbollah activists, in the apple-growing region of Iqlim al-Tuffah. The strikes caused casualties, but fighting kept ambulances and civil defense crews from the areas, security officials and witnesses said.

Other strikes hit a Lebanese army base in the north, while artillery and warplanes pounded the area near the border, according to witnesses. However, the fierce ground battles that raged Wednesday for the border towns of Bint Jbail and nearby Maroun al-Ras appeared to have abated, with U.N. observers reporting only "sporadic fighting" there.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said the strategic damage to Hezbollah was "enormous" and said the group would "not return to what it was."

Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon on July 12, after Hezbollah guerrillas overran the border, killed three Israeli soldiers on patrol and captured two others.

Since then, up to 600 civilians in Lebanon have been killed in a punishing campaign of airstrikes, artillery shelling and clashes, including 150-200 still buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings, Lebanese Health Minister Jawad Khalifeh said Thursday.

The toll was a jump from previous Health Ministry reports of about 400 killed, based on bodies received at Lebanese hospitals.

The Health Ministry tally does not include 20 soldiers the Lebanese army has confirmed dead or 35 guerrillas whose deaths Hezbollah has acknowledged.

Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have died in the fighting and 19 civilians were killed in Hezbollah's unyielding rocket attacks on northern Israel, the army said.

The guerrillas shot 110 rockets into Israel on Thursday, wounding 20 people and bringing the total of rockets launched to 1,564.

The army broadcast a warning on its Arabic-language radio station Thursday telling Lebanese in the south that their villages would be "totally destroyed" if rockets were fired from them.

Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said there have been hundreds of Hezbollah casualties and that "we have caused serious damage to their rocket-launching capabilities."

But Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a staunch supporter of Hezbollah, said Israel would never be able to crush the group militarily, and should stop fighting and start talking.

"Whatever it (Israel) does it's not going to reach its goal," he told The Associated Press. "They're not going to be able to take out the weaponry of Hezbollah. So all they're doing is massive destruction."

Meanwhile, al-Qaida issued its first response to the violence, threatening to retaliate with new attacks.

The videotape by Osama bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri was an effort by the terror network to rally Islamic militants by exploiting Israel's two-pronged offensive — against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas-linked militants in Gaza.

"We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated," al-Zawahri said, adding that "all the world is a battlefield open in front of us."

"The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires. ... It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," he said. "We will attack everywhere."

In Damascus, Syrian and Iranian officials gathered to hold meetings on the crisis, according to Iranian and Kuwaiti news reports. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was also to take part in the meeting along with Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Kuwait's Al-Siyassah newspaper, known for its opposition to the Syrian regime.

The newspaper said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah with "Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories."

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal would not comment on whether Nasrallah, whose movements are kept secret, was in Damascus. However, Rahhal was dismissive of the Kuwaiti newspaper report.

With cease-fire efforts stalemated, Rice — who was in Malaysia after a trip to Beirut, Jerusalem and the Rome conference — said she was prepared to make a second tour of the Middle East. No timetable was announced.

"I am more than happy to go back," Rice said, if her efforts can "move toward a sustainable cease-fire that would end the violence."

In his interview with Army Radio, Ramon, the justice minister, said the Israeli air force must bomb villages before ground forces enter, suggesting that this would help prevent Israeli casualties. Ramon spoke a day after nine soldiers were killed in house-to-house fighting. Hezbollah acknowledged Thursday that it lost five fighters in the same clashes, though Israel said at least 30 were killed.

Asked whether entire villages should be flattened, he said: "These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hezbollah people are hiding and from which they are operating."

Thousands of civilians are believed trapped in southern Lebanon, according to humanitarian officials.

International Red Cross spokesman Hisham Hassan said their teams that have visited border villages under heavy bombardment have found families hiding in schools, mosques and churches, or huddled together in homes they hope will withstand the barrage.

"But even the residents we speak to can't say how many are there, because everyone's hiding, they don't know who's dead or alive," he said.

Israel OKs call-up of 30,000 reservists (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060727/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel_506;_ylt=AodxrRaFMfDCieRYbCSnXbkUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Europe may be drawn into Mideast conflict

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 27, 1:40 PM ET

MADRID, Spain - Europe, with its long and often unhappy history in the Middle East, may be drawn into a big role in the proposed multinational force for south Lebanon.

But with troops already stretched from Afghanistan to Congo, Europeans are hardly clamoring for another Mideast entanglement. Along with the promise of a stronger European military profile, any involvement in the fight between Israel and Hezbollah militants holds the danger of a blow to the continent's credibility.

Italy, Germany, Ireland, France and Turkey have said they are considering joining a U.N.-run multinational force. Britain and the Netherlands appear unenthusiastic.

Foreign ministers from across the continent will discuss their options next week at a hastily arranged gathering in Brussels, Belgium.

Most European nations remain dependent on NATO for logistical support and an overarching defense strategy, but the bloc has tried to establish its own distinct defense capabilities over the past decade. Plans are under way to set up more than a dozen multinational EU "battlegroups" by 2007, each with 1,500 troops. Also in the pipeline is a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force that would take on bigger peacekeeping operations.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon would fit with Europe's push for greater military muscle.

"Europe is already building, gradually but more and more solidly, a policy of common European defense," he said in an interview with Spanish national radio. "Therefore, (participation in an international force) would be a very important signal that European armed forces can take on this challenge."

A European force in Lebanon could be acceptable to both Arab nations — which would see U.S. forces as too pro-Israel — and the Jewish state — which is likely to insist on some form of Western participation.

"If successful, it would make the EU a much stronger regional player," said Julie Smith, an analyst at the London-based Chatham House think tank. "It would certainly raise the profile of the EU."

But with opportunity comes enormous risk.

Should a cease-fire fail to hold, peacekeeping troops could find themselves caught between the warring sides.

"It is an extremely difficult situation and to rush into it blindfolded without proper preparation or planning is not only counterproductive but very dangerous," Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's top envoy on Syria-Lebanon issues, told The Associated Press. "It can easily increase the dangers of the current situation and it might — if it's not planned well — also present huge dangers for the security of the peacekeepers who eventually will be deployed."

There are dangers from other players as well.

Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in an audiotape released Thursday that governments seen as complicit in Israel's attacks on Lebanon are potential targets.

Several European countries already seem cool to the idea of sending troops to Lebanon, even under a strong U.N. mandate.

The former colonial powers of Europe have a troubled history in the region.

From the disastrous 1956 Franco-British-Israeli invasion of Egypt over the Suez Canal to France's heavy death toll keeping peace in Lebanon in the 1980s, the last century is littered with examples of carnage and humiliation that will make Europeans think twice about sending troops to the Mideast.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office says that Britain is unlikely to contribute troops because of its colonial history in the region, and its extensive military commitments elsewhere. Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk-Jan Vermeij said his country also had no plans to participate.

For Germany, the legacy of World War II presents troubling complications: What if German men in uniform find themselves confronting Israelis?

And even if European politicians decide to take part in a peacekeeping force, they might find it hard to find any available soldiers.

Thousands of European troops are operating in Afghanistan under NATO auspices, battling resurgent Taliban forces in the south and east of that country. At least 12 Europeans have been killed in recent months.

European troops working under NATO auspices are involved in officer training in Iraq, logistical aid in Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region and counterterrorism operations in the Mediterranean. Some 2,000 European forces have deployed to Congo under a larger United Nations mission, and there are thousands more in the Balkans under NATO control.

"It will probably be hard to find European troops actually available" said Richard Whitman, a European foreign policy expert at Chatham House.

Europe may be drawn into Mideast conflict (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060727/ap_on_re_eu/mideast_fighting_drawing_in_europe_lh1)

Nasrallah, the Palestinian Messiah
By Avi Issacharoff

Some 200 people demonstrated in downtown Ramallah on Tuesday to protest U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the city and express support for Lebanon and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The demonstrators sang the praises of the Lebanese people and lauded the ties between Beirut and Ramallah. Then, at a certain stage, the familiar chanting began. One of the demonstrators, sitting on the shoulders of his colleagues, shouted out: "Ya Nasrallah, ya habib, udrub udrub Tel Aviv(hey, Nasrallah, hey, beloved, strike, strike Tel Aviv)," and the others joined in the chanting.

It seems to happen almost every decade. A new Arab leader arises who promises to defeat Israel in war and save the Palestinians from their sufferings, and as usual, many of the Palestinians become followers of the false messiah. In the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world believed that Gamal Abdel Nasser would be the leader to rout Israel. Nasser also insisted on representing the Palestinians in their struggle, on the grounds that they are part of the Arab world, and it was his defeat that opened the way for Yasser Arafat, who promised throughout the 1970s and 1980s that Palestine would be established with the aid of a gun. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Saddam Hussein was the leader who captured the hearts of many Palestinians with his promises to strike at Israel, defeat it and assist them in setting up a Palestinian state.

The current savior in the eyes of many Palestinians is Hassan Nasrallah. More than 10 marches in favor of Nasrallah and his organization have been held in the territories since the start of hostilities in the north. Activists from a variety of organizations carry his picture aloft in protests and many individuals see him as the only leader who can take on Israel and win. "Hassan Nasrallah, master of resistance," is written on a portrait of Nasrallah that hangs in the A-Shini supermarket in Ramallah's Nablus Road.

The Hezbollah secretary general has, in the eyes of many Palestinians, become the supreme commander of the Arab forces against Israel. The general feeling from reports in the Arab media is that Nasrallah is routing the Israel Defense Forces on the battlefield. Every report about a wounded Israeli or an Israeli force that was hit in Lebanon becomes the lead item in the Arab and Palestinian media. Reporters also focus on those Israelis who have come against the war, while the majority that supports the fighting in the north remains unheard.

This distorted presentation, together with Hezbollah's propaganda, does not only affect Palestinians who belong to the Islamic organizations. Tuesday's demonstration was led by mainstream members of Fatah. Ziyyad Abu Ayin, one of the leaders of the Tanzim militia in Ramallah and a close friend of Marwan Barghouti, spoke at the demonstration about the brotherhood between the Lebanese and the Palestinian people and how the Palestinians are supporting Hezbollah in its fight against Israel.

It is doubtful whether Abu Ayin himself considers Nasrallah the representative of the Palestinians, but he has a feel for the "street," the masses who support Hezbollah. "I am against the policies of the American administration," he shouted into the microphone in English - not only for the benefit of the many foreign journalists covering the demonstration, but also for the numerous young foreigners who are currently in the West Bank and who participate in such demonstrations as a kind of back-packers trip, the kind Israeli youngsters often take after their army service. One of those foreign youths took the microphone and said proudly: "My name is Michael. I've come here to show support for the Palestinians and Lebanese." Aliana, a young woman from Italy, told Haaretz that her new friends have given her an Arabic name, Kalam. "In my opinion," she said, "Hezbollah acted legitimately against military targets, but now it is time to return to negotiating."

While the demonstration was taking place, Rice was meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. She heard about his efforts to secure the release of the abducted Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, and about his efforts to arrange a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip by which all the factions would abide. Those gathered in his bureau were aware that Rice's visit was not designed to achieve political aims such as freeing Shalit, but rather mainly to put across the message that Washington has not completely deserted Abbas. Nevertheless, his aides also clearly understood that at this point, the United States is not particularly interested in the Palestinian arena, and that from the point of view of the White House, the road to solving the Palestinian problem passes through Lebanon. It is almost superfluous to say that the visit ended without results, even though Abbas stressed that most Palestinian organizations plan to break with Hezbollah and will not cooperate with the Lebanese group on the issue of prisoner exchanges.

The demonstrators outside, however, had different ideas. They continued their chanting on behalf of Hezbollah and tempers started heating up. The Palestinian policemen clashed with some of the demonstrators who attempted to march on the Muqata (Abbas' headquarters). Fistfights broke out and continued for several minutes. Throughout, one of the women demonstrators held Nasrallah's picture aloft. Then, apparently out of frustration, the demonstrators began their regular ritual: burning of portraits of U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who can now take solace in the fact that they are no longer alone. The pictures of French President Jacques Chirac and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, got similar treatment.

Nasrallah, the Palestinian Messiah (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743180.html)

Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader threatens attacks

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 27 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader called Thursday for Muslims to unite in a holy war against
Israel and to join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."

Ayman al-Zawahri's taped message, the first from al-Qaida since Israel began offensives against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, was a sweeping recruiting effort that even called on non-Muslims to join the Islamic cause.

Addressing the world's "downtrodden," al-Zawahri said non-Muslims should join Islamic militants in the battle against "tyrannical Western civilization and its leader, America."

"Stand with Muslims in confronting this unprecedented oppression and tyranny. Stand with us as we stand with you against this injustice that was forbidden by God in his book (the Quran)," al-Zawahri said.

Kamal Habib, a former member of Egypt's Islamic Jihad militant group who was jailed from 1981-1991 along with al-Zawahri, said the appeal to non-Muslims was unprecedented and reflected a change in tactics.

"This is a transformation in the vision of al-Qaida and its struggle with the United States. It is now trying to unite Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and calling for non-Muslims to join the fight," he said.

But the Egyptian-born militant saved most of his vitriol for Israel.

"The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires ... . It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," said al-Zawahri. "We will attack everywhere."

The White House dismissed the tape as propaganda aimed at inciting violence.

"It is hardly new for Mr. al-Zawahri, from his place in hiding, to issue threats," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "One of the weapons is to use the media, and use the Internet and use mass communications as a way of fomenting hatred and encouraging violence, and this certainly fits into that pattern."

"Al-Qaida's military's capabilities have been significantly degraded and everybody knows that, and so now Ayman al-Zawahri is issuing tapes," Snow added.

Al-Zawahri said al-Qaida planned to attack opponents wherever vulnerable.

"All the world is a battlefield open in front of us," he said in portions of the tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television. "Like they attack us everywhere, we will attack them everywhere."

Speaking from what appeared to be a television studio, Osama bin Laden's deputy reissued threats against the United States, specifically for its backing of Israel.

"The shells and missiles that are ripping apart Muslims' bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not purely Israeli, but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition," he said. "We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated."

Bob Ayers, a security analyst at London's Chatham House think tank, said the message was a reminder of al-Qaida's role as a reference point for radical Muslims. "The real message that they're sending to all of us is that they're still there, they're still effective," he said.

Al-Zawahri spoke while seated in front of photographs of Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former bin Laden lieutenant who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Their photos flanked a picture of the World Trade Center in flames.

Some observers speculated al-Zawahri's use of that backdrop was a coded message to al-Qaida followers.

But Evan Kohlman, founder of the U.S.-based al-Qaida tracking organization globalterroralert.com, said the photos were chosen because of the dead militants' hatred of Israel and support for the Palestinian cause.

He also discounted speculation that al-Zawahri's call for Islamic unity meant he was holding out a hand to radical Shiites, the backbone of Hezbollah.

"Any idea that this is pro-Hezbollah is wrong," Kohlman said. "This is anti-Israel. That's what this is about. With this tape, al-Zawahri seems to be suggesting that the jihad to liberate Palestine is a natural outgrowth of the jihad in Iraq," he said.

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal refused to comment on the al-Zawahri tape.

While backing the fight against Israel, al-Zawahri said every Muslim has a duty "to rise up and seek martyrdom and attack and inflict harm on crusaders" in the battle against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He accused Arab countries of turning a blind eye to the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah and the Palestinians.

"My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs," he said.

Al-Jazeera did not transmit the entire tape, using selected quotes interspersed with commentary from an anchor. The satellite network said the full tape was about eight minutes long and it aired about half of it. Al-Jazeera would not comment on how it received the tape.

The message was al-Zawahri's tenth this year. Bin Laden, al-Qaida's founder, has issued five messages this year.

Al-Zawahri last appeared in a video posted on an Islamic Web site on the anniversary of the London transit bombings.

Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader threatens attacks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060727/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_al_qaida)

Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war

In conversation in Damascus, senior Syrian journalist tells about sentiments in Syria ('as if there will be war any moment'); talks about military preparations in his country ('identifying your reinforcements in Golan Heights'); and estimates that Israeli pounding in Lebanon to intensify grassroots support of Nasrallah and his organization. Also in Syria, he says, Nasrallah more popular than ever
Ali Waked

As the conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon escalates by the day, the question of Syria's involvement in the conflict becomes increasingly more relevant.

"The atmosphere in Syria is in every way an atmosphere of war, or at least of the eve of war. Syrian television for the first time since the '80's has started broadcasting Syrian military marches and nationalistic songs. There is not difference between Syrian television broadcasts and Al-Manar broadcasts of the Hizbullah. The broadcasts are in preparation for war, as if Syria is involved in this war, or is going to be involved at any moment. The local newspapers and the television are conducting themselves as if they are preparing the Syrian public for war."

These comments were made by a senior Syrian journalist in a telephone interview from Damascus. It isn't easy these days of war that they don't have there, to convince a Syrian to accept an interview with the Israeli media, even when we're not there. One must remember that each side has his messages to transmit. And yet, the picture sketched by this senior journalist reveals the great concern in Damascus about the operations of Israel – and definitively paints a picture of preparedness for war. A conversation with an interviewee beyond the Golan.

In Israel there is talk that Syria and her army have considerably raised their alert since the start of fighting in Lebanon. Is this indeed the reality there?

"This, in my opinion, is the reality where you are. The Syrian army has identified intensive activity of the Israeli army on the Golan Heights. At first they identified lights on some of the bases at night in Syria. We have noticed a rehabilitation and revival of the Israeli military bases on the Golan on which no one has set foot for more than ten years. We see Israeli soldiers rehabilitating these bases and equipping them."

Paranthetically, it should be mentioned in this article that from the beginning of IDF operations in Lebanon, the level of preparedness on the Golan Heights has been raised noticeably along the border between Syria and Israel. The IDF estimated that the Hizbullah has an interest of bringing Syria into the confrontation, and that the organization would not be loathe to launching Katyushas at the Golan Heights. However, Israel has openly declared that Damascus is out of the game at this point and that there is no intention to confront Syria. With this, the IDF heightened its intelligence alertness along the border, including a larger-than-usual military presence meant to respond to any development in the region.

Beyond the pre-war atmosphere that you described, is there deployment for war or concrete steps of the government and army towards the possibility that Syria will become part of the war?

"I can't say if the army is taking practical steps to prepare for such an option, but what is certain is that Syria has consolidated once and for all the stance that the current situation, especially the occupation of the Golan, needs to stop. If there will be a solution to the current war in Lebanon, we must be part of this solution. And that means negotiation and returning the Golan to the Syrians. And if there won't be a solution, the stance is that we must prepare to liberate the Golan through different means – there aren't many other ways."

How does the Syrian government respond to the accusations of sources in the IDF and in Israel that Syria isn't only aiding the Iranians to transfer weapons to the Hizbullah, but is contributing herself to the arming of Hizbullah with Syrian rockets?

"All the senior and official representatives who have been asked to respond to these accusations have stridently denied them. The official stance, and this is the truth, is that the trucks passing through that the Israeli army is bombing, are trucks for humanitarian aid, carrying food, equipment, and donations that the Syrian people raised or aid from other countries that arrives through Syria. For instance, one of the convoys that was bombed was a convoy of ambulances from the Emirates in the Gulf that was designated for the Lebanese people."

The Syrian journalist also claims that the nature of the explosions testify to the fact that the trucks were not carrying rockets, ammunition, or explosives. "True, there was one time that the explosion was different than the regular ones. This happened when Israeli planes bombed trucks carrying car oil. Then the explosion was different. Syrian television was the first to photograph this explosion. Would they have photographed if Syria had something to hide?

Is Syria ready for a script in which it assists the US to stop the Hizbullah in exchange for a return of Syrian influence in Lebanon and cancellation of anti-Syrian sanctions?

"Whoever has followed the mood in the government and in the Syrian street after the completion of the withdrawal from Lebanon, understands that the emphasis today from the perspective of the government and the Syrian people is on the Golan and the need to return it to Syria – and less on Lebanon."

So, how do you explain that many in Israel and in the world see Syria as a key to solving the current conflict?

"That is because of the special relationship between Syria and the Hizbullah. These are excellent relations, but Syria today doesn't enjoy the same influence over them that they did in the past."

As an example of the great fondness of Syrians for the Hizbullah, the Syrian journalist brings the following story: "In Syria, it is customary in homes, businesses, and shops to hang pictures of the president's family. A picture of the late president Hafez Assad in the center, to the left a picture of the current president, Dr. Bashar, and to the right a picture of the slain son Bassal, the president's brother, whom the Syrian people loved very much.

"But today, especially since the outbreak of fighting, the phenomenon gaining momentum is to swap the picture of the beloved Bassal with a picture of Hassan Nasrallah. This is to express how much we in Syria love and appreciate what Nasrallah has done for the Arab nation. Not for a specific community, not for his country, but for the entire Arab nation."

In Israel there is talk that the current war is a war of the home front and of the patience of the simple people for a continuation of the war situation. We hope that the rest of the war, especially the crushing air strikes and the destruction they wreak, will bring about an uprising of the Lebanese public against Hizbullah that will compel them to stop firing.

"Whoever says that doesn't know Lebanon and her population and hasn't been following the political developments in the period before the war. The Hizbullah's Shiite community is the largest community in Lebanon. Many Sunnis also support Hizbullah. Also, Hizbullah enjoys broad support in the most important section of the Christian population, that which is represented by the general, Michel Aoun, who won the majority of the Christian votes in parliamentary elections."

"We see, for example, Walid Junblatt, who severely criticized the events of the first few days, is the one who today provides cover and aid for thousands of refugees in his area of Mount Lebanon. He does this not only out of humanitarian motives, but also to improve his image a little in Lebanon.

"Even Hariri's representatives and their supporters adopting a similar approach and are dealing with humanitarian aid in order to weaken the criticism they gave at first. At the current time, the social fabric in Lebanon is rallying more and more around support for Hizbullah, giving them the necessary strength to continue this fight."

Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282279,00.html)

German soldier pointing his weapon at Jewish soldier?

Multinational force in southern Lebanon is still theoretical, but in Germany questions rise about appropriateness of sending in German forces
Ynet

The possibility that German soldiers will be stationed on Israel's northern border as part of a multinational force creates a complicated dilemma for Germany, well-covered by the media and discussed among the public. The BBC reported that, in recent days, German newspapers were busy reporting the as of yet theoretical issue, with many arguments for and against.

"History is part of the past, but the history of the Holocaust is part of the German present," read German newspaper 'Frankfurter Rundschau'. We cannot allow a German soldier, even in theory, "to be put in a situation where he may point his weapon at an Israeli," the article continued.

A survey from last weekend's edition of Der Speigel weekly magazine revealed that 53 percent of those surveyed opposed German participation in such a force.

"In that area, Germans should be diplomats and mediators, but not soldiers," Green Party member Jerzy Montag told the newspaper.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's largest newspapers, wrote that the fact politicians have the audacity even to debate such a topic is "amazing". Austrian paper Der Standard wrote that it was "impossible that grandchildren of Holocaust perpetrators potentially find themselves in a situation where they shoot at grandchildren of Holocaust survivors."

The German constitution after the Holocaust originally forbade the deployment of German soldiers outside of national borders. Twelve years ago, the constitution was changed to allow German troops to take part in peace-keeping missions around the world. Since then, they have participated in missions in the Balkans, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Congo and Afghanistan. However, stationing armed German soldiers on the northern border of Israel evokes echoes of the past and complicates the issue.

German foreign minister: History compels us

When discussions began regarding an interim multinational force to deploy in southern Lebanon, until an appropriate deployment of Lebanese armed forces is possible, German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung was decisive in his desire to integrate German soldiers into the international effort.

Monday of this week, he said that "Germany cannot refuse such a peace-keeping mission" if the country is asked to participate in it, and if the requisite conditions are fulfilled. The conditions for integration of German troops into a multinational force expounded by Jung were quite high: a ceasefire, return of the kidnapped soldiers, and agreement from both sides to allow a German presence. He later refused to repeat his statements and half-heartedly reported that the issue was no longer on the table.

In contrast, German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is reasonably certain that Germany's history compels its involvement in this situation. "I believe that it is appropriate, considering the joint history of Israel and Germany," he told the ZDF television station.

The Social Democratic Party, of which Steinmeier is a member, as well as the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union, are both divided on the issue. Three German opposition parties – the Green Party, the Free Democratic Party and the Left Party – oppose the deployment of German forces to the area.

Opposing voices

Almer Bruk, head of the Christian Democrats in the European parliament, opposes German participation. He believes that it is not acceptable to place German soldiers in a situation where they may be forced to point their weapons at Israelis.

Op-ed editor for Der Spiegel, Malta Lemming, claims that such a scenario would violate the primary lesson that Germans learned in the previous century – "Never again". While he says that Germany should be allowed to take part in the multinational force, he states that they should be deployed as observers on the Lebanon-Syria border. Lemming posits that perhaps in ten or fifteen years German soldiers will be able to execute such a mission.

Jorg Himmelreich, a transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, conjectures that the controversial scenario is unrealistic and that it is likelier that German soldiers would come into conflict with Hizbullah operatives, not Israeli soldiers.

Despite this possibility, Stephen Kramer, Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, believes that at no point in time will German soldiers be able to approach Israeli borders.

"Neither great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren…I cannot imagine it. Anywhere else in the world, yes, but not where there is a possibility of armed conflict between a German soldier and an Israeli soldier."

German soldier pointing his weapon at Jewish soldier? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282506,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Believe it or not, I can understand Germany's stand of not wanting to go............

Britain lets more US arms flights land in Scotland
By Philip Webster, Political Editor

THE Government will allow more American aircraft carrying arms to Israel to stop over in Britain despite private concerns that the Pentagon was “playing fast and loose”.

The US has asked the Government to let two aircraft with missiles and bombs on board stop at Prestwick in the next fortnight. However, Labour MPs are furious with the US for breaking the rules governing the use of British airports as staging posts when demands on Israel for a ceasefire in Lebanon are growing stronger.

The Times has been told that two aircraft that landed at Prestwick last weekend carrying “bunker-busting” bombs had been designated as civilian flights and that the US failed to notify authorities in advance of their hazardous cargoes, as the rules demand.

The GBU28 bombs contain 630lbs (285kg) of high explosives and were developed by the US for use in the first Gulf War. The first foreign sale of the GBU28 was the acquisition of 100 units by Israel, authorised in April last year.

The munitions are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale approved by the US that Israel is able to draw at will. Last week Israel asked the US to deliver satellite and laser-guided bombs. This was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets to strike in Lebanon.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, has complained to the White House about the issue and No 10 said yesterday that she had every right to be angry.

But, in an attempt to play down the row before today’s Washington summit on Lebanon between Tony Blair and President Bush, Britain is making plain that the dispute is about procedures and not the principle of allowing the aircraft to stop over.

“That will be allowed to continue. It is a right we have always granted,” a senior government official said. Both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Downing Street suggested that two more requests by America to send planes carrying missiles as well as components over the next fortnight will go through.

It is thought Mr Blair will not raise the issue because the White House is seemingly aware of British feelings. However, he is unlikely to be able to avoid it at his later press conference.

Mr Blair, under renewed and persistent attack at home for backing the US’s refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, is expected to ask all sides — including the US — to show more urgency in creating the conditions for a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister will today tell Mr Bush that work should begin on the international force that will act as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon. He believes that once this is done the time will be right to press Israel and Hezbollah into a ceasefire.

The tone of his words may be the first sign of tension between the two leaders over Lebanon, but diplomatic circles are increasingly worried that the Israeli onslaught will fail and that the ceasefire must come soon.

British sources have told The Times that the US flouted the rules by failing to notify the Civil Aviation Authority of the aircrafts’ contents in advance. Civilian flights carrying hazardous substances have to be notified to the authority.

Military flights carrying such substances have to inform the Ministry of Defence and, under some circumstances, the Foreign Office. The two flights last weekend were designated by the Pentagon as civilian cargo flights, and thus notifiable to the CAA and not the Ministry of Defence. However, the Government learnt about the cargo in this week, possibly through intelligence sources.

The sources who spoke to The Times assumed that the aircraft had been designated as civilian because they were available at the time and the bombs needed to be transported to Israel as soon as possible. Ironically, had the authorities been told — either the CAA or the Ministry — approval would have been given.

In their efforts to dampen the row, government departments insisted yesterday that the US would still be allowed to land such sensitive cargoes at British airports but that the Pentagon had been told in no uncertain terms that the rules must be followed.

A senior official said: “They have been playing fast and loose. We will haul them up. The procedures are there for a reason. There is an obligation on them to comply and they did not.”

An investigation by the CAA into the apparent breaches may conclude today.

The revelations prompted fresh disquiet among Labour MPs. David Hamilton, vice-chairman of the Scottish group of Labour MPs, said that if the reports of missiles passing through Prestwick were confirmed, it would be an outrage.

He called on Mr Blair to make clear to the White House that it should not use Britain as “a bargaining chip”. Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, has written to Mrs Beckett calling for an investigation.

Sources at Prestwick told The Times yesterday that the number of freighter aircraft such as 747s and civil Hercules C130s landing there had become “absolutely unreal”.

One aviation official said: “We get two or three a day. The US Government uses civil chartered aircraft a lot now and these aircraft can carry anything . . . military supplies or anything.”

Sources at the airport have indicated that the Prestwick stopovers for the bomb cargo flights to Israel happened last weekend but did not know precisely when. Neither did they know what type of aircraft carried the 5,000lb laser- guided bombs.

One report has suggested that Airbus A310s were used but local plane spotters’ lists for last weekend show no record of such an aircraft at Prestwick.

The controversy comes after revelations that Prestwick played frequent host to CIA flights transferring al-Qaeda suspects to secret prisons.

“Whoever is organising this, it’s way above the heads of people here,” an airport official said.

Britain lets more US arms flights land in Scotland (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2289241,00.html)

The United Nations and the Violence in the Middle East
Thursday, July 27, 2006
By Bill O'Reilly

On September 2, 2004, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1559, which stated in part, all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias must be disbanded and disarmed.

In order to monitor that, the U.N. continued to support a force of about 2,000 in Southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah was a target of that action, of course. And how did Hezbollah respond? Well, it brought in thousands of long range missiles and aimed them at Israel. — Doesn't sound like disarming to me.

So once again, the U.N. failed in its mission, as it failed in Iraq, Rwanda, Somalia, the Balkans, and just about everywhere else it has attempted to keep the peace.

But undaunted by that failure, U.N. boss Kofi Annan continues to peddle influence. His solution to the outbreak of fighting after Hezbollah attacked Israel is to urge a ceasefire. That, of course, would mean that Hezbollah's rockets stay right where they are, because the U.N. can't or won't disarm the group. If you were Israel, would you make that deal?

There's no question the Bush administration wants Israel to hurt Hezbollah as much as it can. Now that's because the president believes there's a "World War" going on, and all these Islamic terror groups are linked. They might not have the same goals, but they are bent on killing Jews and Americans.

(Story continues below)

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Remember this scene in the West Bank immediately after 9/11? There were plenty of Muslims all over the world, who were very happy to see 3,000 Americans murdered by Al Qaeda. Scenes like these are a grim reminder of what the USA is facing around the world.

The far left in America says it's our fault. The Bush policies created terrorism and feed it. If only we had a progressive outlook, the terror war would vanish.

Kofi Annan doesn't go that far, but he did condemn Israel last night for a bombing that killed four U.N. soldiers in Lebanon. First Annan said the Israelis did it on purpose. Today, he backed away from that.

But it is obvious that the U.N. is not part of the solution to the War on Terror. The organization simply cannot enforce anything. So it is left to us, America, to take the lead against the Islamic fascists bent on creating havoc in the world.

Unfortunately, some Americans are not on board with that for a variety of reasons.

Meantime, death and destruction continues in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, with no end in sight.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

As we have been reporting, professional standards have broken down at many newspaper operations and we spotlight them occasionally for you.

At The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, far-left TV writer Peter Ames Carlin is rarely fair. His latest Valentine to me says "O'Reilly is an expert employer of personal attacks, questioning his targets' sanity and morals as aggressively as he picks apart their positions".

As usual, Carlin fails to provide any examples to back up his attack, but that's par for the cause for this guy.

At The Guardian newspaper in London, it's even worse. That socialist operation continues to spout incredible nonsense: "O'Reilly is famous for his right-wing tirades, calling for Al Qaeda to attack liberal San Francisco."

Sure. Ridiculous off the chart but it happens every single day.

The United Nations and the Violence in the Middle East (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205903,00.html)

Israel says UN can't be part of probe of deadly attack on post

Israel's UN ambassador on Thursday ruled out major UN involvement in any potential international force in Lebanon, saying more professional and better-trained troops were needed for such a volatile situation.

Dan Gillerman also said Israel would not allow the United Nations to join in an investigation of an Israeli air strike that demolished a post belonging to the current U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Four UN observers were killed in the Tuesday strike.

"Israel has never agreed to a joint investigation, and I don't think that if anything happened in this country, or in Britain or in Italy or in France, the government of that country would agree to a joint investigation," Gillerman said.

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Gillerman, who spoke at an event hosted by The Israel Project advocacy group and later inside the United Nations, gave a heated defense of Israel's two-week campaign against Hezbollah militants. He said some diplomats from the Middle East had told him that Israel was doing the right thing in going after Hezbollah.

His refusal to conduct a joint investigation will be a slap to UN officials, who have specifically sought to partner with Israel to investigate the bombing.

Gillerman was highly critical of the current UN peacekeeping force, deployed in a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, saying its facilities had sometimes been used for cover by Hezbollah militants and that it had not done its job.

"It has never been able to prevent any shelling of Israel, any terrorist attack, any kidnappings," he said. "They either didn't see or didn't know or didn't want to see, but they have been hopeless."

Gillerman even mocked the name of the force - the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

"Interim in UN jargon is 28 years," he said.

The flaws with the U.N. force make it imperative that any UN force come from somewhere else, though it could have a mandate from the United Nations, he said.

"So obviously it cannot be a United Nations force," Gillerman said. "It will have to be an international force, a professional one, with soldiers from countries who have the training and capabilities to be effective."

Any such force must have two main objectives. It must disarm completely and make sure Hezbollah has lost all its capacity as a terror organization; and it should monitor the border between Syria and Lebanon "to make sure that no additional shipments of arms, rockets, illegal weapons, enter Lebanon," he said.

Despite his refusal for a UN force, he said Israel was not "excluding anybody," and that "the makeup, the composition and the countries which would supply the soldiers to that force still has to be decided."Gillerman apologized for the strike that killed the four UN observers, but said the conflict was a war and that accidents happen.

"This is a war which is going on," he told reporters. "War is an ugly thing and during war, mistakes and tragedies do happen."

Gillerman said Israel would welcome any information from the UN as it conducts its investigation, and will consider any UN requests for information.

UN Council expresses 'shock' over IAF attack on UN post
The UN Security Council adopted a statement on Thursday expressing shock and distress at Israel's bombing of a UN outpost in Lebanon that killed four unarmed UN peacekeepers.

The policy statement, which carries less weight than a resolution, was weaker than one proposed by China and other nations, after more than a day of negotiations and objections from the United States, which wanted to make sure Israel was not directly blamed for the attack.

China, expressing frustration at the delay, earlier warned the United States that its opposition to the statement could could jeopardize UN negotiations on a resolution ordering Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment. One of the peacekeepers killed on Tuesday was Chinese. The other three came from Austria, Canada and Finland.

The final draft adopted by the 15-member council eliminated wording "condemning any deliberate attack against UN personnel" as well as a call for a joint Israeli-UN investigation, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had asked for.

Instead, it called on Israel "to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into this incident, taking into account any relevant material from United Nations authorities."

It said the Security Council "is deeply shocked an distressed by the firing by the Israel Defense Forces on a United Nations Observer post in southern Lebanon on 25 July, 2006, which caused the death of four U.N. military observers."

Israel has apologized and called the incident a mistake.

UN officials said they asked Israel a dozen times to stop bombing near the post in the hours before it was destroyed.

Jane Lute, an American and an assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, briefed the Security Council that the outpost came under Israeli fire 21 times, including four direct hits.

After the statement was adopted, China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said he was relieved action was taken even if the final draft was watered-down. He had previous said he was frustrated by the U.S. position.

EU official: Israel misinterpreted our declaration at Rome summit
Israel has drawn the wrong conclusions from statements made at the summit held in Rome this week on the Middle East crisis, a European Union official said Thursday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tumioja, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said the Israeli government's interpretation of the summit's declaration as permission to continue its offensive is "their own and wrong interpretation."
cont'd next post

The summit's final statement called for a United Nations force to be deployed in southern Lebanon to aid the country in implementing UN decisions on disarming Hezbollah. The statement also called for increased humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

China demanded Thursday morning that Israel apologize for the death of a Chinese UN observer in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Three other observers - an Austrian, a Canadian, and a Finn - died in the air strike.

"We are completely shocked by the incident and strongly condemn it," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that Yehuda Haim, Israel's ambassador to Beijing, was summoned to the foreign ministry office Wednesday and asked to apologize both to China and to the victim's family.

An Israeli embassy official said the ambassador expressed his "profound regret" at the incident and promised it would be investigated.

"Israel does not target UN observers," the official said. "Many things can happen in this kind of situation, some of them sad," he added.

U.S. working on own plan for Lebanon after Rome summit fails
The United States, which fiercely opposed the calls for an immediate cease-fire during the Rome conference Wednesday, has been working on its own proposal for solving the conflict in Lebanon.

Its initiative calls for Israel's withdrawal from the Shaba Farms and a deployment of NATO forces to guarantee Hezbollah's disarmament.

Israel launched a massive attack on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon following a July 12 cross-border incursion by the militant organization in which two Israeli troops were abducted and eight others killed.

Meanwhile, U.S. envoys to the Middle East David Welsh and Elliott Abrams are due to arrive in Israel on Thursday for further talks on finding a resolution to the ongoing fighting.

They were also set to formulate an agreement for stationing an international force in southern Lebanon and a new United Nations resolution that would determine the force's mandate.

Welsh and Abrams both participated in the Rome summit, along with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat quoted Lebanese sources Wednesday as saying that Rice presented this proposal to officials in Beirut earlier this week.

While the U.S. initiative calls for transferring control of Shaba Farms to Lebanon, it stipulates that the permanent international border will not be determined if Syria continues to refuse to agree on the boundaries of this area. The UN is to be in charge of handing Shaba Farms over to Lebanon.

Beirut claims that the international border in this area would extend Lebanon's territory a few dozen kilometers into the Golan Heights. Syria has been keeping mum on its territorial demands in this area.

The American proposal also calls for a 20-kilometer-wide strip of southern Lebanon, starting at the Israeli border, which would be declared a no-go zone for Hezbollah.

An international force headed by NATO commanders, with authority to use both deterrent and offensive force, would be deployed in this strip to monitor and stabilize the situation.

Ninety days after being deployed, this force would become a part of the UN-sponsored force, with the option of incorporating the UNIFIL troops currently serving in southern Lebanon.

The delegation set to arrive in Israel on Thursday also includes the EU troika members - Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, European Commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and the EU envoy to the Middle East, Mark Otte.

They will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The Rome summit on the situation in Lebanon ended with no clear results Wednesday, after the U.S. shot down a joint European-Arab demand for an immediate cease-fire.

The 18 participants, including the U.S., Russia and European and Arab states, issued a joint statement expressing their "determination to work immediately to reach with the utmost urgency a cease-fire that puts an end to the current violence and hostilities."

The statement, which was being hashed out until the last minute, also called for an international force to be deployed in South Lebanon under a UN mandate in order to help the Beirut government implement Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for disarming Hezbollah and deploying the Lebanese army in the south. The statement also called for humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

One of the international force's most difficult assignments will be to ensure that the Lebanese army controls all the weapons in the country. This would involve making the international force responsible for disarming Hezbollah and the Palestinian militias operating in Lebanon. The force would also monitor the Lebanese-Syrian border, an Israeli demand whose aim is to prevent Syria from continuing to supply Hezbollah with weapons.

According to Lebanese sources, Rice added Israel's withdrawal from Shaba Farms to the initiative under pressure from Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. However, neither Rice nor Lebanese leaders made statements to the media following her visit Monday, the atmosphere of which was described as "tense."

Syria, meanwhile, Wednesday reiterated its willingness to contribute to an arrangement in Lebanon. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: "We are ready to intervene and take a positive role. We ask the U.S. to pressure Israel to agree to a cease-fire and prisoner release."

Israel says UN can't be part of probe of deadly attack on post (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743541.html)

'Those who cannot protect their freedom do not deserve it'
By Yair Ettinger

Shortly before midnight, the soldiers of the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, Company A gathered a few meters from the Lebanese border. In a few minutes, they were due to cross the border and join the battle, like their comrades in 51st Battalion, who fought in Bint Jbail on Wednesday and sustained fatalities.

"It's our turn now," said Captain Ori Lavie. "It's our turn to protect the border. And we'll carry out any mission we need to, against any force, in the best way possible. If we don't, we have no right to exist."

Excited and armed from head to toe, the young soldiers listened, hanging onto every word he uttered.

"We will not lose this war," said Lavie. "We did not start it, but it's our duty to protect the Jewish nation and see to it that the residents of Metula and Haifa can live in peace. If we don't do it, no one will. We waited 2,000 years for our own state, and we won't fold because a group of terrorists think that they can scare us."

"Someone who cannot protect his freedom does not deserve it," he continued. "When missiles and rockets land on all the northern cities and reach Haifa, and when two of our soldiers have been kidnapped and ten have been killed and dozens have been wounded - this is no time to talk, it's time to fight. From the moment we cross the border, you must be super alert, super sharp. We are threatened from every side. Each of you is responsible for his comrades."

The soldiers have spent most of the day attending briefings on tactics and the rules of engagement, cleaning weapons, tightening bulletproof vests, adjusting straps, checking radios and bandages. Finally, they smeared camouflage paint on each other's faces.

These activities helped blunt their emotions. But a moment before entering Lebanon, they must boost their fighting spirit. Before the commander's briefing, military rabbis distributed volumes of Psalms and offered a prayer before battle.

"Everyone here must be alert and do everything possible to spot the terrorist first," Lavie told them. "We must be the ones to open fire first, we must surprise them, not the other way around. Everyone is responsible for his own life, the life of his comrade and all our lives. We're all in the same boat."

The soldiers joined the army only eight months ago. Most of them are 19 years old, and under the war paint, they still look like boys. Their combat experience consists of brief activity in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the month. Some of them admit that they are afraid. But most say that they have dreamed about fighting in Lebanon since they joined the army.

"I've been in the army for six years, and have never had as much confidence as I have in this company," said Lavie. "You've proved yourselves more than once, not only in fighting. We did well in training, we did well in Gaza, we'll do well now. There is no better company than this one. You are lions. No one will kill terrorists like this company."

After the talk, the soldiers had time for another quick call home and another text message on their cell phone. Some did not tell their parents where they were.

Company medic Yossi Werker admitted that he is a little afraid. "I think of my friend who was killed two weeks ago in Gaza and of my responsibility to look after the wounded. There is an 80 percent chance that there will be casualties. I have faith in the platoon medics. I also want to have time to say the prayer before going into battle myself. Not many are religious in Golani, but most of the guys believe," he said.

Werker activated his cell phone to read a message from his girlfriend of two months, Mor. "Sweetie, look after yourself, you're the most adorable man in the world," she wrote. But he was disappointed. Earlier in the day, he told her for the first time that he loved her. "She's the best girl I've ever met in my life," he said. "If you print that, it will help the war effort."

'Those who cannot protect their freedom do not deserve it' (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743534.html)

Mohsen Rezai, Secretary of Iranian Expediency Council and Former Commander of Revolutionary Guards Corps: NATO Deployment in South Lebanon - Occupation; No One Would Dare to Disarm Hizbullah; Secretary Rice Should Be Brought to Trial as First Female War Criminal

Following are excerpts from an interview with Mohsen Rezai, Secretary of the Iranian Expediency Council, which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on July 25, 2006.

Mohsen Rezai: Israel and America want NATO to be deployed [in South Lebanon]. NATO is, in fact, a military force. Deploying NATO means the occupation of Lebanon, this time not by Israel, but by Israel's partner. If NATO is deployed in South Lebanon, it will be an explicit and clear occupation, albeit with a diplomatic tone and language, and a peaceful appearance. In fact, it is a type of occupation. After all, NATO is not a peacekeeping force. NATO is an army. It is the kind of army that attacks and conquers. It is an interested party in this matter. It faces Syria, and it has problems with China and the Islamic world. Therefore, NATO is different from the UN forces and the Lebanese army.

[...]

Can they drive Hizbullah north, beyond the Litani River, deploy NATO forces there, and then ask... Disarm Hizbullah? Who would dare? Who has the power to disarm Hizbullah? Today Lebanon is in the hands of Hizbullah. The security of Lebanon - even the security of the streets and alleys in Lebanon - is run by Hizbullah. The border and the sea are in the hands of Hizbullah.

[...]

If the patience of Hizbullah runs out, and it enters a new phase, the war will change dramatically. First of all, there will be chaos in Tel Aviv, as well as in many cities between Haifa and Tel Aviv. There are atomic and chemical arsenals right between Haifa and Tel Aviv, and there might be problems there. An unexpected situation might develop. So far, Hizbullah has demonstrated manliness, restraint, and humanitarianism. But as of yesterday, they began attacking the towns and villages south of the Litani like madmen, and I don't know what will happen in the days to come.

[...]

Interviewer: So if they push Hizbullah to the Litani, Haifa may still get hit?

Mohsen Rezai: Haifa goes without saying...

Interviewer: Tel Aviv as well?

sMohsen Rezai: Hizbullah has trump cards, but Israel has exploited Hizbullah's humanitarianism. The Israelis think that since the Hizbullah men have not carried out their initial threats, they have nothing up their sleeves. This has made these [Israeli] gentlemen somewhat audacious.

[...]

In my opinion, it would be best if the legal experts of the Islamic world prepare some kind of legal action against Ms. Rice. I think this lady is the first ever female war criminal, and she should be brought to trial. She has explicitly declared - and I think this was a political mistake by her - that she is giving Israel a free hand to attack Lebanon. This in itself is enough to prepare a case against her as a war criminal.

Mohsen Rezai, Secretary Rice Should Be Brought to Trial as First Female War Criminal (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1204)

UN Security Council "shocked, distressed" by Israeli attack on UN position: statement

The United Nations Security Council issued a presidential statement Thursday, saying it is "deeply shocked and distressed" by the firing by Israel on a UN observer post in southern Lebanon, which killed four UN military observers.

"The Security Council calls on the Israeli government to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into this incident, taking into account any relevant material from the UN authorities, and make the results public as soon as possible," said the statement.

The Security Council extends its deepest condolence to the families of those victims and expresses its sympathies to the governments of Austria, Canada, China and Finland, said the statement.

Deeply concerned about the safety and security of UN personnel, the Security Council stresses that Israel and all concerned parties must fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law related to the protection of UN and its associated personnel and ensure that UN personnel are not the object of attack, the statement added.

The statement expressed the Council's deep concern for Lebanese and Israeli civilian casualties and sufferings, the destruction of civilian infrastructures and the rising number of internally displaced people in Lebanon.

The statement came after days of repeated consultations among the Council members. Wang Guangya, China's ambassador to the UN noted that although the text has been watered down, what the Council members agreed is the minimum of what the Security Council can do under the circumstance.

"I'm glad that the Security Council has adopted this presidential statement. I believe that by adopting this statement, the Security Council is not only doing justice to the victims and their families, but also, and more important, the Council is doing justice to this organization and to tens of thousands of women and men who are working for this organization all over the world," he said.

UN Security Council "shocked, distressed" by Israeli attack on UN position: statement (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/28/eng20060728_287569.html)

Terrorist Open Up 3rd Front, Murder Yesha Resident
06:29 Jul 28, '06 / 3 Av 5766
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Arabs in Israel opened up a third front in the terrorist war Thursday, kidnapping and murdering a resident of Samaria and shooting two Border Policemen at a checkpoint at an entrance to Jerusalem.

Hamas and Hizbullah terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon have urged Arabs in Judea and Samaria to open up the third front. Arab citizens in Israel also have called for an all-out war on all fronts against Israel.

The burnt corpse of the resident of the Samarian community of Yakir was discovered in the trunk of the car Thursday evening, several hours after he was reported missing. The burnt vehicle was found by reserve soldiers near the village of Abus, east of Kalkilya, and near the Jewish communities of Karnei Shomron and Kedumim. Yakir is located several miles further east.

Police have concluded he was kidnapped and then murdered. Another resident of Samaria, Eliyahu Asheri of Itamar, was kidnapped and murdered last month. Nearby areas were placed on high alert Thursday night in case the terrorist infiltrated toward urban areas in Israel.

Earlier Thursday, Arab terrorists approached a checkpoint near the Armon HaNatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem and shot two Border Policemen, injuring one moderately and the other lightly. The terrorist had surveyed the checkpoint for several days before attacking. One of the wounded officers managed to fire back and killed the attacker.

The number of warnings of planned terrorist attack has risen sharply since the start of the Hizbullah terrorist war more than two weeks ago. Security officers recently prevented a suicide bomber from attacking in downtown Jerusalem, and another terrorist moderately injured a yeshiva student.

Police have announced they are prohibiting entrance of Arabs under the age of 45 to the Temple Mount site Friday because of the warnings. Only those over that age and who are carrying Israeli identity cards will be allowed to enter.

Terrorist Open Up 3rd Front, Murder Yesha Resident (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=108580)

Local Jewish community rallies around Israel

Local Jewish leaders are taking a passionate stand in support of Israeli action in the Middle East.

"The world seems not to care about the Jews," Joel Kreiss, past president of the Jewish Center of Venice, said. "This situation (Hezbollah bombings) is analogous to the Holocaust."

Kreiss was one of about 20 local Jews who attended a July 20 "Community-Wide Rally for Israel" in Sarasota.

Venice businessman C.J. Fishman was unable to attend the rally, but supports the Israeli action.

"They made every effort to find peace; they were attacked without provocation and they are responding," Fishman said. "If somebody didn't respond, it would get even worse."

Bennett Gross, the JCV communications director, did attend the rally.

"The Israeli soldiers are like our young men in Iraq," Gross said, "fighting for their country and dying."

Gross has a practical view of the hostilities.

"Despite the rockets raining down," Gross said, "life goes on."

Little country that could

Kreiss was in Israel earlier this year. It was his first trip there.

"Israel's a little country trying to live in peace after 2,000 years of being persecuted," Kreiss said. "The Israelis have taken a little piece of land grudgingly given to them, basically a wasteland, and turned it into one of the most robust economies in the Western world."

Kreiss also feels strongly that the Arab world, namely Hezbollah and Hamas, have another agenda besides the destruction of Israel.

"They are doing this to keep attention away from their own shortcomings," Kreiss said. "(Israel) is a convenient scapegoat."

Hamas, an Islamic Resistance Movement and outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is a U.S. designated terrorist organization.

Hezbollah (Party of God -- with worldwide cells) is a radical Shi'ite group that plans the creation of an Iranian-style Islamic republic.

Both groups are dedicated to the annihilation of Israel.

Weather no match for beliefs

It was a dark and stormy night for the Sarasota rally.

Nonetheless, approximately 700 people braved the elements to speak as one.

"The speakers were children and young adults who just returned from Israel, and local leaders," Kreiss said.

The rally was just one component of the Federation's Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC), which is raising much-needed funds to move children from communities along the confrontation line to overnight camps in safer areas of the country.

After just five days, the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation has raised approximately $260,000 for the IEC; more than $50,000 of that total was raised during the rally.

'Similar to the Blitz'

Gross compared the current Israeli plight to a momentous historical event that took place in the 1940s.

"The purpose (of the rally) was to raise money to move the children in the northern part of Israel," Gross said. "In one respect, it's similar to the Blitz, moving kids to the English countryside."

(The Blitz, which began in September 1940, was a 57-day period of intense German bombing of London in preparation for invasion of the island.

Fires consumed many portions of the city. Residents sought shelter wherever they could find it. Thousands went to the countryside.

The Blitz would ultimately fail.)

Perspectives

Kreiss said his own visit to Israel changed his perspectives.

"I came back from Israel a different person," Kreiss said. "How little a country it is, how vulnerable it is."

He said the premise on which the terrorist agencies base the hostilities is flawed.

"It's ridiculous," Kreiss said. "Let us do our thing, leave us in peace."

Local Jewish community rallies around Israel (http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/072806/tp2vn9.htm)

Chavez, Putin and Tehran

July 28, 2006

In May, the State Department placed Venezuela on a list of countries that were not fully cooperating with U.S. efforts against terrorism, banning all arms sales to President Hugo Chavez's regime. Mr. Chavez was in Russia this week to work out an agreement for a large arms purchase, and in turn to flout the arms embargo against his country. Included in the $3 billion deal with Russia are 24 fighter jets, 30 military helicopters and 100,000 assault rifles, according to reports. The U.S. arms embargo prevents Venezuela from importing parts needed to maintain its U.S.-made fighter jets, rendering Venezuela's F-16s inoperable. The deal doesn't threaten the United States militarily, but it may have a negative impact on the region, particularly since, as the State Department has observed, the weapons exceed Venezuela's defensive needs.

The deal also underscores the status of the U.S.-Russia relationship. Although it may be worth noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin felt compelled to claim that the deal "was not directed against third countries," his willingness to disregard Washington's request -- that he not agree to the arms deal -- should only serve to remind Washington of Russia's increasingly self-assertive foreign policy.

Signing a large arms deal with Russia is only one of Mr. Chavez's primary objectives during this trip. He is also interested in creating an anti-American network with himself as the nexus. The self-proclaimed American nemesis has spread his country's oil money throughout South America in an effort to fund such an alliance, and to date he has only managed to rope in Evo Morales in Bolivia and Fidel Castro in Cuba, both ideological brethren of the Venezuelan president. With regard to one of Venezuela's alliances, Washington can be fairly circumspect: That Mr. Chavez made a new friend in Alexander Lukashenko means only that the isolated Belarussian dictator may now count his friends with two fingers instead of one.

Mr. Chavez's relationship with Tehran, which he will also visit during his travels, is more threatening. The two regimes have previously discussed joint military exercises. Mr. Chavez has been vocal in his support of the Iranian nuclear program, and the two countries have reached several agreements, including one that would allow Iran access to known Venezuelan uranium deposits.

The majority of Mr. Chavez's antics are innocuous. For as much as the populist president lambastes America, his regional influence, as well as domestic power, ultimately derives from oil, and the United States is Venezuela's largest export market. Washington is right not to let him become the focus of policy in South America, but the worrisome nature of his dealings requires continued scrutiny.

Chavez, Putin and Tehran (http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060727-083001-1857r.htm)

lIn Middle East, 'birth pangs' get even more painful

By David R. Sands
Published July 28, 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called events from Somalia to Afghanistan the "birth pangs of a new Middle East," but recent events across the region and a stark warning from a top terrorist leader yesterday indicate the labor will be long, painful and beset by unexpected complications.

Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri issued a call for a global Muslim holy war to exploit the Israeli-Hezbollah clash.

In a videotaped message broadcast on the Al Jazeera network, Osama bin Laden's top aide called on Muslims to reclaim all the land he said had been lost to Israel and its Western backers.

"This is a holy war for the sake of God and will last until our religion prevails from Spain to Iraq," the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri said.

The outbreak of regional violence this month is proving only the latest obstacle to President Bush's vision of a transformed Middle East and a post-September 11 political revolution in the crescent of Muslim states from Central Asia to North Africa.

Instead of a new cadre of democratic governments friendly to the West and at peace with Israel, the region now features at least four countries -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Lebanon -- in which the government is struggling to establish control and carry out the basic functions of a sovereign state.

Israel and the United States have thus far failed to curb the Islamic militant Hamas and Hezbollah movements, and Iran, seen by many as the one unambiguous winner in the recent crises, is the one government implacably hostile to the Washington's agenda in the region.

"What is happening in the region is destructive chaos, not creative chaos," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told reporters in Cairo Tuesday.

Saudi King Abdullah has appealed directly to President Bush to try to end the Lebanon fighting, warning it could spark a larger conflict.

"Saudi Arabia warns everybody that if the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no other option but war," the king said in a statement this week. "No one can predict what will happen if things get out of control."

Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser under President Carter, said radicalism in the Arab world was increasing because of the U.S. failure to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and because of fallout from the fateful decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

"I frankly don't understand what that phrase 'birth pangs' means," he said. "The notion of some sort of grand upheaval in the Middle East, out of which democracy will then emerge, I think is a rather risky proposition."

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Israel's fight is just one front in a "World War III," linked to U.S. struggles against Islamist terrorism, North Korean nuclear missiles and the Iranian-Syrian axis.

"This is absolutely a question of the survival of Israel, but it's also a question of what is really a world war," Mr. Gingrich said on NBC's "Meet the Press" this week.

A new survey released yesterday by the polling firm Zogby International found that nearly one in five Americans believes that the Israeli-Hezbollah clash will lead to world war, while an additional 29 percent think the fighting will produce a regional war dragging in a number of Middle East powers.
But Mr. Brzezinski and others dismiss the fears that the current fighting will lead to global war.

"Let's not exaggerate," he said. "We are dealing here with a difficult local militia that has a fair amount of popular support in its own territory, and it's gaining support in the region. But this is not World War III."

For the Bush administration's ambitious agenda to transform the region, the "demonstration effect" that popularly elected governments in Kabul, Baghdad and Beirut were supposed to have on other Muslim states has been overshadowed by the insecurity plaguing Afghanistan and Iraq.

Miss Rice has steadfastly defended the U.S. approach, resisting heavy international pressure to back an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon that does not deal decisively with Hezbollah's threat both to Israel and to Lebanon's central government.

"I am a student of history, so perhaps I have a little bit more patience with the enormous changes in the international system and the complete shifting of tectonic plates," she told reporters yesterday on a plane trip to Asia after an unsuccessful effort to negotiate an enduring cease-fire at an international conference in Rome.

But a survey of the region finds plenty of crises that challenge the optimistic long-term vision, even beyond Iraq and Lebanon.

Fundamentalist Taliban fighters have regrouped in southern Afghanistan, sparking the bloodiest fighting in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 helped oust the Islamists and install President Hamid Karzai.

"In parts of the south the Taliban are in complete control, and even in Kabul, the government only really rules during the daytime," said a senior regional diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In Somalia, a shadowy group of Islamists has seized control in Mogadishu, threatening to spark a regional war and raising U.S. concerns the country could become a new haven for al Qaeda and other militant groups.

"For the U.S., there are just a lot of holes in the dike right now, and each one is threatening in its own way," said Daniel Benjamin, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

OIC chief condemns Israel's ruthless operations against Lebanon
Tehran, July 27, IRNA

Iran-OIC-Israel
In view of the unrelenting Israeli assault on Gaza and Lebanon, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu reiterated his strong ondemnation and denunciation of the ruthless Israeli operations being perpetrated against Lebanon.

According to a press release issued by the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah on Thursday, Ihsanoglu lambasted the latest series of aggression.

He said, "They have defied all norms and flouted international laws and conceptions. What they are doing amounts to war crimes that target innocent civilians, killing hundreds of people and utterly destroying the basic infrastructure of both the Lebanese and Palestinian states."
The OIC secretary general announced that he has made several contacts to secure a ceasefire with many of the Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other influential Muslim and international leaders.

He said that he also exhorted the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to put his weight behind these efforts to ring the relentless attacks to an end.

The secretary general emphasized that the first priority was to ensure the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon.

"The UN Resolution No. 1599 was one resolution among so many taken by the UN Security Council (UNSC)," he said.

He underlined that other important UNSC resolutions have failed to get implemented or enforced, whereas "these resolutions of international legitimacy constitute an integral and indivisible whole which should be implemented as a whole and not on a selection basis."
Ihsanoglu, therefore, called for a comprehensive approach to the solution of the problems of the Middle East to uproot the causes of tension provoked by the Israeli occupation of some territories of Arab and Palestinian countries, which has brought the Middle East to a boiling point, making it one of the world's most volatile places and fertile grounds for extremists to act out their violence.

Ihsanoglu said that it was absolutely imperative to secure an immediate ceasefire followed by an exchange of prisoners and a process of disengagement through an international force supervised by the UN.

He emphasized the urgent need to lend our support to the Lebanese national dialogue so as to give the Lebanese people the opportunity to make their unconditionally free choice of whatever political arrangements suit their situation, away from any external interference or pressures.

At the same time, the OIC secretary general emphasized the crucial necessity of making an all-out effort in favor of the reconstruction of Lebanon and providing urgently-needed assistance to help the displaced and wounded people in Lebanon.

He reiterated that the OIC was currently fully engaged in efforts to achieve these objectives, announcing that 180 tons of foodstuff and medicine supplied by he OIC Humanitarian Forum -- a Turkish non-governmental organization affiliated to the OIC -- was presently on its way to Lebanon.

OIC chief condemns Israel's ruthless operations against Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607270468170518.htm)

Bush, Blair to Discuss Mideast Turmoil

Last Updated:
07-28-06 at 8:00AM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are teamed up against much of the world again, this time in their refusal to criticize Israel's offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon or to call for an immediate cease-fire in the Mideast fighting.

The deteriorating crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives _ mostly Lebanese civilians _ was sure to dominate talks Friday between the allies.

"You know, there are a lot of common interests that they have," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Thursday. "Obviously, there will be discussions on the Middle East."

Bush and Blair come together at the White House as consultations continue on a possible international peacekeeping force to stabilize the more than 2-week-old situation and supplement the Lebanese army. State Department counselor Philip Zelikow is working in Brussels with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and there were plans for meetings at the United Nations.

Speaking aboard Blair's plane as it flew to Washington on Friday, the prime minister's spokesman said Blair would seek a U.N. resolution to resolve the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. Britain hoped a U.N. resolution could be in place by next week.

Meanwhile, two U.S. Mideast envoys were holding diplomatic talks in the region and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would fly back to the Middle East, but did not say when.

"I do think it is important that groundwork be laid so I can make the most of whatever time I can spend there," Rice said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she was attending a conference on Asian issues.

Snow said it was likely Bush and Blair would discuss strategies for ending the crisis, including proposals for the makeup and mandate of a peacekeeping force and for humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Lebanon.

"Their talks will definitely focus on building the momentum for a durable cease-fire and a plan for an international force," a Blair spokesman said on condition of anonymity, in keeping with British custom.

U.S. officials say European troops would likely dominate any international peacekeeping force.

"I don't anticipate American combat power, combat forces, being used in this force," Rice told reporters Thursday while traveling to Malaysia for an Asian regional conference.

With Israel signaling it is settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, Bush suggested he would support the offensive for as long as it takes to cripple the Shiite Muslim militant group. The fighting began after Hezbollah crossed the border and captured two Israeli soldiers. Defying some members of his own parliament, Blair has insisted that Hezbollah must first free the soldiers and stop firing rockets into Israel, a similar position to that taken by Bush.

Israel's punishing campaign of airstrikes, artillery shelling and clashes has killed an estimated 600 Lebanese. More than 50 Israelis have died, most of them soldiers.

Many countries in Europe and the Middle East are calling for an immediate cease-fire and have deplored the impact of Israel's campaign on Lebanon. The gap between the United States and Britain and other nations has intensified some of the diplomatic strains that have existed since Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 with Blair as one of his chief international backers.

Blair comes to Washington for the second time in two months politically weakened, both by Iraq and by domestic woes in Britain.

His close alliance with Bush has made him the subject of ridicule. Blair has responded to growing calls from inside his own party to step down by saying it is too soon. But he has promised to give up the prime minister's post before the next national elections, expected by 2009.

Most recently, Blair's government has had to deal with allegations that two U.S.-chartered planes carrying missiles to Israel stopped to refuel at a Scottish airport without filing the proper paperwork for hazardous materials. The missile dispute has added to questions about what Britain gets for its "special relationship" with the United States.

And at the Group of Eight summit of world powers in St. Petersburg, Russia, Bush and Blair had an undignified luncheon chat unaware that a microphone was live. Bush's "Yo, Blair!" greeting has dogged the British leader.

From Washington, Blair was to fly to California for meetings with business leaders.

Bush, Blair to Discuss Mideast Turmoil (http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.57942.html)

Cleric says U.N. cannot stop Iran's nuclear work
Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:53am ET162

TEHRAN (Reuters) - The United Nations cannot push Iran into abandoning its nuclear work, an influential cleric said on Friday.

"Islamic Iran will not be deprived from its obvious nuclear right, even by a resolution by an useless U.N. Security Council," Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran, broadcast live on state radio.

Key U.N. Security Council members have informally agreed on a resolution that includes the threat of sanctions if Iran fails to halt all uranium enrichment-related and plutonium reprocessing activities, Western diplomats said on Thursday.

The draft text must first be approved by governments of the five Security Council members with veto power -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- as well as Germany, a European negotiator on the Iran controversy.

Measures such as imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran are not backed by veto-wielding Russia and China.

Russia is helping Iran build its first atomic power station at the Gulf port of Bushehr and is interested in further nuclear cooperation with the oil-rich state.

Khatami said the Security Council's intervening in Iran's nuclear issue had undermined prospects for talks over its atomic dispute with the West, which fears Iran's nuclear activity is a cover for bomb-making. Iran denies the charge.

"It would be wise if the Europeans use all diplomatic channels to resolve Iran's nuclear issue," said Khatami, who sits on the Assembly of Experts, the body of 86 clerics that constitutionally supervises the country's most powerful man, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Iran is ready to hold talks without any pre-conditions."

Tehran has indicated it might withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, if the resolution were adopted by the Security Council.

The world's fourth biggest oil exporter, Iran has failed to respond to an offer of commercial and technological incentives made by major powers in early June, prompting them to refer the case to the Security Council.

Iran has repeatedly said it would consider incentives but insisted the crux of the package -- that Iran must give up uranium enrichment -- was unacceptable. Iran says it will respond by August 22.

"Involving the Security Council before Iran's reply to the offer, proved that the whole offer was evil and deceptive," Khatami said.

Cleric says U.N. cannot stop Iran's nuclear work (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-28T115223Z_01_HAF840593_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml&archived=False)

Hezbollah leader said to be hiding in Iranian Embassy
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published July 28, 2006

Intelligence reports indicate the leader of Hezbollah is hiding in a foreign mission in Beirut, possibly the Iranian Embassy, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

Israeli military and intelligence forces are continuing to hunt for Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary-general, who fled his headquarters in Beirut shortly before Israeli jets bombed the building last week.

"We think he is in an embassy," said one U.S. official with access to the intelligence reports, while Israeli intelligence speculates Sheik Nasrallah is hiding in the Iranian Embassy.

If confirmed, the reports could lead to an Israeli air strike on the embassy, possibly leading to a widening of the conflict, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Foreign embassies are sovereign territory and an attack on an embassy could be considered an act of war.

But other reports from the region indicate Sheik Nasrallah may be in Damascus. A Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Seyassah, reported from the Syrian capital yesterday that Sheik Nasrallah was seen moving through the city with Syrian guards in an intelligence agency car, Associated Press reported. He was dressed in civilian clothes, not his normal clerical robe.

The newspaper quoted Syrian government sources as saying Iranian national security council official Ali Larijani was in Damascus and was to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Sheik Nasrallah.

Hezbollah officials in Beirut said they did not know whether Sheik Nasrallah had gone to Damascus.

Asked about the reports of Sheik Nasrallah in Syria, a U.S. official said they are unconfirmed, but noted that because of the proximity, it is easy to travel between Lebanon and Damascus.

U.S. officials confirmed the existence of intelligence reports about Sheik Nasrallah hiding in a Beirut embassy after Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper reported Wednesday that the Hezbollah leader was thought to be in the Iranian Embassy. The newspaper, quoting intelligence officials, said Sheik Nasrallah has set up an operations center in an embassy basement that is coordinating Hezbollah attacks.
However, the U.S. officials said the intelligence reports have not confirmed Sheik Nasrallah's precise location.

Iran's embassy in Beirut is located in the Shi'ite stronghold known as the Bir Hasan section, in the western part of the city.

The embassy also is a major base for Iranian intelligence and is used by large numbers of Ministry of Intelligence and Security agents, as well as by senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's shock troops that are linked to international terrorist activities.

President Bush said yesterday that Iran is linked to the problems in Lebanon. "Hezbollah attacked Israel. I know Hezbollah is connected to Iran," Mr. Bush told reporters after meeting Romanian President Traian Basescu. "Now is the time for the world to confront this danger." Mr. Bush said the root cause of the violence is "terrorist groups trying to stop the advance of democracies."

Israel has dispatched both military special operations units and intelligence personnel in an effort to kill the Hezbollah leader, who has continued to issue statements since the two-week-old war began, said the U.S. officials. In a Wednesday television broadcast, Sheik Nasrallah threatened more attacks throughout Israel.

On July 14, Israeli jets bombed the Hezbollah headquarters, also located in Bir Hasan, starting a campaign of "decapitation" strikes designed to eliminate the group's leaders, weaken the organization and limit its military effectiveness.

Iran's government has called for a cease-fire.

A Middle East diplomat confirmed that Israel is seeking out Sheik Nasrallah and that the Iranian Embassy appears mostly evacuated. However, the diplomat stated: "Wherever he is, he is a legitimate target," similar to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "He's responsible for organizing attacks and killing Israelis," the diplomat said.

In Tehran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman denied that the embassy in Beirut was sheltering Sheik Nasrallah and dismissed reports of his presence there as Israeli government "disinformation."

Hezbollah forces in the past were known for specializing in coordinated suicide bombings. The group, however, has shown a different military effectiveness in the recent fighting with Israel through its coordinated attacks with small bands of guerrillas.

The Shi'ite terrorist group was behind the 1983 suicide truck bombings that killed 241 U.S. troops and 58 French paratroopers who were deployed to Lebanon as peacekeepers.

Hezbollah leader said to be hiding in Iranian Embassy (http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060728-123022-5852r)

Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 27 — At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight.

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.

The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, are scrambling to distance themselves from Washington.

An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression.

Even Al Qaeda, run by violent Sunni Muslim extremists normally hostile to all Shiites, has gotten into the act, with its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, releasing a taped message saying that through its fighting in Iraq, his organization was also trying to liberate Palestine.

Mouin Rabbani, a senior Middle East analyst in Amman, Jordan, with the International Crisis Group, said, “The Arab-Israeli conflict remains the most potent issue in this part of the world.”

Distinctive changes in tone are audible throughout the Sunni world. This week, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt emphasized his attempts to arrange a cease-fire to protect all sects in Lebanon, while the Jordanian king announced that his country was dispatching medical teams “for the victims of Israeli aggression.” Both countries have peace treaties with Israel.

The Saudi royal court has issued a dire warning that its 2002 peace plan — offering Israel full recognition by all Arab states in exchange for returning to the borders that predated the 1967 Arab-Israeli war — could well perish.

“If the peace option is rejected due to the Israeli arrogance,” it said, “then only the war option remains, and no one knows the repercussions befalling the region, including wars and conflict that will spare no one, including those whose military power is now tempting them to play with fire.”

The Saudis were putting the West on notice that they would not exert pressure on anyone in the Arab world until Washington did something to halt the destruction of Lebanon, Saudi commentators said.

American officials say that while the Arab leaders need to take a harder line publicly for domestic political reasons, what matters more is what they tell the United States in private, which the Americans still see as a wink and a nod.

There are evident concerns among Arab governments that a victory for Hezbollah — and it has already achieved something of a victory by holding out this long — would further nourish the Islamist tide engulfing the region and challenge their authority. Hence their first priority is to cool simmering public opinion.

But perhaps not since President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt made his emotional outpourings about Arab unity in the 1960’s, before the Arab defeat in the 1967 war, has the public been so electrified by a confrontation with Israel, played out repeatedly on satellite television stations with horrific images from Lebanon of wounded children and distraught women fleeing their homes.

Egypt’s opposition press has had a field day comparing Sheik Nasrallah to Nasser, while demonstrators waved pictures of both.

An editorial in the weekly Al Dustur by Ibrahim Issa, who faces a lengthy jail sentence for his previous criticism of President Mubarak, compared current Arab leaders to the medieval princes who let the Crusaders chip away at Muslim lands until they controlled them all.

After attending an intellectual rally in Cairo for Lebanon, the Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm wrote a column describing how he had watched a companion buy 20 posters of Sheik Nasrallah.

“People are praying for him as they walk in the street, because we were made to feel oppressed, weak and handicapped,” Mr. Negm said in an interview. “I asked the man who sweeps the street under my building what he thought, and he said: ‘Uncle Ahmed, he has awakened the dead man inside me! May God make him triumphant!’ ”

In Lebanon, Rasha Salti, a freelance writer, summarized the sense that Sheik Nasrallah differed from other Arab leaders.

“Since the war broke out, Hassan Nasrallah has displayed a persona, and public behavior also, to the exact opposite of Arab heads of states,” she wrote in an e-mail message posted on many blogs.

In comparison, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s brief visit to the region sparked widespread criticism of her cold demeanor and her choice of words, particularly a statement that the bloodshed represented the birth pangs of a “new Middle East.” That catchphrase was much used by Shimon Peres, the veteran Israeli leader who was a principal negotiator of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which ultimately failed to lead to the Palestinian state they envisaged.

A cartoon by Emad ubgone86aj in Jordan labeled “The New Middle East” showed an Israeli tank sitting on a broken apartment house in the shape of the Arab world.

Fawaz al-Trabalsi, a columnist in the Lebanese daily As Safir, suggested that the real new thing in the Middle East was the ability of one group to challenge Israeli militarily.

Perhaps nothing underscored Hezbollah’s rising stock more than the sudden appearance of a tape from the Qaeda leadership attempting to grab some of the limelight.

Al Jazeera satellite television broadcast a tape from Mr. Zawahri (za-WAH-ri). Large panels behind him showed a picture of the exploding World Trade Center as well as portraits of two Egyptian Qaeda members, Muhammad Atef, a Qaeda commander who was killed by an American airstrike in Afghanistan, and Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. He described the two as fighters for the Palestinians.

Mr. Zawahri tried to argue that the fight against American forces in Iraq paralleled what Hezbollah was doing, though he did not mention the organization by name.

“It is an advantage that Iraq is near Palestine,” he said. “Muslims should support its holy warriors until an Islamic emirate dedicated to jihad is established there, which could then transfer the jihad to the borders of Palestine.”

Mr. Zawahri also adopted some of the language of Hezbollah and Shiite Muslims in general. That was rather ironic, since previously in Iraq, Al Qaeda has labeled Shiites Muslim as infidels and claimed responsibility for some of the bloodier assaults on Shiite neighborhoods there.

But by taking on Israel, Hezbollah had instantly eclipsed Al Qaeda, analysts said. “Everyone will be asking, ‘Where is Al Qaeda now?’ ” said Adel al-Toraifi, a Saudi columnist and expert on Sunni extremists.

Mr. Rabbani of the International Crisis Group said Hezbollah’s ability to withstand the Israeli assault and to continue to lob missiles well into Israel exposed the weaknesses of Arab governments with far greater resources than Hezbollah.

“Public opinion says that if they are getting more on the battlefield than you are at the negotiating table, and you have so many more means at your disposal, then what the hell are you doing?” Mr. Rabbani said. “In comparison with the small embattled guerrilla movement, the Arab states seem to be standing idly by twiddling their thumbs.”

Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/world/middleeast/28arabs.html?ei=5065&en=ae60808165865632&ex=1154664000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print)

Fajr-5 missiles fired at Israel

Escalation: Police report that Hizbullah fired five Fajr-5 missiles, 'never before seen in Israel,' at Afula Friday afternoon. Sources say missiles may have been aimed at Hadera, Netanya. Massive rocket barrages fired by Hizbullah at Israel's north Friday afternoon
Sharon Roffe-Ofir

Hizbullah steps up attacks: Hizbullah steps up attacks: For the first time since the fighting in the north began 17 days ago, Hizbullah launched five Pajr-5 missiles at Israel Friday afternoon. Police officials said that long-range missiles of this type can carry a larger amount of explosives than the rockets that had been fired at Israel so far.

The missiles landed in open areas between Afula and the Beit Shean Valley, causing no injuries.

A short while later sirens were heard in the Haifa and Krayot area and residents were ordered into shelters and protected areas. Some rockets landed in open areas near Haifa. In a separate barrage a rocket landed in Nahariya, hitting a vehicle that immediately caught fire. Another rocket struck a public building in town and damaged it. No injuries were reported in the attacks.

Up until today, in 17 days of fighting, dozens of 22o millimeter-diameter rockets were fired at Israel, including several Pajar-3 rockets. A police official said earlier that the missiles that landed in Afula today were "of an unknown type, something between the Fajr-3 and the Zilzal missile." However, sappers that were dispatched to the place examined the missiles and reported they were Fajr-5 missiles equipped with 100-kilograms of explosives each.

Ynet has learned that some of the rockets fired in the barrages on the Western Galilee on Thursday included 220 millimeter-diameter rockets. Up until now Hizbullah had launched these rockets only at Haifa. One of them had hit a train depot and killed eight employees at the place.

The missiles that were located near Afula are equipped with more explosives and can travel to longer distances than the rockets used until now. Security officials that arrived at the missiles' landing site said they have never encountered such missiles before. They claimed that Hizbullah may have been trying to land the missiles in the Hadera or Netanya region, but that due to the IDF's operation in southern Lebanon, launch cells were forced deeper into Lebanese territory and pushed away from the border.

According to the officials, due to the large distance, the missile – which was aimed at Haifa, landed in an area near Afula instead.

In a statement issued by Hizbullah Friday afternoon, the organization said that it fired a rocket barrage at several targets in northern Israel. In addition, the organization published a message that was sent by its gunmen to their leader Hassan Nasrallah, in which they vow to "stand firm along Palestine's border."

Rockets on north

Shortly after the missiles landed in Afula, four rockets landed in and around Nahariya. Three of the rockets landed in open areas and one hit a vehicle that immediately caught fire. Rescue teams and firefighter were dispatched to the scene and are working to extinguish the flames.

Two people were lightly to moderately wounded when four rockets fired by Hizbullah from south Lebanon hit a residential neighborhood in Kiryat Shmona at around 14:30 p.m.

Four vehicles caught fire and a number of people suffered shock. Additionally, rockets landed in open areas near Carmiel, Maalot and Rosh Pina, incurring no casualties.

Following the rocket strikes a number of fires ignited which fire fighting crews were working to extinguish.

Fajr-5 missiles fired at Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282785,00.html)

Hamas, Hizbullah not on Russia's terror list

State publishes list of groups it regards as terrorist organization, fails to include Hamas or Hizbullah. Official says movements do not represent threat to Russia
Associated Press

Russia on Friday published a list of 17 groups it regards as terrorist organizations and did not include the Palestinian movement Hamas or Lebanon's Hizbullah group, both of which are regarded as terrorists in Washington. Groups on the list, published in the official daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta, included al-Qaeda and the Taliban as well as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a rebel group fighting for Kashmir's independence from India, and Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The Russian Federal Security Service's top official in charge of fighting international terrorism, Yuri Sapunov, said that Hamas and Hizbullah were not a major threat to Russia and were not regarded as terrorist groups worldwide. But he said that Russian security agencies took account of international lists of terrorist groups when exchanging intelligence with foreign counterparts.

Sapunov told Rossiiskaya Gazeta that the list of 17 "Includes only those organizations which represent the greatest threat to the security of our country." Also on the Russian list were groups linked to separatist militants in Chechnya and Islamic radicals in Central Asia. Russia in the past has come under criticism for its refusal to list Hamas and Hizbullah as terrorist organizations.

Russian angers US, Israel

President Vladimir Putin earlier this year provoked US and Israeli anger by inviting leaders of Hamas to Moscow. The meeting made no progress in softening the group's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist or foreswear violence.

The European Union considers Hamas a terrorist organization and along with the United States slapped financial sanctions on the new Hamas-led government. But it does not list Hizbullah as a terrorist group.

Israel is currently engaged in a fierce ground and air offensive in Lebanon against Hizbullah fighters, who in return are firing a barrage of rockets into northern Israel. Israeli forces have also attacked the Gaza Strip to target Hamas gunmen.

The fighting over the last few weeks has caused devastation and hundreds of civilian casualties.

Hamas, Hizbullah not on Russia's terror list (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282840,00.html)

Letter from Jerusalem Bishop
Dear Friends,

For the past forty years we have been largely alone on this desert fighting a predator that not only has robbed us of all but a small piece of our historic homeland, but threatens the traditions and holy sites of Christianity. We are tired, weary, sick, and wounded. We need your help.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have seen and we have been the recipients of the generosity of our American and British friends. We cherish the support of everyone throughout the world who stands with us in solidarity. Daily, I hear from many of them who express outrage at the arrogant and aggressive positions of President Bush, Secretary Rice, Senator Clinton, and Prime Minister Blair. I am saddened to realize just how much the deserved prestige of the United States and Britain has declined as a result of politicians who seem to devalue human life and suffering. And, I am disturbed that the Zionist Christian community is damaging America’s image as never before.

Little more than a week ago, we were focused on the plight of the Palestinian people. In Gaza, four and five generations have been victims of Israeli racism, hate crimes, terror, violence, and murder. Garbage and sewage have created a likely outbreak of cholera as Israeli strategies create the collapse of infrastructures. There is no milk. Drinking water, food, and medicine are in serious short supply. Innocents are being killed and dying from lack of available emergency care. Children are paying the ultimate price. Even for those whose lives are spared, many of them are traumatized and will not grow to live useful lives. Commerce between the West Bank and Gaza has been halted and humanitarian aid barely trickles into some of the neediest in the world.

Movement of residents of the West Bank is difficult or impossible as “security measures” are heightened to break the backs of the Palestinian people and cut them off from their place of work, schools, hospitals, and families. It is family and community that has sustained these people during these hopeless times. For some, it is all that they had, but that too has been taken away with the continued building of the wall and check points. The strategy of ethnic cleansing on the part of the State of Israel continues.

This week, war broke out on the Lebanon-Israeli border (near Banyas where Jesus gave St. Peter the keys to heaven and earth). The Israeli government’s disproportionate reaction to provocation was consistent with their opportunistic responses in which they destroy their perceived enemy.

In her recent article, “The Insane Brutality of the State of Israel,” American, Kathleen Christison, a former CIA analyst says, “The state lashes out in a crazed effort, lacking any sense of proportion, to reassure itself of its strength.” She continues, “A society that can brush off as unimportant an army officer’s brutal murder of a thirteen year old girl on the claim that she threatened soldiers at a military post (one of nearly seven hundred Palestinian children murdered by Israelis since the Intifada began) is not a society with a conscience.” The “situation” as it has come to be called, has deteriorated into a war without boundaries or limitations. It is a war with deadly potential beyond the imaginations of most civilized people.

As I write to you, I am preparing to leave with other bishops for Nablus with medical and other emergency supplies for five hundred families, and a pledge for one thousand families more.

On Saturday we will attempt to enter Gaza with medical aid for doctors and nurses in our hospital there who struggle to serve the injured, the sick, and the dying.

My plan is that I will be able to go to Lebanon next week - where we are presently without a resident priest - to bury the dead, and comfort the victims of war. Perhaps as others have you will ask, “What can I do?” Certainly we encourage and appreciate your prayers. That is important, but it is not enough. If you find that you can no longer look away, take up your cross. It takes courage as we were promised.

Write every elected official you know. Write to your news media. Speak to your congregation, friends, and colleagues about injustice and the threat of global war. If Syria, Iran, the United States, Great Britain, China and others enter into this war - the consequence is incalculable. Participate in rallies and forums. Find ways that you and your churches can participate in humanitarian relief efforts for the region. Contact us and
let us know if you stand with us. I urge you not to be like a disciple watching from afar.

2 Corinthians 6.11:
“We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians, our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return - I speak as to children - open wide your hearts also.”

In, with, and through Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Riah H. Abu El-Assal
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem

Letter from Jerusalem Bishop (http://www.j-diocese.com/DiocesanNews/view.asp?selected=234#slbl234)

Memories of the Holocaust tearing at many Germans
By Nicholas Kralev

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Memories of the Holocaust and the need to help resolve the raging conflict between Israel and Hezbollah are tearing at many Germans and even causing divisions in the ruling coalition over the prospect of sending German troops as part of a U.N. security force on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats are warming up to the idea after initially rejecting it, but the Social Democrats are putting up a stiff resistance.

Meanwhile, the country's largest Jewish organization warned the government, which was formed in the fall as a "grand coalition" after neither party managed to secure a clear majority in parliament, not to put Germans in a position to possibly point a gun at an Israeli.

"Many survivors of the Holocaust are still living in Israel, and I don't know how they would react if German troops had to act against an Israeli soldier who was defending his country," Stephan Kramer, secretary-general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a radio interview.

Wolfgang Gerhardt, foreign policy spokesman of the opposition Free Democrats who would have been foreign minister in a coalition with the Christian Democrats, also linked Germany's participation in an international force in the Middle East to the Holocaust.

"The dramatic historical precedent of the extermination of the Jews makes any role as an intermediary very difficult for German soldiers," he said.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Europe and the Middle East agreed Wednesday in Rome to put together a force under a United Nations mandate, and the European Union offered a "substantial contribution." But except for France, it was not clear who else would participate.

Mrs. Merkel's first public comment on the issue last weekend was, "I don't envisage this at the moment." She also said that Israel has a right to defend itself but criticized the bombing of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.

Another Christian Democrat, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, said a day later that Germany "could not refuse" a call from the international community to join a peacekeeping force.

Volker Kauder, secretary-general of the Christian Democratic Union, agreed with Mr. Jung. "If peace in the Middle East is at stake, nothing must be ruled out," he said.

But another Christian Democrat, Elmar Brok, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament, said sending German troops is not realistic because "it would lead to complete overstretch by the German army."

Germany currently has 7,700 troops in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Congo and the Horn of Africa.

Memories of the Holocaust tearing at many Germans (http://wpherald.com/articles/576/1/Lebanese-conflict-causing-divisions-in-Germany/Memories-of-the-Holocaust-tearing-at-many-Germans.html)

IAF takes out launcher used to fire missiles at Afula area
By Ze'ev Schiff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies

Israel Air Force warplanes on Friday took out the launchers used by Hezbollah to fire a new kind of missile at the Afula area, the furthest south that the guerilla group has reached since it began battering the north of Israel more than two weeks ago.

The initial investigation revealed that the missile has a range of 90 kilometers. The northern district police said that this kind of missile had not landed in the area before. The level of damage caused by the missile impact and the size of the warhead is also unprecedented, suggesting that it could have weighed up to 100 kilograms.

Security officials are looking into the possibility that the missile could have originated in Iran, and may even be a Zelzal missile, which has a range of up to 200 kilometers. Hezbollah has moved some of its rocket and missile launchers further north inside Lebanon following IAF attacks to destroy them.

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IAF planes fired more than 30 missiles at suspected Hezbollah hideouts in hills and mountainous areas in southeastern Lebanon on Thursday night and Friday. The day before, the IAF scored a direct hit against Hezbollah's missile command center deployed in Tyre, which was responsible for firing rockets on the Haifa area.

The IDF believes that at least 200 Hezbollah operatives have been killed since the fighting began more than two weeks ago, a military source said Friday.

IAF warplanes struck three buildings in a village near the market town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon as they renewed attacks on suspected Hezbollah targets Friday, killing a Jordanian citizen and a Lebanese couple and wounding nine people, including four children, Lebanese security officials said.

Israel Defense Forces troops also killed five Hezbollah operatives in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbail before dawn Friday, Israel Radio reported.

Israeli jets staged four bombing runs that left roads damaged in
southeastern Lebanon, the security officials said. No casualties were reported.

Israeli artillery pounded the border village of Arnoun on Friday. The village is outside Nabatiyeh and next to the strategic Crusader's Beaufort Castle, which has a commanding view of the border area. More than 40 shells struck the village, sending up clouds of gray smoke, witnesses said.

Israel launched its military blitz against Hezbollah on July 12, in response to the militants' capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack.

Lebanon's health minister estimated Thursday that as many as 600 civilians have been killed so far, though the official toll stood at 382.

A total of 33 Israeli soldiers have died in the fighting and 19 civilians were killed in Hezbollah's unyielding rocket attacks on Israel's northern towns, the IDF said.

Direct hit against missile command center in Tyre
The IAF scored a successful direct hit Thursday against Hezbollah's missile command center deployed in Tyre, which has been primarily responsible for targeting Haifa and its surroundings. The regional command center was located on the 12th floor of a Tyre building that the IAF destroyed.

The IAF bombings continued as Israel Defense Forces artillery pounded townships in the south. According to reports from Lebanon, two women were killed in the attacks.

The western sector of south Lebanon, which was quiet until recently, was also shelled on Thursday, and residents of more villages were ordered to leave their homes. For instance, residents of the Christian village of Ain Abel, near the border, were ordered to leave, presumably in order to allow the IDF to tighten the blockade on Bint Jbail.

Hezbollah maintains a number of regional command centers in southern Lebanon similar to that destroyed on Thursday. The organization calls them planning units. The unit in Tyre controlled a large number of 220mm rockets manufactured in Syria, which had caused most of the Israeli civilian fatalities.

The impact of the attack on Hezbollah's bombardment capabilities against Haifa and its surroundings is not yet clear. Nevertheless, Tyre will continue to be a target for the air force.

The attack against Tyre has not affected Hezbollah's ability to launch short-range rockets against northern Israel; most of the group's rockets in southern Lebanon are of the short-range variety, about 100 of which are being launched against Israel on a daily basis, with most falling in empty fields.

It is possible that Hezbollah, under constant air force pressure, will try to carry out previous threats by its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and launch Zelzal-1 rockets against targets south of Haifa. The missile is capable of ranges of 125 km.

Ministers at Thursday's government meeting discussed the possibility of terrorist activity aimed at Israeli and Jewish targets abroad. Hezbollah will seek authorization from Tehran for any such action, which would result in a broader Israel Air Force attack against strategic targets, which Israel has avoided thus far.

Syria continues to try to expand its resupplying effort of Hezbollah. Four Syrian trucks crossing the border into Lebanon were attacked by air Wednesday night.

Mossad, IDF disagree over damage to Hezbollah
The heads of two Israeli intelligence agencies disagree over how much the Israel Defense Forces assault has damaged Hezbollah, although both say the group has been weakened.

The Mossad intelligence agency says Hezbollah will be able to continue fighting at the current level for a long time to come, Mossad head Meir Dagan said.

However, Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin disagrees, seeing Hezbollah as having been severely damaged.

The IDF believes that at least 200 Hezbollah operatives have been killed since the fighting began more than two weeks ago, a military source said Friday.

Both intelligence chiefs agree that Hezbollah remains capable of command and control and still holds long-range missiles in its arsenal, they said at a security cabinet meeting Thursday.

IAF takes out launcher used to fire missiles at Afula area (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743736.html)

Arms deal sets collision course with US

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
July 29, 2006

RUSSIA has signed a $US2.9 billion ($3.8 billion) arms deal with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela risking a confrontation with the US, which has imposed an arms embargo on the South American country.

The outspoken Mr Chavez, who has claimed that America wants to assassinate him and who has pledged aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina and cheap heating fuel for London's poor, told reporters in Moscow on Thursday that his country could develop its own nuclear program.

"Maybe some day we will start using nuclear energy," he said, according to Interfax news agency. He did not specify when or how he might obtain nuclear power, but his ambitions will rile a Bush Administration already concerned by Iran's nuclear program.

Moscow has agreed to build nuclear power plants for Tehran, despite Washington's claim that the scheme is a front for a nuclear weapons program.

After Mr Chavez's meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Russia's state arms exporter Rosobornexport said it would sell 24 military planes and 53 attack helicopters to Venezuela in one of a series of deals between the countries worth an estimated $US2.9 billion.

Moscow has recently stepped up arms sales to Venezuela, saying last month that it would license the AK-47 rifle for production in Caracas.

After their meeting on Thursday, Mr Chavez told Mr Putin: "Russia has stretched out its hand to us in the face of international pressure, and even an embargo that was to be imposed on us.

"It gives our soldiers a special spirit of firmness when we hand them Kalashnikov rifles that replace old, 1940s guns."

In an attempt to soften the blow of such deals for Washington, Mr Putin said that co-operation between Moscow and Caracas "is not directed against other states", but added: "Russia will be a secure partner for Venezuela." He said that Russian investment into Venezuela could reach billions of dollars, while expressing admiration for the country's economic growth rate of 8 per cent.

The two men also announced that the Russian oil firm Lukoil would build a gas pipeline in Venezuela's south and drill for oil near the Orinoco River.

Mr Chavez again launched a vitriolic attack on the US. "After almost 200 years, we can say that the United States was designed to fill the entire world with poverty as if in the name of freedom," he said, according to Interfax.

"The United States' empire is the greatest threat which exists in the world today.

"This is a senseless, blind and dumb giant, which does not know the world, does not know human rights, and does not know anything about humanity, culture, conscience, or consciousness."

He said the "winds of war" were blowing in the Middle East and were a "product of hegemony and imperialistic aspirations, which reveal Washington's bid for power over the whole planet".

He added that during a recent visit to Belarus, Russia's neighbour, he had seen a monument to Lenin. The left-wing leader said: "He will always be in our heart and our ideas."

On Wednesday Mr Chavez travelled to Izhevsk where he met Mikhail Kalashnikov, in the wake of the deal to buy 100,000 rifles invented by the weapons designer.

Arms deal sets collision course with US (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/arms-deal-sets-collision-course-with-us/2006/07/28/1153816380854.html)

Syria, Iran Made Defense Pact Before War

BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 28, 2006

TEL AVIV, Israel — Signs of a regional war engulfing the Middle East began to arise yesterday, with Israel entering its third week of war against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Al Qaeda's top deputy promising reprisals.

Israeli strategic planners here say they are closely watching whether Iran will deliver on President Ahmadinejad's promise last week to make an announcement that would neutralize Israel's nuclear threat.

During a briefing yesterday, an Israeli analyst also said it is believed that on June 16, nearly a month before Hezbollah's cross-border raid on Israel, Iran and Syria signed a mutual defense treaty following a meeting of their defense ministers.

The agreement, signed between Iran's defense minister, Mustafa Najjar, and his Syrian counterpart, Hasssan Turkmani, at the time was described as a "military cooperation agreement" by the London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The paper quoted a statement from Mr. Turkmani as saying, "We are examining ways to counter these threats, and are establishing a joint front against Israel's threats." According to Israel and America, both countries are funding and facilitating the shipment of missiles to Hezbollah.

The prospect that Iran would come to Syria's defense should Israel bomb Damascus in retaliation for Hezbollah strikes came into focus this week after Iran's ambassador in Beirut promised to counter an Israeli attack on Syria with "full power."

While that statement was disavowed the next day by an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Israeli officials are saying the prospect of Iran becoming directly involved in the war between Israel and Hezbollah was one reason the Jewish state has refrained from striking Syria, whose territory has been a landbridge between Hezbollah and southern Lebanon.

"I think there is some kind of Iranian-Syrian defense treaty," the deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Patrick Clawson, said. "We don't know if they would enter the fray, or the details of the treaty. I think Iran's president would very much like to agitate to act on Syria's defense and send Iranian armaments to Syria." Mr. Clawson added that ultimately it was Ayatollah Khamenei's decision to make, not Mr. Ahmadinejad's.

Meanwhile, early signs that Sunni Wahhabi Muslims might stay out of the fight in Lebanon were shattered yesterday after Al-Jazeera aired a video of Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, promising his terror organization would "attack crusaders and Zionists."

In that message, Al Qaeda's deputy appeared alongside a photograph of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the dead Al Qaeda leader whose war against Shiite civilians in Iraq led Mr. Zawahiri to criticize his tactics.

Last week, The New York Sun reported a fatwa declared by a senior Saudi sheik ordering the faithful not to pray for, support, or join the Shiite Hezbollah.

Israel's war Cabinet met yesterday in Tel Aviv and decided to call up another 30,000 reservists. However, Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said the Jewish state had no plans to either attack Syria directly or expand the operations and bombing sorties on Lebanon. Despite the Israeli response, 78 rockets landed in Israel yesterday.

One factor in the building pressure for a wider war in the region is the failure of world powers Wednesday to reach an immediate cease-fire agreement after the White House for the most part rejected a proposal to stop the violence that was floated at a meeting of top diplomats in Rome.

President Bush has said he will not settle for an agreement that fails to address the root problem of Hezbollah, a position the Israelis have interpreted as a green light to continue their offensive against the militia's bases in southern Lebanon.

America's allies in the Arab world may be starting to turn in light of the failure to stop the war. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday declared, "Saudi Arabia warns everybody that if the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no other option but war."

On Sunday, the Saudi foreign minister said he was hopeful about efforts to reach an immediate cease-fire after a meeting with Mr. Bush. At the beginning of the conflict on July 12, Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian officials were critical of Hezbollah.

Today, President Chavez of Venezuela will arrive in Tehran for a three-day visit after securing an arms agreement with Russia that met criticism from the State Department for the prospect it would destabilize South America.

Mr. Chavez is set to meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad and other top Iranian officials. For the last two years, the Venezuelan president has said he feels an American attack on his country to be inevitable.

Syria, Iran Made Defense Pact Before War (http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=36875)

Syria on alert as Israel strikes near border

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, July 28, 2006

JERUSALEM — Israel has struck Hizbullah positions near the border of Syria as forces in Syria were placed on high alert.

On Thursday, Israeli F-15Is struck a suspected Hizbullah training camp in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border. The Syrian military, deployed several kilometers away, did not respond.

Israeli officials and intelligence sources said Iran and Syria have accelerated the flow of weapons and combatants into Lebanon. They said Damascus and Teheran have also been bolstering forces to prepare for a war from Syrian territory, Middle East Newsline reported.

"They [Syrians] are operating along the border and we can't ignore this," Israeli Cabinet minister Eli Yishai said on Friday.

Officials said Syria has placed its forces on the highest alert in years and deployed missile batteries along the border with Lebanon. They said Israel, which has ordered the mobilization of three reserve divisions, plans to station Arrow-2 and PAC-2 missile defense systems to protect Tel Aviv from Syrian rockets and missiles.

The focus of Israeli concern has been the deployment of Zelzal-2 rockets in southwestern Syria along the Lebanese border. They said Syria has transferred Zelzal-2 batteries, with a range of more than 200 kilometers, to Hizbullah's Nasser Brigade.

"The most likely scenario is that Hizbullah would bring these mobile launchers into Lebanon, fire them and return to Syria," an Israeli intelligence source said.

"Syria is in one of its weakest moments -- from the point of view of its air power and tank capabilities," Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Friday. "It is true that Syria has focused on its missile and commando capabilities. But overall I don't feel that Syria wants to become entangled in war. I don't assess that it will initiate [a war]."

The U.S. intelligence community was said to have assessed that Iran has been expanding its military presence in Lebanon and Syria. U.S. intelligence sources said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has overseen a weapons airlift to Damascus as well as the arrival of more than 1,000 fighters from Iran and Iraq.

"Damascus will likely run many risks trying to manipulate the situation to its advantage," said Jeffrey White, a former government intelligence analyst and today a researcher at the Washington Institute. "But the Assad regime has proven itself a poor player at this sort of game, making Syria the most likely source of actions that carry the fighting beyond Lebanon and northern Israel."

Syria on alert as Israel strikes near border (http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453945.0694444445.html)

UNIFIL officers expect Israelis to start leveling entire villages

By Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, July 29, 2006

NAQOURA: United Nations peacekeepers fear that the Israeli military intends to raze entire villages in South Lebanon after encountering stiffer resistance from Hizbullah fighters than initially expected. With Israeli forces having pulled back from a key Lebanese border town after several days of bloody fighting, the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says that Hizbullah cannot be defeated militarily.

"A military victory will never be possible," Major General Alain Pellegrini said.

Pellegrini added that only a political solution can resolve the fate of Hizbullah's military wing, adding that after more than two weeks of heavy fighting with the Israelis, the Lebanese group is "still strong."

Israeli troops have withdrawn from Bint Jbeil after heavy street clashes against well-entrenched Hizbullah fighters caused high casualties. The town was under heavy shellfire Friday in what UN officers suspect is a plan to force the last civilians to flee prior to destroying the town completely and killing any remaining Hizbullah fighters.

"I think the Israelis are contemplating flattening villages down to the last house," said Richard Morczynski, UNIFIL's political officer.

UNIFIL estimates there are 800 to 1,000 Hizbullah combatants deployed throughout the South, operating in groups numbering as few as 12 to 15.

They have ready access to weapons and ammunition and have retained their channels of communication, speaking in code over walkie-talkies.

"Sometime they use radio frequencies that are the same as ours and we can hear them talk," Morczynski said. "They say: 'This is brother 13. We are going to carry out operation seven. Hope you are all safe.'"
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

He said Hizbullah shows little sign of weakening despite the intensity of the Israeli onslaught. "They're mobile, dedicated and willing to act," he said. "When there's shelling, they're not scared. They're not sitting in bunkers."

The Israeli military estimates that as many as 100 Hizbullah fighters are holed up in Bint Jbeil, a straggly hill town of narrow streets suited to the group's style of hit-and-run operations. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hizbullah ambush in Bint Jbeil on Wednesday, the highest number of fatalities they have suffered in a single day since the conflict began on July 12.

In addition to the setback on the ground, the Israeli Air Force is still unable to halt the firing of rockets into Israel despite saturation air coverage over the South and a two-minute response time to the scene of a launch. Hizbullah said yesterday that it had fired a new rocket for the first time, the Khybar 1. Five of them were launched at Afula.

Trapped between the Israeli military and Hizbullah, UNIFIL has been reduced to little more than a helpless bystander. Hizbullah fighters have launched rockets from near UN posits and the Israelis have not hesitated to return fire, endangering peacekeepers. Four UN observers were killed Tuesday when their position was destroyed by an Israeli air strike. Bomb-cratered roads and a lack of aid supplies have prevented UNIFIL from helping civilians in remote areas.

"We are trying to do our best," said Pellegrini, "but we are not built for such a level of confrontation."

UNIFIL officers expect Israelis to start leveling entire villages (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=74347)

Israel must 'implement obligations'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-29 06:04

China on Friday demanded that Israel co-operate with the United Nations and carry out all-round investigation into the bombing of a UN post in south Lebanon that killed four observers including one Chinese.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also asked Israel to announce its result as soon as possible.

"China urges Israel and related sides to implement their international obligations and take practical measures to ensure the security of UN peacekeepers," he said in a statement.

Liu made the remark when commenting on a statement issued on Thursday by the United Nations Security Council on the Israeli attack on the UN observer post.

The statement expressed shock and distress at Israel's bombing, but avoided any condemnation.

All 15 council members agreed on the watered-down statement, which was the first by the Security Council since fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas began on July 12.

In the only reference to the wider conflict, the council expressed its "deep concern for Lebanese and Israeli civilian casualties and sufferings, the destruction of civil infrastructures and the rising number of internally displaced people."

The statement was read at a formal meeting by the current council president, France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, insisted on dropping any condemnation or allusion to the possibility that Israel deliberately targeted the post in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel.

China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, who proposed the statement, noted that during council consultations "almost all the members, with strong voice, condemned what happened, so I believe that this condemnation is there."

Despite the final statement being "watered down," he said the council "is not only doing justice to the victims and their families, but also, more important ... to tens of thousands of women and men who are working for this organization all over the world."

China's initial draft would have had the council express shock and distress at Israel's "apparently deliberate targeting" of the UN base and condemn "this co-ordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked UN post."

In that draft, China was following Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement late Tuesday that Israel appeared to have struck the site deliberately an accusation Israel vehemently denies.

A revised draft dropped the reference to the "apparently deliberate targeting" but kept in the condemnation and an allusion to possible targeting. That was still unacceptable to the Americans as was a call for a joint Israeli-UN investigation into the incident, which Annan wanted.

In the final text, the condemnation of Israel was eliminated, as was the call for a joint investigation.

It said "the Security Council is deeply shocked and distressed by the firing by the Israeli Defence Forces on a United Nations Observer post in southern Lebanon..."

The council also expressed deep concern about the safety and security of UN personnel and stressed that Israel and "all concerned parties" must comply with international humanitarian law, which includes protecting UN personnel. It underlined "the importance of ensuring that UN personnel are not the object of attack."

The United Nations has decided to remove unarmed observers from their posts along the Israeli-Lebanese border, a spokesman said on Friday.

"These are unarmed people and this is for their protection," said Milos Struger, a spokesman for UNIFIL, the peacekeeping force whose 2,000 members have light weapons for self-defence.

Liu said on Friday China has strongly condemned the attack on UN observers.

China is also concerned about the situation in the Middle East, currently one of tension and turbulence, Liu said.

China urges all parties to the conflict to cease fire immediately, launch humanitarian assistance, and return to the track of negotiations for a political solution, so as to restore peace and security in the region as soon as possible, he said.

Liu added that China has decided to offer emergency humanitarian aid to Lebanon, without elaborating.

Israel must 'implement obligations' (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/29/content_652517.htm)

Lebanese want protection from Israel

By HAMZA HENDAWI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

KFAR ROUMAN, Lebanon -- Blacksmith Mohammed Jouny is embittered by his government's failure to come to the aid of south Lebanon and wants the Lebanese army to deploy along the border with Israel - not an international force.

Most of the world sees the idea of moving U.N.-mandated forces into south Lebanon as aimed at protecting Israel against Hezbollah rockets. But many in the mainly Shiite Muslim south that is the guerrillas' heartland view the conflict in completely opposite terms.

They want a force to protect them against Israel, which has invaded twice in the past 30 years. In their eyes, Hezbollah has played that role - and they believe international troops will do nothing if Israel strikes southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army, they say, will protect them if Hezbollah is not allowed to.

Jouny, his brother, cousin, their wives and children - 16 in all - share a two-story house, two miles east of the market town of Nabatiyeh. Over coffee, a lively discussion warmed up among the men and younger women - all ardent Hezbollah supporters - over how the crisis that has shaken their lives can be resolved.

Little mention was made of Hezbollah's snatching two Israeli soldiers on July 12, which prompted the Israeli offensive. For many Shiites, it was a justified way to try to win the release of three Lebanese in Israeli prisons for years.

They are convinced that the key to ending Hezbollah's conflict with Israel is for Israel to hand over the Chebaa farms, a tiny slice of land claimed by Lebanon. Then Hezbollah will disarm since there would no longer be any reason for "resistance."

Their sense of having been abandoned in the face of Israel's bombardment is intense.

"Where is the government?" said Jouny, 54 and father of four. "No one bothered to come and see what's happening to us in the south. It's the government's duty."

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Hezbollah, insisted Jouny, was doing its part for Lebanon by standing up to Israel in a war now in its third week. The government, he said, should care for the people.

The Hezbollah-Israel fighting has forced some 750,000 people to flee their homes, mostly in the south. Many of those staying behind are running out of food or money and international relief has been slow. Those who fled but are too poor to sustain themselves depend on handouts from charities.

Hezbollah has won much of its support through a large network of health, social and economic services built over the past 20 years, but these have been crippled by the fighting and the Shiite group appears to be doing little relief work.

The Jouny family have used ingenuity, a vegetable garden and a few fruit trees to keep food on the table at this time of crisis.

With Israeli warplanes active over Nabatiyeh, the sound of explosions reverberates across the hills. The Jounys speak with horror of blasts shattering the still of the night, waking up everyone and making the children scream.

The proposal for an international force is gaining momentum. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seeking international agreement on a U.N.-mandated multinational force that can provide stability and end the crisis.

"An international force is completely rejected here," said Mahmoud Jouny, Mohammed Jouny's 27-year-old nephew, who was visiting from Norway, where he lives. "We want the Lebanese army."

Someone else at Friday's gathering shouted that an international force would just step aside every time Israel wanted to come inside Lebanon. He said it should be a combined force - the army and Hezbollah.

Not every Jouny was opposed to the deployment of an international force on the border with Israel.

A cousin, Ali, declared he had a message for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"Tell him that I, Ali Jouny from Kfar Rouman, say that he should return our prisoners, leave the Chebaa farms and allow an international force to come to the border."

The closest any of the Jounys came to saying something that could be construed as indirect criticism of Hezbollah was a reference to the horrors of war and the longing for peace.

"We want the war to end today, not tomorrow," said Youssef Jouny, like his brother a blacksmith. "We had enough war. What crime did these little ones commit to live through this," he said as he pointed to his children and their cousins.

The Jounys have a makeshift underground shelter.

"That's what we do to pass the time during this war," said Jouny's daughter Ranya, a 27-year-old school teacher. "We sit around and talk. In the evening, we watch the news."

Lebanese want protection from Israel (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Mideast_Fighting_Southern_Anger.html)

China ready to block Iran talks

China is maintaining a threat to hold up UN Security Council talks on key issues, including debate on the Iran nuclear standoff, as a row over the world body's reaction to the deaths of four peacekeepers in Lebanon grinds on.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

China is maintaining a threat to hold up UN Security Council talks on key issues, including debate on the Iran nuclear standoff, as a row over the world body's reaction to the deaths of four peacekeepers in Lebanon grinds on.

Israel, meanwhile, is letting it be known that the United Nations is not welcome in an investigation into the circumstances of the observers' deaths - part of a push by the Jewish state to keep the world body from having any significant role in the brutal conflict as it seeks to obliterate Hezbollah.

A refusal to conduct a joint investigation into the observers' deaths will be a slap to UN officials, who have specifically sought to partner with Israel to investigate the incident.

The Security Council passed a statement Thursday about the deaths of the observers - from China, Austria, Canada and Finland - under a prolonged artillery bombardment of their post in southern Lebanon, which was capped by a high-tech bomb being steered on to them by an Israeli aircraft. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the attack appeared deliberate.

The council said it was "deeply shocked and distressed" at the Israeli attack but did not mention the condemnation that China had sought.

China's ambassador to the UN, Wang Guangya, said the document was "watered down." The statement was agreed after two days of tough negotiations, during which the United States blocked any talk of criticizing Israel.

"Any killing of innocent life has to be condemned," Wang said. "I did not expect the consultations on such an important issue, on which there are many common points among council members, would take such a long time.

"So I think the frustration is there and this frustration will definitely affect working relations somewhat."

In a new veiled attack on the United States, Wang said: "To make the organization work we have to consider our own priorities, but we also have to take into account the concerns of other countries."

Wang signaled that China would take a hard line on negotiations on how to pass a Security Council resolution on Iran's controversial uranium enrichment program.

A meeting scheduled for Thursday on Iran between the council's permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - was postponed. Some diplomats said this was because of the dispute over the Lebanon statement. "On the Iran issue, not all members share the same view," Wang said, adding that Beijing believes that the Iran nuclear issue "mainly belongs" to the International Atomic Energy Agency as he reaffirmed China's opposition to any talk of sanctions against Teheran.

Israel's ambassador to the world body, Dan Gillerman, was meanwhile arguing against major involvement by the UN in any potential international force in Lebanon, saying more professional and better-trained troops than the UN might provide were needed for such a volatile situation.

And Israel would not allow the UN to join in an investigation of the observers' death, he said.

Gillerman was also highly critical of the current UN peacekeeping force, deployed in a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, saying its facilities had sometimes been used for cover by Hezbollah militants and that it had not done its job.

What is needed, Gillerman said, is "an international force, a professional one, with soldiers from countries who have the training and capabilities to be effective." But it could have a mandate from the UN, he added.

Gillerman apologized for the strike that killed the observers, but "war is an ugly thing, and during war mistakes and tragedies do happen."

While the US has been weighing in heavily on Israel's side as it attacks Lebanese and Palestinians, its support is not total.

The suggestion that delegates to a conference in Rome this week gave Israel the green light to pursue its offensive in Lebanon was "outrageous," said senior US State Department official Adam Ereli on the sidelines of a security forum in Kuala Lumpur.

Ereli spoke in response to Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon's alleging: "In Rome, we have in effect obtained the authorization to continue our operations until Hezbollah is no longer present in southern Lebanon."

Washington has sought to counter a widespread belief that its opposition to an "immediate" ceasefire call - repeated in Rome - is motivated by a desire to permit Israeli military operations to continue.

Washington argues it will be better to press for a ceasefire at the same time as resolving "root causes" of the conflict.

China ready to block Iran talks (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=23888&sid=9063718&con_type=1)

Israel posts a warning for Syrians
Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem
July 29, 2006

ISRAEL'S dramatic decision on Thursday to mobilise three army divisions is a signal of preparations for a strong push northwards in Lebanon and a warning to Syria not to intervene.

Both messages were played down by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet, which said that ground operations would continue for now at the limited scope it had approved previously and that Israel had no intention of attacking Syria.

However, informed Israeli sources say that the cabinet is likely to approve a major new ground operation in the coming days.

As for Syria, the Israeli Government has sought to avoid a confrontation with it in order to focus on the battle against Hezbollah. Mr Olmert was reportedly reluctant to approve the army's request for the mobilisation on the grounds that Damascus might interpret this as intent to attack Syria and that Damascus might attempt a pre-emptive strike.

According to the newspaper Yediot Achronot, he was persuaded to approve the mobilisation after intelligence pointed out that the Syrian armed forces had gone on high alert and that an attack ordered by Syria's impulsive young President, Bashar al-Assad, could not be ruled out.

In a related development, the army announced yesterday that batteries of Patriot missiles were being deployed in the Tel Aviv area. These missiles are ineffective against the short-range rockets being fired by Hezbollah but are said to work against the longer-range Scud missiles in Syria's possession.

Syria's concerns about Israel's intentions cannot altogether be ruled out. There is increasing unhappiness in Jerusalem over the continuing attempts by Damascus to smuggle missiles and other weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah even as the fighting goes on.

The Israeli Air Force has stopped a number of trucks said to be carrying such armaments after they crossed the border from Syria into Lebanon on secondary roads. If Syria's involvement is deemed significant, Israel could lash out at Damascus.

The Israeli ground presence in Lebanon has substantially increased since the opening days of the war, when it was limited to brief forays against Hezbollah positions overlooking the border.

While operations continue to have the character of pinpoint raids rather than a contiguous, frontal advance, they are now taking place 3.2km north of the border. This week, Defence Minister Amir Peretz announced that Israel would establish a security zone north of the border that it would hold until it could be handed over to an international force. He did not indicate how deep into Lebanon it would be.

The mobilisation order affects only the senior officers of the divisions in the first days but within a week to 10 days, the reservist troops are expected to have been mustered, to have familiarised themselves with their weapons and to be ready for combat.

The mobilisation of three divisions would not have been ordered if Israel were not considering pushing further north, although this would not necessarily occur immediately.

The cabinet announcement said the mobilisation's object was "to prepare the force for possible developments".

Even if the divisions are thrown into battle, Israel will probably not attempt a grand sweep towards Beirut as it did in the Lebanese war of 1982 but use the force to apply growing pressure on Hezbollah.

Until now, the Shia militia has demonstrated formidable resilience but it has been taking heavy losses. Its own calculations must take into consideration how much more war the Lebanese public, which it presumes to be defending, is prepared to put up with.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has pinned much of his hopes for a ceasefire on what he believes is the Israeli public's inability to endure weeks of rocket attacks. He called on his followers last week to hang on for another two weeks.

However, the Israeli public has thus far indicated overwhelming support of their military campaign, despite the casualties and property damage suffered in the attacks.

Much depends on the results of the political feelers presently being put out by all parties, mostly behind the scenes. There is a sense of great fluidity, with a broad agreement or a larger conflagration being equal possibilities.

Israel posts a warning for Syrians (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19947072-2703,00.html)

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: We killed Yakir settler

Senior organization member declares Friday night that his group was behind murder of Yakir resident, whose burnt body was found Thursday in car trunk in Qalqilya area
Ali Waked

A Palestinian terror group said on Friday it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, said it had killed the 59-year-old Israeli settler near the West Bank city of Qalqilya.

Dr. Danny Yaakovi, a doctor from the settlement of Yakir in the West Bank, was murdered Thursday night, apparently due to nationalistic motives, and his body was found in the trunk of his car near Qalqilya.

"We claim responsibility for killing the settler near Qalqilya," said Abu al-Tayeb, a senior al-Aqsa member on Friday night.

A statement issued by the organization said that the murder was committed because "Israel and its army do not have pity on the lives of the Palestinians. This is a message of fire for the Israeli occupation."

Yaakovi was laid to rest at 12 p.m. Friday at the Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva.

Yaakovi’s body was found Thursday night near the West Bank village of Abos, between the cities of Qalqilya and Nablus. The car was removed

from the scene and was inspected by forensic division of the police. The body was transferred to the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine, where it was identified.

Dr. Yaakovi, 59, lived in Yakir with his wife Hani for 21 years. Koby Butbul, a resident of the settlement, said the community was in utter shock after the murder. “We don’t know what happened. Since yesterday afternoon no one could reach Danny. I was at home in the evening and the mood was tense.”

“Danny was a god-fearing family man, very connected to the land of Israel with all his heart. He planted an orchard by his house full of fruit trees,” Butbul mourned his friend.

Dr. Yaakovi liked to travel around Israel, and often accompanied tours and youth camps as a doctor, Butbul said.

Born in Petah Tikva, Yaakovi was father of four children and grandfather of 12. He worked as a doctor in a number of hospitals.

Intelligence info leads police to body

Police investigators assessed that Yaakovi arrived in the village of Funduk, not far from Kedumim, Thursday afternoon to have his car fixed. It is suspected that he was then attacked and murdered, and his body was burned very shortly thereafter.

The body was found after the defense establishment received intelligence information on a burned car found between the villages of Haja and Abos. Reserve soldiers who searched the area found the car, bearing Israeli license plates, completely burnt with a burnt body inside its trunk.

Security forces were dispatched to the area and launched an investigation into the incident.

Ayad Akra, commander of the Preventive Security Service in the Qalqilya area, told Ynet that so far his people had no additional information and that the only detail the Palestinian security forces had was about a burnt body in a car.

"We know nothing about the man's identity and are continuing to investigate," he said.

A Palestinian security source told Ynet that the body was found in one of the fields of the Baka al-Hatab village, about 20 kilometers (12.42 miles) east of Qalqilya. The Palestinian defense establishment was also looking into the possibility that an Israeli was kidnapped and murdered for nationalistic motives.

According to the Palestinian source, Baka al-Hatab is a particularly quiet village and according to initial estimations the village residents were not the ones who committed the act.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: We killed Yakir settler (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282933,00.html)

Moscow takes Syria under its protection

by Ivan Safronov

July 28, 2006
Kommerzant, Moscow (original Russian) - 2006-06-02

The following report was published in the Russian daily Kommerzant in early June. It points to Russian military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as support in the modernization of Syria's air defense system, the modernization of Syrian tanks and ground forces. The question is whether in the current context, this military build-up of Syrian capabilities, supported by Russia, will act as a deterrent to an attack on Syria by Israel.

Russia is deepening the port of Tartus ( Syria) where it has a naval materiel and technical supplies center. This may be regarded as evidence of Russia's determination to make Syria a bridgehead for boosting its influence with Middle East.

Russia has had a naval materiel and technical supplies center in Tartus since the 1970s. Vladimir Zimin, advisor on the staff of the Russian Embassy in Syria, says that the port is being made deeper at present. Similar work is under way in the port of Latakia. All this may be regarded as evidence of Russia's determination to make Syria a bridgehead for boosting its influence with Middle East. The materiel and technical supplies center may eventually gain the status of a base of the Black Sea Fleet.

Defense Ministry sources, speaking anonymously, hint that Moscow has some far-reaching plans indeed. A group of ships under the missile cruiser Moskva (Black Sea Fleet flagship) is to be formed within the next three years. The group will be stationed in the Mediterranean Sea on the permanent basis. Among other tasks, it will participate in counter-terrorism operation Active Endeavor with NATO forces. Hence the necessity to make the Tartus and Latakia facilities ready for the Russian surface warships - ships of the Black Sea Fleet and eventually the Northern Fleet as well. (The latter will be used to reinforce the Russian Mediterranean naval group whenever necessary.)

But a source in the Naval Main Command said that establishment of a fully-fledged base in Tartus could help Russia with warships and tenders withdrawn from Sevastopol in the Crimea. In fact, once the bottom of the Tartus port is deepened, the port will be able to receive all ships of the Black Sea Fleet without exception.

Defense Ministry sources point out that a naval base in Tartus will enable Russia to solidify its positions in the Middle East and ensure security of Syria. Moscow intends to deploy an air defense system around the base - to provide air cover for the base itself and a substantial part of Syrian territory. (S-300PMU-2 Favorit systems will not be turned over to the Syrians. They will be manned and serviced by Russian personnel.)

According to our sources, Russia and Damascus reached an agreement on modernizing Syria's air defenses. Its medium-range S-125 air defense systems will be upgraded to the Pechora-2A level. The upgrade will certainly improve Syrian air defense, which uses hardware supplied to Syria back in the 1980s. Moscow is prepared to offer Syria more sophisticated medium-range Buk-M1s as well. Close-range Strelets systems sold to Damascus last year are all the Syrian air defense system has to show by way of sophisticated gear at this point (these systems use Igla SAMs).

Syria wants more than that. A contract for modernization of 1,000 T-72 tanks was drawn and signed. Yesterday, Arms-TASS news agency reported successful tests of T-90C tanks "in a certain Middle East country" and Rosoboroneksport's negotiations over their sale. Other Russian-Syrian arms talks under way concern two Amurs (Project 1650 diesel submarines), some SU-30MKI fighters along with YAK-130s, and modernization of MIG-29 frontal fighters. Damascus also aspires for a consignment of the latest Pantsir-C1 air defense systems designed in Tula.

Establishment of a base in Tartus and rapid advancement of military technology cooperation with Damascus make Syria Russia's instrumental bridgehead and bulwark in the Middle East. Damascus is an important ally of Iran and irreconcilable enemy of Israel. It goes without saying that appearance of the Russian military base in the region will certainly introduce corrections into the existing correlation of forces. Russia is taking the Syrian regime under its protection. It will almost certainly sour Moscow's relations with Israel. It may even encourage the Iranian regime nearby and make it even less tractable in the nuclear program talks.

Moscow takes Syria under its protection (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=IVA20060728&articleId=2847)

UNIFIL: Hizbullah undefeatable militarily

Top UN peacekeeping official says Israel would flatten whole villages, neighborhoods if Hizbullah continues firing rockets into Israel
Associated Press

A top UN peacekeeping official on Friday said he feared the war in southern Lebanon would continue until late August and voiced fears Israel would flatten Lebanon's southern villages and destroy Tyre "neighborhood by neighborhood" if Hizbullah rockets keep landing in the Jewish state.

At UN peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura, barely a stone's throw from Israel, political affairs officer Ryszard Morczynski said Tyre would become a target of intense Israeli attacks because Hizbullah was firing rockets from the city's suburbs into Israel's northern port of Haifa.

Hizbullah boasted Friday of a new kind of rocket it called the Khaibar-1 that it fired deeper inside Israel than the hundreds of others
since the outbreak of fighting more than two weeks ago.

"I have no doubt that Israel will flatten Tyre if civilian casualties continue in Haifa. Tyre will be taken off neighborhood by neighborhood," Morczynski said. "I think Israel is contemplating flattening villages, flattening every single house to deny Hizbullah any advantage of urban fighting in the streets."

He estimated that 80 percent of the roughly half-million people who live in southern Lebanon have already fled the embattled area. He also said he feared the civilian death toll in Lebanon was more than 600, well more than the official count of 400-plus.

'Hizbullah still strong'

"Hizbullah are still strong" 17 days into the conflict, peacekeeping chief, Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini told The Associated Press. Pellegrini told the Times newspaper that "a military victory will never be possible."

And according to Morczynski's calculation, roughly 800 Hizbullah fighters operate in the southern region on any given day.

"They are mobile, well-prepared, devoted and willing to act," he said. "When there is shelling ... they are not sitting in their bunkers."

The Hizbullah stronghold of Bint Jbeil attests to the group's tenacity.

"In Bint Jbeil it looks like the Israelis have pulled out and are now preparing the ground to come in again," Morczynski said, after Hizbullah fighters had pushed the limited Israeli ground force to the southern edges of the town.

'Hizbullah communication intact'

Also, he said, there was evidence Hizbullah's communications were intact and their fire-and-run tactics were still effective. There was no sign that the guerrillas' supply of rockets was dwindling and Israel has had limited success in targeting their launchers.

Morczynski said the peacekeepers occasionally intercept Hizbullah communications. He recalled a typical such exchange: "Allah is great. My brothers this is number 13 and we are going to operation number 7. We hope that our brothers are safe for the day." Hizbullah uses numbers and letters as codes to identify the fighter and the location.

Hizbullah firepower would seem to be a combination of sophisticated missiles and the older Katyusha rockets, Morczynski said. Some rockets are launched from the back of trucks, while older ones are ferried on motorcycles and fired from portable triangular-shaped launchers.

"They have thousands of them. They are scattered everywhere - in caves, houses, bushes, abandoned buildings. They aren't all in one, two or three depots that you can hit and say now we have wiped them out," he said adding Israel wanted to clear Hizbullah from a two-kilometer strip along its northern border.

"The only way to prevent the launch of rockets is to erase all launching positions of Hizbullah. That is the only solution," Pellegrini said. "But it is difficult."

'Large-scale invasion possible'

Despite the sophistication of the Israeli military machine, the advantage seems still to lay with Hizbullah, Morczynski said. While it takes the Israelis only about two minutes to target the origin of a Hizbullah rocket and retaliate, it hasn't stopped the barrage and it is unclear how many fighters have been hit.

The thrust of the Israeli attack is still with its air force but Morczynski said he anticipated a large-scale invasion if the hostilities continued.

"It is clear that if the pace of the war continues as it is today it will continue until the end of August," Morczynski said.

While Israel is reluctant to wage a ground assault, he said it would be unavoidable in another two weeks because the Israeli Defense Force will need a victory.

"Now the war is going on too long without any big success. Something has to happen soon because they have to show some success to the Israeli public," he said.

UNIFIL: Hizbullah undefeatable militarily (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282947,00.html)

U.N. official fears that Israel will `flatten Tyre'
BY KATHY GANNON, Associated Press

NAQOURA, Lebanon - A top U.N. peacekeeping official on Friday said he feared that the war in southern Lebanon would continue until late August and voiced fears Israel would flatten Lebanon's southern villages and destroy Tyre "neighborhood by neighborhood" if Hezbollah rockets keep landing in the Jewish state.

At U.N. peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura, barely a stone's throw from Israel, political affairs officer Ryszard Morczynski said Tyre would become a target of intense Israeli attacks because Hezbollah was firing rockets from the city's suburbs into Israel's northern port of Haifa.

Hezbollah boasted Friday of a new kind of rocket it called the Khaibar-1 that it fired deeper inside Israel than the hundreds of others sent since the outbreak of fighting more than two weeks ago.

"I have no doubt that Israel will flatten Tyre if civilian casualties continue in Haifa. Tyre will be taken off neighborhood by neighborhood," Morczynski said. "I think Israel is contemplating flattening villages, flattening every single house to deny Hezbollah any advantage of urban fighting in the streets."

He estimated that 80 percent of the roughly half-million people who live in southern Lebanon have already fled the embattled area. He also said he feared that the civilian death toll in Lebanon was more than 600, well more than the official count of 400-plus.

"Hezbollah are still strong" 17 days into the conflict, peacekeeping chief Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini told The Associated Press.

And according to Morczynski's calculation, roughly 800 Hezbollah fighters operate in the southern region on any given day.

"They are mobile, well-prepared, devoted and willing to act," he said. "When there is shelling ... they are not sitting in their bunkers."

The Hezbollah stronghold of Bent Jbail attests to the militants' tenacity.

"In Bent Jbail it looks like the Israelis have pulled out and are now preparing the ground to come in again," Morczynski said, after Hezbollah fighters had pushed the limited Israeli ground force to the southern edges of the town.

Also, he said, there was evidence Hezbollah's

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communications were intact and their fire-and-run tactics were still effective. There was no sign that the guerrillas' supply of rockets was dwindling and Israel has had limited success in targeting their launchers.

Morczynski said the peacekeepers occasionally intercept Hezbollah communications. He recalled a typical such exchange: "Allah is great. My brothers, this is number 13 and we are going to operation number 7. We hope that our brothers are safe for the day." Hezbollah uses numbers and letters as codes to identify the fighter and the location.

Hezbollah firepower would seem to be a combination of sophisticated missiles and the older Katyusha rockets, Morczynski said. Some rockets are launched from the back of trucks, while older ones are ferried on motorcycles and fired from portable triangular-shape launchers.

"They have thousands of them. They are scattered everywhere - in caves, houses, bushes, abandoned buildings. They aren't all in one, two or three depots that you can hit and say now we have wiped them out," he said, adding that Israel wanted to clear Hezbollah from a two-kilometer strip along its northern border.

U.N. official fears that Israel will `flatten Tyre' (http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4110063)

Anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment is high
Bala Muhammad Makosa (babanjawad)

Published 2006-07-29 12:08 (KST)

For the second time in less than a fortnight, millions of Nigerian Muslims took to the streets across the country on Friday to protest Israeli attacks on the Lebanese faction Hezbollah.

Under the overall command of Sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the July 28 protests were especially well attended in all the northern parts of the country.

In Kaduna state, in the heart of northern Nigeria, the protest was led by Malam Muktar Sahabi, one of Sheik Zakzaky's followers. Thousands of Muslims, including children, chanted "death to Israel and America" in the state capital.

In Sokoto state, Malam Munir Sokoto led an 8 a.m. procession that chanted anti-Israel slogans and called on Muslims around the world to rise up against Israel.

"We came out and took to the streets protesting against Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, under the command of our spiritual leader Sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky. We will continue to protest for death or success," said Sokoto in a phone interview.

In Kano, over 1 million Muslims took to the streets, dragging American and Israeli flags on the ground, and proclaiming a jihad (Holy War) against the Jews of Israel and those in Nigeria. They promised to take revenge soon for what they described as "Israeli illegal attacks on innocent Lebanese."

"If Nigerian Muslims will rise against Israel as Sheik Zakzaky commanded us, certainly the Jews sheltered in Nigeria would run on their heels," Sheik Turi said.

Speaking to the protesters at the end of the procession, Sheik Muhammad Mahmud Turi, second in command to Sheik Zakzaky, said they would continue the protests until success has been achieved. Sheik Turi also called on communities around the world to continue coming out in mass protests against Israel.

In a closing remark after the protest, Malam Sunusi Abdulkadir 'YanAwaki, urged the Nigerian government to cut diplomatic relations with Israel and America.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, July 22, Muslims across Nigeria began saying special prayers for Hezbollah's success.

Sheik Zakzaky is the spiritual leader of the Nigerian Hezbollah. He has led the Islamic Movement since 1979.

Zakzaky has vowed to mobilize Nigerians, especially the youth, against the American system of democracy in the country and establish an Islamic government, as Ayatollah Khomeini did in Iran.

In recent years, Sheik Zakzaky has gained the support of millions of Nigerian Muslims. Many Christians also support him because he is regarded as a fighter for human rights and as a spiritual leader who will rescue them from the yoke of the capitalist Nigerian leaders.

A spokesman for the movement said Nigerian Muslims would be out again next Friday to continue the protests against Israel.

Anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment is high (http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=308191&rel_no=1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No DUH!!

Anti-Israel protest in Australia turns nasty
(DPA)

29 July 2006

SYDNEY - Prime Minister John Howard was mobbed and police clashed with Hezbollah supporters and other anti-Israel protesters in the west coast Australian city of Perth on Saturday.

Howard’s car was damaged by demonstrators as he left a meeting. Around 200 protesters waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and shouting “we want peace” punched, kicked and threw projectiles at the vehicle as police struggled to keep order.

Police wrestled protesters to the ground and there was at least one arrest.

Protest organizer Muhammad el-Khatib said that he had family in Lebanon and that the Australian government should try and broker a ceasefire.

“There are mothers watching their children die,” el-Khatib told Australia’s AAP news agency. “Hezbollah is protecting Lebanon, they are freedom fighters not terrorists.”

The military wing of Hezbollah is banned in Australia but the political organization is not.

The current crisis was sparked when Hezbollah launched a cross- border raid July 12 in which eight Israeli soldiers were killed and two abducted.

Australia, a close ally of the United States, has been supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said last week that Israel faced a threat to its existence from Hezbollah and Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement, which both receive support from Iran and Syria.

“It’s very important that Australians appreciate, no matter how affronted we are by what Israel is doing, that they are dealing with Hezbollah and Hamas, who are committed to the abolition of Israel as a state,” the defence minister said.

Along with the US, Australia has urged that long-term problems be addressed and has not called for a ceasefire.

“We should feel enormous sympathy for the everyday Lebanese person,” Nelson said. “We should also feel some sympathy for the Lebanese government. But at the moment let us hope an appropriate longstanding resolution comes to this conflict. We can’t afford to have a situation where band-aids are being applied to it again.”

Anti-Israel protest in Australia turns nasty (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/July/theworld_July851.xml&section=theworld&col=)

Israel Deploying Anti-Missile Batteries Near Tel Aviv, Report Says
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com ) - Israel is planning to deploy anti-missile batteries near Tel Aviv to intercept any longer-range rocket that Hizballah may fire at Israel's second-largest city, state-run radio reported on Friday. The army would not confirm the report.

Israel developed its anti-missile system following the 1991 Gulf War, when it was hit by at least 39 Iraqi Scud missiles. It has not been used against the incoming Hizballah rockets because they fly too low.

Earlier this week, Michael Cardash, deputy head of the Israeli Police bomb disposal unit, told journalists in Haifa that Israel believes Hizballah possesses two long range Iranian-made missiles that it has not yet used: the Fajr-5 and the Zelzal.

The Fajr-5 has a range of 75 kilometers (45 miles) and is packed with some 90 kilograms (198 pounds) of explosives - more than twice the amount of explosives packed into some of the rockets that have landed in Israel so far.

The Zelzal has a range of 220 kilometers (132 miles). Its warhead carries some 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of explosives.

The Israeli Air Force bombed a truck last week believed to have been carrying Zelzal missiles.

The Lebanese Mediterranean city of Tyre, south of Beirut, is about 135 kilometers (81 miles) from the northern Tel Aviv. Other northern Israeli cities are even closer.

Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said earlier this week that the time had come to fire rockets further south than Haifa, which has been hit by scores of rockets in the last two weeks, killing at least nine people there.

The rocket attacks on northern Israel continued Friday. About 45 rockets had landed in northern Israeli communities by mid-afternoon. On Thursday, 110 rockets crashed into Israel. Nearly 1,600 have landed in Israel so far.

The Israeli Air Force carried out more than 180 aerial attacks against Hizballah targets on Thursday and early Friday, the army said.

One of the targets hit this week was described as Hizballah's missile command center in the city of Tyre. That center was responsible for the rocket attacks on Haifa, reports said.

In a week when Israel suffered heavy casualties - 13 soldiers and airmen died and dozens of others were wounded - an unnamed Israeli officer was quoted on Friday as saying that Israeli troops had killed some 200 Hizballah gunmen during the last 17 days of fighting.

Meanwhile, the army issued another warning to residents of several villages in southern Lebanon, urging them to vacate buildings by mid-morning on Friday and move northward or risk getting caught in an army operation. That indicates that Israel is not slowing down its military operations in the region.

"The objective of these warning is to minimize the risk to civilians in southern Lebanon, an area used by Hizballah terrorists who exploit the local population as human shields," the army said in a statement.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said on Thursday evening that Israel had "entered into an unavoidable war, and we must win it."

The Israeli government approved the army's request on Thursday to mobilize thousands of reserve forces but also indicated that it did not intend to broaden the ground war in southern Lebanon.

Peretz said the mobilization was intended to prepare Israel "for any possible development."

Further south, the army announced that its forces had left the northern Gaza Strip after a two-day operation "to stop the launching of rockets at Israel and to destroy the terror infrastructure in the region."

Several Kassam rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel on Friday. Two children were lightly wounded by shrapnel, the army said.

The army said that it had killed approximately 140 armed gunmen in Gaza since launching operation "Summer Rain" there at the end of June, following the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border attack.

Palestinians have said that many civilians also have been killed in the Israeli raids. In both Lebanon and Gaza, Islamic militants mix with civilians to protect their lives and their weapons of war.

Israel Deploying Anti-Missile Batteries Near Tel Aviv, Report Says (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1410194.html)

Israel won't ask Hizbollah's immediate disarming
29 Jul 2006 17:19:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM, July 29 (Reuters) - Israel will not demand the immediate disarming of Hizbollah as part of a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official said on Saturday.

Israel's position could make it easier to reach agreement with Western powers and the Lebanese government on the proposed deployment of a peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Hizbollah would almost certainly reject a force whose mandate called for its disarmament.

"Disarming Hizbollah will not be part of the mandate for the (peacekeeping) mission for now," a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

"However it is supposed to strengthen the Lebanese army, the responsibility of which will be to implement (U.N. Security Council resolution) 1559 which calls for disarming Hizbollah eventually."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel saw the full implementation of resolution 1559 as "the only real way to solve the problem in Lebanon".

Asked if Israel was demanding Hizbollah's immediate disarmament, Regev said: "Hizbollah has to be disarmed as soon as possible."

France has emerged as the potential leader of a multinational force but has ruled out deployment until a ceasefire and political agreement have been reached, Western diplomats say.

Paris has so far been noncommittal about its a possible role in a peacekeeping operation to help end the 18-day-old war, in which at least 462 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, have been killed. Hizbollah has killed 51 Israelis, 18 of them civilians.

The Foreign Ministry official said Israel would demand that the proposed peacekeeping force in south Lebanon keep Hizbollah away from the border and prevent it from replenishing its stockpile of rockets from Syria and Iran.

The official told Reuters Israel was seeking a commitment to "start the process of implementing" resolution 1559, adding: "Disarming Hizbollah now is not what Israel is demanding."

Washington envisaged the deployment of a rapid reaction force to fill the void until a larger peacekeeping mission could be assembled and dispatched, Israeli officials said.

"Once the ceasefire and political agreement is reached, we will be able to talk about the multinational force and France's potential participation," a French diplomatic source said.

Israel won't ask Hizbollah's immediate disarming (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L288177631.htm)

God's Army Has Plans to Run the Whole Middle East

By Amir Taheri
Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2006

‘You are the sun of Islam, shining on the universe!” This is how Muhammad Khatami, the mullah who was president of Iran until last year, described Hezbollah last week. It would be no exaggeration to describe Hezbollah — the Lebanese Shi’ite militia — as Tehran’s regional trump card. Each time Tehran has played it, it has won. As war rages between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Tehran policymakers think that this time, too, they can win.

“I invite the faithful to wait for good news,” Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last Tuesday. “We shall soon witness the elimination of the Zionist stain of shame.”

What are the links between Hezbollah and Iran? In 1982 Iran had almost no influence in Lebanon. The Lebanese Shi’ite bourgeoisie that had had close ties with Iran when it was ruled by the Shah was horrified by the advent of the clerics who created an Islamic republic.

Seeking a bridgehead in Lebanon, Iran asked its ambassador to Damascus, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a radical mullah, to create one. Mohtashamipour decided to open a branch in Lebanon of the Iranian Hezbollah (the party of God).

After many meetings in Lebanon Mohtashamipour succeeded: in its founding statement it committed itself to the “creation of an Islamic republic in Lebanon”. To this end hundreds of Iranian mullahs, political “educators” and Islamic Revolutionary Guards were dispatched to Beirut.

Within two years several radical Shi’ite groups in Lebanon, including some with Marxist backgrounds, had united under the Hezbollah name and became the main force resisting the Israeli occupation of Lebanon after the expulsion of Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1983.

Terror has been its principal weapon. Throughout the 1980s Hezbollah kidnapped more than 200 foreign nationals in Lebanon, most of them Americans or western Europeans (including Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy). It organised the hijacking of civilian aircraft and more or less pioneered the idea of suicide bombings against American and French targets, killing almost 1,000 people, including 241 US marines in Beirut and 58 French paratroopers.

The campaign produced results. After Hezbollah’s attacks, France reduced its support for Saddam Hussein. America went further by supplying Iran with TOW anti-tank missiles, shipped via Israel, which helped to tip the Iran-Iraq war in favour of Iran. In exchange Iran ordered Hezbollah to release French and American hostages.

Once the Iran-Iraq war was over, Tehran found other uses for its Lebanese asset. It purged and then reshaped Hezbollah to influence the broader course of regional politics while using it to wage a low-intensity war against Israel.

<snip>
To finish reading this, click on the link below.

God's Army Has Plans to Run the Whole Middle East (http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2006/july-2006/hezbollah_26706.shtml)

Nasrallah: Israel temporary country

Hizbullah chief says during televised speech ‘Lebanese are standing strong, and it is clear the enemy has not achieved any military objectives’; adds: When in any Arab-Israeli conflict were two million Israelis forced to flee or enter bomb shelters?
Roee Nahmias

Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday during a speech aired by Al-Manar TV "the bombardment of Afula is just the beginning. Many cities in (Israel’s) center will be attacked if the barbaric aggression against us continues. When in any Arab-Israeli conflict were two million Israelis forced to flee or enter bomb shelters?”

During the airing of Nasrallah’s speech sirens were heard in Carmiel; three rockets landed in the northern city, but no injuries or damage were reported in the strike.

The sheikh referred to Israel as a “temporary country.”

“Israel was established as a military state; the army was not established as an army of a country,” he said.

Rocket fired on Afula

During his speech Nasrallah waved both Lebanese and Hizbullah flags and promised that Hizbullah would not break and that the situation on the ground is different than the picture Israel is trying to portray.

“It is clear that up to this point the Zionist enemy has not achieved any military objective; not only I say this, but they say this as well, as does the entire world and all the analysts. The destruction of infrastructure and the hurting of civilians is not a military achievement, but a barbaric one.

'Beginning of the end for Zionist entity'

“So far the enemy has only suffered military defeats, as was the case with the most important of its three Navy vessels off the Lebanese coast – which was struck. This was also the case during the ground war, when elite Golani Brigade forces were defeated,” he said.

“You can see the amount of damage we have caused them in photos showing soldiers evacuated on stretchers lying on their stomach because they were shot in the back while trying to escape. The most important loss of the enemy relates to the morale of its leadership and army, as the army is incapable of overcoming a small organization with a strong belief in its cause."

The Hizbullah chief added: “(Vice Premier Shimon) Peres said ‘this is a life or death war for Israel,’ and he is right because he knows that if the resistance will come out triumphant this time the Zionist entity will not have a future. When the (Israeli) nation will begin to lose faith in its army it will mark the beginning of the end for this entity.”

“The enemy’s only option is to pressure Lebanon in the hope that this will lead to political pressure that will thwart our efforts. In this framework (US Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice is returning to the region to impose her guidelines on us,” Nasrallah continued.

“We must realize that Israel is ready to stop the aggression because it fears the unknown; today more than ever Israel is acts under the influence of the US, and therefore Lebanon is in need of political resolve in addition to the resolve of its warriors in the battlefield.”

'You will not break our spirit'

As to the recent statements made by Lebanese officials according to which Hizbullah is fighting Syria and Iran’s war, Nasrallah said “It seems there are a number of people who fear the resistance’s victory – this victory will be for all of Lebanon; it will be dedicated to every Arab, Muslim and Christian in this world who protected Lebanon.”

The Hizbullah chief turned once again to the Arab countries and expressed his resentment over the fact that they are not supporting the struggle.

“We did not ask them to fight with us or defend us, but they should not be a burden either. We are not asking for their help, but if a certain (Arab) country should take a stand that would assist us – we would be thankful.”

Nasrallah also attempted to downplay Syria and Iran’s role in the war, saying the two countries are not proving aid to Hizbullah; he thanked Syria for absorbing thousands of Lebanese refugees.

The sheikh added: “To the enemy and the world I say: As long as the war continues we will be prepared; we will not break down or be defeated. To (George W.) Bush and (Ehud) Olmert I say – we will respond to you with greater force; you will not break our spirit.”

Nasrallah: Israel temporary country (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283155,00.html)

Palestinians Love to Hate Condoleezza Rice
"Rice is the Raven", "terrorist and child murderer"

Above and beyond the steady anti-American hatred promoted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders for years, they seem to have a special penchant for hating Condoleezza Rice. Some of the attacks have included expressions of racial hatred, as in an article this week referring to Rice as a "raven" and a previous article that referred to her as "the colored... the dark skinned... the black lady."

In another racist article attacking Condolezza Rice, the PA referred to her as the ”black woman” [three times], the “black spinster” and continues that he even considered the term “black widow” but rejected it. Her father is called the "black clergyman” [who filled her head with Bible stories] and Colin Powell is the “black man”, the “black gentleman” and even the “brave and moderate black.”

All appeared in the official PA daily, then controlled by Arafat, today under Mahmoud Abbas.

A cartoon this week mocked her hope for the birth of a new Middle East by drawing Rice pregnant with a monkey.

In addition to the offending news articles, the PA society is orchestrating demonstrations, children's activities, and hateful visual displays all personally attacking Condoleezza Rice. Yesterday's PA daily published pictures of demonstrators with posters of Rice drinking blood droplets dripping from the picture of a dead infant and saying, "I need more blood." Another showed an anti Rice protest of the PA Children's Parliament, which displayed an American flag with the words in English and Arabic "Murderer- Rice [Ryse-lit] go to Hell". Condoleezza Rice's picture appears on the flag adjacent to a picture of a dead child while children lay on the ground simulating dead children.
This appeared prominently on the back page in the official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida controlled by Mahmoud Abbas' office.

Also this week was an article in the same official daily entitled Condoleezza-Stan written by the paper's editor in chief attacking Rice for American policy, which the PA charges, is intentionally designed to promote war and US involvement, and not peace. The newspaper gave prominent coverage to an anti Rice demonstration where the demonstrators demand she "get out" and "return to where she came from."

The following are the latest personal attacks in articles and graphics directed at Condoleezza Rice:

"The masses and the activists in Ramallah… received the visit (of Condoleezza Rice) with denunciation and condemnation.A general strike brought life to a halt, at a time when anger is exploding in marches and demonstrations... Signs and slogans in Arabic and English called Rice a terrorist and a child murderer... and they told her to get out...

The street which is mobilized against American policy, did not wait for Rice's words to the president (Machmud Abbas), for the protestors demand she go back to where she came from, after describing her as a "raven" who brings only destruction."

Israel rejects UN aid truce call
Israel has rejected a United Nations call for a three-day truce in southern Lebanon, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel.

The UN says children, the elderly and disabled people are trapped and supplies are short.

But an Israeli spokesman said there was no need for a truce as a humanitarian corridor to the area had been opened.

Israeli missiles landed near the main Lebanese border crossing into Syria on Saturday, witnesses and officials said.

In a separate incident, two Indian soldiers with the UN peacekeeping force were wounded in an Israeli strike on their observation post, the UN said.

The incident came days after four UN observers died in an Israeli air strike.

Israeli officials have indicated to the BBC that Israel may be willing to stop fighting as soon as a UN resolution is passed next week - before the arrival of an international peace force - and that they will not insist on the Hezbollah disarming first.

The UN says some 600 people - about a third of them children - have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon.

They include a mother and her five children killed in a new wave of Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon, Lebanese medics said. Israel said it was investigating.

On Saturday Israeli forces withdrew from the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil - a Hezbollah stronghold - which they had been trying to take for some days and where they sustained their heaviest one-day losses since the campaign began.

Hezbollah has continued firing hundreds of rockets into Israel - several hit the northern Israel town of Safed on Saturday.

In a new message, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said more central Israeli cities would be targeted if the Israeli offensive continued.

A total of 51 Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, have been killed during the conflict.

The Israeli assault began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on 12 July.

'Concessions'

The US secretary of state is expected to talk to Israeli and Lebanese leaders about proposals to deploy a multinational force, as part of what US President George W Bush calls a viable plan for ending hostilities.

World leaders are due to discuss a deployment at a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

Israeli officials told the BBC that a ceasefire must meet certain key conditions, including a guarantee that Hezbollah will not move back into positions close to the border.

Meanwhile, Israeli military sources have indicated that the fighting could intensify.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams says Israel would prefer a deal but it is publicly prepared to continue fighting if it does not get one.

Earlier, the UN deputy chief issued a warning over the observers' deaths in an Israeli strike on a UN base.

Mark Malloch-Brown said they had accepted Israel's apology, but still had "serious concerns" about what happened.

UN officials said they had contacted Israel a dozen times before the bombing and asked them to stop firing, which Israel did not.

Israel rejects UN aid truce call (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5226996.stm)

UN aid chief says Israel has 'created a generation of hatred'
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND TOVAH LAZAROFF, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 27, 2006

United Nations humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accused Israel on Wednesday of committing "catastrophic mistakes" in its attack on Hizbullah, which have caused civilian casualties and alienated the Lebanese public.

"It will create a generation of hatred," he said in an interview held with The Jerusalem Post after he had concluded tours of northern Israel, Gaza and Lebanon.

"I'm talking more as a friend of Israel than as an aid worker," said Egeland, who noted that he studied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University as a Truman Fellow, while his brother lived on a kibbutz.

The UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Egeland called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. "The rockets have to stop. The terror has to stop. But please remember that for every civilian killed in Israel there are more than 10 killed in Lebanon. It has to stop on both sides." He charged that Israel had used "excessive" and "disproportionate" force in violation of international humanitarian law, and dismissed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's contention that proportionality is measured in relation to the threat posed by a force.

"You cannot invent new kinds of proportionalities. I've never heard that the threat is supposed to be proportional to the response," he said. "Proportionality is there in the law. The law has been made through generations of experience on the battlefield. If you kill more civilians than military personnel, one should not attack," he said.

Egeland reiterated his condemnations of Hizbullah's tactics. "Armed men should not cowardly hide among civilians. It will inflict civilians casualties," he said, calling Hizbullah's cross-border kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers "a mega-catastrophe."

But, he stressed, "Civilians must be protected, and when there are many more dead children than armed men, something is fundamentally wrong, not only with how the armed men behave and where they seek hiding, but also in the response."

He criticized Israel for telling residents of southern Lebanon to flee but destroying the roads that would let them escape.

At a press conference held earlier Wednesday, Egeland said the UN was distributing more than 100 tons of medical supplies and would be sending additional convoys on Friday, Sunday and Monday. He called on the international community to come up with the $150 million in aid money he estimated would be needed to get through the next three months.

While agreement in principle had been reached on a sea route, he said, the UN was still waiting to establish an air channel.

Egeland placed the current number of displaced Lebanese at upward of 600,000 and said he expected it to soon top a million people. He indicated he could not provide a figure for displaced Israelis because Israel hadn't asked the UN for assistance. The Government Press Office puts the number at 250,000 individuals.

He said he was deeply struck by what he had observed first-hand during his tour of the region, particularly the "Christians, Druse, Maronites, Sunnis, who all hated Israel" when before they had hated Hizbullah, and the rubble of Beirut, which he said looked "a little bit like the end of the Second World War. It was block after block after block down in some kind of a carpet bombing."

While the results of the attacks might be different, Egeland said that Israelis and Lebanese suffered "the same sense of terror." He described his distress by the scene that had greeted him in Haifa.

"I remember Haifa as a city of moderation and reconciliation and peace, and now to see people running to shelters and see many of its citizens being wounded is just terrible," he said. "It's heartrending to hear the stories."

Egeland toured Haifa with Livni and the city's mayor Yona Yahav.

Egeland was taken to the site of a apartment in the city's coastal area that had been destroyed by a missile and to a lookout point on top of the hill where the police and army observe the location of rocket hits.

Livni later told reporters that she had wanted to meet in him Haifa so that he could see first-hand what life was life for residents in the North suffering under the daily barrage of Hizbullah rockets.

Yahav said he had showed Egeland the small metal pellets that are packed into the rockets so he would understand the lethal potential of each missile.

Egeland got a taste of daily life in Haifa when several warning sirens shrieked across the city during his visit.

Egeland told Yahav and Livni that both Israelis and Lebanese were paying a high price for the violence that had to be stopped.

Yahav said he thought the visit had gone well.

"I had a profound feeling that I succeeded in converting him. He was able to see the reality in front of him and what it means. I asked him what he would have said if I had given shelter to a terrorist group in my city. He said, 'You are right,'" reported Yahav.

UN aid chief says Israel has 'created a generation of hatred' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292006828&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Rice meets Olmert, hopes cease-fire can be reached by Wednesday
By Haaretz Staff and Agencies

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Saturday for a new round of diplomacy aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Rice, who dined with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday evening, said she hoped for agreement on the main conditions for a cease-fire to be outlined in a United Nations resolution that could be tabled as early as Wednesday. She was also to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

"I expect the discussions to be difficult, but there will have to be give and take," Rice told reporters.

"I assume and have every reason to believe that leadership on both sides of this crisis would like to see it end."

Rice's plan to stop the fighting envisages the deployment of a multinational force in southern Lebanon, the disarming of Hezbollah and the return of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Rice welcomed as a "positive step" the agreement by Hezbollah cabinet members to seek an immediate cease-fire that would include the disarming of militias.

In Beirut, Hezbollah politicians signed on to a proposed peace package that includes strengthening an international force in south Lebanon and disarming the guerrillas, the government said.

The agreement, reached at a cabinet meeting, was the first time Hezbollah had agreed to a proposal for ending the crisis that includes the deploying of international forces.

Speaking to reporters en route to Jerusalem, Rice also praised Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for persuading Hezbollah to agree.

"The most important thing that this does for the process is that it shows a Lebanese government that is functioning as a Lebanese government," Rice told reporters traveling with her. "That is in and of itself extremely important."

Olmert, meanwhile, met with Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz for consultations Saturday, Israel Radio reported.

U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday that Rice would return to the region with a cease-fire proposal package to present to Israel and Lebanon.

Rice will also hold talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has been pleading for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday he believed it was possible to get agreement on a peacekeeping force for Lebanon within days and that this could clear the way for a cease-fire.

Asked if he believed it was possible to get agreement on a multinational force and even a cease-fire within days, Blair told a BBC television interviewer: "I think that it is possible to do that, provided we are clear about the ambitions."

"You won't get the force actually in [to Lebanon] within a few days but I think you could get agreement in principle to the international stabilization force. You then have to work out the details of it," he said.

"I think you could get a United Nations resolution based on an agreement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon and I think if people can see then a pathway to a proper, stable lasting resolution of the conflict then I think you can get a cease-fire, yes," said Blair, who is in San Francisco during a five-day U.S. visit.

Blair has come under strong criticism in Britain for supporting Bush and refraining from calling for an immediate cease-fire.

He denied in the interview that he was giving a green light to Israel to do what it wanted.

"What is happening in the Lebanon is absolutely terrible for the people there. ... But you're not going to resolve it unless you can get the cease-fire on both sides," he said.

The conflict began on July 12, when Hezbollah guerillas in southern Lebanon carried out a cross-border raid on Israel Defense Forces soldiers patrolling the frontier, kidnapping two and killing eight others.

U.S. officials said much diplomatic work remained and it was unclear whether a UN resolution would be ready by Monday.

Key elements under discussion include a prisoner exchange, creating an international force and disarming Hezbollah.

Speaking Friday at joint press conference in Washington with Blair after the two met on the two-week long conflict, the president said that Rice would be charged with working with Beirut and Jerusalem to come up with an acceptable UN resolution.

"Her instructions are to work with Israel and Lebanon to come up with an acceptable UN Security Council resolution that we can table next week," Bush said.

cont'd next post

The president also stressed the need for an international force to be deployed in Lebanon to assist the Lebanese army in efforts to regain control of the southern part of the country, where Hezbollah has been the dominant military presence since the IDF withdrew from the area in May 2000.

"We agree that a to augment the Lebanese army as it moves the south of that country. An effective multinational force will help speed delivery of humanitarian relief," Bush said.

He said the plan developed by he and Blair would "make every effort to achieve a lasting peace out of this process."

"This is a moment of intense conflict in the Middle East," the president added. "Yet our aim is to turn it into a moment of opportunity and a chance for broader change in the region."

"In Lebanon, Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors are willing to kill and use violence to stop the spread of peace and democracy," he said. "They're not going to succeed."

He added: "The stakes are larger than just Lebanon."

Blair said he and Bush agreed a UN resolution is needed as soon as possible to stop hostilities in Lebanon.

The prime minister said it was important not only to get a cessation of violence but to use the opportunity to set out and achieve a "different strategic direction for the whole of that region."

"We've got to deal with the immediate situation" but also realize that the violence in recent weeks is part of a bigger picture that must be addressed," said Blair.

He told reporters that three steps were being implemented to end the conflict - the return of Rice to the region, a meeting of Monday on the deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon, and a UN resolution as soon as possible to allow a cessation of hostilities.

"Nothing will work, unless, as well as an end to the immediate crisis, we put in place the measures necessary to prevent it from occurring again," Blair said. "We take this opportunity to set out and achieve a different strategic direction for the whole of that region."

He urged Iran and Syria to stop supporting terrorism and become responsible mmebers of the international community.

But Blair also revealed the difficulty of restoring calm to a long-volatile region. "This can only work if Hezbollah are prepared to allow it to work," he said.

Britain and France said earlier Friday that they would press for a UN resolution to end the violence between Israel and Hezbollah.

Blair's spokesman said the prime minister would seek to "increase the urgency" of diplomacy to end the violence between Israel and Hezbollah in his talks with Bush in Washington.

Speaking aboard Blair's plane as it flew to Washington, the spokesman said Britain hoped a UN resolution could be in place by next week. He said Britain sought "to increase the urgency, the pace of diplomacy, in identifying the practical steps that are necessary to bring about a cease-fire on both sides."

French President Jacques Chirac said Friday that France will press for the rapid adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, his office said.

Meanwhile, Portugal said Friday it would be willing to join any European Union peacekeeping force in an effort to stop the fighting.

"Portugal is willing to, within the EU, help find a strong solution for this conflict," said Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado.

Italy, Germany, Ireland, France and Turkey have said they are considering
joining a United Nations-run multinational force.

However, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday
cast doubt on major UN involvement in any international force in Lebanon, saying more professional and better-trained troops were needed for such a volatile situation.

"I do think it is important that groundwork be laid so I can make the most of whatever time I can spend there," Rice told a news conference in Malaysia, where she has been attending a conference on Asian issues.

The United States, adopting a diplomatic stance that has not been embraced by allies, has been insisting that any cease-fire to the violence over the last three weeks must come with conditions.

Otherwise, Rice and other U.S. officials have said repeatedly, they fear just a repetition of the on-again, off-again violence of recent years.

Asked what she hoped to accomplish when she does return to the region, Rice said, "We hope to achieve an early end to this violence, that's what we hope to achieve."

"That means that we have to help the parties establish conditions that will make it possible for an early cease-fire that, nonetheless, does not return us to the status quo," she said. Referring to a summit about Lebanon that was held in Rome, she said: "I think everybody in Rome agreed that we can't return to the circumstances that led us to this in the first place."

Rice said the terms and conditions of a such a cease-fire would involve "a multinational force under UN supervision" that would have a mandate to enforce a peace agreement.

Rice's spokesman, Adam Ereli, took strong issue with an assertion by Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who said the failure of world leaders to call for an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah.

"Any such statement is outrageous," Ereli said. "The United States is sparing no effort to bring a durable and lasting end to this conflict."

Rice has spent three days dashing to high-stakes meetings in Beirut, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Rome, and then traveled to Malaysia on Thursday for the long-planned conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

At her news conference Friday, Rice said that before returning to the region, she wanted to confer with aides Elliot Abrams and David Welch, both U.S. envoys for the region, to work on a second trek there.

Rice meets Olmert, hopes cease-fire can be reached by Wednesday (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/743996.html)

Int'l aid goes to pay Hamas salaries
Hilary Leila Krieger, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 28, 2006

Some of the Arab League money recently transferred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been paid out to Hamas ministers this week, according to PA sources.

The United States has been leading a campaign to keep international funds from paying Hamas officials' salaries ever since the Islamic militant group won parliamentary elections this winter. The freezing of international money to the PA for this end has kept some 165,000 civil servants, about half of them armed police officers, from receiving wages this spring, helping plunge the Palestinian areas into financial crisis.

The Arab League raised money to help the Palestinians in March but was unable to transfer it until earlier this month. America has pressured banks not to allow money to flow to the PA, lest they be held in violation of US anti-terror laws, which forbid sending money to organizations that the government has designated terrorist groups, as Hamas has been. At the time of the transfer, the Arab League declined to specify how the $100 million provided by it and Saudi Arabia had reached Abbas.

Now in Abbas's hands, a PA official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post, it was used to make "downpayments" this week to all civil servants in the PA - including the prime minister and all the cabinet ministers, even though they are members of Hamas. The official stressed that the money was given to the PA and not to Hamas directly, but that there could be no discrimination in the payment of government workers.

Only a fraction of the total salaries owed to workers was paid.

Meanwhile, European Union Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner announced Thursday that the EU had begun to transfer money to PA health workers, in concert with a mechanism designed to ensure that no money reach Hamas. Some $40 million has been designated by the EU for health purposes.

According to an EU statement on the funding, "The intention is to support up to 13,000 workers. The payments will be made progressively and directly into workers' bank accounts."

Israel's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said Thursday that "We support aid directly to the Palestinian people that bypasses the Hamas government," repeating the long-held Israeli position. But Regev said the government would have to review the EU's application of the mechanism in the case of the health workers before commenting on this specific transfer.

Regev also declined to comment on the money which had reached Hamas, saying he didn't have the facts.

American press officers stationed in Israel also said they didn't know enough about the circumstances surrounding the salary payments which had reached Hamas to comment on them. They also wouldn't comment on how the transfer had reached Abbas despite America's stand against banks allowing funds to flow to the PA, or make any general statement on the subject of international funds reaching Hamas.

But one diplomatic source who tracks the funding issue closely asserted that, "The Americans have total control over the banking system. I don't think it could happen without American collusion."

He suggested that the timing of the payments was hardly a coincidence. "This was a good time because everyone's attention is being diverted by Lebanon," he said, charging that the Americans don't want to be fingered for changing their policy and having "made a mistake" by cutting off funds to the Palestinians, only to find themselves dealing with a humanitarian crisis.

He also noted, "The same logic applies to Abbas," whom Washington regards as a moderate and has even suggested might receive more funds. Abbas might not want to be seen doling out money to Hamas, the official said.

At any rate, the source added, the move made the Europeans "look ridiculous" for spending time and money developing a complicated mechanism for funneling money for specific purposes to the Palestinians while circumventing Hamas, if general purpose aid was getting through and paying salaries.

He accused the Americans of "making their allies the Europeans look bad."

Int'l aid goes to pay Hamas salaries (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292016345&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Give up your nuclear weapons

WASHINGTON — President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair teamed together Friday to call on Syria to help end the growing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah military forces in southern Lebanon.

"My message to Syria is: You know, become an active participant in the neighborhood for peace," Bush said during a joint press conference at the White House with his British counterpart.

The two leaders also told reporters they were going to pursue a U.N. Security Council resolution to create a multinational force to aid the Lebanese government in taking control of Hezbollah guerillas and bring peace to the region. Britain and the United States hope a U.N. resolution could be in place by next week.

Bush said any resolution should provide "a framework for the cessation of hostilities on an urgent basis and mandating the multinational force."

Blair added: "Provided that is agreed and acted on, we can indeed bring an end to this crisis. But nothing will work unless, as well as an end to the immediate crisis, we put in place the measures necessary to prevent this occurring again."

Despite growing calls for an immediate cease-fire, Bush and Blair said they instead would move forward with plans for more long-term solutions.

"The prime minister and I have committed our governments to a plan to make every effort to achieve a lasting peace in this crisis," Bush said.

Bush also announced in the East Room news conference that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be dispatched a second time on Saturday to the Middle East to continue diplomatic efforts to broker peace. Rice on Friday was in Indonesia meeting with Asian foreign ministers, but her return to the Middle East means the United States is continuing its push to resolve the violence.

It's also part of a western attempt to prevent broader conflict that some fear could draw in Syria, Iran and western nations.

"The message is very, very simple to them. It is that you have a choice. Iran and Syria have a choice," Blair said. "They can either come in and participate as proper and responsible members of the international community, or they will face the risk of increasing confrontation."

Bush also addressed Iran by saying: "Give up your nuclear weapons and your nuclear weapon ambitions."

Bush and Blair also outlined a number of other actions that will be taking place in the coming days, including continued commitments to humanitarian efforts to aid hundreds of thousands of people displaced on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Bush also noted: "The alliance between Britain and American is stronger than ever."

Israeli Ambassador Danial Ayalon agreed to the need to call in an international peacekeeping force, but said they must be strong enough to be able to defend themselves.

"It has to be a force which first and foremost can defend itself and then can enforce law and order in this very troubled land," Ayalon told FOX News. "So it has to be strong in terms big numbers, in terms of equipment, in terms of intelligence capabilities. And of course, it will have to have the cooperation and support of the Lebanese government, and the Lebanese forces themselves."

Former ambassador and special Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross said that what's needed is a solution that "doesn’t leave Hezbollah as a state within a state."

Ross said he did not believe Israel could disarm Hezbollah, but it's possible for an international force to give the Lebanese army the strength to keep Hezbollah contained.

In addition to foreign governments asking the close allies to use a heavy shoulder on Israel to stop its heavy attacks on Lebanese soil, a bipartisan group of senators were adding their voices into the mix Friday.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced that she would introduce a resolution that "expresses support to attain a cessation in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel," which is cosponsored by Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn; Carl Levin, D-Mich.; and John Sununu, R-N.H.

"I believe it is time for us to assert our leadrership and put a stop to the violence as soon as possible. The innocent people of Lebanon and Israel have had enough ... of the violence and bloodshed. It is time for them to be able to live their lives in peace," Stabenow said.

Consultations continue on the makeup and mandate of a possible international peacekeeping force to stabilize the more than 2-week-old situation and supplement the Lebanese army. A senior State Department aide was meeting with European Union officials in Brussels and there were plans for talks at the United Nations as well.

White House press secretary Tony Snow expressed doubt that world leaders could come together on wording by next week.

The United States insists that any solution address long-standing regional disputes, particularly the call contained in a 2004 U.N. Security Council resolution that Lebanese militias such as Hezbollah be disarmed — something the Lebanese government has not done.

"It's all about getting the right conditions for that U.N. resolution," Snow said.

Snow suggested that one sensitive piece of the ongoing negotiations is which country would offer the resolution, to make it more likely to influence Hezbollah. But "to being talking about ongoing negotiations in some ways could jeopardize some of the things that are going on," Snow said.

U.S. officials say European troops would likely dominate any international peacekeeping force.

"I don't anticipate American combat power, combat forces, being used in this force," Rice told reporters Thursday while traveling to Malaysia for an Asian regional conference.

With Israel signaling it is settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, Bush has suggested that he would support the offensive for as long as it takes to cripple the Shiite Muslim militant group. The fighting began after Hezbollah crossed the border and captured two Israeli soldiers. Defying some members of his own parliament, Blair has insisted that Hezbollah must first free the soldiers and stop firing rockets into Israel, a similar position to that taken by Bush.

Israel's punishing campaign of airstrikes, artillery shelling and clashes has killed an estimated 600 Lebanese. More than 50 Israelis have died, most of them soldiers.

Many countries in Europe and the Middle East are calling for an immediate cease-fire and have deplored the impact of Israel's campaign on Lebanon. The gap between the United States and Britain and other nations has intensified some of the diplomatic strains that have existed since Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 with Blair as one of his chief international backers.

Blair came to Washington for the second time in two months politically weakened, both by Iraq and by domestic woes in Britain.

Blair's government recently has had to deal with allegations that two U.S.-chartered planes carrying missiles to Israel stopped to refuel at a Scottish airport without filing the proper paperwork for hazardous materials. The missile dispute has added to questions about what Britain gets for its "special relationship" with the United States.

From Washington, Blair was to fly to California for meetings with business leaders.

Give up your nuclear weapons (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,206060,00.html)

You should understand, this is being posted as KNOW YOUR ENEMY!!
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Hezbollah: we’ve planned this for 6 years
Hala Jaber, Beirut

Until now Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, has refused to reveal much about its response to Israel’s assault. But in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times yesterday, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s second in command, spoke out — and attacked Britain for allowing US planes carrying bombs to Israel to transit through a British airport.

“The transportation of American weapons to Israel is a blatant scandal of America’s full involvement in the battle,” he said, “and flying them over London bears large responsibility over Britain.

“Instead of working on solving the continuous conflicts in the Middle East, the powerful nations are participating in intensifying and complicating the issues. This is dangerous for peace, and for future relationships between this region and these countries.”

Qassem, a founding member of Hezbollah in 1992 and deputy general secretary, claimed Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has remained in Lebanon and has not taken refuge outside the country as has been rumoured.

“The Israelis have said several times that they were targeting the general secretary and some of his leadership in bunkers because they are certain that they are indeed in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s leadership is used to being in the field.”

Qassem admitted Hezbollah had been preparing for conflict since Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000. He claimed it had not been convinced that Israel’s aspirations in Lebanon were over, despite its withdrawal.

“The fact that Israel kept the Shebaa Farms (a strip of disputed land on the border), held on to the prisoners and its continuous reconnaissance flights over Lebanon were all indications of its aggressive intentions towards Lebanon,” he said.

Hezbollah’s stockpiling of arms and preparation of numerous bunkers and tunnels over the past six years have been key to its resistance. “If it was not for these preparations Lebanon would have been defeated within hours,” he said.

Hezbollah is believed to be in possession of four types of advanced missile: Fajr missiles with a range of 100 kilometres; Iran 130 missiles with a range of 110km; and Shahin missiles and 355mm rockets with ranges of 150km. He said that Hezbollah will use its weapons to strike deep into Israel should the attacks in Lebanon continue.

“Had (Nasrallah) wanted to name the rockets and cities that can be targeted he would have mentioned those in his statements.

“For now we shall refrain from giving details and let Israel deduce what it wants from this,” he said.

Qassem refused to reveal Hezbollah’s position on issues such as the deployment of international forces across south Lebanon before an unconditional cessation of Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the return of displaced people to their villages and towns.

“There is no other solution now but for an unconditional ceasefire after which all other political issues will be discussed in and through the right channels,” Qassem said.

Hezbollah leaders have agreed to join a Lebanese government peace proposal.

The plan does not include a new multinational force favoured by Tony Blair and President George W Bush. Instead, it calls for beefing up the existing, but ineffective, 2,000 member United Nations force already in place in the south.

The Lebanese proposal, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, also does not directly address the issue of disarmament that Israel, the United States and Britain consider essential to any settlement. Instead it offers a prisoner exchange for the two Israel soldiers captured by Hezbollah on July 12.

The plan further calls for the Lebanese government to exercise full control over its southern region and for the UN security council to put the contested Shebaa Farms under the jurisdiction of the UN.

Qassem said that Hezbollah would not discuss disarmament. It “is not an issue up for negotiation at this stage”, he said.

For Bush and Blair, however, disarmament and the removal of Hezbollah’s weapons are key. They believe that no lasting peace can be achieved while Israel faces the threat of rockets being fired at its towns and cities and of Hezbollah raids targeting its soldiers on the border.

Hezbollah: we’ve planned this for 6 years (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2291499,00.html)

Israel Is Powerful, Yes. But Not So Invincible.
By JOHN KIFNER

NO exit?

As the bloodbath in Lebanon spilled past its second week — with at least 400 Lebanese dead and many more presumed buried in rubble; some 800,000 refugees, nearly a quarter of the population, on the run; and the fragile nation’s infrastructure shattered — there was no easy way out for either Israel or Hezbollah, the combatants locked in what each saw as a deadly existential struggle.

The very clear winner, for the moment at least, was Hezbollah and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. (Unless, of course, Israel succeeds in its efforts to assassinate him.) As the only Arab leader seen to have defeated the Israelis — on the basis of their withdrawal in 2000 from an 18-year occupation — he already enjoyed wide respect. Now, with Hezbollah standing firm and inflicting casualties, he has become a folk hero across the Muslim world, apparently uniting Sunnis and Shiites.

The standoff stunned Israel, whose offensive came in response to a Hezbollah cross-border raid that resulted in the death of eight Israeli soldiers and the capture of two others. Central to the embattled nation’s sense of survivability is the idea of its invincibility. Its intelligence knows everything, the mythology goes, and no army dare stand against it. In truth, Israel has, in part, been lucky in its enemies, mostly Arab regimes with armies suitable mainly for keeping their own populace in check.

What was clearly conceived two weeks ago as a quick battle using air power and strikes on specific targets with commando raids to degrade Hezbollah’s resources, particularly its stores of thousands of rockets, has turned into a crisis. “Israel is far from a decisive victory and its main objectives have not been achieved,” wrote the country’s most respected military analyst, Zeev Schiff, in the daily Haaretz.

Hezbollah, Sheik Nasrallah has said, “needs only to survive to win.” That seemed increasingly likely by week’s end. Deeply entwined among the Shiite community that makes up perhaps 40 percent of Lebanon’s population, it would be impossible to eliminate. But there is more. Although the Israelis announced within days that they had destroyed 50 percent of Hezbollah’s munitions, the guerrillas have continued to rain more than a hundred rockets a day on Israel. And on Wednesday, in Bint Jbail, a town the Israelis said they controlled, a well-laid Hezbollah ambush pinned down infantrymen from the elite Golani Brigade for hours. At times the firing was so heavy the brigade’s soldiers could not return it; eight Israelis were killed. The highly advanced Merkava tanks were reduced to ambulances and several were destroyed.

The idea that a supposedly ragtag group of guerrillas could trap the Golani Brigade was a visceral threat to the future. Still, while there has been criticism of the conduct of the war in Israel, with the rockets hitting northern Israel and Hezbollah still entrenched, there is wide popular support for continued combat.

Yoel Marcus, a columnist for Haaretz who had earlier acidly asked if this was the same army that had defeated all of the Arab forces in just six days, ended the week writing: “It is unthinkable to walk away from the battlefield with the depressing sense that out of all the wars Israel has ever fought, only Hezbollah, a mere band of terrorists, was able to bombard the Israeli home front with thousands of missiles and get off scot free.

“Before any international agreement, Israel must sound the last chord, launching a massive air and ground offensive that will end this mortifying war, not with a whimper but a thunderous roar.”

It is the United States that may well come out the worst in this impasse, particularly in terms of its influence in the Arab and Muslim world. Already widely seen throughout much of that world as the lapdog of Israel, it is now viewed as publicly sanctioning the continued pounding of Lebanon, blocking efforts for a cease-fire and even rushing the Israelis more laser-guided bombs.

“I think this is a loser,” said Augustus Richard Norton, an expert on the Shia of Lebanon who teaches at Boston University. “Time is working against us, not with us. The options stink.”

Vali R. Nasr, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, said that “the reason it’s an impasse is that there is a lot riding on it for the U.S. and Israel.” He added: “It potentially puts into question the entire rationale of whether overwhelming military force can shape the region. The bar for victory for the U.S. and Israel is growing every day and for Hezbollah it is lowering every day.”

Israel has been down this road in Lebanon before. In both 1978 and 1982 it invaded to drive out Palestinian guerrillas and employed a heavy bombing campaign that drove many Shiites from the south to Beirut’s southern slums. Its 18-year occupation of the south brought Hezbollah into existence.

“Hezbollah had 20 years to hone their skills and hatred against Israel,” said Mr. Norton, a former Army officer who served with the United Nations in southern Lebanon and taught at West Point. “That hatred was created by Israel; it wasn’t there at the beginning.”

Israel’s battle plan rested on air power, hoping that heavy bombing would demoralize the population and turn it against Hezbollah, although many military experts say that rarely works. Officials last week seemed uncertain how to proceed: they said they would keep bombing rather than launch any big land attacks, but still called up as many as 30,000 reserves.

As international concern grew over the destruction, there was a flurry of diplomatic maneuvers aimed at creating a peacekeeping force. But while there was widespread support in principle, no nation seemed eager to send its own troops, particularly if the mandate was to disarm Hezbollah, in effect, to become another combatant.

On Friday, as crowds spilled out of a Sunni mosque in Cairo, capital of one of America’s key allies, they waved posters with the bearded, black-turbaned portrait of Sheik Nasrallah.

“Oh, Sunni! Oh, Shiite! Let’s fight the Jews,” the crowds chanted. “The Jews and the Americans are killing our brothers in Lebanon.”

Israel Is Powerful, Yes. But Not So Invincible. (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/weekinreview/30kifner.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=middleeast&pagewanted=print)

Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers

Saturday, July 29th, 2006

Yonit Farago in Jerusalem

WHILE Israel fights Hezbollah with tanks and aircraft, its supporters are campaigning on the internet.

Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab Propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.

In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special “megaphone” software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.

Jonny Cline, of the international student group, said that Jewish students and youth groups with their understanding of the web environment were ideally placed to present another side to the debate.

“We’re saying to these people that if Israel is being bashed, don’t ignore it, change it,” Mr Cline said. “A poll like CNN’s takes just a few seconds to vote in, but if thousands take part the outcome will be changed. What’s vital is that the international face of the conflict is balanced.”

Doron Barkat, 29, in Jerusalem, spends long nights trawling the web to try to swing the debate Israel’s way. “When I see internet polls for or against Israel I send out a mailing list to vote for Israel,” he said. “It can be that after 15 minutes there will be 400 votes for Israel.

“It’s very satisfying. There are also forums where Lebanese and Israelis talk.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry must avoid direct involvement with the campaign but is in contact with international Jewish and evangelical Christian groups, distributing internet information packs.

Amir Gissin, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s public relations director, said: “The internet’s become a leading tool for news, shaping the world view of millions. Our problem is the foreign Media shows Lebanese suffering, but not Israeli. We’re bypassing that filter by distributing pictures showing how northern Israelis suffer from Katyusha rocket attacks.”

Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers (http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/israel-backed-by-army-of-cyber-soldiers)

Israeli forces kill Islamic Jihad head

ALI DARAGHMEH
Associated Press

NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli troops killed a top leader of the radical Islamic Jihad in a West Bank raid Saturday, the group said, and the Israelis pressed ahead with their offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad said the leader of its militant wing in Nablus, Hani Awijan, 29, was killed by Israeli undercover troops. They came to arrest him while he was playing soccer with friends and relatives, the group said. Another Islamic Jihad militant was also killed.

The army confirmed soldiers operated in Nablus and said a militant was killed in an exchange of fire.

Israel Radio said Awijan was responsible for a series of attacks on Israelis. Over the past 17 months, Islamic Jihad has been responsible for all 12 suicide bombing attacks in Israel, killing 71 people.

Islamic Jihad announced Awijan's death from mosque loudspeakers, As news of the raid spread through Nablus, large crowds gathered. Militants burned tires in the streets and called for a general strike in the city. Shops were quickly closed.

While most attention is on the Israel-Lebanon conflict and the monthlong Israeli offensive in Gaza, Israeli forces carry out nightly arrest raids in the West Bank, searching for suspected militants. Often more than 20 are detained in a single night.

Israel moved tanks and troops into Gaza and started an intensive campaign of airstrikes after Hamas-linked militants tunneled under the border and attacked an Israeli army post at a crossing point, killing two soldiers and capturing a third, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19.

Palestinian officials said they have not received a response to their demand that Israel guarantee that it will free women, children and long-serving Palestinian prisoners before Shalit is released.

Dr. Salah Bardawil, a senior Hamas official, said Israel's refusal to guarantee the release of prisoners before the release of Shalit had created a stalemate.

Early Saturday, Israeli tanks moved back into Gaza a day after completing a two-day raid in the northern part of the seaside strip in which 30 Palestinians were killed. Most of the dead were armed militants, but some were civilians, including an elderly woman and a child.

Late Saturday, residents reported Israeli tanks moving east of Gaza City, a frequent area of Israeli operations to try to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets at Israeli communities.

In airstrikes early Sunday, Israeli aircraft destroyed a house belonging to a militant in Gaza City, residents said. Israel warned the occupants to leave, and the house was empty. Another target was the house of a militant leader in the town of Beit Hanoun. Eight people were wounded in the attacks, three seriously, hospital officials said.

Also, Israeli aircraft fired missiles near the southern town or Rafah, knocking out electricity. The Israelis said they were aiming at a site where Palestinians were tunneling under the Gaza-Egypt border.

Since Israel pulled out of Gaza last summer, turning control of the border over to Egypt and the Palestinians, the Israeli military has said that cross-border smuggling of weapons and explosives has increased considerably.

Israeli forces kill Islamic Jihad head (http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/15154452.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp)

France, Lebanon to deploy to border with Israel

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meets with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his Jerusalem residence Saturday night; Rice reveals initial plans for international peacekeeping force: France, Lebanese army to take part, and will also guard Syria-Lebanon border. Leaders agree diplomatic agreement dependant on release of kidnapped soldiers
Ronny Sofer

The French and Lebanese armies will take part in the multinational peacekeeping force expected to take position along the southern Lebanese border, it was revealed following a meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.

The two met at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem late Saturday night for nearly two hours, most of which was spent in one-on-one talks.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs C. David Welch, National Security Council Director for Near East and North African Affairs Elliot Abrams on the American side and Olmert’s chief-of-staff Dr. Yoram Turbovitz, his diplomatic advisor Shalom Turgeman, and his military adviser Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni for the Israeli side also joined in for some of the talks.

Productive meeting betwee Rice, Olmert

The meeting was reportedly held in a cordial atmosphere, and between the diplomatic deliberations, Rice and Olmert took dinner together. Olmert’s office said that during the entire meeting, Rice did not at all press the issue of a ceasefire .

Towards a diplomatic solution

The two leaders agreed that any diplomatic arrangement to end the fighting would be dependent on the release of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev .

Regarding the establishment of a multinational peacekeeping force, the conditions for its establishment, the length of its mandate and its responsibilities were not yet finalized, although Rice expressed optimism that it would be set up very soon.

Olmert and Rice did not discuss the size of multinational peacekeeping force to be established. Likewise, the question of which countries, other than France and Lebanon, would partake in the force was not confronted.

However, Rice did note that the Lebanese and French armies would deploy along the Syrian-Lebanese border to the east, as well as along the southern border with Israel.

Minimizing humanitarian crisis

The two also did not discuss Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s proposal for a ceasefire. However, Rice did request of the prime minister that Israel avoid striking Lebanese infrastructure.

The Prime Minister’s Bureau noted that Rice expressed her appreciation to Israel for its actions towards easing the humanitarian crisis for Lebanese citizens by opening channels for the transport of aid.

According to Rice, Israel’s cooperation in enabling aid delivery via the Beirut airport, seaports and by land greatly contributed to the US’s stance during the Rome summit last week in which representatives from 15 nations convened to brainstorm solutions for the Israel-Lebanon crisis.

France, Lebanon to deploy to border with Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283247,00.html)

Iran-Venezuela high ranking delegations hold negotiations
Tehran, July 30, IRNA

Iran-Venezuela-Negotiation
Iran-Venezuela high ranking delegations held negotiation here Saturday evening after the two presidents had a private talk.

According to Presidential Office Media Department, President Ahmadinejad referring to the common viewpoints of Tehran and Caracas on international important issues and high potentials of both countries to expand relations in all fields especially energy, industry, urban planning and construction, said Iran-Venezuela as two brotherly and friend countries can play a complementary role for each other in different economic fields.

Ahmadinejad said Iran-Venezuela as two big producers of oil in the world can play an important role in this field and by establishing a joint gas and oil company can manage and facilitate the
implementation of large projects in this concern.

Cooperation in the field of urban planning, mass production building, expansion of banking systems cooperation, trade and commerce, especially industry are among suitable grounds of expanding ties between the two countries, President Ahmadinejad said adding establishment of a joint financial fund to support joint projects can facilitate and accelerate the execution of projects.

President Chavez referring to the common viewpoints in political and ideological issues and both countries abilities in different fields which have created a positive ground, said Venezuela asks for expansion of relations with Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields, especially using Iran's ability in oil exploration and extraction, building gas pipelines, establishment of different industries like petrochemistry, mass production of residential buildings, urban planning, pharmaceutics and car production.

Referring to the membership of Venezuela in "MERCOSUR
Organization", President Chavez said Tehran-Caracas economic ties are proper grounds for Iran to enter in south America markets and added, Iran can play an important role in building a 8,000 kilometer long gas pipeline from Venezuela to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

Iran's minister of industry and mining and Venezuelan minister of oil as heads of joint cooperation commission presented a report on the latest situation of agreements between the two countries and the outcome of the new negotiations to ink cooperation agreements in this trip.

Iran-Venezuela high ranking delegations hold negotiations (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607308736011541.htm)

Chavez satisfied with progress in Iran-Venezuela joint projects
Tehran, July 29, IRNA

Iran-Chavez-Visit
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez here Saturday expressed satisfaction with the quick pace of Iran-Venezuela joint economic projects.

He made the remark at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the official welcome ceremony, adding that the current level of cooperation between the two countries is quite unprecedented.

The Venezuelan president said that specific and definite working plans complementing each other can be very efficient.

"Our working schedules have been planned according to priorities.

High priority has been given to oil and gas," he added.

Turning to a number of mutually signed agreements, he underlined that recently great progress has been witnessed in the cooperation between the two countries and a leap is about to take place.

Chavez hoped that Iranian oil enterprises will soon become active in Venezuela, adding that they can also start their activities in Venezuelan Gulf, which can be very fruitful and effective.

"A nationalist approach making the two nations closer to each other is yet more important to us than investment," he added.

He said that both countries are oil producers, adding that in addition to collaboration in gas and oil fields, a number of other joint projects are currently being implemented by Iran and Venezuela.

The president referred to the joint projects on production of medicine, industrial molds and tractors currently underway and said that his country is prepared to cooperate with Iran in other domains including finances and investment.

"One of the agreements to be signed during his visit, is related to petrochemical cooperation between Iran and Venezuela.

"We are well aware of the progress achieved in Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. One year after the implementation of tractor manufacturing plant in Venezuela by Iran, it is now ready to export its products," he added.

Expressing satisfaction with the high quality of the tractors manufactured in Venezuela by Iran, he said that their price is 30 percent less than the international rate.

"The plant is now operating at full capacity and 400 tractors will soon be delivered to farmers," said the Venezuelan president.

Chavez expressed pleasure with his visit to Iran and appreciated the Iranian officials, in particular his Iranian counterpart conveying his greetings to the Iranian people as well as representatives of domestic and foreign media in Tehran.

The Venezuelan president expressed satisfaction with talks with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran, adding that he was first introduced to Ahmadinejad was during his term in office as Tehran mayor, as he was unveiling Simon de Bolivar's statue at one of the capital's most beautiful parks.

At the end of his briefing session, he prayed to the God Almighty for the Iranian nation and wished the best for them.

Chavez satisfied with progress in Iran-Venezuela joint projects (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607298212192303.htm)

Syria denounces call for international Lebanon force

by Lamia Radi Sat Jul 29, 12:25 PM ET

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria has slammed US-backed proposals for the deployment of a multinational force in southern Lebanon, saying it would be "an occupation force" that could deepen the conflict and spark a backlash against the troops.

"The international force proposed by (US Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice... will occupy southern Lebanon and it, instead of Israel, will be charged with eradicating the Lebanese national resistance," said an editorial in the official Tishrin daily Saturday.

Rice arrived Saturday in Israel to discuss the possible deployment of multinational troops, an idea originally put forth by UN chief Kofi Annan and strongly supported by US President George W. Bush, as part of plans to try to end Israel's deadly 18-day offensive against Lebanon.

World powers are due to discuss the possible force, which would be in addition to the 2,000 UN peacekeeping troops currently deployed in Lebanon, at the United Nations on Monday.

The editor of the government Al-Baath newspaper also criticized the calls for a multinational force.

"Leaders on this level... should have highlighted that the resistance is born out of the terrorism practiced by Israel," Elias Mrad told AFP, saying also that international troops would be nothing more than an "occupation force".

Analyst Emad Shueibi, who has close ties to the government, said such a deployment "could create violent confrontations similar to those between the Lebanese resistance and international forces in Lebanon in 1983."

He was referring to a suicide attack on a US marines barracks in Beirut which killed 241 and which Washington blamed on Hezbollah.

The introduction of a new multinational force in Lebanon would "globalize the conflict, and is likely to lead to international confrontation," Shueibi said, adding that "resistance on the ground would become even more fierce."

Foreign troops would "intensify the problem rather than resolve it, and the United States could see themselves bogged down in Lebanon the way they are in Iraq," he said.

Syria and Iran both support Lebanon's Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 sparked Israel's assault.

In his weekly radio address, Bush renewed his support for the potential force.

"Militias in Lebanon must be disarmed, the flow of illegal arms must be halted, and the Lebanese security services should deploy throughout the country," he said.

"We also agreed that a robust multinational force must be dispatched to Lebanon quickly," he said.

Bush said such a force would "help speed delivery of humanitarian relief, facilitate the return of displaced persons and support the Lebanese government as it asserts full sovereignty over its territory and guards its borders."

Bush and Blair have refused to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, who have been locked in bloody conflict, saying that a more comprehensive solution was necessary.

France, a permanent member of the Security Council, said it had put forth a plan calling for an immediate ceasefire, followed by a negotiating period which would open the way to the deployment of an international force.

More than 400 people, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting broke out, and 51 Israelis have been killed, many of them soldiers killed in combat.

A UN resolution adopted in 2004 calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Party of God which was created in 1982 after Israel's all-out invasion of Lebanon.

Syria denounces call for international Lebanon force (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060729/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictsyria_060729162545)

Why Syria Has Much to Lose if Hezbollah Is Finally Halted
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 25 — As the war between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah ended its second week, Syrian officials and analysts said the nature of the longstanding relationship between Damascus and the militia appeared to be shifting, with Syrian leverage rapidly diminishing.

For the decades when Syrian soldiers were deployed in Lebanon, Damascus kept firm control over the pipeline of arms to Hezbollah and could generate or suppress its activities with little trouble. Now, analysts argue, even if asked, Syria may have trouble tamping out the flames.

“The cards are being thrown in the air in a significant way, and it’s not clear how they will land,” said one Western ambassador, declining to be identified further because he lacked permission from his capital to speak officially. “There may be a new strategic situation in the making because Israel does not have the overwhelming strategic superiority that it thought it had.”

The basis of that new equation is Hezbollah’s continued ability to land rockets deep inside Israel despite two weeks of punishing assaults, with plenty of indications suggesting it can fire for weeks, if not months.

Indeed, with each passing day, the sight of an Arab force hitting Israel with rockets makes Hezbollah increasingly popular across the region and therefore more costly to restrain, particularly because the Israelis have labeled the struggle a death match. Given the chilly United States approach to Damascus, with no promise of anything for cooperating, it is also not clear why Syria would want to squash Hezbollah.

“Essentially you are asking them to connive in their own demise,” the ambassador said. “Persuading Hezbollah to commit hara-kiri doesn’t make sense from Syria’s point of view. It would mean the loss of their No. 1 card, not only in Lebanon, but with Israel.”

Hezbollah is believed to have enough of the 13,000-plus rockets it announced were in its arsenal in 2005 to keep going for a couple of months anyway.

Ironically, by forcing Syria to withdraw its military from Lebanon last year, the United States and its allies diluted the significant direct leverage Syria might have had over Hezbollah.

The consensus here is that Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were all taken aback by the ferocity of Israel’s response to the capture of two soldiers; the seizure seemed to fall within the unspoken rules of limited engagements. Similar operations had prompted prisoner exchanges in the past, the current demand by Hezbollah for ending the fighting.

Syrian officials are coy when queried how they might rein in Hezbollah, deflecting the question by saying all the problems in the Middle East could be solved through a comprehensive plan to end the Arab-Israeli dispute. But they hint broadly that Syria can deliver, arguing that the omission of Syria, Hezbollah and Iran from diplomatic talks in Rome on Wednesday renders those discussions meaningless.

“I don’t think there is any possible solution without Hezbollah and Syria being at the table,” said one Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because diplomatic relations are so fraught. “Any solution has to take into account the real force in the region. Syria and Hezbollah are a growing force; they are not getting weaker, they are getting stronger.”

President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others in the administration have said repeatedly that Syria can and should leash Hezbollah, suggesting that maybe Washington’s Arab allies can wean Damascus away from its alliance with both Iran and Tehran’s militant Shiite offspring. In some ways, those are two separate questions, the alliance with Tehran being rather more a passing necessity than a real desire.

Strengthened ties with Iran make Syria feel stronger in the region, along with other factors, like the election of Hamas to lead the Palestinian parliament, and the situation in Iraq. But the link is not hugely popular in Damascus. One prominent economist compared it to a “pleasure marriage,” a temporary union between a man and a woman that Shiites allow for immediate gratification.

“The relation with Iran is the kind of relation created under pressure, when you close all doors in front of Syria,” said the economist, Samir Seifan, noting how the United States, the West and their Arab allies have all shunned Damascus for over a year. “This is the only door we have: Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. But it is not in the long-term interests of Syria.”

Investments in Syria from Arab states bristling with oil wealth, for example, have basically dried up. There is no sign that will change, particularly because the people orchestrating the street demonstrations in Damascus push participants to chant against Arab leaders who have criticized Hezbollah.

“Abdullah, you pig, tomorrow we will drag you in chains,” went one recent refrain, referring to the king of Jordan. Another suggested that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was a lowly real estate broker who should be dumped.

Ultimately, Syria still hopes the crisis will provide an opportunity to reassert itself as a country that needs to be consulted, particularly when it comes to Lebanese affairs.

Moreover, being in the mix allows it to chase two essential goals of the ruling Baathist Party — the spoken desire to regain the Golan Heights, taken by Israel in the 1967 war, and the unspoken desire to remain in power for a good long time by forging alliances that bring prosperity and development.

“The priority is to preserve the regime; the Golan will come later,” said Mohamed Shahrour, a political activist.

Why Syria Has Much to Lose if Hezbollah Is Finally Halted (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print)

Israel not looking for Syria fight, but still getting ready

by Mehdi Lebouachera Sat Jul 29, 2:55 PM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel insists it is not looking for a fight with Syria, but is still taking precautions in case it becomes embroiled in a war with the neighbor it accuses of sponsoring Hezbollah.

"We have said on numerous occasions that we have no intention of an offensive toward Syria," Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Friday, after Israel mobilized more reservists for its onslaught against Hezbollah.

"We are doing all so that the situation on the front with Syria remains unchanged, and we are sending the message with the hope that it will be heard," he said.

"We hope that Hezbollah does not drag Damascus into the conflict."

These declarations came as the Israeli military warned that Syria's army had been placed on a state of high alert.

But Israel is also sending another message to Syria that says "if pushed we will hit you hard."

"If necessary we will use all the force necessary to defend Israel and complete our campaign," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday. "The Syrians know we are on alert."

A senior official quoted Friday by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper said that "nobody can close his eyes to what's going on on the Syrian side."

Israeli media say that few in Olmert's government want an escalation of the crisis that would drag in Syria. Israel also accuses Iran of sponsoring Hezbollah.

More than 420 people, mostly civilians, have died in Lebanon since Israel launched its massive offensive after Shiite militants of Hezbollah captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12.

A total of 51 Israelis have also died in cross-border fighting, the majority of them soldiers.

Professor Eyal Zisser, a Tel Aviv University expert on Syria and Hezbollah, said he thought a wider war was unlikely. But he warned that blunders on either side could be very dangerous.

"Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad isn't as smart as his father and he could make a mistake. As could Israel," he said. "Either party could misinterpret the actions of the other side."

It was in neither side's interest to provoke a wider regional war, Zisser added -- "especially Syria, which doesn't want to be completely destroyed like Lebanon."

The Israeli press appeared more worried.

"This week the (Israeli) army attacked convoys (of arms) as soon as they entered Lebanon (from Syria)," wrote an editorialist in the Maariv daily. "The next time, that might happen five minutes earlier, in Syrian territory. Then it's only one step to war."

An editorial in Yediot Aharonot was even more alarmist.

"We are starting a week with much diplomatic hope but with the possibility of a deterioration of the military situation of a magnitude that the region has not known in a long time," it said.

Israel not looking for Syria fight, but still getting ready (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060729/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisrael_060729185518;_ylt=AqpVJ8_B5eFLR8KfxLeBWcCbOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

Israelis edge closer to war with Syria
By Michael Hirst and Harry de Quetteville in Jerusalem
(Filed: 30/07/2006)

Israel and Syria appeared to be edging closer to direct military confrontation last night after tit-for-tat attacks around the Lebanese border and the revelation that a new type of long-range missile fired into Israel by Hezbollah was built in Syria.

Tension between the two countries over the war in Lebanon was growing as both Tel Aviv and Damascus readied their forces for the possibility of a direct clash. Israeli intelligence reported that Syrian forces had been put onto their highest state of alert, while Israel has called up 15,000 reservists who many believe will be despatched as reinforcements to the disputed Golan Heights, between the two countries.

Amir Peretz
Israel's defence minister Amir Peretz

Last night an explosives expert with the Israeli police concluded that the "unknown" missile fired by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah at the town of Afula on Friday, 30 miles inside the Israeli border, was Syrian-made, and was capable of reaching Tel Aviv, the country's largest city.

Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes struck Masnaa, the main crossing point between Lebanon and Syria, with three missiles leaving craters in the middle of the road, forcing the border to close. Witnesses said the Israelis targeted and destroyed the last building before the Syrian border.

On Thursday Syria claimed to have shot down an Israeli spy plane in the same area, flying on the Lebanese side of the border. Israel, which admitted only to a "technical fault", uses unmanned "drones" to locate weapons convoys heading from Syria towards Hezbollah's strongholds within Lebanon, in order for the Israeli air force to strike the convoys before they can reach the front line.

Israel's defence minister, Amir Peretz, has repeatedly ruled out armed conflict with Syria, but other signals point to both sides preparing their forces for the possibility of precisely such a battle, which would mark a dramatic and dangerous escalation in the crisis that began when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, earlier this month.

Israeli anger at the continuing missile-smuggling operation across Syria's border, thought to include both the rockets used against Israel and their launchers, will be heightened by comments by Hezbollah's elusive leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. He vowed to strike cities in the heart of Israel, declaring that the Jewish state had failed to win any military victory after days of bloody clashes with his fighters.

There are fears within Israeli military circles that an attack on a Syrian target could trigger a Scud missile assault by Damascus on Israeli military or civilian locations.

Nasrallah boasted on television that the "legendary resistance" put up by his own fighters was behind the growing chorus of calls for a political settlement of the conflict. More rockets would be fired at cities in central Israel, he said.

As the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon worsened, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) expressed "grave concern" at the damage to the Lebanese coastline from an oil-slick, caused by Israel's bombing earlier this month of a power plant, which sent thousands of tons of fuel oil gushing into the sea. Lebanon's environment minister, Yacub Sarraf, said the Mediterranean was threatened by its "worst ever" environmental disaster.

Israel rejected as unnecessary a United Nations plea for a three-day truce to aid civilians trapped by fighting, as its forces pulled out of the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbail, the scene of fierce fighting in recent days. Shortly after the announcement, an Israeli air strike on a house in Lebanon killed a woman and six children.

But in a softening of Israel's position that could help pave the way for an eventual ceasefire and deployment of an international "stabilisation force" in southern Lebanon, a senior foreign ministry official said Israel would not demand the immediate disarming of Hezbollah in any deal to end the fighting.

Food, medicine and other humanitarian relief was last night piling up in Beirut, but only a trickle was reaching the tens of thousands of Lebanese trapped in the war zone in the south. Israel has promised safe passage for aid, and yesterday brought a UN observer into a military control room to oversee its transfer, but officials said the process was cumbersome.

Israelis edge closer to war with Syria (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/30/wmid130.xml)

Troubles brewing for British PM over alliance with Washington; ‘ME stance could be end of him’

LONDON (AFP): As British Prime Minister Tony Blair engages in diplomacy abroad over the Middle East crisis, troubles are brewing at home over his alliance with Washington which even members of his own government find objectionable, media here said Saturday. British newspapers reported that senior figures in his administration were becoming increasingly uncomfortable over his refusal to break ranks with US President George W. Bush and demand an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Blair and Bush announced plans after talks in Washington on Friday to bring stability to Lebanon, but again opted not to call for an immediate ceasefire.

A senior minister told the Financial Times newspaper of high levels of unease within the Labour-led cabinet over “wanton destruction” in the Middle East and Britain’s refusal to call for an immediate end to hostilities.

The Times newspaper, too, said cabinet ministers had been critical in private of Blair’s handling of the conflict, with one warning that it “could be the end of him”.

Lawmakers normally loyal to the prime minister were quoted describing the disquiet as spreading throughout the Labour Party.

“This is incredibly damaging for Tony,” an unnamed “ultra-Blairite” MP told The Times.
“It is not really because people think that we are doing the Americans’ bidding, what is dawning on the parliamentary Labour Party is that Tony Blair actually believes this and that almost makes it worse.

“The number of people who think that Tony is doing the right thing is not a large number of people. He is now losing goodwill at a pace that is amazing.”

The Blairite MP Greg Pope broke cover to tell The Guardian newspaper: “Tony has misjudged (this issue), and is leaving us isolated among European countries and at home.”

The Guardian said the cost of the crisis to Britain’s reputation was high and the benefits doubtful.

“Events are on a hairtrigger but negligent delay which has cursed Britain and America’s response to this conflict from the start continues,” it said in an editorial.

The Times reckoned Blair’s popularity with his party and the electorate would doubtless be boosted by chiding the US administration, but said such a division would not aid the Middle East crisis.

It praised Blair for managing to keep himself relevant in the White House, unlike some European counterparts, saying he was “a participant in the Washington policy debate, not shouting loudly and aimlessly from the sidelines.”

Non-governmental organisations and anti-war groups have also turned up the pressure on Blair.

The Stop the War Coalition submitted a 7,500-signature petition Friday to his Downing Street office, demanding the British government call for an immediate ceasefire. The aid charity Oxfam blasted his talks with Bush in Washington as more “hand-wringing” in the face of a rising death toll.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched attacks against Hezbollah targets on July 12 after two of soldiers were captured in a deadly cross-border raid by the Shiite militia.

Troubles brewing for British PM over alliance with Washington; ‘ME stance could be end of him’ (http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/Viewdet.asp?ID=8180&cat=a)

Iran, Egypt, Libya fomenting extremism in Somalia: Gedi; Stay ‘out’ US warns Ethiopia, Eritrea

BAIDOA, Somalia (RTRS): Somalia’s prime minister on Saturday accused Libya, Egypt, Iran and Eritrea of fomenting extremism in his country, and said the killers of a cabinet minister had links with “international terrorists.” His comments came after hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Constitution and Federalism Minister Abdallah Deerow Isaq, who was gunned down outside a mosque in the latest flare-up of violence in the Horn of Africa nation. “He was killed by criminals linked to international terrorism,” Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said in Baidoa, seat of the interim government and site of the murder.

“It’s unfortunate that some countries who we thought were our friends have united to destroy the transitional federal government. Such countries include Libya, Egypt, Iran and Eritrea who together are fuelling terrorism in Somalia.”

Gedi gave no more details of his accusations, nor did he specifically accuse any of those countries for the murder.

His government’s standoff with a burgeoning Islamist movement, which took control of Mogadishu and other southern towns last month, is fast turning into a regional crisis. While Ethiopia has sent troops to protect the fragile government at its provincial base, according to witnesses, Eritrea is widely believed to be arming the Islamists.

Experts believe the Islamists are harbouring a small number of foreign extremists, and their top leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is on US and UN terrorism lists. Protesters outraged at the minister’s assassination burned tyres and looted shops on Friday, but calm returned on Saturday.

“The man who did that was a professional assassin. There’s no way he would be an amateur,” said resident Abdi Ali.

Across Baidoa, an old agricultural and trading town surrounded by bushland, security was tight. Vehicles were stopped at checkpoints, and guards with AK-47 rifles stood at hotels where lawmakers and ministers stay.

Meanwhile, the United States sent its most explicit warning yet to Horn of Africa foes Eritrea and Ethiopia on Saturday to stay out of the escalating crisis in Somalia where they are believed to be backing rival sides.

“There are many foreign elements in Somalia right now,” US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said, citing reports Ethiopia was sending troops to back the interim government and Eritrea arms for rival Islamists.

“Neither the Union of Islamic Courts nor the Transitional Federal Government can take the high ground by saying the other is violating Somali sovereignty...they’ve all invited in foreigners, all been backed by foreign forces,” she added.

Frazer, speaking to reporters on a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo to monitor elections there, said it was crucial to stop Somalia becoming a regional crisis. “You want to keep Ethiopians and Eritreans out of Somalia, that they don’t take their border conflict and move it into the Somalia venue,” she said.

Diplomats believe Addis Ababa and Asmara, which went to war in 1998-2000 and still argue over their border, are using Somalia’s government-Islamist standoff as a proxy for their own feud.

Ethiopia has sent several thousand troops to back the government at its provincial base Baidoa, witnesses say.

Eritrea has armed the Islamists in the past, according to the UN, and is believed by many to be still sending arms and probably advisers to their stronghold in Mogadishu.

Iran, Egypt, Libya fomenting extremism in Somalia: Gedi; Stay ‘out’ US warns Ethiopia, Eritrea (http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/view.asp?msgID=8182)

A New Middle East
Published: 7/29/2006

BY SOLI OZEL

SABAH- The warm weather and unbearable scenes of war have fueled the production of fantastic thoughts in Turkey. There are speculations that the US is willing to make Turkey face the threat of separation and that after Lebanon, it`s our turn. Of course those who write such things have reliable sources and deep theoretical frameworks that they use in seeing and evaluating these incidents. Those who evaluate the same incidents using different sources and historic perspectives can reach different conclusions. Considering the latest developments filling everywhere with blood and fire, we face remarkable scenes. Some people who listened to the remarks made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visits to Lebanon and Israel suspected that she was living on another planet. There was nothing surprising about the failure of the meeting in Rome, because Iran and Syria, which are considered rogue states by the US, weren’t ready. If you don’t invite the direct or indirect parties of the problem to the summit and think that it’s too early for a ceasefire, this is your result. In addition, there is another problem. Israel is facing a Hezbollah which is stronger than it expected, and the Israeli press has started to criticize the process of deciding to launch this operation and the Israeli Army’s performance so far. In the beginning, Lebanese public opinion wasn’t in favor of Hezbollah, but now it’s angry with Israel. It’s very likely that this war will continue for two or three more weeks. If in the end Israel doesn’t invade Lebanon like it did in 1982, Hezbollah will hold onto most of its power and maintain its influence on Lebanese politics. In addition, as long as the war continues and scenes of terrible suffering are shown on TV screens, Hezbollah’s popularity is rising among the Sunnis, because the organization is resisting Israel and carrying the Palestinian issue on its shoulders.

It can’t be said this conflict will make Iran and Syria weaker. On the contrary, Iran will take a harder line on its nuclear program. It’s getting less likely that the US will be able to find support to pressure Iran at the United Nations. Meanwhile, Syria feels stronger than last year. Influential circles in the US want to take Syria away from Iran and overcome this trouble. However, Damascus would have to trust US President George W. Bush and Israel would have to pledge to return the Golan Heights for Damascus to take such a step under these conditions. The US said that it would increase the number of its soldiers in Iraq. It’s hard to believe that this would solve the problems in this country, which is painted in blood. According to Bernard Haykel, a Lebanese researcher who knows al-Qaeda very well, al-Qaeda is getting angry due to Hezbollah’s success and therefore it might organize a terrorist attack against the West in order to remain leader of the jihad. No power to establish a new Middle East is apparent. A power which is in such a difficult situation wouldn’t want Turkey to be unstable or facing the threat of separation. In the final analysis, an unstable Turkey facing the threat of separation depends on the preference and policies of those living in Turkey.

A New Middle East (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=135540)

Arab media watch: Where is al-Manar?

How is Hizbullah TV station being managed? London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat tries to locate center of operations. This week in Arab press: Criticism of Hizbullah, accusations against Syria and purported Israeli spy ring exposed in Lebanon
Roee Nahmias

The mystery behind al-Manar: According to a report in the London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, no one knows where Hizbullah television station al-Manar is being broadcast from since it went underground after Israeli attacks.

Apparently not even guests interviewed on al-Manar programs know where the headquarters are, “in keeping with complicated regulations which prevent them from knowing the precise location,” the pan-Arab newspaper reports.

Phone calls to the station are not a simple matter either, as all its employees have changed their phone numbers. Therefore, the newspaper reports, to reach senior al-Manar employees by phone, one must pass through a complex chain of communications, mostly cellular. Thus, the location from which Hizbullah TV broadcasts remains a riddle even to some of its employees, and broadcasts are done from numerous locations to maintain secrecy.

A spokesman for the station, Ibrahim Farkhat, said al-Manar had prepared protocol for broadcasting during emergency situations. He noted the station was in a “terrific” state, despite the “difficult circumstances on the ground.” Al-Manar’s broadcasts were somewhat disrupted, however, by Israeli Air Force strikes on the station, which can be felt in its simplified broadcast schedule and hasty and meager news reports.

Spy games: In the meantime, reports continue regarding the exposure of an Israeli spy network by Lebanese intelligence.

Lebanese journal al-Intiqad on Friday reported that a group of Israeli operatives were caught with communications equipment used to track cell phone conversations.

The operatives arrested are citizens of various countries, the report claimed, including Lebanese, Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian, Sudanese, Egyptian and others. Among other things, their operations allowed Israeli intelligence to track certain targets, such as particular cars.

‘Hizbullah feared Lebanese prosperity’: The Arab media also included some voices of criticism against Hizbullah. Huda al-Husseini, a columnist in al-Sharq al-Awsat, wrote an article this week under the headline: “Bombing of Haifa led to ruin of Lebanon.”

“Before the order to kidnap the two Israeli soldiers, the Lebanese economy had started to lift its head, investments were streaming in, real estate prices rose, and prosperity could be felt in every corner. But all of this recovery constituted a challenge to the Hizbullah thought processes. Lebanese people of all ethnicities were beginning to return to their state before the war and before the invasion of the idea of the Iranian Islamic revolution. Lebanese like to earn and live well, and this very much threatened the outlook Hizbullah is based on,” al-Husseini wrote.

“Hizbullah's preparation for this war began years ago. The organization trained and stocked up on weapons from Iran and Syria,” she wrote, adding that Israel served Lebanon true destructive blows only after Hizbullah attacked Haifa.

Al-Husseini criticized the words of a Hizbullah minister, who said: “We’ve exchanged the period of tourism for the period of heroism,” saying: “These are nice words, but what is really needed is a brave initiative to save Lebanon, for example, for Hizbullah to declare a unilateral ceasefire.”

Syria’s gains: Some, on the other hand, allude to accusations against Syria for the current crisis, in their failure to agree to draw borders in which the Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon and not Syria, to justify Lebanon’s demands that Israel withdraw from them.

Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi claimed in an interview for al-Sharq al-Awsat that “If Syria agreed to draw the border, we could go to the UN Security Council as a strong step and work to achieve our demands. If Israel then refused to withdraw from Shebaa Farms, Hizbullah resistance could fulfill its duty by being supported unanimously in Lebanon and having international legitimacy. But Syria refused and here comes Israel instead supported by international legitimacy and opens its aggressions.”

Arab media watch: Where is al-Manar? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283262,00.html)

Rockets in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon
11:54 Jul 30, '06 / 5 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

Sunday morning wave of Katyushas hits northern Israel, causing injuries, sending tens of thousands into shelters. The IDF hit targets in Lebanon, including a house in terrorist-stronghold Kafr Kana.

Some 25 Hizbullah-fired Katyusha rockets smashed into northern Israel's Kiryat Shmonah and vicinity this morning, hitting at least one building. Seven rockets hit Acco, wounding ten people, while in Nahariya, a Magen David Adom medical team evacuated two wounded, including one who was hit by shrapnel. More rockets were fired at Haifa, Kfar Blum and elsewhere.

Over the course of the Sabbath, close to 100 Katyushas landed in Tzfat, Carmiel, Acco, Nahariya, Maalot, Tiberias, Kiryat Shmonah and elsewhere. Though tens of thousands of people were forced to spend yet another Sabbath in their shelters, only one person was injured by the rockets. Heavy damage was caused to medical facility in Acco.

Tens of other thousands of people have left their homes for central and southern Israel.

The official count of Katyusha rockets that have hit Israel in the past 19 days: over 1,750. Of these, close to a quarter fell, as they were intended, in populated areas, killing 19 civilians. In addition, nearly 1,100 people have been wounded, including 66 in critical or "moderate" condition, and 43 people are still hospitalized.

On Friday, for the first time, Hizbullah fired a much higher-quality Katyusha, known as a Fajr-5. The Fajr is a long-range missile with a particularly heavy explosive payload, and five of them landed as far south as the Beit She'an-Afula area. No one was hurt.

In Kafr Kana, Lebanon, a three-story building bombed by the IDF was totally destroyed, killing at least 50 people, many of whom were in the shelter below. Israel has repeatedly warned civilians in the area to leave, but Hizbullah terrorists, who used them as "human shields," prevented them from doing so.

A senior Israel Air Force officer said that the army has been bombing the area for three days because of dozens of Katyushas fired from the village. Some of the Katyushas hit an Israeli hospital.

Rockets in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108688)

Bicycle and oil deals cement Chavez's ties to Iran

By Alireza Ronaghi Sun Jul 30, 2:03 PM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez enveloped his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a bear hug on Sunday and the two men backed their anti-U.S. rhetoric with deals on everything from bicycles to oil.
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In a typically verbose speech, robust ex-paratrooper Chavez lambasted their common enemy, Washington.

"If the U.S. empire succeeds in establishing its dominance, there will be no future for humanity. Therefore we should save humanity and end the American empire," Chavez told a crowd at the University of Tehran.

Chavez also criticized the current offensive by
Israel,
Iran's arch-enemy, against Lebanon as "both fascism and terrorism." This chimed with the view of Iran's president who has compared Israel's conduct to that of Adolf Hitler.

A beaming Ahmadinejad presented Chavez with the golden "High Medallion of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and slipped a blue sash around his chest.

"Mr Chavez is my brother, the brother of the whole Iranian nation and of all freedom-seeking people in the world," he said.

"He is a perpetual warrior against the dominant system, a worshipper of God and a servant of the people," he added.

Chavez and Ahmadinejad are both ex-military populists who take a hawkish price stance in the
OPEC oil cartel. They enjoy a close personal rapport.

Both countries frequently boast they are steeled for any military assault the United States may launch.

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez echoed the leaders' defiant attitude by threatening to cut oil exports to the United States if Washington did not drop its hostile stance toward Chavez's administration.

MORE THAN RHETORIC

But there was more than Yankee-bashing to the visit, and the Venezuelan delegation signed several Memorandums of Understanding on joint work in the oil industry and housing.

Iran and Venezuela also signed deals on jointly making bicycles, medicines and industrial moulds, and pledged to cooperate in aviation and on environmental issues, though details on all these contracts were hazy.

Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said the Iranian firm Petropars would invest $4 billion in two Venezuelan energy projects.

Petropars is already certifying some tarry crude in the Orinoco Belt and is looking to develop reserves there. It also wants to supply training and services to the Norte de Paria offshore gas field.

A planned deal for Venezuela to export gasoline to Iran was canceled. Industry Minister Alireza Tahmasbi told Reuters this was because of problems over pricing and quality.

The contract had attracted considerable interest because of confusion over whether Iran is going to cut gasoline imports from September 23.

Iranian investors have already poured $1 billion of investment into Venezuela, mainly in sectors such as energy, construction and tractor-building.

Carmaker Iran Khodro said it would start making its Samand model in Venezuela in October.

Although commercial deals are proceeding, some analysts have said that Chavez's dependence on the United States as a major buyer of his oil will probably prevent him from striking any arms deals with Tehran.

Chavez visited Moscow before Iran, and on Thursday Russia said it had sold Venezuela 77 aircraft and helicopters as part of a long-term package of arms deals worth over $3 billion.

Bicycle and oil deals cement Chavez's ties to Iran (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060730/wl_nm/iran_venezuela_dc)

Iran's Ahmadinejad signals hardening of nuclear stance

by Hiedeh Farmani Sun Jul 30, 3:24 PM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's president signaled that Israeli attacks against the Palestinian territories and Lebanon were causing Iran to harden its stance in the international row over its nuclear programme.

"We are examining the package, considering our interests and definitive legitimate rights and will announce our views at the appointed date," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said of an international offer of incentives in exchange for a halt to sensitive atomic work.

"But the incidents in Lebanon and Palestine have influenced our examination," said the president, whose country is a major supporter of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Ahmadinejad also asserted that "the government is determined to fully exploit the rights of the Iranian nation," signalling Tehran's continued unwillingness to freeze its controversial uranium enrichment programme.

Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to the levels needed for reactor fuel and that this is a right enshrined by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Nuclear energy is clean and renewable, and all nations have the right to use it," said Ahmadinejad, who was speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Enrichment can also be extended to make weapons, and lingering questions over the nature of Iran's work has prompted a series of demands for a moratorium.

Iran had also threatened Sunday to bin the international proposal -- which was drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- if the UN Security Council passes a draft resolution demanding that Tehran freeze enrichment by the end of August.

Iran had said it will take until August 22 to reply the offer that was handed to Tehran on June 6, prompting the Security Council to reinforce demands for an enrichment freeze.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Tehran could "revise" its policies, implicitly warning that future access for UN inspectors could end. He also said the proposed UN resolution would "worsen the crisis in the region".

"By putting pressure and trying to intimidate Iran, no country will achieve anything. On the contrary, the situation will worsen," Asefi said.

"If tomorrow they pass a resolution against Iran, the package will not be on the agenda any more," he said of the proposal, which offers Iran the prospect of multilateral talks on trade, diplomatic and technology incentives if it complies.

"Issuing this resolution will worsen the crisis in the region."

When asked to elaborate on what specific measures Iran might take, Asefi replied: "They know what I am talking about."

Iranian leaders have already warned they could halt cooperation with inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

They have also played up Iran's regional clout and oil wealth.

A text of the proposed UN resolution was distributed to the 15 council nations on Friday, and US ambassador John Bolton told reporters that a vote could be held early in the week.

If Iran continues enriching uranium, "the next step will be the consideration of sanctions in the Security Council, and it would be our intention to move forcefully to get those sanctions adopted," Bolton said.

The first stage would be political and economic sanctions, diplomats stressed, pointing to a vote within a few days.

"My hope is that we will be able to adopt it by Monday," said French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, whose country holds the rotating council presidency for July.

The United States and its allies believe that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, and US
President George W. Bush said Friday Tehran "will not be allowed" to achieve its wish.

Russia and China have led opposition to any mention of sanctions in the UN resolution.

Moscow's ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, stressed the new resolution would not threaten sanctions and that it was "an invitation to dialogue" with Iran.

Iran's Ahmadinejad signals hardening of nuclear stance (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060730/wl_mideast_afp/irannuclearpolitics_060730191656;_ylt=AoZt2T2T2r.0Ldos.4MTHQBn.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

IDF: Qana building fell hours after strike

(VIDEO) IDF continuing to check difficult incident at Qana village, and attempting to account for strange gap between time of the strike on the building – midnight – and eight in the morning, when the building collapsed
Hanan Greenberg

VIDEO - An IDF investigation has found that the building in Qana struck by the Air Force fell around eight hours after being hit by the IDF.

"The attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear," Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters told journalists at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, following the incidents at Qana.

Rockets being fired from Qana village

Eshel and the head of the IDF's Operational Branch, Major General Gadi Eisnkot said the structure was not being attacked when it collapsed, at around 8:00 in the morning.

The IDF believes that Hizbullah explosives in the building were behind the explosion that caused the collapse.

Another possibility is that the rickety building remained standing for a few hours, but eventually collapsed. "It could be that inside the building, things that could eventually cause an explosion were being housed, things that we could not blow up in the attack, and maybe remained there, Brigadier General Eshel said.

Rescue operations in Qana

"I'm saying this very carefully, because at this time I don't have a clue as to what the explanation could be for this gap," he added.

Meanwhile in Lebanon it is being reported that the number of those killed in the collapse of the structure climbed to 60.

All targets struck accurately

Eshel said that an additional attack took place at 7:30 in the morning, but added that other buildings were targeted. "This was an attack on three buildings 460 meters away from the structure we are talking about. Four bombs were dropped and all of them are documented by the planes' cameras. They all struck their targets. In addition, we carried out a filming sortie that photographed the village during the afternoon showing that the three targeted buildings we struck. We have verification of strikes on the building and that the bombs reached their targets," Eshel said.

"An attack that took place at two in the morning struck two targets, both of them 400 meters away from the building (that collapsed). They were also destroyed. The attack between 12 and 1 a.m. struck the area of the affected house, and there were accurate strikes on the target. We are asking the question – what happened between 1 in the morning and 8 in the morning… we understand this building was attacked between 12 and 1 in the morning, seven hours before it was seriously damaged," he said.

Brigadier General Eshel explained that "since the start of fighting in Lebanon 150 rockets from a very high number of rocket launchers have been fired from the village and its surrounding areas, at a number of sites in the State of Israel. Within the village itself we have located a diverse range of activities connected to firing of rockets, beginning from forces commanding this operation – because such an operation needs ongoing command to direct it – and logistical sites that serve this end."

"From this village rockets are fired almost every day across Israel. The operation carried out overnight is an extension of operations that didn't start last night but before, and during this night we struck a number of targets in the village. All of the targets are being meticulously sifted," Eshel added.

IDF: Qana building fell hours after strike (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283816,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sounds almost like Hezbullah blew up, there own people. If thats the case, Hezbullah may be in trouble. :D

Analysis: Hezbollah may have the edge

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 14 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt - It's hard to defeat a group of extremists who can mingle among civilian supporters and are pros at propaganda. Israel's military faces the same conundrum the United States has encountered elsewhere — finding that airstrikes are costly in civilian deaths and public support, while ground attacks are risky for soldiers.

That does not mean Hezbollah is winning militarily. But the guerrilla group has so far avoided a knockout by Israel, even as international pressure for a cease-fire has grown. And in the war of perceptions, Hezbollah has only to look strong against Israel and make Israel look bad to win across much of the Arab world, many analysts say.

That was brought into stark focus Sunday when an Israeli airstrike flattened a house in southern Lebanon, killing at least 56 people, mostly women and children. Israel apologized for the deaths and blamed Hezbollah, accusing it of using civilians as human shields.

But the backlash against Israel and its ally America was swift: Lebanese officials reacted in fury and Beirut protesters attacked a U.N. building and burned American flags. At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply dismayed" his previous calls for a cease-fire had been ignored.

The United States knows this scenario well from Iraq and elsewhere: Pictures of dead children and women killed in airstrikes can hurt support even among friends.

Yet the alternative for Israel, if it wants to push back Hezbollah, is either a full-scale ground war or a lengthy series of smaller-scale incursions to eliminate the group's positions along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

For now, Israel says it has no plans for a big land invasion, still leery from its costly occupation of south Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. But the smaller incursions have brought relatively high Israeli casualties and low apparent impact: U.N. observers in south Lebanon say Hezbollah's supply of rockets remains adequate to fight, and most of its leaders have survived.

Israel has privately told the United States it needs 10 days to two weeks to accomplish what it wants.

Hezbollah's strength comes from its ability to hide fighters and weapons — both among the populace and in bunkers and tunnels — who can pop up once the Israelis pass by and fire more missiles toward Israel. That ability springs from its wide support among people in southern Lebanon.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld famously called it "asymmetric warfare" and identified it as the challenge America faced from terror groups after the Sept. 11 attacks, and from al-Qaida linked groups in Iraq.

Israel faces just such a struggle against both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the militant group Hamas in Gaza, says Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In many ways, such threats "are more difficult to resolve" than battles against conventional military forces, he said. "The groups have made a living out of having few tangible assets to attack. In many ways, they exist principally as a set of ideas ... and they enjoy wide support among their target communities."

Israel, of course, has years of experience fighting the guerrilla-style Palestinian uprisings in the West Bank and Gaza. But its wars against outsiders have mostly, except in Lebanon, been against Arab countries' armies or air forces.

Some analysts say that history appears to have left it off-balance this time.

"It's relying too much on the air campaign and it's wrong," said Efraim Inbar, an analyst at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

He instead advocates a robust ground attack and attacks on Syria to prevent Hezbollah resupply of weapons.

But ground attacks also carry risks: Israel lost nine soldiers in ambushes Wednesday alone in operations around the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbail.

Even when Israel succeeds in such pin-pointed ground incursions, "Hezbollah can disperse, hide men and equipment" and live to fight another day, notes Anthony Cordesman, another Mideast expert.

And a longer-term occupation of south Lebanon would simply give Hezbollah a "new, exposed ambush zone," plus ample opportunity to raise anti-Israeli and anti-American hostility among Arabs — a propaganda ploy it is expert at.

Even one of the best outcomes for Israel — the insertion of an international force at the border to keep Hezbollah at bay — comes with huge risks for whoever makes up the force, eerily resonant of the attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, Cordesman warns.

"The international force will probably have to do the heavy lifting, be willing to fight and become the focus of new Hezbollah attacks and ambushes," he says. "Non-Muslims will be seen as occupiers and crusaders ... Can anyone spell IED?"

Analysis: Hezbollah may have the edge (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_hezbollah_s_edge)

Top Iran general says hopes to avenge Muslim deaths

2 hours, 35 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said he hoped the Islamic republic could one day "avenge the blood of innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan".

"We have to keep this sacred hatred of the enemies of Islam alive in our hearts until the time of revenge comes," General Yahya Rahim Safavi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

"I hope our nation can one day avenge the blood of innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and
Afghanistan," he said, adding: "I ask God to arouse the dignity of Muslims and destroy America,
Israel and their associates."

His comments came the day of an Israeli strike that killed 52 people -- more than half of them children -- in the village of Qana, the deadliest attack in its near three-week offensive against Lebanon.

"I ask God that the crimes and atrocities of Zionists hasten the annihilation of this regime. Hezbollah and Lebanese people are invincible and this cancerous tumor... should die," he added, calling on "clerical leaders in the Islamic world (to) clarify the duty of Muslims against Israel."

The Revolutionary Guards Corps was set up in the wake of the 1979 revolution to defend the Islamic republic from "internal and external threats" and played a leading role in the 1980-88 war with Iraq. It it believed to number several hundred thousand troops.

The force is now one of Iran's most powerful institutions, and under direct command of the supreme leader.

Since Israel launched its war on Hezbollah on July 12, Tehran has stepped up its war of words with its arch-enemy.

Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran is also Hezbollah's main international supporter, although the Islamic republic insists it only provides "moral support" to the movement.

Other Iranian officials meanwhile called for US and Israeli leaders to be prosecuted for "crimes against humanity".

"The United States and the supporters of the Zionist regime are undoubtedly responsible for this savage terrorist catastrophe," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said of the Qana strike.

"The UN Security Council must stop the Zionists' crimes in Palestine and Lebanon, and put them on trial immediately for crimes against humanity," the ISNA news agency quoted him saying.

The United States, he argued, had effectively given "the green light" for the attack during an international conference in Rome on the Lebanon conflict on Wednesday.

"Zionist regime officials as well as some US statesmen should be put on trial," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also told reporters.

But he meanwhile repeated Iran's denial of allegations it is financing and arming Hezbollah.

"We have not and will not send forces to Lebanon," Asefi said. "We have not provided the Lebanese resistance with arms. We are very transparent: our aid is political and humanitarian."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meanwhile fumed that it was "clear that international organisations have become a tool in the hand of domineering powers" -- in a fresh attack against the UN Security Council.

Iran is under mounting Security Council pressure, with the world body poised to pass a resolution demanding that Tehran suspend its controversial nuclear programme and threatening possible sanctions if it refuses.

"Britain, the planner of this sinister regime, and the US, the unconditional supporter of this regime, are both responsible," Ahmadinejad said of Western support for the "fake, illegitimate and usurper" state of Israel.

Top Iran general says hopes to avenge Muslim deaths (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060730/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictiran_060730202102;_ylt=AuVxmlXHEHvBGspNAe2HRkYUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

Arafat's 'fox' running rocket unit
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 29, 2006

Hizbullah's top commander in southern Lebanon is a veteran Fatah operative who was very close to former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat when the PLO was based in Beirut, Fatah officials said over the weekend.

They identified the man as Imad Mughniyeh, a former officer in Arafat's Force 17 presidential guard who has been in charge of Hizbullah's military operations in south Lebanon for the past decade.

"Imad Mughniyeh is the overall commander of the Islamic Resistance [Hizbullah's armed wing] in southern Lebanon," said a Fatah official who said he knew Mughniyeh well during the '70s and '80s.

"He's nicknamed tha'lab [the fox], and today he's considered the second important figure in Hizbullah after Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. We're very proud to have a Palestinians holding such a high position in Hizbullah," the Fatah official said.

Mughniyeh, who is believed to have been behind the abduction of the two IDF soldiers on July 12, is also reported to be in charge of Hizbullah's rocket unit in south Lebanon. The unit has fired more than 1,600 rockets at Israel during the current violence.

When the IDF forced the PLO to leave Lebanon in 1982, Arafat entrusted Mughniyeh with transferring the organization's weapons to Lebanese militias allied with the Palestinians.

Mughniyeh, who refused to leave Beirut with the PLO leadership, joined the the Shi'ite Amal militia headed by Nabih Berri. He and Nasrallah, who was then a member of Amal, later left the movement to form Hizbullah.

Born in the Lebanese city of Tyre in 1952, Mughniyeh did not attract attention until 1976, when he joined Force 17 as a sniper targeting Christians on the Green Line dividing West and East Beirut.

Mugniyah has since been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks against the US, France and Israel, in which hundreds of people have been killed. These include three in 1983: the bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut and barracks housing US Marines and French paratroopers who were part of the Multinational Force in Lebanon.

He has also been linked to the Karine A weapons ship that Arafat tried to use to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip in 2001.

On October 10, 2001 Mughniyeh appeared on the FBI's first "Top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists" list. A reward of $25 million was offered for information leading to his capture.

Arafat's 'fox' running rocket unit (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292027420&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran Revolutionary Guard Details Support to Hizbullah
Special Dispatch-Iran/Lebanon
July 31, 2006
No. 1220

Iranian Assistance to Hizbullah - Iran Revolutionary Guards Officer:
Hizbullah Has Iran-Trained Diver, Naval Commando Units; We Have Constructed
Command Rooms for Hizbullah; Iranian Martyrdom Forces Have Been Sent To
Lebanon

On July 29, 2006, the London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published a
detailed article on assistance extended to Hizbullah by Iran's Revolutionary
Guards, as reported by a high-ranking Revolutionary Guards officer who had
trained Hizbullah naval units. According to the officer, Hizbullah has a
diver unit and a naval commando unit. He further claims that Revolutionary
Guards officers assisted Hizbullah in the July 14, 2006 firing of a C802
missile at an Israeli Navy ship, and had also helped Hizbullah construct
underground facilities - including command and control rooms - which are
being operated by Revolutionary Guards officers along with Hizbullah
fighters.

In addition, Iranian news agencies have published a number of reports about
groups of Iranian volunteers sent to Lebanon to aid Hizbullah in its fight
against Israel.

The following are excerpts from these reports on Iranian assistance to
Hizbullah.

Revolutionary Guards Assistance to Hizbullah

The following are excerpts from the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat report on aid extended
to Hizbullah by Iran's Revolutionary Guards:(1)

"Hundreds of Hizbullah fighters currently confronting Israel's military
array took part in special training courses at the Revolutionary Guards
bases in Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad and Ahvaz. According to a high-ranking
[Revolutionary] Guards officer, who trained one of the Hizbullah naval
units, Hizbullah has many surprises up its sleeve. Until now, there has been
no direct confrontation between Hizbullah and the Israeli navy, [but] one of
the Israeli navy's ships was attacked with C802 missiles with the help of
Revolutionary Guards [fighters] stationed in Lebanon. Hizbullah has a
divers' unit and a naval commando unit [equipped] with Chinese-made Ho-Dong
speedboats, which are capable of dealing [serious] blows to the Israeli
navy."

The Iranian officer added that "thanks to the presence of hundreds of
Iranian engineers and technicians, as well as North Korean experts brought
[into Lebanon] in the guise of [domestic] servants by Iranian diplomats and
by the staff at the Iranian representations and offices in Lebanon,
Hizbullah has managed to build a 25-kilometer underground [tunnel]. Each
opening in this [tunnel] measures 12 to 18 square meters, and has a mobile
floor and a semi-mobile ceiling. Each four openings are connected by a
passage that allows fighters to pass easily [from one opening] to the other.

"The [Revolutionary] Guards has also built Hizbullah underground storerooms
in the Beka' Valley, at a depth of no more than eight meters, which hold
huge amounts of missiles and ammunition. In the Beka', there is [also] a
central command room operated by four Revolutionary Guards officers and four
Hizbullah [fighters]. Each sector has its [own] command and operations room.

"Hizbullah's missile unit includes some 200 technicians and experts trained
in Iran. Hizbullah has three missile units, each supervised by a staff of
20."

2,500 Iranian Suicide Fighters Await Khamenei's Order

The following are reports recently published by Iranian news agencies
regarding groups of Iranian volunteers sent to Lebanon to assist Hizbullah
in its fight against Israel:

On July 25, 2006, the Iranian Farda news agency quoted a report by the
Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), stating that Hizbullah-Iran has recruited
some 2,500 suicide fighters who are awaiting an order from Iran's Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei to set out to Lebanon.

Hizbullah-Iran spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli added that the Hizbullah-Iran
Chairman Mohammad Baqr Kharrazi will "soon be stationed in Lebanon in order
to support Hizbullah-Lebanon and to express solidarity with the resistance
and with the oppressed Lebanese nation, and [also] in order to follow
developments [more] closely...

"Some 2,500 people who are fully willing to carry out istishhad [martyrdom]
operations have signed up through groups connected to Hizbullah-Iran, so
that the list [of martyrs] is now ready, and they await an order from the
Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei]..."(2)

Enlisting Volunteers Online

On July 26, 2006, the Iranian news agency Alborz announced that volunteers
could sign up online for the "Army of the Fighters of Muhammad." The report
explained that the Army of the Fighters of Muhammad was recruiting fighters
to be sent to Lebanon, and that those interested in signing up could also
call a telephone number in Tehran (88938821). According to the report, the
minimum age for enlisting is 16.

Two Groups of Martyrdom Fighters Sent To Lebanon

On July 18, 2006, the Alborz news agency reported that "two groups of
Iranian martyrdom fighters, who have received guidance and training, have
been sent to Lebanon in order to participate in the [war on] its fronts.

"Ali Mohammadi, spokesman of The World Islamic Organization's Headquarters
for Commemorating the ubgone19s (martyrdom fighters), stated: 'These two
groups, which include 27 people selected from among 55,000 who signed up,
were sent to Lebanon in order to participate in the war front against the
Zionist regime... These forces have undergone various forms of training...
Their mission is to arrive in Lebanon by any means possible, and to carry
out martyrdom operations in the event that Lebanon is occupied by the
Zionist regime.'

"The sending of these troops, he noted, was on a completely volunteer
basis... These people were sent to Lebanon privately, and they have no
organizational connection with Hizbullah... It should be noted that these 27
people have mastery of English and Arabic. They are to remain in Lebanon
until further notice...'"(3)

Mehr News Agency: "Two Teams [Have Been] Sent to Syria In Order to Reach The
Regions Of Conflict In Lebanon"

According to another report, by the Mehr news agency, on the dispatching of
two suicide fighter groups to Lebanon, spokesman Mohammadi said that "two
teams, one with 18 people and the other with nine, traveled separately... to
Syria, in order to reach the regions of conflict in Lebanon by any means
possible..." Mohammadi noted that "all 27 [team members] have mastery of
Arabic, and some of them can even speak English... We have no organizational
connection with Hizbullah or any other group. These people set out with the
aim of helping the Lebanese people, and they are acting independently..."(4)

Endnotes:
(1) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat(London), July 29, 2006,
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/print/default.asp?did=375420 .
(2) Farda News Agency (Iran), July 25, 2006,
http://fardanews.com/show/?id=22540 .
(3) Alborz News Agency (Iran), July 18, 2006,
http://www.alborznews.net/shownews.asp?u=6132 .
(4) Mehr News Agency (Iran), July 17, 2006, as reported by the Iranian news
portal www.dat.ir.

Iran Revolutionary Guard Details Support to Hizbullah (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30382)

Zest for martyrdom fuels Hizbollah in battle
30 Jul 2006 18:52:06 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Tom Perry

BEIRUT, July 30 (Reuters) - A sister of Hizbollah fighter Mustafa Zalzali wears mourning black for her brother, but his death in battle with Israel elicits more pride than grief.

"We thank God almighty for making us the family of a martyr," she said. "We received the news of his martyrdom with pride," she told Hizbollah's al-Manar television.

Hizbollah guerrillas are well armed and trained. But one of the group's greatest assets in its war with Israel is the willingness of its fighters to die for their cause.

Hizbollah has killed 33 Israeli soldiers, including some of the army's best, in the war triggered when the guerrillas captured two soldiers in a raid into Israel on July 12.

"Hizbollah's strength really lies in its fighters -- that they are ready for death," Hizbollah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb said. "The edge they have is their steadfastness and resolve, which is derived from their religious ideology."

The guerrillas killed eight Israeli soldiers in one battle alone in the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday. They also put up a stiff fight at the border village of Maroun al-Ras.

Israel says it has killed more than 200 Hizbollah fighters, but the guerrilla group says it has lost only 31.

"We do not hide our martyrs," Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told Al Jazeera television. "On the contrary, we always take pride in our martyrs."

Fighters killed in combat are celebrated as heroes by Hizbollah, which emerged in the early 1980s to fight Israeli occupation and enjoys strong support among Lebanese Shi'ites.

READY FOR SACRIFICE

Families of slain fighters are held in high esteem by Hizbollah followers. Nasrallah himself draws his popularity and legitimacy partly from the death of his eldest son at the age of 18 in combat with Israel.

"For 23 years, we have been speaking and mobilising the people," Nasrallah said. "Speaking about martyrdom, the honour of martyrdom and the stature of martyrs."

For Hizbollah's supporters, martyrdom is a sublime goal rooted in their Shi'ite Muslim traditions.

Shi'ites annually mark the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein in battle at Kerbala in 680.

Hizbollah fighters killed in battle are also remembered in the Ashura ceremonies which mark the death of Imam Hussein.

Shi'ites differ from Sunnis in seeing Hussein's father, Ali, as the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammad.

"The desire for martyrdom among Hizbollah followers and the willingness to be martyred is absolutely essential," said Samer el-Karanshawy, a researcher on Lebanese Shi'ites.

"This cannot be separated from the tenacity of their fighting in Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil."

Willingness to sacrifice is a key qualification for joining Hizbollah's military ranks. "Hizbollah would not open its doors to secular Shi'ites because they lack this commitment which is crucial in terms of military power," Saad-Ghorayeb said. The family of Zalzali, killed in a recent battle, say they are ready for more sacrifices.

"His martyrdom has lifted our heads high," said another of his sisters. "Whatever more we can offer, we will. Our men, our children, our siblings."

Zest for martyrdom fuels Hizbollah in battle (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29651452.htm)

');

By Tom Perry

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese protesters broke into the United Nations headquarters in Beirut on Sunday, smashing windows and ransacking offices, after an Israeli air strike killed at least 40 people in south Lebanon.

Several thousand people massed outside the building in downtown Beirut chanting "Death to Israel, death to America. We sacrifice our blood and souls for Lebanon."

By early afternoon, most protesters had drifted away leaving a few hundred people milling in a car park opposite the building, which was being protected by a line of Lebanese soldiers.

Geir Petersen, the personal representative of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in Lebanon, condemned the Israeli attack on the village of Qana and called for an immediate investigation.

"I strongly condemn today's killing of tens of civilians by Israeli shelling of residential buildings in the village of Qana," he said in a statement.

Petersen was not at the U.N. offices in Beirut when they were attacked.

U.N. spokesman Khaled Mansour said the building had been stoned and furniture smashed but no U.N. staff were hurt as they had taken refuge in the basement. He said a small fire was started on the second floor but it had been contained.

Demonstrators held aloft the flags of Lebanon, Hizbollah and the Amal party, whose leader, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, appealed for a halt to the attack.

"Give the world a chance to stand by us," he said on local television.

CALLS TO ATTACK TEL AVIV

Demonstrators tore down a United Nations flag outside the building and ripped it to shreds and called on Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to launch rocket attacks on Tel Aviv.

"Oh Nasrallah, oh our cherished one, destroy, destroy Tel Aviv," they chanted.

Members of Hizbollah, the Shi'ite group that sparked the war 19 days ago when it seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid, tried to restrain the crowd.

The protesters gathered after an Israeli attack early on Sunday killed at least 40 people, including 23 children, in the southern Lebanese village of Qana.

Following the attack, Lebanon canceled a planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday, saying she was unwelcome until a ceasefire was declared.

At least 523 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed since the conflict started and there is growing anger in Lebanon that the international community has not done enough to stop it.

"It's tense, we understand the anger and the rage of the people outside because of the Israeli shelling, but we don't understand why the U.N. building and its staff, many of them Lebanese, are to blame," said Mansour, speaking from the basement of the UN building.

'); (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060730/2006-07-30T113233Z_01_L30807889_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-MIDEAST-LEBANON-HEADQUARTERS-DC.html)

Cry to Those Using Babies as Shields
by Naomi Ragen
Jul 30, '06 / 5 Av 5766

My son is in the army. He is not the type at all, believe me. Quiet, studious, a writer, a lover of Jewish history, Talmud, ethics. He spent two years in a pre-army program in the Galilee called Karmei Chayil. He made many good friends there from all over the country; and now, he and all his friends are in the army.

One of them I know well. A bit chubby, with payot (sidelocks) and a great laugh. He and my son have become like brothers. While both of them tried out for the elite paratroopers unit, only he made it in. He and his unit are the ones in Lebanon. They were there over a week, fighting under horrific conditions, running out of food and water. Even though the Israeli air force dropped tons of leaflets warning civilians to flee because they were in terrorist territory and likely to be injured, they still encountered civilians.

My son spoke to his friend yesterday,and this is how he described it:

The village looked empty, and then we heard noises coming from one of the houses, so we opened fire. But when we went inside, we found two women and a child huddled in the corner of the room. We were so relieved we hadn't hurt them. We took up base in one of the empty houses. And then, all of a sudden, we came under intense fire. Three rockets were fired at the house we were in. Only one managed to destroy a wall, which fell on one of us, covering him in white dust, but otherwise not hurting him. I spent the whole time feeding bullets to my friend who was shooting non-stop. We managed to kill 26 terrorists. Not one of us was hurt.

Our commanding officer kept walking around, touching everybody on the shoulder, smiling and encouraging us: "We're are better than they are. Don't worry." It calmed us all down. And really, we were much better than them. They are a lousy army. They only win when they hide behind baby carriages.

Please remember this when you hear about the "atrocity" of the Israeli bomb (allegedly) dropped on Kfar Kana, killing many civilians, a place from which Hizbullah has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. Unlike previous administrations, Mr. Ehud Olmert has my respect when he says: "They were warned to leave. It is the responsibility of Hizbullah for firing rockets amidst civilians."

Terrorists and their supporters have lost the right to complain about civilian casualties, since all they have done this entire war is target civilians. Every single one of the more than 2,500 rockets launched into Israel is launched into populated towns filled with women and children. Just today, another suicide belt meant to kill civilians in Israel was detonated harmlessly by our forces in Nablus.

So, don't cry to me about civilian casualties. Cry to those using your babies and wives and mothers; cry to those who store weapons in mosques, ambulances, hospitals and private homes. Cry to those launching deadly rockets from the backyards of your kindergartens and schools. Cry to the heartless men who love death, and who, however many of their troops or civilians die, consider themselves victorious as long as they can keep on firing rockets at our women and children.

Save your sympathy for the mothers and sisters and girlfriends of our young soldiers who would rather be sitting in study halls learning Torah, but have no choice but to risk their precious lives - full of hope, goodness and endless potential - to wipe out the cancerous terrorist cells that threaten their people and all mankind. Make your choice, and save your tears.

That terrorists have been unsuccessful in killing more of our women and children is due to our army, God and our prayers, not to any lack of motivation or intention on their part. If you hide behind your baby to shoot at my baby, you are responsible for getting children killed. You, and you alone.

Cry to Those Using Babies as Shields (http://www.arutzsheva.net/article.php3?id=6421)

Lebanon’s Future, Hizbullah with Nuclear Missiles?

By Barry Shaw

The Lebanese weep excuses of weakness. The international community has bought their sob story. They cry that they were unable to stop Hizbullah, even though they welcomed them as brothers into their Government.

Then there is the issue of the Lebanese Government allowing Hizbullah to grow from a rag-tag terror group into a seven-thousand strong, Iranian-trained, army with an estimated twelve-thousand Katyusha rockets plus far more sophisticated and deadly missiles.

Where were the Lebanese Government six-years ago, before Hizbullah owned such an awesome arsenal? Apologists for Lebanon would claim that the Government was hostage to Syria at that time. They were certainly either hostage, or partner of Hizbullah, leading up to the recent conflict. Which?

We may accept that the Lebanese army would perform an awful job patrolling their southern border with Israel. We may also agree that they need the forceful arm of an international force with powers to disarm, arrest, or stop in any way necessary, Hizbullah or others that would destabilize the area, by launching further terror attacks against Israel. There may be a force guarding the border, though this will bring no great confidence to Israel's northern citizens.

The UN, NATO, or any other force imported into many of the world's trouble zones, have not met with any great success. This is a polite understatement.
They have failed because there was always one side not committed to keeping the peace.

In fact, there is a bloody history of such imported forces being massacred by offending terror groups. Lebanon's soil is drenched with the blood of American servicemen who were there to keep the peace. They were killed by the very Hizbullah that is engaging Israel today. Does anyone think that they would give up on their radicalism because of an overseas force imposed on them? On the contrary, they will be seen as an occupying army to be fought and driven from their holy land.

So where should the Lebanese Government display its responsibility for it's own security. It is unable, or incapable, of patrolling its own border with Israel? An excellent place to start would be to control its other borders, namely its airport, seaports, and border crossings with Syria.

Israel is paying a heavy and painful price not only protecting its own citizens but also reducing Hizbullah's hegemony and military capability. This must not be allowed to return. It is for certain that Hizbullah, with the eager assistance of its pay masters Syria and Iran, will eagerly begin to rearm.

International soldiers and observers may be busy in the South, but Hizbullah will be restocked with the latest deadly missiles elsewhere in Lebanon. This must not be allowed to happen. Everything must be done to prevent this. Future weaponry can only be brought into Lebanon via air, land or sea. Access points into Lebanon may bring in humanitarian aid. They can bring in whatever is needed to build up their country. They can bring in tourists and investors. They cannot bring in lethal Iranian and Syrian rockets, missiles, nuclear bombs or any other type of weaponry.

It must be the first and vital imperative that access to the tools of a future war and the potential for a future destruction of Lebanon, be effectively blocked.The mad Islamic terror war against Western democracies continues on its deadly course.

The dynamics of this conflict will inevitably arm radical hotheads, such as Hizbullah, with weapons of mass destruction. You can have a battalion of foreign troops guarding Lebanon's border with Israel. What good will that do against a wounded and angry Hizbullah, still dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State?

How will they prevent Hizbullah being trained and armed with longer-range missiles tipped with nuclear, chemical, or biological warheads? Such rockets, fired from the heartland of Lebanon, would send Ahmedinejad, the mad dwarf of Teheran, into an orgy of ecstasy. Like Nasrallah, his threats against Israel cannot be interpreted as empty bravado. Who cannot believe that he would willingly use Hizbullah, or Hamas, as his proxy launchers of the ultimate weapons of a future Holocaust?

You can have ten-thousand foreign soldiers and observers shoulder to shoulder along the Lebanon-Israel border. Their job will be valueless unless a permanent and stringent control is maintained to prevent Iran shipping such armaments to Lebanon.

Can such an essential task be safely entrusted to the Lebanese Government? Are they willing or capable of undertaking this important responsibility? If the Lebanese cannot be trusted in guarding their southern border, they cannot be trusted to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah through their own border crossings, and access points. Or, on this substantial issue, an international force is vital to observe, intercept and confiscate such dangerous imports?

Much has been discussed, both in diplomatic and media circles, about the need of an international force to patrol and protect the Lebanese-Israeli border and southern Lebanon. It is glaringly scary that the issue of employing a force to oversee the ports and border crossings, and ensure that Hizbullah will not be resupplied by the malevolent provocateurs in Damascus and Teheran, has not been raised.

Has no one considered this future threat? Has it not been discussed? Is the international community unaware of the future danger of leaving this loophole open? This is the time to ensure that this threat is blocked. Lebanon's borders should remain closed until assurance can be given, to Lebanese as well as to Israelis, that Hizbullah cannot be armed with genocidal missiles.

One final thought. What should be the 'proportionate' response if Israel will discover, in the future, that Hizbullah has been supplied with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons?

That is the danger that will face us if this matter is ignored by the international community and Hizbullah goes from dumb Katushas to hi-tech weaponry, as it inevitably will.

Lebanon’s Future, Hizbullah with Nuclear Missiles? (http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/viii/300720063)

EU says 'nothing can justify' Israeli Qana airstrike
31.07.2006 - 09:58 CET | By Mark Beunderman
The EU has fiercely condemned the Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana over the weekend as "unjustifiable," while Germany has indicated its military is too overburdened to take part in a UN peace mission to the region.

EU institutions issued a series of co-ordinated statements following Israel's attack on Sunday morning (30 June) on a house in a Lebanese village which killed more than 50 civilians, among them more than 30 children.

Israel apologised for the incident, but said the village had been used by islamist Hezbollah fighters launching rockets on Israel, while civilians had been warned in advance to evacuate the place.

But officials from the Finnish EU presidency, the European Commission as well as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana agreed to condemn the bombing as "unjustifiable."

"There is no justification for attacks causing casualties among innocent civilians, most of whom are women and children," a Finnish presidency statement said.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, external relations commissioner, said "Israel's attack on the city of Qana means an escalation of violence that is unjustifiable at a time when the international community is jointly working to find a solution to the conflict."

Mr Solana declared that "nothing can justify" the attack and the death of innocent civilians in Qana.

Sensitive wording
Since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on 12 July, the bloc has walked on a diplomatic tightrope to find a common response, particularly when reacting to Israel's actions.

A 17 July foreign ministers meeting saw EU states watering down language proposed by Helsinki condemning Israel's offensive as "disproportionate," with states such as Germany and the UK promoting a more lenient line towards Israel.

The ministers will meet again for an emergency session on the Middle East tomorrow (1 August), with discussions expected to centre around the need for an "immediate ceasefire" – as pressed for by France.

The leaders of the UK and Germany, prime minister Tony Blair and chancellor Angela Merkel, in a joint statement after the Qana attack stressed the "urgency of the need for a ceasefire as soon as possible," but refrained from using the word "immediate."

"It is now necessary to work in New York on the preconditions for such a ceasefire," the Blair-Merkel statement said.

The UN security council after a Sunday emergency session also failed to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, with the US objecting to the idea arguing Israel's security should be dealt with first.

EU troops discussion
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers are on Tuesday also to address proposals for a UN peace force for the Israeli-Lebanese border.

EU top diplomat Mr Solana said last week "I cannot imagine the force without any Europeans," adding "It is fundamental that some European countries will participate."

But Germany's Ms Merkel told German tabloid Bild am Sonntag over the weekend that her country's military capacities are "largely exhausted" with Berlin already providing peacekeeping contingents to Congo, the western Balkans and Afghanistan.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot said earlier that a Middle East operation would be "for others" to do, with the Hague also overburdened by peace-keeping operations elsewhere.

EU says 'nothing can justify' Israeli Qana airstrike (http://euobserver.com/9/22187)

Lebanese Reject Ceasefire Talks, Arab MKs Cause Knesset Storm
17:00 Jul 31, '06 / 6 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

Lebanon has rejected Secretary Rice's statements of this morning referring to a long-term peace arrangement she said could be reached "this week."

Lebanese Foreign Minister Faouzi Salouah said, "We will not accept any proposal before an immediate and absolute ceasefire. Rice is merely giving Olmert extra time."

Meanwhile, a stormy Knesset session on the Lebanese war was taking place late this morning and early this afternoon, with three Arab MKs being thrown out of the Knesset plenum.

Lebanon Rejects Rice
Lebanon's stance against Israel was expressed particularly stridently this morning by Lebanese President Emil Lahoud. "The first clause in our army's orders is, 'Israel is the enemy,'" he told Al-Jazeera. Lahoud praised Hizbullah, saying, "Hizbullah's victory will be all of Lebanon's victory," and said that Rice "wants to force a multi-national force upon us and wants to coerce Hizbullah to disarm. This would be the worst thing that could happen, because now we are winning." The Lebanese President said that if Israel invades Lebanon, the Lebanese Army will fight back.

A Hizbullah MP (Parliament Member) Fedallah also said that his organization would not conduct any negotiations before a ceasefire is implemented.

After firing a record-breaking 150 Katyushas at Israel yesterday, including about 90 at Kiryat Shmonah, Hizbullah had fired only four Katyusha rockets into Israel by 5 PM opn Monday. Hizbullah denies, however, having agreed to stop firing Katyushas. The terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli forces this afternoon, lightly wounding three soldiers.

Israel's self-imposed aerial ceasefire - decided upon solely by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - went into effect at 2 AM this morning, shortly after the Israel Air Force bombed targets in eastern Lebanon. The IDF denied Hizbullah claims that the offensive occurred at 7 AM. Seven soldiers were wounded in yesterday's fighting, including two in "moderate" condition, and at least eight Hizbullah terrorists were killed.

Knesset Ruckus
The Knesset held a special session on the war today, turning into a scene of parliamentary bedlam during Defense Minister Amir Peretz's speech. Three Arab MKs were thrown out of the plenum by Speaker Dalia Itzik, beginning with Ibrahim Tzartzour, who called Peretz a "child murderer."

Peretz said that Israel cannot agree to an immediate ceasefire, "because then we will find ourselves back in the same position a few months from now." He said that the worst thing is that the Lebanese government "abandoned its civilian population in the south of the country to the hands of [Hizbullah leader] Nasrallah, who turned the population into a defensive shield for his terrorists."

Peretz tried to defend Israel's morality in light of the accidental bombing of the Kafr Kana building yesterday: "I spoke to a soldier who said he saw a terrorist with an RPG in one hand and holding a little girl in the other, and he said that he didn't shoot. I asked him why, and he said he was afraid he might hit the girl. That's the IDF ethic! I am proud of that soldier and his decision."

No MK was heard interrupting at that time, but Trade Minister Eli Yeshai (Shas) later told Arutz-7, "There is no army that is more ethical than the IDF, period. But at the same time, no one should endanger himself just because some crazy terrorist wants to use a girl as a human shield."

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu then spoke and blessed Defense Minister Peretz "on your important work." Netanyahu then saluted the army "in the name of all the MKs" - but then was forced to correct himself and say "in the name of almost all the MKs" when Arab MKs interrupted him with sharp words against the IDF.
Netanyahu said that Hizbullah represents a "strategic threat" which must be met with "a strategic victory." He called upon the government not to give up, not to stop in the middle of attaining its goals, and not to cede its objective of dismantling Hizbullah.

Referring to the IAF bombing of Kana that killed 54 Lebanese adults and children, Netanyahu said,
"I was interviewed yesterday by a British station and they asked me what I thought about Israeli pilots bombing children. I said, 'If you’re asking, I'll tell you: This is as just a war as any that has ever been fought - but I can recall another just war, World War II, when Britain's Royal Air Force went to bomb the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, but the bombers missed and hit a children's hospital nearby, killing 83 Danish children inside. This is a tragedy of war, but it happens. Unlike the other side, which rejoices when our children are killed, we are truly sorry when it happens, and we really and truly try to reduce casualties on the other side."

Arab MK Zehalke then yelled out, "You really believe those lies?!" at which point Speaker Dalia Itzik lost her cool and called out, "MK Zehalke, once, twice, three times, get out!" Knesset ushers then forced Zehalke out of the Knesset plenum.

MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union/National Religious Party) said, "What happened in Kana pains us, but it must be made clear: the responsibility lies totally with Hizbullah."

Lebanese Reject Ceasefire Talks, Arab MKs Cause Knesset Storm (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108826)

France: Israel Not Doing Enough, Iran ‘Stabilizing Element’
17:10 Jul 31, '06 / 6 Av 5766
by Hana Levi Julian

French leaders praised Iran and disparaged Israel on Monday in two separate news conferences held in Beirut and in the Paris area.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters at the news conference in France that Israel’s willingness to suspend its air strikes on Hizbullah terror targets was “only a first step, but still not enough.” De Villepin maintained that the “cessation of the aerial attacks is insufficient in light of the situation in Lebanon.”

At the news conference held in Beirut, French Foreign Minister Phillippe Douste-Blazy praised Iran as a “stabilizing force in the Middle East.” Douste-Blazy told reporters that Iran "is an outstanding country with great people and an honorable civilization. It has a crucial role in the region.”

Iran is the primary patron of the Hizbullah terror organization, which has fired close to 1,800 Katyusha missiles at northern Israeli communities in the past 20 days, killing 19 civilians and injuring hundreds more.

Iran has armed Hizbullah with long-range rockets equipped with warheads containing more than 100 kg. of explosive material and little metal balls designed to wound large numbers of people and create maximum damage.

Hizbullah started the current war with Israel with a major attack on July 12th in which terrorists kidnapped two IDF soldiers, killed four others and fired Katyusha rockets at Israeli towns along the northern border. Four other soldiers were killed in their tank by a mine when they set off in pursuit of their kidnapped colleagues.

Iran also continues to refuse to end its uranium enrichment program, in direct violation of international law. Ongoing efforts by the international community to convince Iran to end the program, which is a precursor to the development of a nuclear weapon, have been fruitless thus far.

France: Israel Not Doing Enough, Iran ‘Stabilizing Element’ (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108844)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wonder what he is drinking.

INDIA: ANTI-CONVERSION LAW PASSED
By J. Grant Swank, Jr.
MichNews.com
Jul 30, 2006

For a person to convert to Christ, he must have the government sign over that he can convert to Christ. In other words, there is no freedom of religious choice in India, per Compass Direct News. One has to bow down to the government officialdom first; otherwise, he sets himself up for persecution.

Persecution against Christians is a daily occurrence in India. Now it will increase.

In Madbya Pradesh north-central state, the state lawmakers passed the statute "making stricter the ‘anti-conversion’ law that has increased persecution of Christians."

When living in America with its freedom of religion, one can hardly imagine what it is like to live in a repressive regime where even the matters of soul choice must pass through the hands of the secular minds with power. To the Christian, that is another demonic move to work against the Holy Spirit’s love upon an inquiring soul.

"The amendment, introduced in the House assembly on Friday (July 21), requires clergy and ‘prospective converts’ to notify authorities of the intent to change religion one month before a ‘conversion ceremony.’ In its current form, the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 1968 requires that notice be sent to the district magistrate within seven days of conversion."

Imagine what all that means for a sincere convert to Christ along with his pastor having to write out forms before the testimony is made public. In America, a person chooses Christ as Lord God. That is it. He and his friends along with spiritual leaders can make known that joyous decision to anyone and everyone.

Not so in India.

"The advance information must state the name and address of the person converting, along with the date and venue of the conversion ceremony, after which authorities will decide whether the conversion was ‘forced’ or ‘by allurement’

"The penalty for failing to notify the administration remains imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to 1,000 rupees (US$21), or both. Presented by state Home Minister Nagendra Singh, the amendment was passed by a voice vote without discussion.

"’This violates the fundamental right of the people, as it is the government which would decide if a person can be converted or not,’ Indira Iyengar, member of the Madhya Pradesh Minorities Commission, told Compass. She questioned the necessity of the amendment.

"’Despite the fact that numerous cases have been lodged against Christians on charges of conversion, not even a single person has been convicted by a court of law,’ she said. ‘It looks like it is to give fundamentalists a tool to batter Christians.’"

When Christ told His own that they would be hated on Earth just as He was hated, that is played out generation upon generation in one country after another around the globe. "He came to His own but His own received Him not." So it is that His followers become spiritual strangers to their own planet, just as He was a stranger to His own property.

Christians in a free country with ready religious expression should thank God daily for that freedom. They also should work hard to make certain that freedom is not whittled away by the anti-God secularists who have a strident opposing spirit against Christ.

If Christians do not keep watch over their freedom of religious expression, it could be taken away from them even in a free nation. Then they would be hampered like the Christians are in India.

When missionaries work hard in India, they are curtailed by the government due to the red tape laid upon their gospel efforts. Hindus and Muslims are not open to persons coming to recognize Christ as God Savior. Therefore, they work through government and police to badger converts so that they will recant.

"Frequently Hindu extremists have invoked the state’s ‘anti-conversion’ law as a means of inciting mobs against Christians or having them arrested without evidence. Two members of the National Commission for Minorities, Harcharan Singh Josh and Lama Chosphel Zotpa, visited Madhya Pradesh and neighboring Chhattisgarh state from June 13 to 18 to inquire into reports of increasing incidents of anti-Christian violence.

"’Obviously, the life of Christians has become miserable at the hands of miscreants in connivance with the police,’ they noted in their report. ‘There are allegations that when atrocities were committed on Christians by the miscreants, police remained mere spectators and in certain cases they did not even register FIRs [First Information Reports].’"

It is the same in Muslim countries. If the new Christian is not murdered, he is harassed while local press and police authorities turn their heads the other way. These authorities thereby encourage the meanness leveled against Christians.

"Among other incidents of Christians arrested under the anti-conversion law, last October a Christian worker was jailed in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, after members of the Dharma Raksha Samiti (DRS or Religious Protection Committee), a Hindu extremist group, surrounded the Heera Nagar police station protesting ‘conversions.’

"John, who ran three schools for children, was accused of converting 11 children between the ages of 5 and 10 even though none of the children had converted to Christianity or complained of attempted conversion."

INDIA: ANTI-CONVERSION LAW PASSED (http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_13610.shtml)

Schools told it's no longer necessary to teach right from wrong
By David Charter, Chief Political Correspondent

Join the debate

SCHOOLS would no longer be required to teach children the difference between right and wrong under plans to revise the core aims of the National Curriculum.

Instead, under a new wording that reflects a world of relative rather than absolute values, teachers would be asked to encourage pupils to develop “secure values and beliefs”.

The draft also purges references to promoting leadership skills and deletes the requirement to teach children about Britain’s cultural heritage.

Ministers have asked for the curriculum’s aims to be slimmed down to give schools more flexibility in the way they teach pupils aged 11 to 14.

Ken Boston, the chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), set out the proposed new aims in a letter to Ruth Kelly, when she was the Education Secretary.

The present aims for Stage 3 pupils state: “The school curriculum should pass on enduring values. It should develop principles for distinguishing between right and wrong.”

The QCA’s proposals will see these phrases replaced to simply say that pupils should “have secure values and beliefs”.

The existing aims state that the curriculum should develop children’s “ability to relate to others and work for the common good”. The proposed changes would remove all references to “the common good”.

The requirement to teach Britain’s “cultural heritage” will also be removed. The present version states: “The school curriculum should contribute to the development of pupils’ sense of identity through knowledge and understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural heritages of Britain’s diverse society.”

The proposals say that individuals should be helped to “understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world”.

References to developing leadership in pupils have also been removed. One of the present aims is to give pupils “the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership”. This is due to be replaced by the aim of ensuring that pupils “are enterprising”.

Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham’s centre for education and employment research, said: “The idea that they think it is appropriate to dispense with right and wrong is a bit alarming.”

Teachers’ leaders said that they did not need to be told to teach children to distinguish between right and wrong.

A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: “Teachers always resented being told that one of the aims of the school was to teach the difference between right and wrong. That is inherent in the way teachers operate. Removing it from the National Curriculum will make no difference.”

But she insisted that it was important for children to understand about their cultural heritage. “To remove that requirement can undermine children’s feelings of security in the country where they are living,” she said.

A spokesman for the QCA said: “The proposed new wording of the curriculum aims is a draft which will be consulted on formally next year as part of the ongoing review of Key Stage 3. One aim of the review is that there should be more flexibility and personalisation that focuses on practical advice for teachers.

“The new wording states clearly that young people should become ‘responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society’. It also identifies the need for young people who challenge injustice, are committed to human rights and strive to live peaceably with others.”

IN A QUANDARY
# In citizenship classes, teachers ask pupils to discuss issues such as whether it is ever right to pass on information received in confidence and situations such as what they would do if they saw someone writing graffiti on a bus; heard friends talking about stealing; found a wallet full of cash; or saw people fighting

# The current wording states that the curriculum should pass on enduring values, develop pupils’ ability to relate to others and to work for the common good and help them “to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership”

# The proposed changes remove references to “the common good”. Teachers should simply ensure that pupils have secure values and beliefs and a strong sense of their place in the world. Rather than develop leadership skills, the pupils should be enterprising

Schools told it's no longer necessary to teach right from wrong (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2292741,00.html)

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate'
Sun. 30 Jul 2006
Associated Press
By NASSER KARIMI

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The presidents of Iran and Venezuela, leading U.S. critics, pledged Saturday to support one another in disputes with Washington, with the Iranian calling Hugo Chavez "a brother and trench mate."

As Chavez arrived for a two-day visit. Iran faced renewed international criticism for its nuclear program and for backing Hezbollah guerrillas in its war with Israel.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday reached a deal on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Iranian state radio said Saturday the government would reject the proposed resolution.

Chavez pledged that his country would "stay by Iran at any time and under any condition."

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, said he saw in the Venezuelan president a kindred spirit. "I feel I have met a brother and trench mate after meeting Chavez," the state-run Iranian television quoted Ahmedinejad.

Chavez, who peppers his speeches with mentions of assassination plots and purported U.S. efforts to oust him, said he admired the Iranian president for "his wisdom and strength."

He invited Iranian oil companies to invest in Venezuela. Venezuelan state TV also reported that the countries are considering having Iran participate in a natural gas project off the Venezuelan coast. The two nations are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - Iran is the world's No. 2 oil exporter and Venezuela No. 5.

"We are with you and with Iran forever. As long as we remain united we will be able to defeat (U.S.) imperialism, but if we are divided they will push us aside," Chavez said.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has emerged as one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy. He takes his message against what he calls President Bush's "imperialist" government everywhere he goes.

During his trip, Chavez is to meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian state television said.

"We do not have any limitation in cooperation," Ahmedinejad was quoted as saying. "Iran and Venezuela are next to each other and supporters of each other. Chavez is a source of a progressive and revolutionary current in South America and his stance in restricting imperialism is tangible."

The Venezuelan leader has been on a trip that included a visit to Belarus, where he met with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington and shares Chavez's strong anti-U.S. views.

Earlier this week he secured an arms agreement with Russia that prompted U.S. criticism.

Chavez boasted in Moscow on Thursday that Russia had helped his country break a U.S.-imposed "blockade" by agreeing to sell fighter planes and helicopters worth billions of dollars to Venezuela.

Chavez is also hoping to set up Kalashnikov weapons plants and ammunition plants in Venezuela under Russian license.

During his visit to Qatar, which began Friday, Chavez said Venezuela could eventually export guns and ammunition to Bolivia and other allies once these plants were built.

Chavez accused the United States of "threatening" to stop supplying replacement parts for the weapons to leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales' government. If the U.S. follows through, Chavez said, "we could supply Bolivia... and other friendly countries that also require a minimal level of defense."

"Maybe in the future we'll become an (arms) exporting country," Chavez said.

Bilateral trade last year between Iran and Venezuela amounted to $1 billion. Iranian investment in Venezuela includes a production line for tractors and several housing projects.

During his visit, Chavez was to inaugurate the new Venezuelan embassy in Tehran and meet Iranian business leaders. He was also to tour Iran-Khodro, Iran's giant public sector automobile manufacturer. The leaders and top officials were expected to sign memorandums of understanding in various fields.

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate' (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8088)

Photos that damn Hezbollah

Chris Link

July 30, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Sunday Herald Sun

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

1 of 3 photos
(http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5200790,00.jpg)

Anti-aircraft gun: these pictures were taken by
a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

They emerged as:

US President George Bush called for an international force to be sent to Lebanon.

ISRAEL called up another 30,000 reserve troops.

THE UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland called for a three-day truce to evacuate civilians and transport food and water into cut-off areas.

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a UN resolution aimed at ending the 18-day war, and:

A PALESTINIAN militant group said it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.

Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".

Mr Egeland blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.

"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.

Photos that damn Hezbollah (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,19955774-5007220,00.html)

Residents flee south Lebanon as Israel eases air strikes
07-31-2006, 08h35
SIDON, Lebanon (AFP)

Thousands of exhausted residents of south Lebanon heaped their possessions into cars and fled northward, taking advantage of a pause in Israeli bombardments after being trapped in villages for almost three weeks.

Israel had agreed overnight to suspend air raids for 48 hours following global outrage over the killing of 52 civilians in strikes on the village of Qana, giving civilians the chance to flee to safer havens Monday.

The region around the southern port city of Tyre was spared the air strikes that have battered the area over the past weeks as escaping villagers clogged the roads heading to the city of Sidon further to the north and Beirut.

But despite the promised halt, the Israeli air force carried out fresh air strikes in a border region in support of troops carrying out a ground incursion and also attacked a Lebanese customs post on the Syrian border.

Cars carrying heaps of luggage on their rooftops and pick-ups loaded with mattresses and blankets streamed from various mountain villages toward the coastal highway leading northward to Beirut, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Thousands of cars converged on the port city of Sidon, jamming all the entrances to the town. Many of the cars passed through the city and continued northward towards the capital and surrounding areas.

Most vehicles which reached Sidon gathered at the municipality building from where officials were allocating the displaced villagers to schools, buildings and empty commercial centers.

"We were trapped for 20 days with no food and no water. We finally escaped as the Israelis let us go," said a delighted Hassan Mahmoud Akid, 65, as he headed north in a packed pick-up from his besieged village of Jibbain.

The lull in air attacks also allowed the first Red Cross aid convoy and journalists to reach the village of Bint Jbeil, which had been caught up in the middle of a major and bloody Israeli ground incursion.

The town, which once was home to 40,000 people, has suffered massive devastation, particularly in its centre where dozens of buildings were totally destroyed, an AFP correspondent said.

The temporary halt in air attacks was announced by an aide to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who left the Middle East on Monday saying she hoped for a ceasefire this week.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the announcement Monday.

"All air operations have been suspended across all of Lebanon, mainly to allow the population of the south to evacuate the region," she told AFP, adding however that Israel reserved the right to strike Hezbollah commandos preparing attacks.

Israeli artillery bombarded villages in south Lebanon, including Jibbain and Kafra south of Tyre, as well as the regions of Arkoub and Rashaya Al-Fakhar in southeast Lebanon.

One Lebanese soldier was also killed and three wounded by Israeli naval fire north of Tyre, police said, in the latest raid on Lebanon's military which has stayed on the sidelines of the conflict.

Police said there were also violent clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli fighters in the border region of Aadissiyeh in south Lebanon for control of a hill.

The Israeli army had staged a fresh incursion in the same region on Sunday, sparking intense firefights with Hezbollah around the village of Taibe.

But after promising to halt air attacks, Israeli forces carried out an air strike Monday in support of the ground operation near Taibe, an army spokeswoman said.

And in an indication of Israeli determination to prevent Hezbollah being resupplied, Israeli air strikes also targeted areas near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria on Monday for the third time in as many days, police said.

Warplanes swooped twice on the frontier post between Lebanon and Syria, wounding five people -- four of them Lebanese customs officers, security sources said.

A civilian was killed Sunday evening in an Israeli air raid on the village of Deir Harfa, just before the 48-hour halt to the air strikes came into force.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon warned that the temporary halt to air strikes in no way meant that Jewish state was ending its war against Hezbollah.

"The suspension of our aerial activities does not signify in any way the end to the war. On the contrary, this decision will allow us to win this war and lessen international pressure," Ramon told army radio.

By late afternoon Monday, hundreds of Lebanese refugees fleeing from the south had finally made it in their cars to the outskirts of Beirut.

"We will go back home!" shouted one young man, making the victory sign from the top of a pick-up as it whizzed by.

Residents flee south Lebanon as Israel eases air strikes (http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?topic=12354.465)

Egypt's Mubarak says UN 'impotent' over Lebanon
01 August 2006

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said the UN Security Council had revealed its impotence in its response to Israel's conflict with Hizbollah, and again called for an immediate ceasefire.

In an address to the nation, Mubarak said the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians was the core of the problem and so there was an urgent need to revive peace talks.

He called for an urgent international investigation into the Israeli attack on the south Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday, in which at least 54 civilians were killed.

The UN Security Council met in New York and unanimously adopted a statement deploring the Qana attack. But the United States blocked adoption of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate truce.

Mubarak said: "Egypt expresses its regret and annoyance at the failure to reach an immediate ceasefire. . . The Security Council has failed to deal rapidly and effectively with the Israeli aggression and to fulfil its responsibility for international peace and security."

"This foot-dragging and impotence reflect the fundamental flaws in the joint defence system which the United Nations represents," the Egyptian president added.

Mubarak has sent Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to Saudi Arabia to discuss the crisis.
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Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – three of the Arab governments most friendly toward the United States – face outrage and protest at home against Israel's conduct, pushing them to try to take a tougher line with Washington.

The government of Morocco, which also has good relations with Washington, condemned as odious the Israeli attack on Qana, the state news agency MAP reported.

"The Moroccan government firmly condemns the odious aggression perpetrated by Israel against the village of Qana, in our brother nation Lebanon, which caused dozens of deaths, among them children, women and unarmed civilians," MAP cited the government as saying.

It called on the international community, especially the world's most influential countries and organisations, to act to put an end to the war.

Professional organisations and opposition groups are planning more demonstrations in Cairo on Monday in protest at the Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

There have been protests in Cairo most days for the past week, usually with several hundred participants

Egypt's Mubarak says UN 'impotent' over Lebanon (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3750122a12,00.html)

Somali PM Says Iran,Libya,Egypt Backing Militants

Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires

(Updates with denial from Islamic official)

BAIDOA, Somalia (AP)--Somalia's prime minister Saturday accused Egypt, Libya and Iran of providing weapons for Islamic militants who have seized control of much of this country's south, citing unnamed sources within his government.

"Egypt, Libya and Iran, whom we thought were friends, are engaged in fueling the conflict in Somalia by supporting the terrorists," Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi said.

The accusations came as Somalia's already-weak government was unraveling. Two lawmakers were shot this week - one fatally - and Gedi was facing a no-confidence vote after 18 lawmakers resigned from his administration.

The leader of the Islamic militia, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, denied receiving support from the three countries and said Gedi was "trying to distract attention from his own troubles."

The militia, known as the Supreme Islamic Courts Council has steadily gained power in recent months, raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The United States accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

"We call for the international community to put pressure on these countries who want the problems in Somalia to continue," Gedi said.

Earlier Saturday, the prime minister was among hundreds who attended the funeral for Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, the minister for constitutional and federal affairs, who was shot outside a mosque as he walked out of Friday prayers.

Seven people have been arrested in Deerow's death, but authorities had no further details, according to Police Chief Aadin Biid.

The shooting enraged hundreds of Somalis, who rioted in the streets Friday, screaming, "We want a government that can restore law and order!"

"We condemn this wicked action, and the government will chase the murderers and treat them with an iron hand," the government's information minister, Mohamed Abdi Hayir, said.

Two days earlier, Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, chairman of the parliamentary committee for constitutional affairs, was shot and wounded. It was not immediately clear whether the shootings were connected, although the men had worked together.

"If we don't express our anger we are afraid the killings may continue. We want to encourage the government to identify the culprits," said Baidoa resident Shafarah Younis, as nearly 400 people shouted and set fires near the presidential compound.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, carving much of the country into armed camps ruled by violence and clan law.

The government was established nearly two years ago with the support of the U.N. but has failed to assert any power outside its base in Baidoa, 250 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu. The administration was in turmoil this week when 18 key ministers resigned, saying the government has failed to bring peace.

The Islamic militia has rallied even more supporters by condemning reports that troops from neighboring Ethiopia have entered the country to protect the fragile government. Ethiopia is Somalia's traditional enemy, although Somalia's president has asked for its support - a decision that infuriated many Somalis.

Deerow, the politician who was killed Friday, was "an ardent supporter of close ties with Ethiopia," his friend, Ali Mohamed Ahmed Daon, told The Associated Press. Deerow was a secondary school teacher before entering politics in the 1990s.

The U.N. special envoy to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, said he was appalled by Friday's shooting. "I offer my condolences to Mr. Deerow's family and appeal for calm in what is already a turbulent moment in Somalia's recent history," he said.

Somali PM Says Iran,Libya,Egypt Backing Militants (http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2006072912030001&Take=1)

"Throughout the Entire Arab-Israeli Conflict – When Were Two Million Israelis Forced to Become Displaced, or to Stay in Bomb Shelters for More than 18 days?"

Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Hizbullah Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on July 29, 2006:

Hassan Nasrallah: In addition to its failures, the enemy is resorting to concealing its losses. It is not we who are concealing our losses. Our information from the field shows that the enemy's losses are much greater than the figure it declares, and which is circulated in the media.

Why does the enemy still impose strict control over the media, and over all that is reported in the media? So that its people and ours will not see the extent of the losses - material, human and in terms of morale – inflicted upon this enemy.

Even the public opinion polls it announces – our information from within (Israel) stresses that they are fabricated and bogus, and are a part of the psychological warfare. But there are some facts that the enemy cannot conceal from its people, from our people, and from the world. Brothers and sisters, This figure will grow as we extend the phase of "beyond Haifa" - because the bombing of Afula and its military base was (only) the beginning of this phase. There are many cities in the center (of Israel), which will be targeted in the phase of "beyond Haifa," if this barbaric aggression against our land, people, and villages continues.

Can it conceal the enormity of economic and financial damage inflicted upon the (Zionist) entity? I leave the explanations to the specialists in this field.

But losses that are more important are in the trust, the morale, and the way the people of this entity views its leadership, its "invincible" army, its "great" security agencies, and their ability to confront a people small in numbers, a country small in size and capabilities, and a popular resistance, which has limited material and human capabilities, but which is solid in its determination and faith.

[...]

When the people of this tyrannical state loses its faith in its mythical army, this is the beginning of the end for this entity, because Israel is a country that was established for the sake of an army, and the army in Israel does not belong to the state. Once they sense that this army has become helpless, weak, defeated, humiliated, and a failure, the question will defiantly become one of life or death.

Hassan Nasrallah (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1212)

Hizballah Spreading War to Christian Villages?
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com ) - Hizballah is trying to launch rockets from Christian villages in southern Lebanon, hoping to provoke an Israeli bombardment on Christian communities, a Lebanese source said.

Thousands of Lebanese reportedly were fleeing their homes in the south on Monday, taking advantage of a two-day lull in Israeli air strikes.

Some Christians have stayed in their southern Lebanese villages despite Israeli warnings to leave. Some believe they are safe from Israeli bombardment as long as they are not in areas where Hizballah is entrenched, said one Lebanese woman who asked not to be named.

But Hizballah has tried to enter those areas with portable rocket launchers and fire missiles from among the homes, hoping to provoke an Israeli response against the Christian villages, said the source who has relatives in southern Lebanon.

The Christians have chased the terrorists away, she said. Nevertheless, the Christians are reluctant to speak against Hizballah, fearing they'll be accused of siding with Israel.

About 40 percent of the Lebanese population is Christian and another 40 percent is Shiite Muslim - the latter, likely supporters of Hizballah. The other 20 percent is Druze and Sunni Muslim, who are generally allied with the Christian community, taking an anti-Syrian and anti-Hizballah stand.

Christian, Druze and Sunni Muslim political leaders in Lebanon have spoken out against Hizballah and its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

Lebanon and the international community strongly condemned Israel on Sunday for an attack on a building in the southern Lebanese village of Qana, in which at least 57 people were killed, many of them children.

While it apologized for the civilian deaths, Israel said it was attack a village from which Hizballah had repeatedly launched rockets toward Israel. It also said it had warned residents there to leave the area or they would be considered sympathetic to Hizballah.

Israel and the U.S. have accused Hizballah using Lebanese civilians of as human shields launching rocket attacks against Israel from within civilian areas, knowing that an Israeli military response will bring more Lebanese casualties and condemnation on Israel.

"A picture is worth a million words," said the source. "[Hizballah] knows how to use pictures." The major television networks don't show the background. They don't show the people saying that they would rather die with Hizballah than flee the area, she said.

Therefore, when children are killed in attacks like the one on Sunday, it is the parents [and Hizballah] who are guilty, not Israel," said the source.

Hizballah Spreading War to Christian Villages? (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1411169.html)

CAIR Labels Israel A Terrorist State
Susan Jones
Senior Editor

(CNSNews.com) - An Islamic advocacy group accuses Israel of waging a campaign of terror in southern Lebanon.

Moreover, the Council on American-Islamic Relations says U.S. support for "Israeli terror" is undermining America's credibility and interests worldwide.

"Whenever civilians are attacked to achieve a political goal, the charge of terrorism must be applied, whether the terrorist is an individual, a group or a state," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.

"Our government must end its support for Israel's campaign of terror in Lebanon and join an international effort to protect and bring humanitarian aid to the civilian population of that devastated nation."

CAIR issued the press release in reaction to the Israeli air strike that killed 57 civilians, many of them children, in the south Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday.

CAIR said it is accusing Israel of state terrorism based on statements by Israeli officials who have said "they intend to make the civilian population of Lebanon suffer in order to put pressure on Hezbollah." (Israel has said that its quarrel is not with the people of Lebanon, but rather with Hizballah, a terrorist group that hides among the civilian population.)

CAIR noted that Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon declared last week that, "Everyone in southern Lebanon is a terrorist and is connected to Hizbollah."

And CAIR also noted that Israel's most popular newspaper has advocated the destruction of Lebanese villages from which Hizballah fires rockets at Israel.

Israel has said it does not target civilians, but Hizballah does -- by hiding among them and storing its weapons in their homes.

Israel noted that it has dropped leaflets throughout southern Lebanon, warning civilians to leave areas where bombs will fall; and Israel also has said anyone remaining in those areas is presumed to be in cahoots with Hizballah.

Israel has said the fighting will end when Hizballah returns the two Israeli soldiers it abducted and is no longer able to fire rockets on civilian populations in Israel.

CAIR's Hooper said President Bush should demand an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, end American arms shipments to Israel and actively support a comprehensive and just resolution to the Middle East conflict.

CAIR Labels Israel A Terrorist State (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1411151.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thats okay, I label CAIR a terrorist organization.

Gazans also want multinational force
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 31, 2006

The Palestinian Authority is trying to win Arab
backing for the deployment of an international force along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, a senior PA official said on Monday.

The official said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently on a tour of several Arab countries, has raised the idea of dispatching a multi-national force to the Gaza Strip. Abbas's initiative comes in the wake of US efforts to persuade several countries to join an armed force that would be sent to southern Lebanon.

"We also need international troops to protect us against Israeli aggression," the official told The Jerusalem Post. "If the international community wants to send troops to patrol the border between Israel and Lebanon, there's no reason why a similar force should not be deployed in the Gaza Strip."

According to the official, Abbas raised the proposal during his recent meeting with US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, but did not receive a "clear" answer. Abbas has now decided to bring the plan before the leaders of several Arab countries with the hope that they would exert pressure on the US to comply.

Abbas's tour has taken him so far to Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar - countries that are considered close allies of Washington in the Middle East.

The idea of dispatching international troops in the Gaza Strip was first raised by former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat shortly after the beginning of the intifada in 2000. Arafat was hoping to internationalize the conflict by dragging as many countries as possible into the region. His call fell on deaf ears, especially in the Arab world, whose governments did nothing to promote the idea.

Abbas is also hoping that the presence of international troops in the Gaza Strip would force the world to pay more attention to what is happening in the PA-controlled territories. The Palestinians have expressed concern that that the war in Lebanon has shifted attention from events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as most foreign journalists have traveled to the North and Lebanon.

Abbas's proposal has won the support of the Hamas
government, whose leaders in the Gaza Strip believe that the presence of a multi-national force there would deter Israel from pursuing its military operations against Palestinian militiamen.

Meanwhile, Abbas is said to be eager to resolve the case of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who is being held by Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip, independently from the two IDF soldiers who are in the hands of Hizbullah.

Abbas fears that a joint package, whereby Hamas and Hizbullah would release the three soldiers in exchange forPalestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, would boost the two groups' popularity and undermine his position.

Another PA official said that Abbas has been trying to convince Hamas to hand over Shalit to the PA security forces in the Gaza Strip in return for Arab guarantees that Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the near future. "Unfortunately, Abbas's efforts have failed so far, "the official told the Post. "I'm not sure it would be good for Hamas and the Palestinians to coordinate with Hizbullah."

Like most of the Arab governments, Abbas and the leaders of his Fatah party are worried about growing support for Hizbullah and its secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, on the Palestinian street. In the past few days thousands of Palestinians, including members of Fatah, have demonstrated in support of Nasrallah, urging him to bomb Tel Aviv.

In yet another disturbing sign for Abbas, dozens of private television and radio stations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have begun broadcasting most of the programs aired on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV. The stations also air songs praising Nasrallah and calling on Arab and Muslim armies to
destroy Israel. In some Palestinian communities, posters of Nasrallah and Hizbullah's yellow flags have outnumbered those of Palestinian "martyrs" and leaders.

"Nasrallah has become a important symbol for the Palestinians," said a Bethlehem-based journalist. "Some people have even begun referring to him as one of the great Muslim warriors in modern history."

Gazans also want multinational force (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292043866&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran defiant, nuclear crisis set to escalate
Stefan Smith
AFP
July 31, 2006

TEHRAN -- The crisis over Iran's nuclear program looked set to escalate this week, with Tehran vowing to defy and retaliate against a tough resolution expected to be adopted by the UN Security Council.

A prominent MP warned Monday that Iran could halt cooperation with inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"If the United Nations adopts a resolution, it could lead to examining suspension of Iran's membership to the NPT and revising Iran's cooperation with the IAEA," Alaeddin Borujerdi, head of the parliamentary national security commission, told Mehr news agency.

Iran's leadership has also signaled that Israel's attacks against the Palestinian territories and Lebanon have undermined the chances of a diplomatic solution to the row by putting the Islamic republic in no mood for compromise.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the Middle East crisis had made it "clear that international organizations have become a tool in the hand of domineering powers."

"The incidents in Lebanon and Palestine have influenced our examination," he said of Iran's consideration of an international offer of incentives in exchange for a halt of sensitive atomic work.

Iran is a major backer of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Lebanese Shia movement Hizbullah, but denies providing arms.

"The government is determined to fully exploit the rights of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said, underlining Tehran's continued unwillingness to accept the terms of the international offer.

Iran says that it only wants to enrich uranium to the levels needed for reactor fuel and that this is a right enshrined by the nuclear NPT. But the process can be extended to make weapons.

"Nuclear energy is clean and renewable, and all nations have the right to use it," the president said Sunday.

With Iran accused of trying to buy time, the Security Council is expected this week to pass a draft resolution that gives Tehran until August 31 to halt enrichment. A refusal to comply would prompt discussions on economic and political sanctions.

"By putting pressure and trying to intimidate Iran, no country will achieve anything. On the contrary, the situation will worsen," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi warned Sunday.

Iran has already ignored a non-binding Security Council demand to halt enrichment.

"If tomorrow they pass a resolution against Iran, the package will not be on the agenda any more," he said of the international offer, which the five Security Council members plus Germany hope will still be accepted.

When asked to elaborate on what specific measures that Iran might take, Asefi replied: "They know what I am talking about."

They have also played up Iran's regional clout and oil wealth, and Asefi said that "issuing this resolution will worsen the crisis in the region."

Diplomats close to the issue said that the expected UN resolution will mark a turning point in the three-year-old crisis, which kicked off when the UN's atomic watchdog sounded the alarm over nearly two decades of undeclared nuclear work in Iran.

"The Iranians are aware that defying a Security Council resolution is a very serious thing," said a Tehran-based diplomat, who asked not to be named.

"But for the time being they appear to be digging in for confrontation, and there is no indication that the position will change anytime soon," he said.

Another senior envoy said that he saw little chance of Iran complying with the expected resolution.

"I think Iran will wait to see what kind of sanctions it is likely to face if it ignores the deadline. We are moving into a period of brinksmanship here," he said.

Iran defiant, nuclear crisis set to escalate (http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060731-100003-2629r)

The Growing Dispute over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
By Gary Lane
CBN News - International

CBNNews.com –- JERUSALEM -- The Bible says it's a city chosen by God, the place where He put His name, where King David reigned and his son Solomon built the first temple.

It's the most sacred city in the world for Christians and Jews, the third holiest in the Islamic faith.

Tens of thousands of Christians make pilgrimage there each year to walk the streets where Jesus once walked, to see where He was crucified and the tomb where He rose from the dead.

For Jews, the Wailing Wall is sacred. They come to Jerusalem from throughout Israel and around the world to pray at the last remnant of the second temple, a temple destroyed by the Romans in 72 A.D.

Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 637, and shortly thereafter, built the Dome of the Rock shrine on the Temple Mount. They believe a rock located beneath the center of the Dome is the spot where Mohammed ascended into heaven.

Muslims once faced in the direction of Jerusalem when they prayed. They now face toward Mecca -- the place of the annual Haj, the location of the Kabbah -- the sacred altar where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son.

But some Jews and Christians believe that the event may have taken place somewhere near Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Mount Moriah.

Contention over the past and future status of the Temple Mount could potentially lead to a more explosive war in the Middle East, this time over Jerusalem. A group called the Temple Mount Faithful wants to rebuild the temple in the area.

But Muslims worship on the Temple Mount at the al-Aqsa Mosque. They insist that Solomon's Temple was not located here, and Jews have no right to the area.

Jews say Muslims have conducted unauthorized excavations beneath the mosque, digs that are intentionally destroying temple artifacts and exterminating evidence of Jewish history in Jerusalem.

Enter author Joel Rosenberg and his newest novel The Copper Scroll. It's a book based on the true discovery in 1956 of another Dead Sea Scroll. This scroll reveals how billions of dollars of undiscovered treasures remain hidden in the Judean hills and beneath the city of Jerusalem itself.

Rosenberg's book comes at a time when Israel is fighting for its survival, and when a nuclear- ambitious Iran declares that Israel should be wiped off the map.

The Growing Dispute over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount (http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/world/israel/060731a.aspx)

Israel ready to swap 2 Lebanese prisoners for IDF soldiers
By Aluf Benn and Shlomo Shamir

Israel will release two Lebanese prisoners in return for the two soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, as part of a cease-fire agreement, government and defense officials said on Monday.

The sources added that the UN Security Council would call for a cease-fire in Lebanon on Friday, and it could take effect as early as Saturday.

Alternatively, the fighting might continue for a few more days.

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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told British Prime Minister Tony Blair that as soon as an international force deploys along the Israel-Lebanon and Lebanon-Syria borders, "it will be possible to implement a cease-fire."

Immediately after soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were captured, Olmert said that Israel would not negotiate a prisoner exchange for their release a position he also took following the abduction of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit in the Gaza Strip. Olmert's position received international support in the concluding statement issued by the G-8 summit, which called for the unconditional return of all Israeli captives.

However, with the fighting still ongoing, government and military sources said recently that Israel would find it difficult to insist on this position in negotiating a cease-fire.

The sources said that Israel would apparently agree to release Abu Amra Mamad, convicted of weapons possession, plus one illegal alien. It will not agree to release Palestinians. A government source added that Israel would also refuse to release Samir Kuntar, who murdered the Haran family and a police officer in Nahariya in 1979. In the last prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, the "Tennenbaum deal" of January 2004, it was agreed that Kuntar would be released only in exchange for information about missing airman Ron Arad.

On Saturday, Olmert rejected a proposal by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel agree to discuss a withdrawal from Shaba Farms, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, as a gesture to strengthen the Lebanese government headed by Fouad Siniora. Olmert told Rice that there was no reason for an Israeli concession on Shaba, since Israel has already completely fulfilled the UN's demand that it withdraw from Lebanon a fact affirmed by the Security Council in 2000.

In his talks with U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac a few weeks ago, Olmert signaled a willingness to discuss Shaba to facilitate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for disarming Hezbollah and deploying the Lebanese army
in the south. However, his position changed after the outbreak of war in the north.

Monday, Rice met with Defense Minister Amir Peretz before winding up her visit in Jerusalem and returning to Washington. The two discussed a suspension of Israel Air Force attacks and efforts to ease the humanitarian situation in Lebanon.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made a round of phone calls to her European Union counterparts and Security Council members Monday, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers today and Security Council discussions later this week. Livni told them that Israel should not be pressured into an immediate cease-fire, and the harsh pictures from Israel's bombing of Qana on Sunday should not distract attention from the main goal implementation of Resolution 1559.

Meanwhile, differences of opinion emerged yesterday during preliminary talks among the U.S., France and other Security Council members regarding the priorities for a cease-fire.

Lebanon has asked to express its position during the deliberations, and a senior minister allied with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is expected in New York.

Lebanon on Monday demanded that Israel agree to an immediate ceasefire as the two nations sparred at a special UN Security Council meeting on the new Middle East crisis.

A draft resolution is to be proposed by France, although sources at UN Headquarters said that the U.S. is also considering proposing a resolution of its own. The differences of opinion revolve mainly around the centrality of a cease-fire and when it should take effect.

France is demanding an immediate cease-fire as a central goal, saying that this would enable implementation of Resolution 1559 and the deployment of an international force. However, the U.S. wants a resolution designed to advance a number of elements that would form the basis for a long-term cease-fire.

UN sources said on Monday that the final draft of the resolution would not be ready before at least the end of the week. A western diplomatic source said that the Qana incident had created a fluid situation that made it "difficult to predict developments."

Israel ready to swap 2 Lebanese prisoners for IDF soldiers (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744888.html)

Israel rejects pressure to end Lebanon war

By Nadim Ladki Mon Jul 31, 4:14 PM ET

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel rejected mounting international pressure on Monday to end its war against Hizbollah and launched a new incursion into Lebanon, as world powers squabbled over the urgency of a ceasefire.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the end of a trip to Israel that a ceasefire could be achieved this week. But despite an international outcry over an air strike on Sunday that killed 54 civilians, most of them children, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said there would be no ceasefire for now.

"The fighting continues. There is no ceasefire and there will not be any ceasefire in the coming days," Olmert told a gathering of northern Israeli mayors, to sustained applause.

A U.N. official said a meeting scheduled for Monday on a new peacekeeping force for Lebanon had been delayed "until there is more political clarity" on the path ahead in the 20-day-old war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is a main backer of Hizbollah, was meeting French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy in Beirut on Monday evening for talks on the crisis. Douste-Blazy said it was important to maintain contacts with Tehran to try to resolve the conflict.

Civilians fled battered villages in southern Lebanon after Israel said it had agreed partially to halt air strikes for 48 hours, and aid convoys headed into the area to deliver supplies.

Rescue workers found 49 bodies buried for days in collapsed buildings or inside destroyed vehicles, medical sources said.

The Israeli military said it had launched a new ground incursion into Lebanon in the Aita al-Shaab area. Hizbollah said its guerrillas were fiercely resisting the advance.

NO END TO BOMBING

Besides its announcement of a partial 48-hour suspension of bombing, Israel said it was giving a 24-hour window to allow aid workers to reach the worst hit areas and residents to flee.

But Israeli jets bombed targets in southern Lebanon, and the United Nations said access had not improved.

"Let's be clear about this. There was fighting today in south Lebanon and there were Hizbollah rocket attacks. We don't have a cessation of hostilities and we don't have a cessation of aerial bombardments," spokesman Khaled Mansour said.

At the United Nations, U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said Israel had given no information on the scope and timing of any pause in the bombing.

Israeli artillery shells hit two villages. An air strike on a Lebanese army vehicle killed one soldier and wounded three.

At the main border crossing into Lebanon from Syria, Israeli drones fired at two trucks and a third truck was destroyed by a warplane, security sources said. Four Lebanese customs officials and the three drivers were wounded.

DIVISIONS OVER CEASEFIRE

Rice said a ceasefire could be forged this week. But Israel said the war was not over.

"If an immediate ceasefire is declared, the extremists will rear their heads anew," Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a heated parliamentary debate in which four Israeli Arab lawmakers were escorted out for heckling. One called Peretz a murderer.

Despite its pause in air raids from early on Monday, Israel said it may still use aerial strikes to target Hizbollah leaders and rocket launchers and back up ground operations.

Olmert said a ceasefire could be implemented immediately after an international force arrived in Lebanon.

But French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said an international force could be deployed only once a ceasefire and a clear political road map had been agreed. France and Germany welcomed Israel's suspension of most air strikes but said it was not enough. Russia also demanded an immediate ceasefire.

But the United States, which blames Hizbollah for the war, is refusing to back calls for an immediate halt to the fighting. President Bush repeated that he wanted a sustainable end to the violence.

After the Qana raid Lebanon called off planned talks with Rice, telling her to secure an unconditional ceasefire first.

"As I head back to Washington, I take with me an emerging consensus on what is necessary for both an urgent ceasefire and lasting settlement. I am convinced we can achieve both this week," Rice told reporters in Jerusalem.

Hizbollah fired two shells into the northern Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona on Monday, but nobody was wounded.

It was the first Hizbollah bombardment of Israel since Sunday evening -- a distinct lull compared to the scores of rockets they had previously fired daily.

Israel launched its onslaught on Lebanon after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

At least 598 people have been killed in Lebanon, although the health minister puts the toll at 750 including bodies still buried under rubble. Fifty-one Israelis have been killed.

Israel rejects pressure to end Lebanon war (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060731/ts_nm/mideast_dc_665;_ylt=AnP1kO1An00RSDYdXHoy3AcUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Bush looks to U.N. for Mideast solution

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - President Bush acknowledged growing international pressure for an immediate Middle East cease-fire Monday but dismissed any idea of simply "stopping for the sake of stopping" without a plan for lasting peace.

Bush said the United States was working with allies for a United Nations Security Council resolution to get a "sustainable cease-fire, a cease-fire which will last" — but not necessarily anything immediate.

The U.S. also is seeking the authorization of an international force to help secure Lebanon. Bush told television interviewers that U.S. troops probably would not be deployed on the ground as a part of it, but might help with logistics or command.

"I think most nations would not see us involved, and most people understand that we're committed elsewhere," Bush said in an interview with Miami television station WPLG. "But also, however, if there's a need for some maybe logistical help or help in command-and-control, which we're good at, they may want to consider us."

Bush met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley for dinner at the White House on Monday after he returned from Florida and Rice returned from her mission to the Middle East. The Israeli attack that killed 56 civilians in Qana — the deadliest single incident in the onslaught against Hezbollah militants — prompted Rice to cut her trip short.

Earlier Monday, Bush made it clear that the U.S. position in firm support of Israel had not changed, despite the strike that heightened criticism from other nations.

The president, speaking to members of the Coast Guard in Florida, said the world must remember that the Islamic group Hezbollah started the fight and that Israel is exercising its right to defend itself.

During his speech he made no direct reference to the Qana deaths. But he said, "We mourn the loss of innocent life, both in Lebanon and in Israel."

More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began bombing its neighbor in an effort to weaken Hezbollah militants based there. Hezbollah has been sending rockets into northern Israel, killing 18 civilians in addition to 33 Israeli soldiers.

Asked about the Israeli attack later in an interview on Fox's "Your World with Neil Cavuto," Bush said the deaths had added pressure on Israel to stop bombing. But, he said, "stopping for the sake of stopping can be OK, except it won't address the root cause of the problem."

"Yesterday's situation was awful," Bush said. "I understand that, but it's also awful that a million Israelis are worried about rockets being fired from their neighbor to the north."

Although pro-Israel sentiment runs deep in Congress, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., broke with the president Monday and said Israel's pounding of Lebanon was hurting America's image in the Middle East. "The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now," Hagel said. "This madness must stop."

Hagel has also been critical of the administration's Iraq policy.

The fighting began July 12, when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. The tensions overshadowed Bush's overnight trip to Florida, where he wanted to highlight his efforts to improve port security, the economy and hurricane preparedness after the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina last year.

Bush stopped briefly at the National Hurricane Center, a room filled with maps and monitors of the hurricane zone. Christopher Landsea, a science and operations officer, told Bush of a paper he had just written that found there was not a consensus linking hurricane patterns to global warming.

The president replied, "There is a consensus you're doing good work."

Bush said it was important that people take the center's forecasts seriously, and he noted that the height of hurricane season begins next week and runs through mid-September. After a pause, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield corrected him. "Actually, mid-October," Mayfield said.

Later, Bush took a half-hour boat tour of the Port of Miami to examine security improvements. Then his motorcade took him to the exclusive Gables Estates neighborhood, where he attended a private fundraiser at the home of industrial developer Armando Codina that brought in $1 million for the Republican National Committee.

Bush looks to U.N. for Mideast solution (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060801/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_mideast_32;_ylt=AoHBYOIynGW1Bth6QULpLKxg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

Talks with Syria, yes - but not now
By Itamar Rabinovich

Since Syria's military intervention in the Lebanese civil war of March 1976, a triangular relationship has replaced the bilateral ties that existed previously between Israel and Lebanon, and between Israel and Syria. The nature of this three-way relationship has undergone changes during the years, and the present war in Lebanon is to a large extent the outcome of one of them: the weakening of Syria and the effort to turn Lebanon into an Iranian frontline base.

The second Lebanon war and the manner in which it has developed give this triangle a renewed significance. In recent days, an increasing number of voices are being heard in Washington and other world capitals, calling for the inclusion of Syria in every diplomatic solution concerning the current crisis. This makes Damascus relevant and important in a Lebanese context, in ways that had all but disappeared a year ago.

Three-way equation

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The equation of Israeli-Syrian-Lebanese relations has undergone three main phases:

1976-1991: In March 1976 the Syrian army intervened in the Lebanese civil war, with Israel's tacit consent. The United States, Israel and Syria had a mutual interest in preventing the victory of the Palestinian-left coalition, and in diffusing the danger of a Syrian-Israeli war.

Early in the 1980s this situation changed. The decision by the Begin-Sharon government to enter the Peace for Galilee war also reflected the desire to push Syria out of Lebanon, and the unrealistic ambition to set up a pro-Israeli regime there. When the dust settled in 1984 Syria managed to thwart both Israel and the United States, and to reestablish its domination of Lebanon. Syria kept a quiet border in the Golan Heights and chose to conduct its conflict with Israel by aiding the Palestinian resistance organizations and Hezbollah.

1991-2000: In this decade a peace process between Israel and Syria has taken place. The Clinton Administration and four Israeli prime ministers (Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak) gave priority to the "Syrian option" over the "Palestinian option" - and each one, in turn, failed. As long as negotiations with Syria have been taking place, Israel has claimed that the fundamental solution to the South Lebanon problem will be found in an agreement with Syria. This policy included a tacit acceptance of Syrian hegemony vis-a-vis Lebanon. Israel and the United States were also willing to accept a "double game" with Syria involving its continuing aid to Hezbollah and Palestinian terror organizations while it was negotiating with Israel.

Hafez Assad's approach was that efficient diplomacy must rely on force, and that one doesn't forfeit such leverage before an agreement has been accomplished. This approach was outrageous, but American and Israeli governments agreed to it, while gnashing their teeth. Syria did have a central role in creating the accord that ended Operation Accountability (1993) and Operation Grapes of Wrath (1996), which Israel instigated in reaction to Hezbollah attacks and Katyusha firings.

This phase ended with the final collapse of Syrian-Israeli negotiations in a summit between Clinton and Assad in Geneva in March 2000. Ehud Barak, prime minister at the time, made a resolution and shortly afterward carried out an independent withdrawal from Lebanon, and in so doing severed the Gordian knot of the Israeli-Syrian peace process and the South Lebanon issue in that decade.

2000-2006: These years were a time of profound changes in rapid succession. Syria, led by Bashar Assad, has weakened from within and without. Its relationship with the United States was hurt primarily as result of the double game that Assad, Jr. tried playing on the Iraqi issue. Through that, he provoked the personal animosity of George Bush and found another enemy in his administration. Lebanon became the second central issue in the U.S.-Syria relationship. In the ideological worldview of the Bush Administration, Lebanon became a key element in its campaign of democratization in the Middle East.

The expulsion of the Syrian army from Lebanon is seen as a crucial step in the rebuilding of Lebanon and its democracy. The involvement of the Assad regime in the assassination of Rafik Hariri provided the United States and its allies with a pretext for removing the Syrian army from Lebanon.

At a certain point toward the end of 2005, it seemed that American and international pressure might topple the Assad regime, but it turned out that the Iraq situation had been depleting most of the United States' diplomatic capacity. Assad realized that American pressure on Syria had no real "teeth."

The Bush Administration's animosity toward Syria has strengthened another tendency: toward removing the Syrian-Israeli peace process from the Middle East diplomatic agenda. Prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert gave the Palestinian issue exclusivity, making it very clear that they have no interest in a renewal of negotiations with Syria. Syria occasionally signaled its desire to renew talks, if only as a move to extract itself from diplomatic isolation and to alleviate American pressure. In the absence of a diplomatic option, Syria returned to the familiar pattern of increasing aid to Palestinian resistance and terror organizations and to Hezbollah.

The message to Israel has become clear: Syria will not accept the loss of the Golan, and in the absence of a military or diplomatic option, it will continue its struggle with Israel via an indirect route.

Syrian assistance to Hezbollah has changed as well. Syria lost a major card in Lebanon - its military presence. Its weakening under the rule of Bashar made it a junior partner in its alliance with Iran. This alliance was established in 1979 and one of its key elements has been cooperation in Lebanon. Hafez Assad's Syria provided the ayatollahs' regime with comfortable access to the Shiite population in Lebanon, and allowed it to achieve the sole success of the "Revolution Export" doctrine.

cont'd next post

But while Assad, Sr. knew to draw the lines on Iranian influence in Lebanon, his son has failed to maintain control in this realm. In recent years the junior-senior partner relationship has further changed into one that is more reminiscent of a patron-client relationship.

Fear of entanglement

Since the present war has broken out with Lebanon, Syria has been motivated first and foremost by the desire to avoid entanglement in the fighting. Syria is aware of the power balance existing between it and Israel. It continues to transport supplies to Hezbollah, but avoids any direct involvement in the war. Damascus is also aware of the fact that the United States is not taking it into consideration when planning the processes that are designed to ultimately bring about a cease-fire and more stable settlement in Lebanon, or at least in its southern part. But Syria does not display concern over this.

Syria's foreign minister, Walid Mualem, in effect served as ambassador to Washington in the previous decade. He hears the voices coming from Washington which predict that the Bush Administration will have to get over its animosity toward Assad, to disregard the long list of offenses perpetrated by Damascus and to open a dialogue with it, if it wishes to reach an effective settlement in Lebanon. The chance of a direct dialogue with Iran is slim, but the temptation to talk with an element that has been presenting itself over months as a possible mediator with Iran might grow stronger.

There isn't necessarily any immediate move in the offing. A solution to end the fighting without Iranian and Syrian involvement could certainly be achieved. Iran and Syria might decide that in order to stop the pounding of Hezbollah, they will avoid sabotaging a formula that will answer Israel's minimal requirements - release of the hostages, removal of Hezbollah forces from the proximity of the border, the deployment of a multinational force and the declaration of Lebanon's sovereignty over the entire country.

Such a formula will allow for the ending of the war, but will not uproot the fundamental problem. Iran, Syria and their Lebanese partners could start gnawing away at it shortly after the fighting is done.

The government of Lebanon and the Lebanese army are not a stable basis for the rebuilding of their state. Iran will not give up its frontline base in Lebanon and Damascus might just wait a few weeks for an American or European offer to help in the long-term establishment of an agreement in Lebanon. Then Damascus could reintroduce the price it demands in return: renewal of Syrian-U.S. talks and the reinstatement of the Golan Heights issue on the political-diplomatic agenda of the Middle East.

Beyond these immediate questions stands a more profound issue. Everyone understands that the present war is a war by proxy, and that beyond Hezbollah and Syria stands Iran. Iran casts a tall shadow over the Middle East even before it has achieved full nuclear power.

The Arab countries understand this well and this is what spurs their quiet support of attempts to weaken Hezbollah.

When the fighting settles down the question that will take center stage will be how Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan plan to confront the Iranian ambition of supremacy in the region. The issue of the Golan Heights and Syria's wish to have its special status in Lebanon acknowledged again will come up. This is a considerable price-tag as far as Washington and Israel are concerned. Israel will find it hard to accept any concession that will be seen as diminishing the war's achievements. Thus, the diplomatic process with Syria must be considered as a matter for a later time, and not as a step in ending the present war.

Itamar Rabinovich is the president of the Tel Aviv University, and served in the mid 1990s as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. and head of the delegation that negotiated with Syria.

Talks with Syria, yes - but not now (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744448.html)

Zest for martyrdom fuels Hizbollah in battle

By Tom Perry
Reuters

BEIRUT — A sister of Hizbollah fighter Mustafa Zalzali wears mourning black for her brother, but his death in battle with Israel elicits more pride than grief.

"We thank God almighty for making us the family of a martyr," she said. "We received the news of his martyrdom with pride," she told Hizbollah's Manar television. Hizbollah fighters are well armed and trained. But one of the group's greatest assets in its war with Israel is the willingness of its fighters to die for their cause.

Hizbollah has killed 33 Israeli soldiers, including some of the army's best, in the war triggered when the fighters captured two soldiers in a raid into Israel on July 12.

"Hizbollah's strength really lies in its fighters — that they are ready for death," Hizbollah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb said. "The edge they have is their steadfastness and resolve, which is derived from their religious ideology." The fighters killed eight Israeli soldiers in one battle alone in the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday. They also put up a stiff fight at the border village of Maroun Ras.

Israel says it has killed more than 200 Hizbollah fighters, but the group says it has lost only 31.

"We do not hide our martyrs," Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told Al Jazeera television. "On the contrary, we always take pride in our martyrs." Fighters killed in combat are celebrated as heroes by Hizbollah, which emerged in the early 1980s to fight Israeli occupation and enjoys strong support among Lebanese Shiites.

Ready for sacrifice

Families of slain fighters are held in high esteem by Hizbollah followers. Nasrallah himself draws his popularity and legitimacy partly from the death of his eldest son at the age of 18 in combat with Israel.

"For 23 years, we have been speaking and mobilising the people," Nasrallah said. "Speaking about martyrdom, the honour of martyrdom and the stature of martyrs." For Hizbollah's supporters, martyrdom is a sublime goal rooted in their Shiite Muslim traditions.

Shiites annually mark the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein in battle at Kerbala in 680.

Hizbollah fighters killed in battle are also remembered in the Ashura ceremonies which mark the death of Imam Hussein.

Shiites differ from Sunnis in seeing Hussein's father, Ali, as the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammad.

"The desire for martyrdom among Hizbollah followers and the willingness to be martyred is absolutely essential," said Samer Karanshawy, a researcher on Lebanese Shiites.

"This cannot be separated from the tenacity of their fighting in Maroun Ras and Bint Jbeil." Willingness to sacrifice is a key qualification for joining Hizbollah's military ranks. "Hizbollah would not open its doors to secular Shiites because they lack this commitment which is crucial in terms of military power," Saad-Ghorayeb said.

The family of Zalzali, killed in a recent battle, say they are ready for more sacrifices.

"His martyrdom has lifted our heads high," said another of his sisters. "Whatever more we can offer, we will. Our men, our children, our siblings."

Zest for martyrdom fuels Hizbollah in battle (http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/news/news5.htm)

Iran FM to meet French counterpart in Beirut

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

LONDON, August 1 (IranMania) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is one of the main backers of Hezbollah guerrillas battling Israeli forces, met his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy in Beirut, officials said.

The meeting took place at the Iranian embassy as Douste-Blazy pressed efforts for a diplomatic solution to the three-week-old Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

Neither minister made any comment after their talks which lasted more than two hours.

Ahead of the talks, Mottaki implicitly criticised the United States for abetting the Israeli offensive.

"We consider any party which backs the Zionist enemy ... in its aggression ... and foils efforts to stop the aggression as partners and responsible for the crimes committed against Lebanon," he said after talks with his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Sallukh, a Hezbollah ally.

He also criticised the United Nations and its agencies for failing to do more to halt the Israeli offensive, launched after Shiite militants of Hezbollah captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12.

"After three weeks, those organizations did not do their duties toward that aggression," he said.

Earlier Monday, Douste-Blazy said Iran was a key player in the Middle East and "plays an important stabilising role" in the region.

"It is clear that we cannot accept a destabilisation of Lebanon that could lead to a destabilisation of the region. In the region there is a great country like Iran which is respected and which plays an important stabilising role in the region," he said.

"We think more than ever that the Iranians are an important and respected actor."

His comments came despite outspoken criticism of Iran from the United States which has accused the Islamic regime and its key regional ally Syria of arming Hezbollah and encouraging its attacks on Israel.

Iran insists it gives only moral support to the Shiite militant group.

Mottaki, who arrived from neighbouring Syria earlier Monday, was due to meet Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday.

Iran FM to meet French counterpart in Beirut (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44745&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Proposal to transfer Shalit to Egypt

Senior Palestinian source tells Ynet that in the framework of negotiations over Kidnapped soldier's release, possibility he be handed over to Egyptians is being considered. Cairo official: Still no breakthrough in talks
Ali Waked

In the framework of negotiations over the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, "we are looking into the possibility of handing him over to Egypt until Israel fulfills the Palestinians and the abductors' demand to free Palestinian prisoners," a senior Palestinian official told Ynet Tuesday.

The negotiations over Shalit's release continue, mainly via Egyptian mediation. One of the central clauses of the talks stipulates that there will be no direct contacts between the Israeli government and Hamas.

According to the agreement that is being formulated by both sides, whose basic principles were agreed upon by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, Shalit is to be transferred either to Egypt or to Abbas' hands. In exchange, Israel will cease military operations, primarily in the Strip, suspend all targeted killings and work to release Palestinian prisoners. Once the prisoners are freed, Shalit will be returned to Israel.

The new clause in this deal refers to the possibility that Shalit be handed over to the Egyptians.

Cairo confirms 'outline' for deal

On Monday, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the Palestinian government continues its efforts to resolve the crisis that would include Shalit's release, ending the Israeli military offensive and "taking into consideration the suffering of the tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails."

Egyptian sources confirmed the report, but said it has not been decided yet whether Shalit will be transferred to Egypt or to Abbas. Officials in Cairo said that no breakthrough has been registered in the negotiations until now, but stated that "this is the outline aimed at resolving the Shalit affair."

Proposal to transfer Shalit to Egypt (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284582,00.html)

Nasrallah, bomb Tel Aviv

(VIDEO) Palestinian protesters in Ramallah urge Hizbullah to fire missiles on central Israel; former Palestinian interior minister calls on Fatah fighters to go on high alert ahead of possibility of escalation in fighting
Ali Waked

RAMALLAH - VIDEO - About 1,500 Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah Tuesday against ongoing IDF operations in Lebanon and particularly what protesters characterized as the "second Qana massacre."

A similar rally was held in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Participants in the rally also criticized the United States and urged the continuation of armed resistance to the Americans in Iraq. During the protest, both the Israeli and American flags were set ablaze.

The rally was organized by all Palestinian organizations in Ramallah, headed by Fatah, which is particularly powerful in the city. Senior Fatah member and former Interior Minister Hani al-Hassan surprised those in attendance by announcing that the group ordered its fighters to be on high alert "ahead of the possibility of escalation of the conflict in Lebanon, which could manifest itself in an escalation of Israeli actions in the Territories."

"I know what I'm talking about and I know what I'm referring to," al-Hassan told the crowd.

Tuesday's protest was relatively small compared to earlier ones in Ramallah and particularly the one held during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the region. Rally organizers noted that the Palestinians, just like other Arabs, were disappointed by the international apathy in the face of the ongoing killings.

However, the organizers admitted that the paucity of Hizbullah accomplishments put a damper on the masses' enthusiasm.

'Neighbors celebrated missile attack on Afula'

A Jenin journalist who works in Ramallah said that support for Nasrallah and Hizbullah was overwhelming and encompassed the whole of Palestinian society. No official or senior figure in the Palestinian Authority would dare publicly criticize the Lebanese group, he said, but noted that privately some Palestinians are unimpressed with Nasrallah's group. The journalist added that his neighbors in Jenin were celebrating over news that a Hizbullah rocket hit the town of Afula, the deepest point hit by Hizbullah thus far.

Meanwhile, one Fatah activist said that the protest was proof that the entire organization is united in its support of Hizbullah. According to the activist, identified only as Ravia, talk inIsrael about moderate Palestinians fearing a Hizbullah victory are a "media spin."

"There may be one or two opportunists who are expressing their dissatisfaction with Hizbullah's activity, but a document distributed by Hani al-Hassan attests to the importance of the victory for the Palestinian question."

Nasrallah, bomb Tel Aviv (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284779,00.html)

Mahdi 'Akef, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Warns Egyptian Regime: The People Will Trample You Underfoot

Following are excerpts from an interview with Mahdi 'Akef, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on July 30, 2006.

Phone call from Mustafa Othman, Egypt: The people needs someone to lead it, and there is no one better than you to lead the people. You know what Husni Mubarak did to the people. Husni Mubarak brought cancer from Israel. Husni Mubarak is an American agent, as you know. We ask you and Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi to issue a fatwa now, calling upon the Egyptian people to revolt against its ruler.

[...]

Interviewer: Could you respond to this phone call, asking you to declare a revolt against the ruler?

Mahdi 'Akef: Yes, I will begin with this. I am the first one who wants to bear arms against these Zionist gangs, wherever they may be. But in my capacity as Supreme Guide, I have other considerations, and I bear great responsibilities. How can I take this people out to the streets, exposing them to the ignorance of the regime? When 50 people come to a demonstration, they are faced by 1,000 soldiers. A demonstration of 5,000 people will be faced by 25,000 soldiers. I fear that blood be shed for no price. I want blood that is shed for a price. These ignorants who rule Egypt with force and with security agencies - I call upon them to fear Allah, to return to Allah, and to reach out to this people, which attributes power and honor to you. Otherwise, the people will soon trample you underfoot, Allah willing.

[...]

This American Satan claims to be a messenger of divine guidance. Divine guidance never commands anything but truth, justice, and freedom, things that have nothing to do with him. I salute all the honorable Americans who stand up to this Satan, who wants to set the entire world on fire, not just the Arab and Islamic nation.

I go back to the issue of Jihad. Jihad is an individual duty incumbent upon every Muslim, male and female, if any inch of the land of Islam and the Muslims is occupied.

Mahdi 'Akef, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Warns Egyptian Regime: The People Will Trample You Underfoot (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1214)

Anti-Israel Protests Include Praise for Terror Leader Nasrallah
20:34 Aug 01, '06 / 7 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Anti-Israel protests are taking place the world over; even in Israel. Protesters often praise terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah; in Ramallah, they called for him to bomb Tel Aviv.

A stormy protest against Israel's anti-Hizbullah campaign in Lebanon took place in front of the American consulate in eastern Jerusalem on Tuesday morning. Five protesters were arrested when the demonstration, which included tens of Jewish and Arab participants, turned violent.

Arab protesters at the event chanted slogans in praise of Hizbullah and its warlord-leader, Hassan Nasrallah. A police spokesperson said that officers were attacked by the crowd when they moved in to detain the event's organizer.

Also on Tuesday, Muslim protesters outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, called on their government to send them to the Middle East to fight the Israelis and Americans. Several of the participants were carrying toy machine-guns and fake suicide belts. Police confiscated some of the accessories.

Allawi Usman, a leader of the protest called the US and Israel "the enemies of Islam," saying that the demonstrators want to "help our brothers and sisters there who are being killed and ravaged by [them]."

In Ramallah, at a rally on Tuesday organized by the Fatah faction, participants carried Hizbullah flags and chanted for Nasrallah to bomb Tel Aviv. Members of the crowd also burned American and Israeli flags. Fatah is led by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas ("Abu Mazen") and is the main rival to Hamas for legislative control of the PA.

Hani Al-Hassan, a former PA minister, warned the crowd that Israel would soon attack in Judea and Samaria, as well. "I know what I am talking about," he said.

On Monday, dozens of anti-Israel demonstrators protested near the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC. Carrying signs that said "Murderers," "Death to Israel" and "Stop the Slaughter," the protesters decried Israel's ongoing military offensive against the Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Protests last week included a joint Arab-Jewish protest against the war in besieged Haifa on Tuesday. Hearing about the protest on television and the radio, outraged Haifa residents left their bomb shelters to hold a stormy counter-protest.

Last Thursday, Indian left-wing and communist party representatives led an anti-Israel demonstration in New Delhi. The event, which included an abortive march on the Israeli Embassy, was organized by the Indian Committee Against Israeli Aggression. Scores of leftist activists, intellectuals, artists and prominent personalities took part.

Speaking at the rally, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), Prakash Karat, called for an Indian boycott of Israel. "India is the largest consumer of Israeli arms today. So it is the responsibility of our government to stop buying arms from a nation which is devastating both Lebanon and Palestine." he said.

Among the other anti-Israel protests that have been held worldwide were those in Montreal and Toronto in Canada; in London, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield and Eastbourne (picketing the visiting Israeli tennis team) in the United Kingdom; and in San Diego (at the local JCC across from a pro-Israel event), Springfield, Massachusetts and at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.

Among the groups sponsoring the anti-Israel protests have been the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, the Canadian Arab Federation, the Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, the Muslim Unity Group of Toronto, UK Muslim organizations, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Stop the War Coalition, the Association Des Jeunes Libanais Musulmans, the Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) organization, the Canadian Muslim Forum, the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, Anti-Racist Action, the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Muslim Association of Britain, the British Muslim Initiative, UK Lebanese organizations, the International Socialist Organization and the International Action Center.

Two simultaneous anti-Israel events organized by the communist ANSWER Coalition, the National Council of Arab Americans (NCA), and the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation are scheduled for August 12, 2006 in Washington DC and in San Francisco, California. The DC protest will be held near the White House, while the San Francisco event will be held at the Civic Center.

Anti-Israel Protests Include Praise for Terror Leader Nasrallah (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108933)

300-400 Hizbullah Fighters Killed
23:21 Aug 01, '06 / 7 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Government ministers revealed Tuesday that between 300-400 Hizbullah fighters have been killed since the start of the IDF counter-terrorism offensive in Lebanon.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who said that 300 of the enemy's forces have been eliminated, revealed that IDF sources estimate the total number of Hizbullah fighters to be 2,000. "The objective is to hit the fighters and the weaponry of the Hizbullah," Ramon told a Channel 10 interviewer, "and so far, we have done a pretty good job."

The minister went on to say that Israel would "not return to a situation in which the Hizbullah does what it wants - kidnapping, killing or firing Katyushas at northern communities - and we sit by fearfully. Thanks to the decision of the prime minister, the rules of the game have changed. What was is not what will be."

Ramon further stated that the IDF will renew its air strikes inside Lebanon tomorrow morning, at the conclusion of the 48-hour suspension of such attacks that Israel announced on Sunday.

Tourism Minister Yitzchak Herzog today mentioned a higher figure of Hizbullah fighters killed by IDF forces, about 400. He further elaborated that several Hizbullah headquarters and much of the organization's equipment have been destroyed in IDF operations.

On Tuesday evening, IDF air force planes struck three underground bunkers of the Hizbullah in the western sector of southern Lebanon.

On the Gaza front of the Re-Engagement War, Israeli forces killed two people Tuesday in a strike on rocket launchers in northern Gaza. Terrorist cells fired Kassam rockets into the western Negev earlier in the day.

IDF spokesmen said that the soldiers initially refrained from hitting the rocket launchers when they spotted a group of children in the area. Later, when a different group, thought to be adults, approached the launchers, IDF forces opened fire. Arab sources claimed that the victims, including a teenager and a young woman, were innocent bystanders.

"We don't fire on children, despite the fact that terrorists make cynical use of them," an IDF spokesman said. "When a group of adults was identified, fire was initiated, which prevented future Kassam rocket launches at Israel."

300-400 Hizbullah Fighters Killed (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=108948)

Syria won’t go to war alone

In speech to Washington Institute for Near East Policy, vice premier says he does not foresee regional war ‘because Jordan and Egypt will not rush to Syria’s side’; adds: Terror organizations hoped for Israel’s psychological, economic and physical collapse, but it didn’t happen because Israel is unified like never before
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – In a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Tuesday, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said the Syrian economy is in a terrible state and that its army is outdated.

Peres, who derided Syrian President Bashar Assad by referring to him as “the son of a wise leader,” is expected to meet later on Tuesday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Steve Hadley and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Peres said he does not believe Syria would go to war against Israel alone due to its obsolete military apparatus, adding that he does not foresee a regional war ‘because Jordan and Egypt will not rush to Syria’s side.’

Syria has enjoyed the best of both worlds for a long time, but now it must decide whether it is part of the terror camp or part of the camp that is battling terror, he said.

Peres went on to say that Iran’s strength derives from the weakness of the international community, adding that the Security Council vote on Iran’s nuclear program, which is scheduled for Monday, is a first sign of world unity.

'No wars without mistakes'

"The Iranian nuclear issue is more important than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Peres said.

As for the war against Hizbullah, Peres said it marked the first time that a democratic country was fighting a terror group that has no uniforms or boundaries but was equipped with hundreds of modern rockets and missiles.

He said the terror organizations hoped for Israel’s psychological, economic and physical collapse, which would never happen ‘because Israel is unified like never before.’

Turning his attention to the incident in the Lebanese village of Qana, Peres said ‘there are no wars without mistakes,’ adding that ‘the biggest mistake is war itself.’ The vice Premier mentioned the accidental bombardment of the Chinese embassy in Kosovo by US Forces.

Syria won’t go to war alone (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284931,00.html)

Iranian president rejects resolution
Responding to U.N. Security Council,
says Tehran will pursue nuke program
Posted: August 1, 2006
5:00 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Declaring Iran will pursue its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution today that would give the Islamic nation until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment.

"If some think they can still speak with threatening language to the Iranian nation, they must know that they are badly mistaken," Ahmadinejad said in a speech televised live.

In January, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency it would resume nuclear enrichment work in defiance of the United States and European Union, which believe Tehran wants to build bombs.

That rejection prompted Britain, France and Germany – backed by the U.S. – to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which passed a resolution yesterday threatening sanctions if Tehran does not suspend uranium enrichment by the end of this month.

But a defiant Ahmadinejad said Iran won't turn back from its determined course.

"Our nation has made its decision. We have passed the difficult stages," he said. "Today, the Iranian nation has acquired the nuclear technology."

The Iranian leader insisted his country is united.

"My words are the words of the Iranian nation. Throughout Iran, there is one slogan: 'The Iranian nation considers the peaceful use of nuclear fuel production technology its right,'" he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi accused Western nations of trying to "exert pressure on Iran and block the path of dialogue through a destructive and inappropriate resolution."

The resolution, passed 14-1, also was rejected by Iran's ambassador to the United Nations. The only no vote came from Qatar, which represents Arab states on the Security Council.

Commenting on Israel's conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad today ramped up his rhetoric against the Jewish state – calling its people "a bunch of bloodthirsty savages."

"They know no limitations or boundaries at all any more for killing people," he said, according to a report in Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "Are these people still human beings or just a bunch of bloodthirsty savages?"

Ahmadinejad said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah "is acting on behalf of all free-minded world nations and he will in the near future gain final victory."

Previously Ahmadinejad threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." He has denied the Holocaust and suggested Israel be moved to Europe.

Iran: Israel nukes obstacle to peace

Iran's Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar says only disarming of Israel from nuclear weapons will bring 'sustainable peace' in Middle East
Dudi Cohen and Agencies

Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar said Monday that the best way to obtain security and a sustainable peace in the Middle East is the disarmament of Israel of nuclear weapons, Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

Regarding the harming of civilians in populated areas in Lebanon, the Iranian defense minister said that the "the end of Zionist war criminals and their supporters will be worse than Hitler and Saddam."

The minister said that the "popular resistance in Lebanon and Palestine struck a number of strategic targets in Israel and the United States." He added the "Lebanese and the Palestinians showed that once again that no weapon, even nuclear weapons, can stand against the will for freedom and independence."

Addressing the war in Lebanon, the Syrian minister said that "this war is not only against Hizbullah and the popular Lebanese and Palestinian resistance – but against peace and international security."

'Incidents in Lebanon, Palestine affecting our evaluations'

He said that unity between the Muslim countries could prevent a repetition of such incidents in the future.

"For the leaders of the United States and the Zionist regime every crime they are committing is legitimate so that Israel rules the Arab and Muslim Middle East," he said.

The comments by the Iranian defense ministry were made against the background of the deepening of the crisis between Iran and the international community due to Tehran's lateness in responding to the forum of six nations on whether I will agree to cease enriching uranium in exchange for a package of economic incentives.

On Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to present Iran with an ultimatum, according to which if it does not end its nuclear activities within a month, the Council will meet to discuss applying sanctions on it.

In an unusual step, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad linked Iran's delay in deciding on the package of incentives to the events in the Middle East, and added that "the incidents in Lebanon and Palestine are affecting our evaluations."

Iran: Israel nukes obstacle to peace (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284175,00.html)

Syria eyeing larger goals as Lebanon crisis continues
(AP)

2 August 2006

CAIRO, Egypt - Syria appears intent on wresting political gains from the standoff in Lebanon, privately telling Arab diplomats that it won’t aid cease-fire efforts unless that results in less isolation for it, and more focus on the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, diplomats and analysts said on Tuesday.

Syria’s push to link any cease-fire to what it calls a comprehensive and lasting Mideast peace plan comes at a time when U.S. President George W. Bush also has said he wants a cease-fire linked to a broader Mideast peace plan.

But Syria and Bush are talking about different things _ Syria wants talks over the status of the Golan, which it wants back from Israel. Bush wants to halt Syrian and Iranian support for Hezbollah.

Israel and the United States both have accused Syria and Iran of backing the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, whose July 12 abduction of two Israeli soldiers triggered the Middle East’s latest war.

Egypt in recent days has stepped up efforts to persuade Syria to help in resolving the standoff.

But Arab diplomats said Syria is making it clear to mediators that it will step in to pressure Hezbollah only if there is an over-all settlement to the decades-long Middle East conflict. In Syria’s eyes, any such plan must include Israel returning the strategic heights it seized from Syria in the 1967 war.

Damascus is also seeking a let-up in the international isolation it has been under since last year’s assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, widely blamed on Syria although Damascus has denied any link.

“Syria wants a whole package that includes the Golan, or at least resumption of negotiations with Israel,” said one Damascus-based diplomat, who was briefed by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem about Syria’s position on Sunday.

Damascus also has warned that failure to cooperate with it to stabilize Lebanon might turn its tiny neighbor into a new haven for al-Qaida terrorists, the Damascus-based diplomat said on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the issue.

On Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who met Syrian President Bashar Assad a day earlier in Damascus, disclosed that Syria was opposed to the creation of a new international force in Lebanon. Aboul Gheit said Syria instead wants to expand the current U.N. force there, widely regarded as ineffectual.

Syria has not spoken publicly on its role in resolving the crisis but Damascus official media has always boasted that there will be no peace in the Middle East without Syria.

“The Syrian role will remain there, whether they like it or not,” Emad al-Shoeibi, a pro-government Syrian analyst said Tuesday.

And George Jabour, a member of the Syrian parliament, said, “There will be no lasting peace and no stability in the region without the Golan heights return to Syria.”

Even as Syria holds that line and Egypt tries to mediate, the fighting has exposed rifts in the Arab world.

On Monday, Moallam traveled to Doha for talks with its ruler. Hours later, Qatar’s foreign minister accused some Arab states of supporting the Israeli offensive on Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah.

He declined to name the Arab countries but it is widely believed that he was referring to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which have criticized Hezbollah for sparking the fighting.

Meanwhile, Syria still faces a high risk of being drawn into direct conflict with Israel if the crisis continues, said Wahid Abdel Maguid of the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Syria has quietly raised its military alert to the highest level, drawn up contingency plans and canceled all officers’ leaves. On Monday, Assad said the situation “requires cautious and preparedness and readiness.”

“The Syrians are extremely worried. They feel that they are under enormous pressure. Therefore, they are confused and unsure what to do,” said Abdel Maguid

“They think that they are holding some important cards in their hands,” he said. But, “If you keep your cards to your chest and do not use them at the appropriate time, then you are doomed to lose.”

Syria eyeing larger goals as Lebanon crisis continues (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/August/middleeast_August34.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

EU rejects ceasefire call and UN fails to act as disunity prevails

· UK and Germany achieve watered-down statement
· Flurry of unilateral action leaves UN splintered

Nicholas Watt in Brussels, Ewen MacAskill, Simon Tisdall and Oliver Burkeman in New York
Wednesday August 2, 2006
The Guardian

Efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon collapsed again yesterday after a divided European Union issued a watered-down statement and the United Nations postponed a full security council discussion promised by Tony Blair and Condoleezza Rice.

Despite escalating violence in southern Lebanon, EU foreign ministers rejected a draft statement that would have called for an immediate ceasefire and would have branded Israel's bombardment as "a severe breach of international humanitarian law". In a semantic bow to Washington and Tel Aviv, they called instead "for an immediate cessation of hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire".

Article continues
Germany and four other countries joined Britain in opposing the tougher language that had been urged by France. In EU parlance, a "cessation" now appears to mean a temporary pause, whereas a "ceasefire" implies a more permanent arrangement. The wording is virtually identical to the statement agreed by foreign ministers at their last meeting two weeks ago in Brussels. The only difference is the addition of the call for a sustainable ceasefire after the cessation.

The foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, denied the compromise amounted to a "green light" for Israel to continue its military offensive. "I would be saddened and dismayed if someone would read that into today's conclusions," she said.

Underlining the entangled nature of the debate, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said: "Cessation of hostilities is not the same as a ceasefire. A ceasefire can perhaps be achieved later ... We can now only ask the UN security council and put pressure on it not to waste any more time."

Nothing materialised in the security council yesterday, however. Diplomats at the UN headquarters in New York say they are awaiting instructions from their governments. A meeting initially planned for Monday to discuss troop contributions to a multinational security force in south Lebanon has now been rescheduled for tomorrow. A full meeting of the council to discuss a resolution to end hostilities and create a political framework in support of the Lebanese government has yet to be arranged.

Mr Blair and Ms Rice, the US secretary of state, both suggested at the weekend that the council would take urgent action in the first half of this week.

Kofi Annan, the secretary general, met ambassadors of the council's five permanent members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - and urged them to act quickly, stressing the need for unity.

There was a "genuine argument" about the conditions that would be required for a multinational force to enter the region, said the UK's ambassador, Sir Emyr Jones Parry. "We can't get away from the fact that there's a real difference of perspectives," he said. Asked if the US strategy was to give Israel more time to attack Hizbullah, Sir Emyr said: "It's not a question of giving time. It's a question of hoping very much that the situation will change on the ground."

The lack of unity on dealing with the crisis was underscored by the disclosure by Iran's new ambassador to Britain, Rasoul Movahedian, that the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, had offered to fly to Tehran. The move followed a meeting in Beirut on Monday with Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. Mr Douste-Blazy described Iran as a stabilising force in the region - the complete opposite of the US and British view.

Mr Movahedian told the Guardian that he had been lobbied by Foreign Office officials to use Iran's influence with Hizbullah and that Mrs Beckett had called Mr Mottaki last week. But he denied that Iran had the power to halt the fighting. "People in this country [Britain] think that Hizbullah is like a machine with a switch in Tehran that we can turn off. This is not the case. At the moment we do not support it financially or militarily," he said.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, condemned the US and UK yesterday, saying they were culpable for the loss of civilian life in Lebanon. "It has become clear they are not competent to sit in the UN security council and enjoy veto rights. They are culprits, criminals themselves." He called for an immediate ceasefire.

Germany is pursuing its own course, making overtures to Syria, another Hizbullah backer. Mr Steinmeier said in an interview that he had offered president Bashar Assad closer cooperation with the EU, including trade incentives, in return for breaking its alliance with Iran, reining in Hizbullah and assisting the insertion of the multinational force.

EU rejects ceasefire call and UN fails to act as disunity prevails (http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1835290,00.html)

Mottaki, Lahoud review regional developments
Beirut, Aug 1, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-Mottaki
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday conferred with the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on recent developments in the region.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed various issues including current wide-scale Zionist attacks to Lebanon, its aftermath, ways to put an end to the conflict, calls for a truce along with various offers proposed by different countries as well as Iran's assistance to Lebanon.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to render moral, humanitarian and diplomatic assistance to Lebanon against the atrocities of the Zionists aggressors, Mottaki said and voiced sympathy with the Lebanese government and nation over the disaster at Qana which took the lives of 60 innocent civilians.

Referring to the aggression of the Zionist regime to Lebanon, he described the stands of the Lebanese nation in the face of Zionist atrocities as a source of pride which is praiseworthy.

The Lebanese, through their brave resistance, could put an end to myth of an invincible Zionist regime, he underlined.

The global organizations, with the UNSC at the head, should be accountable to public opinions for their inability in dealing with the atrocities of the Zionist occupiers, he said.

It is incumbent for all countries to respect agreements among Lebanese political wings in resolving the current crisis, he said adding that their solidarity would play a decisive role in their continued resistance.

Referring to the so-called plan for 'New Middle East', he said the American seeks to create a new region in the Middle East region with Israel as the pivot.

Given the full-scale efforts of Iranian officials to persuade other countries to play a much more active and positive role in Lebanon in dealing with the atrocities of the Zionist regime, he said the Zionist regime has failed to achieve its pre-planned goals.

Strongly condemning the Zionist crimes for massacring innocent Lebanese women and children, he underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran supports the Lebanese nation and their resistance.

The Lebanese president for his part appreciated Iran's political, diplomatic and humanitarian aid to his people.

Israel wish to disrupt restoration of tranquility and security in Lebanon, he said adding that they have already prepared a plan to connect them to Litani river, disarm Hizbollah and impose their conditions on Lebanon.

Since the Zionists have been defeated militarily, they seek to make up for their defeat through diplomacy, he concluded.

Mottaki, Lahoud review regional developments (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608014145185258.htm)

Mottaki confers with Lebanon's PM, parliament speaker
Beirut, Aug 1, IRNA

Lebanon-Mottaki-Meeting
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday held separate meetings with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on the latest political developments in Lebanon and ongoing crisis.

Currently on a visit to Lebanon to sympathize with the country's government, people and resistance at his meetings with Lebanese officials, Mottaki expounded on Iran's measures in the regional and international scene aiming to encourage various states to confront the Zionist regime's aggressions.

In his meeting with Berri, the foreign minister said, "It has been proved in the international scene that the Zionist regime has failed to achieve its military objectives. Thus it is attempting to materialize its failed goals by exerting diplomatic pressure." For his part the Lebanese parliament speaker briefed Mottaki on his country's difficult condition and said that Lebanon's resistance is the outcome of the faith of forerunners of Islamic Movement in the contemporary history, in particular Founder of the Islamic Revolution the late Imam Khomeini, and the kidnapped leader of Lebanese Shiites Imam Moussa Sadr.

Berri referred to his country's national unity as another factor having an impact on the resistance of Lebanese people against the Zionist regime's intrigues and underlined that the ongoing war has been initiated by Israel against Lebanon on behalf of the US.

He thanked Iran for its unreserved supports for Lebanon's people and resistance, adding that such support is a source of strength for his country to confront the Zionist regime.

The Lebanese official urged the need for immediate cease-fire and underlined that the Zionist regime's aggressions should be stopped.

The Iranian Foreign Minister arrived in Lebanon through that country's northern land border with Syria on Monday night.

Upon his arrival in Beirut, Mottaki met the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and the visiting French Foreign Minister Filippe Doust Blazy in the evening.

He also met his Lebanese counterpart Fauzi Sallokh on Monday during which the two ministers reviewed the latest developments in the course of Zionist regime's all-out war against Lebanon.

Mottaki confers with Lebanon's PM, parliament speaker (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608019124181734.htm)

Ahmadinejad: Israeli aggressions on Lebanon aim to revive dead plan of greater Middle East
Bojnourd, North Khorasan prov, Aug 1, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-President
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Israeli aggressions on Lebanon and Palestine aim to revive the dead plan of a greater Middle East.

He said in his address to a large crowd of people that the US and Britain have abetted Israel to invade Lebanon and should be held accountable for Israeli war crimes.

Ahmadinejad said that Israeli aggressions on Lebanon and Palestine were pre-planned adding that the occupying regime only used as pretext taking the soldiers as captive to exchange them for the Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in Israeli detention camps.

He said that murder, aggression and plunder formed the nature of the occupying regime adding that Israel serves as lackey for both the US and Britain in the Middle East.

Ahmadinejad criticized international organizations of inaction in the face of Israeli aggressions on Lebanon and Palestine and said that the UN Security Council has been made an instrument for global arrogance.

"The US and UK do not deserve to be permanent member of the Security Council. They have abetted Israeli war crimes and should stand trial.

"They are contemplating to spread the flames of war throughout the Middle East, but, they should fear the fury of the nations.

"Lebanon, is a scene to present the true face of the so-called advocates of human rights. It depicts the oppression to which the Lebanese nation have been subject," Ahmadinejad said.

He praised the Lebanese resistance movement led by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and said that Israeli aggression is not only against a single nation, but, it is against the entire humanity.

President Ahmadinejad said that Iran calls for an end to the current hostility in Lebanon and the aggressor should pay reparations for the damages it inflicted on civilian infrastructure of Lebanon.

He called on the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to bring to justice Israeli officials for the war crimes they perpetrated against civilians of Lebanon and Palestine.

The Iranian president said that personnel of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society and ambulances are not immune from Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Palestine and they fell victims to the military attacks of the occupying regime, so that humanitarian aid workers are not able to carry out their own job.

Ahmadinejad: Israeli aggressions on Lebanon aim to revive dead plan of greater Middle East (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608016240201110.htm)

Israel launches attack deep in Lebanon

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel launched a major attack deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah said its guerrillas were fighting Israeli commandos trapped inside a hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek early Wednesday.

The Israeli army would not comment on the operation in the ancient city, which was once a Syrian army headquarters some 80 miles north of Israel. The Web site of the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that "helicopters put down IDF (military) commandos near Baalbek," without adding details.

The ferocity of the battles in Baalbek and across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the determination of the Israelis to keep fighting and the minimal diplomatic progress toward a cease-fire all indicate the 3-week-old war is more likely to escalate than end soon.

Hezbollah's chief spokesman, Hussein Rahal, told The Associated Press that Israeli troops landed near Dar al-Hikma Hospital and that fierce fighting was raging after more than one hour.

"A group of Israeli commandos was brought to the hospital by a helicopter. They entered the hospital and are trapped inside as our fighters opened fire on them, and fierce fighting is still raging," Rahal said.

Rahal said Hezbollah was using automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, and that Israeli jets were attacking the surrounding guerrilla force with rockets.

He dismissed as "untrue" reports that the Israeli commandos managed to snatch some patients from the hospital and spirit them away in helicopters. Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid triggered the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

Witnesses said the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike and was burning. Repeated telephone calls to the hospital went unanswered.

Baalbek is a city with spectacular Roman ruins as well as the barracks of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards when they trained Hezbollah guerrillas there in the 1980s.

The last time Israel forces were known to have gone that far on the ground into Lebanon was in 1994, when they abducted Lebanese guerrilla leader Mustafa Dirani, hoping to use him to get information about missing Israeli airman Ron Arad. Dirani was released in a prisoner exchange 10 years later.

In southern Lebanon on Tuesday, troops battled guerrillas after Israel ordered its army to punch all the way to the Litani River. Thousands of troops were operating along the Israel-Lebanon border. Additional soldiers crossed into Lebanon on Tuesday, Israeli defense officials said, joining forces already fighting there.

They entered through four different points along the border and moved at least four miles inside Lebanon. Thousands of reservists, called up over the weekend, also were gathering at staging areas on the Israeli side of the border, ready to join the battles and extend the invasion.

Israeli officials said their soldiers were to go as far as the Litani, about 18 miles from the border, and hold the ground until an international peacekeeping force comes ashore.

But the army later said it had distributed leaflets northeast of the river at villages where Hezbollah was active. The leaflets told people to leave, suggesting that the new offensive could take Israeli soldiers even deeper into Lebanon.

Despite mounting civilian deaths, President Bush held fast to support for Israel and was pressing for a U.N. resolution linking a cease-fire with a broader plan for peace in the Middle East. Staking out a different approach, European Union foreign ministers called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities" followed by efforts to agree on a sustainable cease-fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it was not in Israel's interest to agree to an immediate cease-fire because every day of fighting weakens the guerrillas.

"Every additional day is a day that drains the strength of this cruel enemy," he said. "Every extra day is a day in which the (army) reduces their capability, contains their firing ability and their ability to hit in the future."

The Israelis want to keep Hezbollah off the border so their patrols and civilians along the fence are not in danger of attack. The army also hopes to push Hezbollah far enough north so that most of the guerrillas' rockets cannot reach the Jewish state.

Israel resumed sporadic airstrikes — hitting Hezbollah strongholds and supply lines from one end of Lebanon to the other — despite a pledge to suspend such attacks for another day in response to world outrage over the killing of 56 Lebanese in a weekend bombing.

Aid groups had hoped to take advantage of the supposed 48-hour lull in airstrikes to get food and medicine to civilians trapped in the south. But Israel denied access to two U.N. convoys. Others who made the journey described airstrikes close to their convoys, and bodies along the road.

Hezbollah fired just 10 rockets across the border Tuesday, well below an average of about 100 a day since the fighting began 21 days ago, Israel said.

But the ground battles were intense.

At nightfall Tuesday, Israeli troops were fighting Hezbollah at several points along the common border. Reporters and Arab television reported especially heavy fighting and Israeli artillery bombardment at the village of Aita al-Shaab.

The Israeli army said late Tuesday that three Israeli soldiers died and 25 were slightly wounded by small arms fire and anti-tank rockets in Aita al-Shaab.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Haim Ramon said the fighting to date had killed about 300 of Hezbollah's main force of 2,000 fighters, which does not include its less-well trained reserves. "That's a very hard blow," he said.

Hezbollah has said only 46 of its fighters were killed. Four were lost in battles with Israeli ground troops in Adaisse and Taibeh, near the Christian town of Marjayoun, about five miles from the border with Israel, Hezbollah said.

To the east at Kfar Kila, reporters saw at least three airstrikes, and the thud of artillery shells from Israeli ground troops was constant. About 20 shells landed in the hills around Kfar Kila during a 45-minute period.

Israeli jet fighters also struck deep inside Lebanese territory, hitting Hermel, 75 miles north of the Israeli border in the Bekaa Valley. Warplanes fired at least five air-to-surface missiles on the edge of the town, targeting a road linking eastern Lebanon to western regions and the coastline.

Six hours later, warplanes returned to Hermel, hitting a pickup truck loaded with cooking gas tanks, security officials said. The canisters exploded, sending flames shooting up from the vehicle for nearly an hour. The driver was out of the truck and not hurt.

In the west, Israeli warships fired artillery into the villages of Mansouri, Shamaa and Teir Harfan around the port city of Tyre. No casualties were reported.

Another strike at an area near the Syrian border, about six miles north of Hermel, targeted the Qaa-Homs road, one of four official crossing points between Lebanon and
Syria. Two of the four border crossings are now closed because of damage, and repeated airstrikes have made the main Beirut-Damascus highway impassable.

Polls in Israel show wall-to-wall support for Israel's fight against Hezbollah, even with Israeli civilians enduring a barrage of rocket fire and the army poised for a sweeping ground offensive that is sure to lead to more casualties.

Israel launches attack deep in Lebanon (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060801/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel;_ylt=AtjhnGeQcdSbX5Do_57snsSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--)

Annan seeks unity on Middle East in U.N. Council
01 Aug 2006 16:38:37 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called together major powers on Tuesday in an effort to promote unity on the Middle East crisis and rescheduled a meeting of potential troop contributors for an international force.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, will chair a session on Thursday among nations who may contribute troops to a stabilization force in southern Lebanon, the United Nations announced.

That meeting had originally been scheduled for Monday by Annan, who will be in Haiti and the Dominican Republic this week starting on Wednesday.

Annan emphasized the need for coordination at a breakfast with ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- the Security Council members with veto power.

A senior U.N. official said Annan was anxious not to see a split between the United States and France, mentioned as a leader of the force, as happened before the 2003 Iraq war.

France has distributed a draft U.N. resolution on elements for a sustainable cease-fire, which junior diplomats intend to discuss later on Tuesday. The United States is expected to present its own proposals soon.

But the French draft said the force should only be deployed after a truce and after Israel and Lebanon have "agreed in principle" on a framework for a permanent cease-fire. The United States would like the force to be deployed sooner.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 600 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, in the past three weeks. Hizbollah guerrillas have killed 51 Israelis.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters Annan spoke of the necessity for unity in the council and said it should act quickly to establish a basis for action.

"We hope we can move forward to get a resolution under discussion in the council very quickly," Jones Parry said. "There's a real difference of perception on the ground of what conditions are needed before a cessation of hostilities."

But he said he doubted there would be a foreign ministers meeting at the United Nations soon to adopt a resolution, although he said such a measure could be adopted before the fighting stopped.

Jones Parry said he foresaw an early truce or cessation of hostilities, based on an understanding between the parties and the deployment of an international force. He said at some stage "the framework for a longer-term solution" had to be put in place.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters after the breakfast, "We're still discussing how to proceed."

A U.N. statement said Annan was "satisfied with the outcome of the discussions, which permitted clarification of the critical issues and discussions of timelines."

Annan seeks unity on Middle East in U.N. Council (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01437130.htm)

Islam against the world

We shall not win this war because it is an isolated battle; just another promotional campaign leading to the real war whose signs are already on the horizon: The third world war – Islam's war against the free world
Prof. Oz Almog

This war will end sometime. It will take another day or two, perhaps a week or two, but it will end. We shall persevere, then lick our wounds, gird our loins and go back to the TV commercials, holidays and song festivals. Hizbullah will indeed suffer a severe military blow, and perhaps we'll earn some artificial calm under the patronage of some international scarecrow army wearing shorts and holding a pair of binoculars. Perhaps we'll even manage to get our abducted soldiers back under some dubious prisoner exchange agreement that would enable the two sides to swallow their pride. Whatever the consequences, we shall not emerge triumphant from the war in Lebanon which happened to be forced upon us.

We shall not win this war because the Hizbullah cannot be uprooted from Lebanon just as it is impossible to uproot the Moslem fundamentalism prevalent throughout Arab countries. We shall not win, because on the other side there is a group of anti-democratic people (not marginal in the Moslem world) who have legitimized lying and falsehood. It is a group that creates a reality by mere words and imagination and not by empirical methodology, free speech and self criticism. Even if Israeli tanks stand at Beirut's door, Nasrallah will present himself as Sallah al-Din, and even if all his fighters fall in battle – he will declare victory over the Zionists. And most of his admirers (and they are many) will accept his lies. But above all, we shall not win this war because it is a single battle, just one more promotional campaign leading to the real war whose signs are already on the horizon. The third world war – Islam's war against the free world.

In the name of a set religious platform

It’s amazing how closely 1933 resembles 2006. The world was then taken aback by a dictator who took power over Germany, a peculiar character almost comical (The Great Dictator by Charley Chaplin, Remember?). He developed a satanic ideology whose goal was to wipe the free world off the face of the earth. Even the President of Iran Ahmadinejad is depicted in the eyes of many as no more than a violent thug who cannot control his words. But he, as Hitler, is not marginal and he is not alone. He is being followed by masses of fanatics, who have replaced the Zig Heil with the call Allahu Akbar.

That world war began with deep feelings of inferiority and sick nationalist chauvinism, similar to that currently standing at our door. (There is no society that tramples on its women or is imbued with an inferiority complex more than Islam). Its inferiority complex and satanic culture have led to a well oiled mechanism of brainwashing that operates out of homes, mosques, educational institutes and communication networks.

Nasrallah abducted Israeli soldiers and shelled settlements not on in the Lebanese or Palestinian interest, but in the name of a set religious platform, aimed entirely at destroying the Jews and the State of Israel. Now, as then, the focus of hatred, the spiritual generator motivating and uniting the mob against the free world, is the Jewish stereotype. In those days it was the stereotype of the ugly, conniving merchant from the Protocols of Zion that plotted to take over the world, or alternatively the communist Jew who plotted to destroy the European Aryan culture. Today, it is the Jewish "settler" who has joined forces with the "great satan" in the aim of conquering Palestinian land, desecrating holy sites and drinking the blood of Palestinian children.

Can we stop the clock?

The rhetoric is almost the same. Just listen to what they are saying there, from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon to Syria, Saudia Arabia and Egypt. In a speech delivered recently by the chairman of the Iranian parliament, he describes Nasrallah having Khomeni's blood running through his veins. Indeed it does. This blood is boiling in the veins of thousands of religious ministers and Moslem preachers and is pounding in the temples of masses of potential suicide bombers ready to commit suicide in order to perform the mitzvah of spilling the blood of a satanic Jew. And all those politicians and western thinkers (its no coincidence that Spain's prime minister donned a kafiyeh and the French foreign minister lashed out at Israel from Beirut) led by the media are adjusting their eyes and camera lenses at the destruction perpetrated by our tanks (as if we started this war and as if we are killing innocent civilians, driven by a loss of senses and moral imperviousness). They talk in double standards about the "extent" - they are all European descendents who rolled their eyes during that terrible war.

They are directly or indirectly assisting to update the image of Satan from the ghetto-like Jew to the "new Jew", namely the Israeli. They are not doing much to prevent the fundamentalist finger from pushing the button that will, God forbid, send 6 million "new Jews" up to heaven in the smoldering smoke of the global era's nuclear furnace. And we the Jews? Then as now, we are burying our heads in the sand, repressing the new Nazism – the Islamic fundamentalism.

Can we stop the clock of the new anti-Semitism directed at the state of Israel? Perhaps this war will awaken those in slumber. However this time, the western world will awaken in time.

Islam against the world (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3284057,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is not, our battle to win. This is a battle the Lord, will win when He returns and steps on Mt. Olives.

IDF, Hizbullah fighting in Baalbek hospital
jpost staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 1, 2006

The IDF would not comment Wednesday morning on a report by Lebanese sources that IDF forces were fighting fierce clashes with Hizbullah fighters in a Baalbek hospital in southern Lebanon.

"A group of Israeli commandos was brought to the hospital by a helicopter. They entered the hospital and are trapped inside as our fighters opened fire on them and fierce fighting is still raging," Hizbullah spokesman Hussein Rahal told AP.

Rahal said Hezbollah guerrillas were using automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and dismissed as "untrue" reports that the commandos managed to snatch some patients from the hospital and spirit them away in helicopters.

IAF helicopters also reportedly opened machine-gun fire on Hizbullah fighters entrenched outside the hospital, according to eyewitnesses.

Hizbullah's al-Manar television reported late Tuesday night that IAF helicopters operating over the Bekaa Valley were taking heavy guerrilla fire but had not landed any commandos.

Earlier Tuesday, the IAF struck three Hizbullah bunkers in the western zone of southern Lebanon.

Warplanes also hit Hizbullah fighters battling with soldiers near the border as the guerrillas fired mortars into Israel.

Israeli jet fighters struck deep inside Lebanese territory, hitting Hermel, some 120 kilometers north of the Israeli border in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Warplanes fired at least five air-to-surface missiles on the edge of the town, targeting a road linking eastern Lebanon to western regions and the coastline.

About six hours later, warplanes returned to attack Hermel again, hitting a pickup truck loaded with cooking gas tanks, security officials said. The canisters exploded, sending flames shooting up from the vehicle for nearly an hour. The driver had pulled over and exited the vehicle before the attack, and was not hurt, they said.

In the west, Israeli warships offshore in the Mediterranean sent artillery into the villages of Mansouri, Shamaa and Teir Harfan around the port city of Tyre. No casualties were reported.

Another strike at an area near the Syrian border, about 10 kilometers north of Hermel, targeted the Qaa-Homs road, one of four official crossing points between Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon's official news agency reported Israeli jets also hit early Tuesday near the Masnaa crossing into Syria, which was attacked several times in the last three days.

Tuesday's airstrikes meant that two of the four border crossings are now closed because of damage. Repeated airstrikes have made the main Beirut-Damascus highway impassable.

Meanwhile, during a welcoming ceremony for French tourists at Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, Tourism Minister, Isaac Herzog praised the IDF for its operations in Lebanon and estimated that the army would continue bombarding Hizbullah infrastructure in the upcoming days.

Herzog added that, so far, during Operation Changing Direction, some 400 Hizbullah guerrillas had been killed by the IDF.

The tourism minister also said that the IDF had destroyed an array of long-range missiles as well as several Hizbullah headquarters and communications rooms.

Earlier, the Security Cabinet approved widening the ground offensive, a participant said, and rejected a cease-fire until an international force is in place in southern Lebanon.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that Israel was not interested in waging war on Syria but would continue to target convoys smuggling weapons across the border into Lebanon.

On Monday, Syria's army went on high alert in response to the situation.

IDF, Hizbullah fighting in Baalbek hospital (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292046965&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Our World: As Ahmadinejad watches
Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 31, 2006

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the man to watch these days. And yet it would seem that those in positions of power are paying him little heed.

Ahmadinejad, whose proxy army Hizbullah is now waging war against Israel, has promised to respond to European and American demands to cease his country's illicit nuclear programs on August 22. As Robert Spencer, a noted expert on Islam, has explained, August 22 corresponds with the 27th of Rajab on the Muslim calendar. According to Islamic tradition, that is the day after Muhammad made his nighttime journey to Jerusalem and then flew to heaven from the Temple Mount, lighting up the skies over the holy city in his wake.

This week the UN Security Council is supposed to pass a resolution giving Iran until August 31 to end its nuclear programs. The obvious meaning of the new deadline is that until then, in spite of Iran's direction of Hizbullah's war against Israel - a state which Iran daily threatens to destroy - no action will be taken against Teheran.

Indeed, in all the talk of Security Council resolutions regarding the war that Iran's proxy force Hizbullah is waging against Israel, no one has mentioned the possibility of condemning Iran, or Syria, for their sponsorship of Hizbullah.

AS THE STAKES of the war against Israel rise by the day, we find the international community, led by the US, and willingly followed by the Olmert government, scope-locked on a diplomatic agenda that is irrelevant to the imminent dangers Israel and the world now face in the midst of this Iranian sponsored jihad.

Indeed, it is worse than irrelevant. It is counterproductive.

For if the aims of the ongoing diplomatic blitzkrieg are all met, Israel will find itself denied its right to self-defense; with its legal right to secure and recognized borders in tatters; and with Hizbullah sitting pretty behind a protective shield of the Lebanese military and an international force that will not attack it.

On Wednesday the UN Security Council will vote to approve a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter that will mandate a cease-fire and the establishment and deployment of a multinational force to Lebanon. The tasks of the proposed force will be to man a buffer zone in southern Lebanon; enable the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border with Israel; and control Lebanon's international border with Syria.

The purpose of the force is to prevent Hizbullah from attacking Israel and to cut it off from its logistical base in Syria while barring Israel from continuing the fight.

THERE ARE several basic problems with this approach. First, Chapter VII resolutions are the only UN resolutions that enable the Security Council to use force and other coercive tools against UN member states. Any state breaching them is considered an international lawbreaker.

Israel's enemies have for decades sought to have Israel come under the authority of Chapter VII resolutions, but the US has blocked all such attempts, understanding that they are aimed at denying Israel the right to defend itself.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues claim that the proposed multinational force would protect Israel. Yet it is already clear that this will not be the case. As things now stand, the proposed force will be led by France. Indonesia and Turkey have reportedly offered to participate. With France leading the international community in condemning Israel for defending itself; with some 40 percent of Indonesians telling pollsters that they wish to participate in jihad; and with Turkey led by an Islamist government, can anyone believe that this force will neutralize Hizbullah? None of these countries even accept that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization.

OBVIOUSLY this force will not fight Hizbullah. But it will prevent Israel from attacking Hizbullah. And given that the force is to be mandated under a Chapter VII resolution, were Israel to take independent measures to defend itself, it would immediately become an outlaw state open to arms embargoes and other sanctions.

Moreover, the planned multinational force is supposed to facilitate the Lebanese army's deployment along the Lebanese border with Israel. This is supposed to be a good thing. Yet, since the outbreak of the war, the Lebanese army has been actively fighting with Hizbullah. Its radars have been used to lock in Israeli targets for Hizbullah missile crews. It is paying pensions to the families of fallen Hizbullah fighters. On Sunday its soldiers reportedly shot at IDF helicopters in the Bekaa Valley.But. to date, the US-led international community refuses to recognize the Lebanese army as a combatant, and similarly insists that the aim of the postwar settlement should be to strengthen both the Lebanese government that includes Hizbullah and the Lebanese army that fights by Hizbullah's side.

IN HER discussions with Israeli leaders, Rice has proposed that in the framework of a settlement of the current crisis, Israel give Mt. Dov on the Golan Heights to Lebanon. There has been almost no public debate about the reasonableness of the US position. Yet even the most superficial analysis makes it clear that such a move would be catastrophic for Israel's long-term viability.

Mt. Dov, which Hizbullah refers to as the Shaba Farms, is not and has never been Lebanese territory. In 2000, following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, the UN certified that Israel had removed itself from all Lebanese territory.

The UN further confirmed that Mt. Dov was territory Israel wrested from Syria during the course of the 1967 Six Day War. The UN stated that the fate of the territory would be determined in the course of negotiations toward a peace treaty between Israel and Syria.

Hizbullah cut the Lebanese territorial claim to Mt. Dov out of whole cloth as a pretext for continuing its war against Israel after Israel left Lebanon. Its claim that Mt. Dov is Lebanese territory has been rejected by the international community. Yet today, the US is prodding Israel to give Mt. Dov to Lebanon as a confidence-building gesture toward the Lebanese government, which of course supports Hizbullah's demand. By adopting this Hizbullah demand, the US is breaching the decades-old foundation of the Law of Nations, which stipulates that states cannot win territory from other states through armed aggression.

ADDITIONALLY, by supporting Hizbullah's demand, the US is in effect suing for a Hizbullah victory in this war. Hizbullah has never demanded Mt. Dov for itself. It demands the vast territory that connects the Syrian Golan to the Upper Galilee for Lebanon. And the Lebanese government, which the US seeks to strengthen, supports this Hizbullah demand just as it supports all of Hizbullah's demands. If Lebanon receives the territory, Hizbullah will be the clear victor in this war.

Moreover, by even suggesting that Israel consider giving Mt. Dov to Lebanon, the US is undermining the very notion that Israel has a right to recognized borders. If after Israel removed itself to the international border Lebanon can receive support for additional territorial claims against Israel, that means there is no line to which Israel can remove itself in the Golan, or in Jerusalem, or in Judea and Samaria or Gaza and safely assume that its borders will be recognized by the rest of the world.

In short, by backing Lebanese claims to Mt. Dov, the US is paving the way for future territorial claims for West Jerusalem, the Galilee, Haifa, indeed for all of Israel.

Israel will never be able to trust that any peace treaty it signs is final. An act of aggression by its enemies may pave the way for additional claims, which in the interests of strengthening the Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, or Syrian governments the international community is liable to support.

IT WOULD seem that, in spite of themselves, both the US and the Israeli government have managed to maneuver themselves into diplomatic positions that undermine their own national interests. Somehow, between the US's early and misguided decision to ignore the Lebanese government's support and responsibility for Hizbullah and the Olmert government's clearly halfhearted prosecution of the war, both governments have gotten lost. The goals that now form the basis of their diplomatic agendas serve only to advance the interests of their enemies.

A clear break from the current path must be made immediately. Ahmadinejad is looking on and laughing.

Our World: As Ahmadinejad watches (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292043809&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wait till God wipes that laughter from ImagineAdud.

The Axis of Terror Acts

Israel has once again been dragged into a war it did not want and did not start. Just as was predicted in May’s Australia/Israel Review editorial, Iran’s rulers have apparently used their control over Hezbollah and influence over Hamas to create a crisis and divert attention from their illegal attempts to develop nuclear weaponry.

However, the reactions to the Hezbollah-Israel war are different from other wars foisted on Israel by its enemies. Just a few days after the conflict began on July 12, the editor of a Kuwaiti newspaper argued that, "The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community."

Statements blaming Hezbollah for the current violence have also come from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as many Arab commentators.

These actors have not suddenly become Israel’s friends. Instead, they recognise that, as the veteran leader of Lebanon’s Druze community, Walid Jumblatt, put it, "The war is no longer Lebanon’s - it is an Iranian war. Iran is telling the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel." Iran, assisted by Syria, is attempting to assert its power in the region, and the Arab states are worried.

There seems little doubt that the Hezbollah attack was designed, at least in part, to draw attention away from the ongoing controversy surrounding the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Just before the crisis erupted, the issue was again referred to the UN Security Council for consideration of possible sanctions.

Hezbollah, a terrorist organisation banned in the UK, US, Australia and elsewhere, was founded, trained, armed, funded and, in part, directed, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

All this was done in front of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a peacekeeping force created in 1978 — some four years before Hezbollah’s creation. UNIFIL not only failed to keep the peace, it frequently allowed Hezbollah to locate its forces just outside their own posts.

This almost certainly contributed to the tragic accident on July 25, where Israel unintentionally struck a UN observers’ post at Khiyam, killing four UN peacekeepers.

There was absolutely no justification, either in law or in ethics, for Hezbollah’s blatant violation of sovereign Israeli territory to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers and fire rockets at civilian targets, which triggered the current conflict.

In May 2000, Israel withdrew from Lebanon in a move recognised by the international community as ending any territorial quarrel between Lebanon and Israel. The same can be said of Hamas attacks from the Gaza Strip, which was also completely evacuated by Israel last year.

In the face of Lebanese and UN paralysis, Israel can only prevent Hezbollah attacks by disarming it and moving it away from the border. The Israeli Government has even concluded that suffering the hundreds of rocket attacks and dozens of civilian casualties still occurring throughout its north is a price worth paying - if it prevents even worse attacks later.

Israeli attacks are concentrated on Hezbollah bases, command centres, rocket launchers and storage warehouses, most of which are illegally situated in the middle of civilian areas. But Israel has also sought to isolate Hezbollah by cutting off transportation links - air travel, roads, bridges, ports and the like. This is a perfectly legal and justified military tactic because it serves a genuine military purpose - to prevent Hezbollah’s rearming by its patrons Syria and Iran.

Israel is doing what it can to minimise civilian casualties- for example by dropping leaflets warning civilians to evacuate places about to be attacked, even though this also allows Hezbollah fighters to flee.

There is much talk of the supposed lack of "proportionality" of the Israeli response, and comparisons of casualty figures. But it should be remembered that Israel is entitled to respond in proportion to the threat, not just to the specific illegal cross-border kidnapping and rocket attacks that sparked its counter-actions. And that threat is indeed very grave, given the thousands of Hezbollah rockets, the declared intent to use them against Israeli cities and towns, and the promise of further "surprises".

It should also be remembered that Hezbollah is deliberately and cynically using civilian shields to confront Israel with a no-win situation. If Israel doesn’t strike back, Hezbollah is free to plan and arm for further attacks whenever this suits Iran. But if Israel does retaliate and civilians are injured or killed, the Jewish state can be pilloried for its supposed brutality.

The obvious resolution of the problem is for Lebanon to regain control over its own foreign policy and all its territory, and thus obviate any need for Israel to respond militarily to Hezbollah attacks. UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1566 and 1680 demand just that. Lebanon needs international assistance and encouragement to do so.

Hezbollah must be significantly weakened, so that it has no ability to seriously interfere with the extension of Lebanese sovereignty.

No one wants the current violence and suffering on both sides to continue. But if the problem of Hezbollah’s anomalous Iranian-backed state-within-a-state in Lebanon is not resolved, not only will Lebanon remain unable to gain full democratic sovereignty, the violence and civilian deaths will certainly return repeatedly in coming months and years.

That is why everyone of goodwill should be hoping and working for a sustainable ceasefire as soon as possible, but not one second before it is crystal clear that the conditions for stability and quiet will follow - Hezbollah dismantled as a military force and Lebanon in control of its own southern border.

The Axis of Terror Acts (http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2006/31-8/ed31-8.html)

Never Quit the Fight
By Jamie Glazov
August 2, 2006

Interview’s guest today is Ralph Peters, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served in infantry and intelligence units before becoming a Foreign Area Officer and a global strategic scout for the Pentagon. He has published five books on strategy and military affairs, as well as hundreds of columns for the New York Post, Armed Forces Journal, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and other publications. He is the author of the new book Never Quit the Fight.

Peters: Always a pleasure, always an honor.

FP: In this new book you draw on all your worldly experiences to take on the most critical issues of our time. So why don’t we begin with Israel’s attempt to dislodge Hezbollah right now in southern Lebanon. What do you make of it? And what do you make of the international community condemning Israel on the assumption that Jews don’t have a right to defend themselves?

Peters: I've been terribly discouraged by the weakness of the Olmert government -- it tried to make war on the cheap, which never works. Bewildering to me is that the myth of immaculate war through technology endures, even though it never works. The Israelis tried Shock-and-Awe Part II. Hezbollah responded with Cain-and-Abel warfare -- while leading Israeli intelligence around by the nose -- the Qana set-up was brilliantly executed, at a terrible cost to Israel.

I've feared that this would be the first shooting war Israel lost. That said, as I write there's cause for hope at last. The Olmert government has, belatedly, authorized the broader use of ground troops. If the Israeli leadership doesn't waver, the IDF still can cripple Hezbollah--but it must not hesitate now, even in the face of serious friendly casualties.

The stakes are immeasurably high -- Hezbollah, Iran and Syria cannot be allowed to win this one on the ground, sadly, they've already won the information/propaganda war in the Middle East. Also on the positive side, the Bush administration has been steadfast in buying time for Israel to finish the job. The problem has been that the Olmert cabinet --the weakest wartime government in Israel's history -- has squandered the time Bush bought them at no little expense. But the IDF looks like it's going in hard now. Better late than never. Message to politicos everywhere: War is never a cheap date.

FP: So where do we stand on Iraq right now? Has a civil war broken out there?

Peters: No, but civil war is closer than it was. Our soldiers and Marines have done a remarkable job -- but we've never fully recovered from the decision to try to do our war, too, on the cheap in terms of troop strength, as well as the foolish, tragic failure to impose the rule of law the moment we reached Baghdad.

I supported toppling Saddam, and I believe it's still too early to walk away from Iraq -- much too early. That said, here's the crux of the issue: We gave the Iraqis a unique opportunity to build the first true rule-of-law Arab (and Kurdish) democracy. But, while we can force the Iraqis to do many things, we can't force them to succeed -- never underestimate the Arab genius for screwing things up.

The Iraqi government and its supporters must seize this opportunity. That means fighting – fighting -- for their own country. While the Iraqi army has made great progress, the police are still incapable, partisan and corrupt. But the police are the key to long-term internal stability. While the Sunni-Arab insurgents and the Shia militias are ready, even anxious, to die for their respective causes, we see far less commitment and spirit of self-sacrifice on the government's side. The leaders squabble, the death squads rule the neighborhoods.

While we should never publicize a troop-withdrawal timetable, behind closed doors we should give the Iraqi government leaders an ultimatum: Either start pulling your weight in this fight, or we leave and you can save your sorry backsides as best you can. Now, even if the Iraqis do carry more of the load, it won't be an instant process, and they'll need our support for years to come. But if we continue to provide generous military welfare, the Iraqi government will gladly become addicts.

It's time for tough-love and realism. We can't keep the training wheels on the Iraqi bicycle forever. They've got to ride it themselves at some point -- sooner, rather than later. And I can't help adding that Paul Bremer, utterly the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time, did incalculable damage to the new Iraq. Soldiers know how to conduct occupations; self-important, self-adoring civilians who punch their tickets and run back home to write their memoirs do not.

FP: What should our next steps be in our war with Islamism?

Peters: "Never Quit the Fight." The book's title sums it up for me. Our strength of will must be stronger than that of our enemies. We have to be steadfast, to accept that this truly is a long process, one that may never end completely -- certainly not in our lifetimes. I take a long view of history and, while I take no pleasure in it, I can't help viewing our violent encounter with extremist Islam as an extension of the unbroken thirteen-century conflict between Islam and the West -- we think it's a new phenomenon, but I see it as part of a long continuum. Religions compete, and religious civilizations, especially monotheist "one-God, one-way" civilizations, compete violently. Sad to say, it's as natural as the changing of the seasons.

We're back in Old Testament times. And trust me: The Geneva Convention was not applied to the Midianites.

Certainly, Islam is as various as Christianity -- and I'm encouraged by the humanity of Islam in places as diverse as Senegal, Indonesia and Michigan, despite the nuts who always get the headlines. But Islam in the Middle East is sick and degenerate -- even at its best, it's bad. Based on a "barracks religion" (to borrow from Claude Levi-Strauss), the civilization of the Middle East, Arab and Persian -- but, especially, Arab -- is a grotesque, inhumane failure: A vast prison masquerading as a civilization. Islam in the Middle East, Wahhabi, Salafist and the street-corner varieties, cripples the human spirit, squanders human talent, and chokes human societies. Our civilization is brilliantly dynamic, theirs is stagnant. Their hatred, their sense of injury (self-inflicted, although they can't admit it) is predictable. Their entire system of belief and behavior has failed. And there is no reason to hope that Middle-Eastern Islam will grow healthier soon.

What must we do? Fight hard abroad, remain tolerant at home--and win. There's no such thing as "noble failure." We must win. And we will. Even if it takes several generations.

FP: What is the situation with the nuclear Mullahs?

Peters: I spend a lot of time thinking about this. Frankly, it may be inevitable that Iran will strike Israel with nuclear weapons in the future. The international community is a joke -- and disgracefully, irrationally anti-Semitic.

Who will stop Iran? Israel can't do it -- the IDF doesn't have the range or resources to do more than temporarily interrupt some of the processes, and they'd need our acquiescence to do even that much. Even the U.S. military would have a very difficult time locating and destroying Iran's dispersed network of nuclear facilities -- many of them deep underground or purposely located in populated areas.

Oh, if Israel is ravaged by the nuclear bombs of fanatics, the Europeans will weep afterward -- they're always ready to cry over Jewish corpses. The Europeans are really quite fond of dead Jews -- but they won't risk a thing to stop Iran in the first place. Just the other day, the French foreign minister was in Beirut, smooching with Iran's foreign minister and publicly calling Iran "a force for stability in the Middle East."

Can you believe it?

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm worried -- and appalled at the world's indifference. As for the French, well, the only consolation is that they're headed for a domestic train-wreck with their homegrown Islamist terrorists.

We must recognize that our wonderful civilization is in a fight to the death with the new barbarism. Our naivety is our greatest weakness.

FP: Ralph Peters, thank you. It is always a pleasure and privilege speaking to you and hearing your wisdom.

Peters: Jamie, wisdom is for God. All I've got is a little experience--and, I hope, a few shreds of integrity left (despite living in the Washington, D.C. area). Let me thank you for the great work you do and for fighting for the truth.

Never Quit the Fight (http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=23653)

Zapatero: "Stages of peace process are being fulfilled"

08/01/2006
In his opinion, last year's scenario, "with violent acts of street fight," is different from the current one. The Spanish president made these statements after meeting King Juan Carlos in Palma Monday evening.

The president of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, assured Monday in Palma after meeting King Juan Carlos that in the process to win peace in the Basque Country "stages are being fulfilled." Loyal to his "compromise of discretion" on the issue, he didn't want to unveil any more details, but warned that the scenario has changed since he met King Juan Carlos last summer, as at that time there were "violent acts of street fight."

Rodríguez Zapatero spoke with King Juan Carlos about the situation in the Middle East, the "most serious crisis" Lebanon is living, illegal immigration, and the prospects of Spanish economy, very optimistic, according to the president of the Government.

With regard to the war conflict in Lebanon, the president ratified everything he has said since the day it erupted. "Israel has the right to defend itself, but victims also have the right to be defended," he noted.

"Incomprehensible and unacceptable"

The president of the Spanish Government also referred to the incidents at EL Prat airport in Barcelona, blocked by Iberia's ground staff protesting for the fear to lose their job posts. He addressed all of them: "I hope they regret what they did." In his opinion, the events were "incomprehensible and unacceptable."

"The citizens who have suffered the conflict have reasons to complain and voice their uneasiness because their rights have been violated," the president noted. He announced the Ministry of Public Works is writing a report on Iberia's behaviour in the conflict

Zapatero: "Stages of peace process are being fulfilled" (http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/politics/political-normalisation-zapatero--stages-of-peace-process-are-bei?itemId=B24_2071&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fpolitica&idioma=en)

Wednesday's papers see a Europe divided at the EU's meeting on the Middle East crisis.

France's Le Nouvel Observateur magazine says that the EU foreign ministers' meeting on the Middle East crisis came at a time of division for the Europeans.

The international community is divided on the question of an immediate ceasefire, "which France has specifically called for", the paper says.

It quotes Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja as saying that the EU's credibility on the international stage is at stake: "If we fail, we can say goodbye to the EU's influence on international matters."

Austria's Die Presse praises the Finnish EU presidency for its position on the Lebanon crisis.

The paper commends Mr Tuomioja for making "clear, courageous and frank statements on the Lebanon war and on Israel's actions".

"Please," it enthuses, "do not let them get you down, continue along recent lines!"

But it adds that some of Mr Tuomioja's European counterparts did not appreciate his outspokenness.

The paper says this is true of the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, whom it describes as "the embodiment of meaningless stock diplomatic phrases".

However, it says, it is even more true of British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who, as the paper puts it, "regards herself as the vermiform appendix of the Americans".

Harsh measures The feeling that time has come for the EU to take action is shared by

Sweden's Aftonbladet , which argues that the EU should "show its European muscles" by breaking off its free-trade agreement with Israel.

"Sweden should push for the EU to suspend free trade with Israel for as long as the country breaches human rights and international law", it recommends.

"Here the EU has a financial instrument" which it should use in one of the most serious Middle East conflicts "in a long time", it says.

But Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel says it is Germany's responsibility to help Israel in the Lebanon crisis, even militarily.

The paper argues that Germany has an historic responsibility to guarantee Israel's right to exist and must do everything to help its government.

"So if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert really asks Germany for help," it says, "then no German government must hesitate, even if it is asked for soldiers."

Wednesday's papers see a Europe divided at the EU's meeting on the Middle East crisis. (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5237090.stm)

News blackout imposed on American arms flights refuelling at British bases
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 02/08/2006)

The Government refused last night to give details of the flights entering Britain containing American arms destined for Israel.

There was also a suggestion that all arms flights via Prestwick airport, near Glasgow, were suspended following pressure from Scottish Labour MPs afraid of the political impact in their constituencies.

Although Government officials have admitted that two flights, carrying GBU28 bunker-busting bombs, arrived at Prestwick the weekend before last and several others came in last week, a news blackout has now been enforced on reporting any new arrivals.

After hundreds of protesters gathered at Prestwick last weekend, at least two flights from Texas were diverted to RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk.

The US air force has leased three bases in Britain - Mildenhall and Lakenheath in Suffolk, and RAF Fairford, Glos - for refuelling purposes.

During the initial flights into Prestwick, the American planes apparently violated normal procedures and President George W Bush had to apologise to the Prime Minister.

The Foreign Office said it was "not commenting on the handling of any flights" but so long as proper procedures were followed "permission will be granted".

However, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has claimed that a large cargo plane, reportedly bearing Hebrew markings, was seen by an activist at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire.

The BBC's Newsnight programme said that six aircraft carrying military supplies for Israel passed through British airports at the weekend. Three carried munitions and the rest had "associated equipment".

The programme also suggested that the use of English bases came as a result of a Cabinet row over the issue. Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, allegedly offered their use after protests to Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, by Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, about the use of Prestwick.

A spokesman for Mr Browne said the Government as a whole made all decisions on the flights. "Newsnight is wrong," she said.

News blackout imposed on American arms flights refuelling at British bases (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/02/nbombs02.xml)

Iran Hangs in Suspense as War Offers New Strength, and Sudden Weakness
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

TEHRAN, July 29 — These should be heady days for Iran’s leaders. Hezbollah, widely regarded as its proxy force in Lebanon, continues to rain down rockets on Israel despite 17 days of punishing airstrikes. Hezbollah’s leader is a hero of the Arab world, and Iran is basking in the reflected glory.

Yet this capital is unusually tense. Officials, former officials and analysts say that it is too dangerous even to discuss the crisis. In newspapers, the slightest questioning of support for Hezbollah has been attacked as unpatriotic, pro-Zionist and anti-Islamic.

As the war in Lebanon grinds on, Iranian officials cannot seem to decide whether Iran will emerge stronger — or unexpectedly weakened.

They are increasingly confident of an ideological triumph. But they also believe the war itself has already harmed Hezbollah’s strength as a military deterrent for Iran on the Israeli border.

And foreign policy experts and former government officials said that Iran had come to view Israel’s attack on Lebanon as a proxy offensive. They now view the war as the new front line in the decades-old conflict with Washington.

“They are worried that what’s happened in Lebanon to Hezbollah is the United States’ revenge against Iran,” said Hamidreza Jalaipour, a sociologist and former government official. “The way they are attacking them and fighting against them is like waging a war against Iran.”

Iran’s relationship to Hezbollah is both strategic and ideological. The Islamic Revolution in 1979 was viewed by its clerical leaders as a part of a pan-Muslim movement. Linking up with the Shiite Muslims of southern Lebanon was part of Iran’s efforts to spread its ideological influence. But in building up Hezbollah, the ideological motivation fused with a practical desire to put a force on Israel’s northern border.

No matter how this conflict is resolved, Iranian officials already see their strategic military strength diminished, said the policy experts, former officials and one official with close ties to the highest levels of government. Even if a cease-fire takes hold, and Hezbollah retains some military ability, a Lebanese public eager for peace may act as a serious check.

In the past, Iran believed that Israel might pause before attacking it because they would assume Hezbollah would assault the northern border. If Hezbollah emerges weaker, or restrained militarily because of domestic politics, Iran feels it may be more vulnerable.

“This was God’s gift to Israel,” said Nasser Hadian, a political science professor at Tehran University and an expert in Iranian foreign policy. “Hezbollah gave them the golden opportunity to attack.”

He said that Iran does not have the military ability at home to fight an aggressive offensive war against Israel from so far away. He said its only offensive tool would be a missile, which he said would be of limited effect and accuracy.

“If Israel attacked us tomorrow, what are we going to do?” he said.

Analysts and former government officials said Iran has focused on trying to preserve Hezbollah’s influence and deterrence capability. They said Iran has counseled Hezbollah not to show its full military ability to preserve Israeli uncertainty. That may prove difficult for Hezbollah to agree to, given that it is in the midst of a war, and may lead to a divergence of agendas, analysts and former government officials said.

Iran has also worked hard to convince the Lebanese, and Muslims around the world, that Hezbollah is not to blame for the destruction in Lebanon and that it is a legitimate resistance force. That is viewed here as essential to preserve Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon after the war, and with it Iran’s in the region.

Even as Iranian officials fret about the potential risks, they are savoring the ideological boost. If Hezbollah emerges as the primary political force in Lebanon, Arab governments, which have not pressed hard for a cease-fire, may find that in order to deal with Hezbollah they will have to work through Iran.

One foreign policy expert who is a sometime consultant to the government said that if Hezbollah continued to lob missiles into Israel for another six months to a year, the resulting turmoil in the region could make Iran a power to reckon with in Lebanon as it is in Iraq.

The expert, a professor of international relations at a university in Tehran who is an occasional consultant to the foreign ministry, spoke on the condition he not be identified because he was afraid of retribution.

On the domestic front, the war has promoted officials here to begin to assess how the outcome might require that they retool policies and strategies involving everything from the nuclear issue to diplomatic relations with Arab countries.

Power in Iran is not concentrated in any one hand, not even that of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but is spread out among many levels. Major decisions, like the nuclear policy, are often a result of consultation and compromise among many forces among Iran’s clerical and political elite.

Confidence in Iran’s ideological gains since the war broke out has buoyed Iran’s hard-liners, and has influenced an internal debate that has been running since the revolution, over whether Iran should focus on domestic economic and political development or on its role as a pan-Islamic leader hoping to spread its revolutionary ideas, political analysts here said.

Even before the war, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was trying to position Iran as the leader of the pan-Muslim world, to unite all Muslims, whether Arabs or Indonesians or Indians, behind the leadership of Tehran. The analysts said that Mr. Ahmadinejad, who was elected on a populist economic message, is the most ideologically driven of Iran’s presidents since the revolution.

“Iran is now playing to its strength,” said a foreign policy expert affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who like many people here said he was afraid to be identified for fear of retribution.

Iran is the only nation in the Muslim world controlled by members of the Shiite sect of Islam, and its push to be a regional leader had raised concerns among the area’s Sunni leadership.

Iran has used the war in Lebanon to try to prove that talk of a Shiite threat is a fiction created by Arab leaders and Americans seeking to maintain power in the hands of American friends in Cairo, Amman and Riyadh.

It has pointed to Israel’s destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure to promote the idea that this war is not against Hezbollah but against all Muslims. And Iran’s leaders have sought to burnish their own image, at the expense of their Sunni rivals.

“It is inconceivable for anyone who calls himself a Muslim and who heads an Islamic state to maintain relations under the table with the regime that occupied Jerusalem,” said President Ahmadinejad in an interview on Iranian television this week, in a clear dig against governments like Egypt’s. “He cannot take pleasure in the killing of Muslims yet present himself as a Muslim. This is inconceivable, and must be exposed. Allah willing, it will.”

He posed an even more direct challenge in comments broadcast last week on Iranian television: “A bunch of people with no honor rule some countries in the region. People are being killed before their eyes, while they play games, giving compliments to one another. They think they can let time go by until this issue is forgotten, and then return to the scene. No, they are mistaken.”

The moment Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, the United States and Israel complained that Iran and its ally, Syria, played a role in sparking the crisis.

Both have denied any advance knowledge of Hezbollah’s raid on July 12. It is hard to know here if analysts and former officials say they accept that notion because they believe it — or because they are afraid to contradict the government.

Only one influential person, Muhammad Atrianfar, publisher of the newspaper Shargh, said in an interview that Hezbollah would never stage such a significant operation without at least notifying Tehran.

“Officially, Iran is not aware of what Hezbollah does,” he said. “Logically and unofficially Iran is always aware. The reason is clear, because of all that Iran has done for Hezbollah. Hezbollah is Iran in Lebanon. When Iran looks at Hezbollah, it sees Iran.”

In fact, the accepted wisdom here is that the Israeli assault was pre-planned, and that the capture of the two soldiers was simply its excuse. Further, people here believe that the true target was Tehran, and that Israel, the United States and Arab governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are hoping to roll back Iran’s influence in the region.

“They want to cut one of Iran’s arms,” said the Iranian official with close personal ties to the highest levels of government.

“Israel and the U.S. knew that as long as Hamas and Hezbollah were there, confronting Iran would be costly,” said Mohsen Rezai, former head of the Revolutionary Guards, said in an interview with the Baztab website. “So, to deal with Iran, they first want to eliminate forces close to Iran that are in Lebanon and Palestine.”

Iran Hangs in Suspense as War Offers New Strength, and Sudden Weakness (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html?_r=1&ei=5087%0A&en=889b5a0e421606ee&ex=1154664000&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print)

EU issues call for 'cessation of hostilities' rather than cease-fire
By News Agencies

European Union foreign ministers called for an immediate end to Israel-Hezbollah hostilities, watering down demands for an immediate ceasefire at the insistence of Britain, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

A joint statement adopted at a rare August crisis meeting of the 25-nation bloc said: "The Council calls for an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire."

The three opposing countries, at emergency EU foreign ministers' talks, offered an alternative draft calling for an eventual "cessation of hostilities," with no time frame given.

Meanwhile, the EU's Finnish presidency said Tuesday the organization will not add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations.

"Given the sensitive situation where we are, I don't think this is something we will be acting on now," Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said Tuesday after a ministerial meeting that adopted a proposal aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

Although the EU, like the United States, considers Hamas a terrorist group, it has refused to add Hezbollah to the list despite recriminations from Washington.

The original EU cease-fire draft, circulated as ministers from the 25-nation bloc began a rare August meeting, also warned of breaches of international law in the three-week-old fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

"The Council called for an immediate cease-fire," the draft statement said. "Disregard for necessary precautions to avoid loss of civilian life constitutes a severe breach of international humanitarian law."

The bloc had been divided over whether to demand an immediate cease-fire and a united call spells out a difference with the United States, which has refrained from urging an immediate halt to the violence.

Earlier in the day, EU president Finland branded Israel's decision to step up military action against Hezbollah guerrillas unacceptable.

Organization of the Islamic Conference to seek unconditional cease-fire
The Organization of the Islamic Conference will press for an unconditional cease-fire in Lebanon at an emergency meeting in Malaysia this week, the Malaysian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the current chairman of the OIC, called for the August 3 meeting after weeks of military aggression by Israel against Lebanon as well as the Palestinian Authority, the ministry said in a statement.

The meeting was also expected to urge the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force which must include OIC member states, the ministry said.

"The agenda of the meeting is to discuss the current situation and developments in Lebanon and Palestine for determining the action to be taken by the OIC countries," it added.

It said Egypt, Iran and Syria are among the 18 member countries attending the meeting.

At least 605 people have been killed in Lebanon, although the health minister puts the toll at 750 including bodies still buried under rubble. Fifty-one Israelis have also been killed.

The Israel Defense Forces has also killed 151 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, in Gaza since it began an offensive to stop gunmen from firing rockets into Israel and to pressure militants to free a soldier armed groups captured on June 25.

The Saudi-based OIC is the world's largest Islamic body, gathering 57 countries with majority Muslim populations around the world.

French, Iranian ministers discuss Iranian role in resolving conflict
France said Tuesday that Iran has a role to play in ending the fighting in Lebanon, after a meeting between the French and Iranian foreign ministers.

Philippe Douste-Blazy and Manouchehr Mottaki both visited Beirut on Monday and arranged a meeting to consider "to what measure Iran could contribute to a de-escalation of the conflict," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"Iran can play a role of stabilization," he said, but added that "Iran must assume all its responsibilities" before the international community.

France helped scuttle a UN meeting of potential contributors to an international force for Lebanon on Monday, apparently frustrated by continued U.S. resistance to a cease-fire. France, like many countries, has demanded a cease-fire before any force is deployed.

The French foreign minister said that such a force must be large, sufficiently armed and have precise guidelines for opening fire.

The force must be larger than the current UN Interim Force in Lebanon and be more than the 10,000 suggested by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Military officials in France have said the new Lebanon force should be 15,000-20,000 strong. "There is no question of it being a UNIFIL Mark Two," Alliot-Marie told the "Le Monde" daily.

"It must be a very large international force with very precise missions. It must be well-armed, have substantial firepower and armor. It must be credible and capable of making itself respected by everyone," she added.

Alliot-Marie repeated the French view that the Lebanon force could only deploy once a cease-fire had been established and a political accord reached between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Alliot-Marie said the Lebanon force must not repeat the mistakes of previous UN-backed missions.

She said it must have the right to open fire when necessary. "It's because they've been told that they don't have the right to open fire that all UN forces have had problems," she said.

"Remember ... what happened in Ivory Coast with ONUCI (United Nations Mission in Ivory Coast) or the UNIFIL in Lebanon: each time you have forces asked to enforce things that aren't very clear, without giving them a deterrent," she said.

Only countries with real military know-how should take part in the force, which should avoid becoming a kaleidoscope of nations that would lose its effectiveness, she said.

Military experts say France, which already has some 13,000 service personnel deployed abroad, could send around 5,000 troops to Lebanon, but the French daily "Le Figaro" said Monday that military planners felt the country was reaching its limit.

"It won't be easy. We've reached our deployment limit now, not so much in terms of numbers of personnel but in terms of command capacity," the paper quoted one officer as saying.

EU issues call for 'cessation of hostilities' rather than cease-fire (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745204.html)

IDF Stepping-Up Ground Forces Operation in Lebanon
09:47 Aug 02, '06 / 8 Av 5766
by Yechiel Spira and Hillel Fendel

IDF officials announced Wednesday morning that a major anti-Hizbullah operation in the Baalbek area of Lebanon has ended. They said the mission was successful.

The operation took place during the night, some 50 miles from Beirut and near the Syrian border. There were no reports of injuries to IDF soldiers.

Infantry soldiers were brought in by helicopter, receiving cover from the air. According to Lebanese sources, air force craft fired near a hospital in Baalbek, a known Hizbullah stronghold. Electricity to the area was cut shortly after the operation began, and IDF fighter craft began pounding Hizbullah targets in the area under cover of darkness.

According to an Al-Jazeera report, not confirmed by Israeli sources, commando forces landed in a hospital in Tel Al-Abayed in the hope of capturing a senior Hizbullah commander reportedly being treated in the hospital. They did not find him, but left with 3-5 other suspects in his stead.

The last time IDF forces were known to have operated so far into Lebanon was in 1994, when senior terror commander Mustafa Dirani was taken hostage. Israel hoped to use him towards negotiating the release of Air Force navigatorRon Arad, but he was released in a prisoner exchange ten years later after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled he could no longer be held as a negotiating pawn towards obtaining Arad’s release.

Galei Tzahal (Army) Radio reported that the Baalbek area operation ended without injuries to IDF troops, adding a number of Hizbullah gunmen were taken prisoner and an unspecified number were killed. Fighting was reported to have been heavy during the night.

On Tuesday, five brigades were operating in Lebanon, and that number is expected to increase in line with the Security Cabinet decision to step-up ground forces operations, seeking to push Hizbullah deeper into Lebanon in an effort to minimize the threat to Israel’s northern border. The security cabinet gave the ‘green light’ for ground forces to operation as far as the Litani River, 25 kilometers to the north of Israel.

The major counter-terror offensive has not been without a toll to Israel as well. In Tuesday’s heavy fighting in Ayta A-Sha’ab, three IDF paratroopers were killed, and 25 sustained light and light-to-moderate wounds.

Justice Minister Chaim Ramon, a member of the Security Cabinet, estimates as many as 300-400 Hizbullah gunmen have been killed, out of a total of 2,000, since the start of the fighting a little over three weeks ago. Intelligence community officials say Hizbullah has been hurt hard, and that the ongoing IDF operation is taking a major toll on the terror organization.

While public sentiment for the anti-Hizbullah effort remains strong, opposition continues to grow among Israeli-Arab citizens, with some taking part in a stormy anti-war protest in eastern Jerusalem on Tuesday. Analysts point out that while some Israeli-Arabs are chanting pro-Hizbullah slogans, the Katyusha rockets slamming into Israeli population centers do not discriminate between Jewish and Arab-Israelis, and have led to three deaths and several injuries among the latter. Nevertheless, Israeli-Arabs by and large are using the ongoing anti-terror war in Lebanon to show their support for Arab brethren against Israel.

On the southern front, one Israeli is listed in light-to-moderate condition after a Kassam rocket fired from Gaza hit the southern industrial area of Ashkelon this morning. The IDF continues to attacks Hamas strongholds in the Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled area, and the Air Force targeted a number of Hamas weapons storage facilities over the night. Navy gunships also fired at Hamas targets in Gaza. Despite tenacious IDF efforts to date, the Kassam rockets have continued all the while to slam into civilian population centers in Sderot, the western Negev, and even deeper into southern Israel.

World pressure in support of an Israeli ceasefire continues to mount, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continues to stand firm, insisting this will not take place until the Hizbullah threat is eliminated from along Israel’s northern border. Government officials, including Olmert, are signaling that the military operation would halt when a multi-national stabilization forces is deployed in the area, a move that most experts believe will take a number of weeks.

Speaking from Washington following meetings in Jerusalem on Saturday and Sunday, US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice stated a ceasefire in Lebanon is a matter “of days, not weeks.”

Seemingly contradicting the senior US official was Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who stated, following a meeting with Rice, that the fighting would most likely continue for a number of weeks.

IDF Stepping-Up Ground Forces Operation in Lebanon (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=108960)

En route to Damascus
By Akiva Eldar

Major General (reserve) Amos Gilad, who headed the research division of Military Intelligence in the 1990's, earned a reputation for being a serial doomsdayer. Yasser Arafat was planning to destroy the State of Israel and Saddam Hussein was on the verge of sending a nuclear weapon in our direction. His opinion of withdrawing unilaterally from Lebanon, without involving the Syrians, was not very favorable either. But in view of the current situation in the north, his predictions were apparently not pessimistic enough.

At a cabinet session on November 29, 1998, after Hezbollah attacked an Israel Defense Forces and Southern Lebanese Army outpost in South Lebanon, Gilad presented the following assessment of the situation: Even if Israel withdraws unilaterally from Lebanon, Syria will continue to run Hezbollah as a means of getting the Golan Heights back. He warned that any attempt to disassociate the problem of South Lebanon from the peace process with Syria would return the IDF to Lebanon.

Apparently, assuming the job of the defense minister's diplomatic-security coordinator has not changed the veteran intelligence officer's assessment of the situation. According to sources in the defense establishment, Gilad has succeeded in convincing the minister, Amir Peretz, and those around him that the key to the crisis in Lebanon lies in a peace agreement with Syria. Major General (reserve) Uri Saguy, who was chief of Military Intelligence and head of the negotiating team with Syria, relates that his public appeal (Haaretz, July 18) to open a channel of communication with Syria fell on open ears among his former colleagues in the IDF top brass. They told him that there are those in the General Staff who agree with his every word.

According to Haaretz's archives, during a cabinet debate held in late 1998, Gilad was not alone. Among those who supported his views were then defense minister Yitzhak Mordechai, then chief of staff Shaul Mofaz, then Shin Bet security service head Ami Ayalon, and Meir Dagan, then the prime minister's adviser on terror. Then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel should remain in south Lebanon until the Lebanese army deployed there. Who supported the idea of unilateral withdrawal? The then foreign minister, Ariel Sharon. He maintained that after the IDF left Lebanon, Damascus would no longer have any interest in hitting Israeli targets. "Israel is interested in peace talks with Syria," he said, "but we cannot tie the talks with Syria to what is happening in Lebanon."

In retrospect, we can see here the first signs that Sharon's unilateral philosophy regarding the occupation of territory also applied to withdrawals from that same territory. The war on terror and in Iraq turned American President George W. Bush into Sharon's partner in adding Syrian President Bashar Assad to the list of non-partners.

When Ehud Olmert became prime minister, his advisors briefed him, explaining that Syria was out of bounds. Israel does not want a war with Damascus. And the United States is not interested in hearing about peace with it.

In recent days, Washington has started to send hints about a new American assessment of relations with Syria. James Baker - who, as secretary of state in the Bush Senior administration, invited Assad Senior to the Madrid Conference - expressed his willingness to go to Damascus as an envoy of Bush Junior. Even Edward P. Djerejian, who is director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and has maintained ties with the Syrian government since he served as American ambassador to Damascus, packed his suitcases.

The U.S. State Department and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem have been informed that if the United States continues to delay, planes carrying European foreign ministers will be waiting in line for permission to land in Damascus airport. And if that were not enough, the French, who have not forgiven the Syrians for murdering their friend Rafik Hariri, are threatening that in the absence of American activity on the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah track, the French will offer Iran asylum from the axis of evil.

Damascus is obviously interested in seeing this lethal game bog down. That would enable it to raise the price of a rescue. An editorial in the Syrian government daily Al-Ba'th declared this week that anyone who thinks that an international force on Lebanese soil is the solution is wrong. "These forces ... would be occupation forces, like the forces that have occupied Iraq and other places in the world," it said. The next sentence mentions the Golan Heights: "Whoever puts his trust in the [idea that] destruction, murder, and even occupation can impose solutions that violate sovereignty and national honor - he is wrong" (translation by MEMRI).

Shaba is not alone

Meir Ben-Dov does not really care if the Shaba Farms are handed over to Syria or Lebanon. The Jerusalem archaeologist, a grandson of the founders of Metula, expects that after Israel reaches a territorial arrangement with its neighbors, Lebanon will return the land owned by the farmers of Metula, thereby rectifying an injustice done to them by the British and French.

In a book that is soon to be published, Ben-Dov presents documents that prove that Metula was founded in 1896 on land in the Ayoun Valley that Baron Rothschild bought from Effendi Notzri of Sidon. The land was divided up and sold to the settlers of Metula, and it is owned by them to this day.

In 1923, a joint committee of British and French army officers drew the border between the British Mandate in Palestine and the French Mandate in Syria-Lebanon. The mukhtars of all the surrounding villages were invited to the committee's meeting. The minutes expressly note that the mukhtar of Metula, Meir Lishanski, who was visiting Tiberias that day, was absent from the meeting. The border was drawn such that the lands of the Ayoun Valley and its environs, an area of 4,000 dunams (four square kilometers), were included in the Syrian-Lebanese mandate. When the mukhtar of Metula learned this, he appealed to the committee, and after a brief study of the facts, the committee realized that an injustice had indeed been done to the Jewish farmers. It therefore decided that the land would remain in Jewish hands, and the farmers would be given laissez-passer documents so that they could continue to farm their land.

In World War II, the British built an airfield on part of Metula's land in the Ayoun Valley. They promised to compensate the farmers of Metula for their loss of income, and added that when the war was over, the airfield would be dismantled and the land returned to its owners. But it never happened. After Lebanon won its independence in 1945, the land remained in the hands of the Metula farmers, and they worked them under the same conditions, paying taxes to the British Mandatory government.

In 1951, after the oil pipeline from Saudi Arabia to Sidon was laid by American oil companies, the government of Israel, at the request of the American authorities, ordered the farmers to stop traveling to their land. The government of Lebanon appointed an official whose job it was to lease the lands in the Ayoun Valley to Lebanese farmers. In order to prevent any claims of possession, the rights were transferred to others every three years. In return for their land, the farmers of Metula received 1,675 dunams in the Hula Valley. Ben-Dov and the other heirs have been negotiating with the Israel Lands Administration ever since over the compensation they should receive for the missing 2,250 dunams.

Ben-Dov also has other memories of the north that relate to a border dispute that could arise in the wake of a diplomatic settlement in the region. In his childhood in Metula, Lebanese farmers from the village of Ghajar used to come every week to Metula to sell the fish they caught in the Hatzbani River (then called the Wazani). But during the early days of the Yom Kippur War, when he was fighting on the Syrian front, a group of Ghajar residents suddenly appeared at the Tank Junction carrying a white flag. "They said that they were Syrians and asked why we weren't occupying them."

A master's thesis written by Yigal Kipnis, who lives in the Golan Heights, offers a solution to the riddle. In the French Mandate's population report for 1945, Ghajar does not appear as a Syrian village. The same is true on official French maps and Lebanese maps, as well as Israeli maps from before 1967. The entire village is located inside Lebanese territory. But in the Syrian census carried out in 1960, it appears among the towns of Quneitra County. Geographer Zvi Ilan maintains that the border had been changed following an official agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Syria a short time earlier, against the background of the military confrontation between Syria and Israel.

En route to Damascus (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744878.html)

Exclusive: IDF can stay in Lebanon
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 2, 2006

While the IDF needs until the end of the week to deal Hizbullah a fatal blow, the military is prepared to remain in southern Lebanon for as long as it takes, even several months, until a multinational force takes control of the territory, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

"The IDF knows how to operate for as long as it takes even if it means remaining in the territory for a long time," Kaplinsky told the Post during a visit to a military base along the northern border. The general said the IDF was currently working according to an operational plan in which IDF troops would push their way through southern Lebanon until the Litani River, some 40 kilometers from the border with Israel. But if necessary, he said, the IDF was prepared to travel even further northward.

On Tuesday, the largest military force was operating in Lebanon since Israel launched Operation Change of Direction on July 12 following the abduction of two soldiers in a cross-border Hizbullah attack. Paratroopers were operating in the village of Aita al-Sha'ab near Shtula, troops from the Golani Brigade were operating near the village of Al Adisya north of Metula, the Nahal Brigade was operating near the village of Ataybah close by and the Armored Corps 7th Brigade was operating near Maroun a-Ras.

Also Tuesday, thousands of IDF reservists were gearing up for the first incursion of reservists into southern Lebanon.

The IDF, a high-ranking source in the Northern Command said Tuesday, needed at least one more week to clear the area south of the Litani River of Hizbullah guerillas. The troops on the ground, he said, would not spend more than one-to-two days inside the Hizbullah strongholds and would operate at a faster pace than in the past.

"We will sweep through the area in an effort to exterminate the Hizbullah presence in the villages," the officer said, expressing hope that the objective would be achieved before the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire, expected to happen by the end of the week.

Signifying, however, that the IDF might also try to send troops north of the Litani, IAF fighter jets dropped tens of thousands of leaflets over villages north of the river on Tuesday calling on the residents to flee further north in anticipation of IDF operations in the area.

Brig.-Gen. Alon Friedman, deputy commander of the Northern Command, said Tuesday evening that while it would take until the end of the week for the IDF to take up positions within southern Lebanon, it could take over a month to destroy Hizbullah terror infrastructure in the area.

"If we will need to operate north of the Litani," Friedman said, "we will also operate there." A high-ranking officer said the IDF was slightly disappointed with the progress of the ground operations in southern Lebanon and was hoping that the current incursion would bring the results. "We would have liked things to go faster," the officer said. "The enemy, however, had six years to get ready and infantry units can only go as fast as they can walk."

Exclusive: IDF can stay in Lebanon (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292054929&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Analysis: Watching Damascus
amir mizroch,
THE JERUSALEM POST
Aug. 2, 2006

Three weeks have passed since Israel embarked on a military campaign to change the status quo in southern Lebanon, exact a price from Hizbullah and get its kidnapped soldiers back.

In these three weeks of battle, the army has dropped a variety of bombs, launched a wide range of rockets, missiles and shells and has deployed all of its elite reconnaissance units. All of this against a well dug-in guerrilla Hizbullah army, what one official closely associated with determining the government's defense policy on Tuesday called "a division of the Iranian armed forces."

"There is a lot of Iranian activity within Hizbullah relating to actual fighters, supply of ammunition and other means. In the fighting so far, we have damaged some of this Iranian activity," the official told The Jerusalem Post.

On the 21st day of this war, with the situation resembling more a stalemate than a decisive victory, and with the fighting taking place so close to the border, the IDF has finally unsheathed its ultimate weapon: its reserve soldiers. Thousands of reservists are set to pour into southern Lebanon to take part in the battle.

Critics of the IDF's performance so far point to the still-existent Hizbullah capability to fire rockets at northern Israel, and its threatened capability of launching rockets even further south. Despite the army's contention that Hizbullah has been badly weakened operationally with hundreds of its fighters killed and many of its rocket launchers destroyed, Hizbullah has only to survive until a cease-fire is imposed on the region to claim victory, even if that victory is largely ephemeral.

The fact that at least three divisions of reservists are going to be sent into action now, and not deployed at the outset of the fighting, gave Hizbullah enough breathing room to battle a large part of the IDF's standing army and its air force, the critics say. Had the reservists been called up the day Hizbullah carried out its cross-border raid on July 12, and deployed them as soon as they could have been made operational, the past three weeks of battle may have looked different.

So the question arises, why were the reserves not activated earlier? The main reason, according to the official, lies with how Syria perceives the unfolding events. Had Israel called up its reserves at the outset of the battle, Damascus could have potentially "freaked out" and open a second front against the IDF. The Syrians could have perceived the move as an immediate threat and acted accordingly.

This way, with reservists mobilized three weeks into the war, the Syrians were "massaged", and could see the IDF's gradual build up forces in southern Lebanon. Damascus could clearly see how Israel is building its forces in "stages and steps" and not giant leaps. This is why the Syrians, despite their latest saber rattling, are not "that freaked out" right now. They are on alert, worried, and tense, and are watching events, but they have not been jolted into hysterics.

Political and defense officials have been saying since the start of the war that Israel has no intention to fight Syria, and that Syria is not part of this war. "As you can see the Hermon is quiet, the Golan Heights are quiet, and that is important, as we still have the Gaza front," the official said.

The mobilization of reserves at this stage of the game leaves the government the option of widening the scope of its campaign, without the immediate threat of a Syrian overreaction. Initially, the IDF's plan was to send in small forces to hit Hizbullah positions and rocket launchers, and leave to come back for more pin-point strikes. Officers fighting in the North say they want to hit Hizbullah as hard as they can, in as little time as possible, and are heartened to be joined by thousands of battle-ready and experienced reservists, many of whom have fought in Lebanon before.

Another reason Israel didn't mobilize its reserves at the beginning was that when reservists [read: fathers, businessmen, factory workers, etc.] are called up, they should be used immediately and not made to wait. Once reservists are called up and not deployed, they sit around playing backgammon, smoking cigarettes and drinking Turkish coffee, while their family situation, businesses, as well as the general economy, starts to decline, and quickly.

As the government's goals for the war crystallize operationally, reservists could be mobilized and sent into battle.

Analysis: Watching Damascus (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292054614&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Blair warns of 'arc of extremism'

Tony Blair has warned that an "arc of extremism" is stretching across the Middle East and said "an alliance of moderation" was needed to defeat it.

Mr Blair also told the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles that Syria and Iran had to stop supporting terrorism or they would "be confronted".

His speech was planned some weeks ago but he said the Lebanon crisis had "brought it into sharp relief".

He said there was now a war "of a completely unconventional kind".

The prime minister said: "There is an arc of extremism now stretching across the Middle East and touching countries far outside that region."

He said in Iraq, Syria had allowed al-Qaeda operatives to "cross the border" while Iran had supported extremist Shia.

"The purpose of the terrorism in Iraq is absolutely simple - carnage, causing sectarian hatred, leading to civil war," he said.

'Export of instability'

Mr Blair added: "We need to make clear to Syria and Iran that there is a choice: come in to the international community and play by the same rules as the rest of us; or be confronted.

"Their support of terrorism, their deliberate export of instability, their desire to see wrecked the democratic prospect in Iraq, is utterly unjustifiable, dangerous and wrong.

"If they keep raising the stakes, they will find they have miscalculated."

Mr Blair also spoke about the conflict between Israel and Lebanon and said that the "purpose of the provocation" that began it "was clear".

"It was to create chaos, division and bloodshed, to provoke retaliation by Israel that would lead to Arab and Muslim opinion being inflamed, not against those who started the aggression but against those who responded to it," he said.

However, he said it was still possible to come out of the crisis "with a better long-term prospect for the cause of moderation in the Middle East succeeding".

He added: "But it would be absurd not to face up to the immediate damage to that cause which has been done."

Mr Blair said all would be done to try to halt the hostilities in the conflict.

"But once that has happened we must commit ourselves to a complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those that threaten us," he said.

'Alliance of moderation'

Mr Blair spoke of how he believed "global extremism" should be tackled.

"To defeat it will need an alliance of moderation that paints a different future in which Muslim, Jew and Christian, Arab and Western, wealthy and developing nations can make progress in peace and harmony.

"We will not win the battle against this global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as force, unless we show we are even-handed, fair and just in our application of those values to the world."

He said this "unconventional" war must be won through these values.

"This war can't be won in a conventional way, it can only be won by showing that our values are stronger, better and more just, more fair than the alternatives," he said.

'Values change'

However, he said this required a dramatic change in strategy.

The prime minister told his 2,000-strong audience there was now an "elemental struggle" about values that was set to shape the world's future.

He said it was a part of struggle between what he called reactionary Islam and moderate mainstream Islam.

And in Iraq and Afghanistan he said "the banner was not actually regime change it was values change".

"What we have done therefore in intervening in this way, is probably far more momentous than we appreciated at the time," he said

Blair warns of 'arc of extremism' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5236862.stm)

Terrorists Plot to Attack Americans Through Food Supply
Jim Kouri

While airport security, seaport protection, illegal immigration and other functions of the Department of Homeland Security garner more attention and news headlines, one of the most fear terrorist tactics is the use of the United States' domestic food supply chain to kill as many Americans as possible.

Intelligence sources believe that this type of terrorist plot is being considered by members of several groups including Al-Qaeda. In fact, the DHS has a term to describe such a tactic: Agroterrorism.

US agriculture generates more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity and provides an abundant food supply for Americans and others. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, there have been new concerns about the vulnerability of US agriculture to the deliberate introduction of animal and plant diseases.

Several agencies, including the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense, play a role in protecting the nation against agroterrorism.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal agencies’ roles and responsibilities were modified in several ways to help protect agriculture from an attack.

First, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 established DHS and, among other things, charged it with coordinating US efforts to protect against agroterrorism. The act also transferred a number of agency personnel and functions into DHS to conduct planning, response, and recovery efforts.

Second, the President signed a number of presidential directives that further define agencies’ specific roles in protecting agriculture. Finally, Congress passed legislation that expanded the responsibilities of USDA and HHS in relation to agriculture security.

In carrying out these new responsibilities, USDA and other federal agencies have taken a number of actions. The agencies are coordinating development of plans and protocols to better manage the national response to terrorism, including agroterrorism, and, along with several states, have conducted exercises to test these new protocols and the response capabilities.

Federal agencies also have been conducting vulnerability assessments of the agriculture infrastructure; have created networks of laboratories capable of diagnosing animal, plant, and human diseases; have begun efforts to develop a national veterinary stockpile that intends to include vaccines against foreign animal diseases; and have created new federal emergency coordinator positions to help states develop emergency response plans for the agriculture sector.

However, the United States still faces complex challenges that limit the nation’s ability to respond effectively to an attack against livestock. For example, USDA would not be able to deploy animal vaccines within 24 hours of an outbreak as called for in a presidential directive, in part because the only vaccines currently stored in the United States are for strains of foot and mouth disease, and these vaccines need to be sent to the United Kingdom to be activated for use. There are also management problems that inhibit the effectiveness of agencies’ efforts to protect against agroterrorism.

For instance, since the transfer of agricultural inspectors from USDA to DHS in 2003, there have been fewer inspections of agricultural products at the nation’s ports of entry. According to anti-terrorism experts, this is completely unacceptable and the transfer of inspectors from the USDA to Homeland Security should have increased inspections, not reduced them.

To enhance the agencies’ ability to reduce the risk of agroterrorism, security experts recommended, among other things, that USDA examine the costs and benefits of developing stockpiles of ready-to-use vaccines and that DHS and USDA determine the reasons for declining agricultural inspections.

USDA, DHS, and HHS generally agreed with many recommendations. However, according to officials at the Government Accountability Office, the Defense Department and EPA made technical comments but took no position on the report’s recommendations.

Terrorists Plot to Attack Americans Through Food Supply (http://www.sierratimes.com/06/08/01/152_163_101_8_96848.htm)

Hezbollah claims of combat successes become less and less believable
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

If Hezbollah-run media are to be believed, then 35 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed or wounded in Ayta a-Shab , militants downed an Israeli helicopter and destroyed a house in which IDF soldiers were hiding, and IDF troops are always hit in the back because they are running away.

All these statements are baseless because - despite the impression Hezbollah has made for straight talk - credibility is not its strong suit.

Hezbollah's reports have become less and less believable in recent days. On Monday, Al-Manar television - the central component of Hezbollah's well-oiled media empire - reported that the organization had destroyed an Israeli ship off the coast of Tyre, which had some 50 sailors aboard - a charge the IDF dismissed completely.

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It's not clear what incident, if any, the report was referring to, and the Arab world has been asking questions. Al-Arabiya television asked Mahmoud Kamati, a member of the Hezbollah political bureau, about the Hezbollah claim and he repeated that an Israeli ship had been hit, but said no pictures were broadcast because visibility was poor.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is a superb tool for the propaganda machine. Nasrallah, 46, is one of the most impressive speakers in the entire Middle East. He is a virtuoso of the Arabic language, although he doesn't forget to spice his comments with a few words in the Lebanese dialect. It nearly always seems as though he is speaking about the most important matters in an offhand way, but he is really getting his listeners to follow his thought process.

"I sometimes take the tape of his comments and watch it, for pleasure," said a Haifa resident who has been forced to go down to the nearest bomb shelter every few hours over the last few weeks. "He is simply an excellent speaker."

Hezbollah's media empire - which includes the Al-Nur radio station and the Web site moqawama.net - has been an inseparable part of the psychological war. Sometimes, Hezbollah also transmits its messages through other media, such as the Iranian television station Al-Alam. The crown jewel of the empire, Al-Manar, is broadcast in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world, by satellite.

At every stage of the fighting, Al-Manar was the station that broadcast Hezbollah's messages. Its role in the war began the morning of July 12, when Hezbollah abducted IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Al-Manar was the first station to report the kidnapping, about two hours after it took place. Since the fighting began, the pronouncements of Al-Manar have had a major influence on other media.

"Al-Manar has had an enormous impact on all the Arab press, and in effect on the Hebrew press as well," said Amir Levy from Satlink Communications, which monitors Arab-language media.

Although there were a few slight technical glitches in Al-Manar's broadcasting after its south Beirut offices were destroyed, overall it continued broadcasting normally and showcasing its high technical standards. "It is very high-quality work," said Levy.

"They always broadcast new clips, update the subtitles in real time, broadcast from the field via satellites. It's a very impressive broadcasting quality."

Hezbollah claims of combat successes become less and less believable (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745332.html)

Israel Expands Raids After Hezbollah Rocket Attacks (Update1)

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli ground forces engaged in what a military spokeswoman described as severe fighting early today with Hezbollah militiamen in Ayta al-Shab near the border in southern Lebanon.

The nighttime clashes came after a day when Hezbollah fired 231 rockets -- its highest single-day volley of the conflict -- and Israeli warplanes attacked 100 sites in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said there was ``fierce'' combat in an attempt to prevent Israeli soldiers from taking Ayta al-Shab.

Most of the Hezbollah rockets landed in eight Israeli towns or cities, including Haifa, Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberia and Afula, according to a military spokeswoman who talked on condition of anonymity. One person was killed and 49 were injured. Most of those hurt were treated for shock, the military said.

``If we have to go deeper into Lebanon, then we'll go deeper,'' Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, Israel's military chief of staff, told reporters yesterday in remarks broadcast from Beit Hillel, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of the border.

As many as 8,000 soldiers were sent across the border, the Associated Press reported. The deployment followed a commando raid yesterday on Baalbeck, a thrust into eastern Lebanon, where Israel said it captured five Hezbollah fighters and killed 19.

Diplomacy Slows

Prospects for a diplomatic solution receded after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel wouldn't agree to stop fighting until a United Nations-backed peacekeeping force large enough to contain Hezbollah is deployed. The UN postponed a meeting to discuss the force when the French government said the world body must first agree on truce terms.

The air strikes yesterday were concentrated on bunkers and sites from which missiles were being fired at Haifa and Afula, according to the Israeli military spokeswoman.

In ground fighting, five soldiers were hurt by anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah. Artillery batteries fired from northern Israel toward Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

Ground fighting took place near Lebanese villages adjacent to Israel's border, an army spokeswoman said. Residents in villages near the Litani River, about 29 kilometers inside Lebanon, were advised to leave, the army said.

Olmert Pressured

Olmert late yesterday deflected pressure from the National Union-National Religious Party in Israel to keep pushing toward the Litani.

``Olmert has all the backing of the opposition as long as he insists on reaching the goals we have set, which are dismantling and neutralizing Hezbollah,'' Effie Eitam, an official of the party, said in a telephone interview. ``They need to complete the ground operation. It must reach the Litani.''

Olmert met with Eitam about the remarks and said the war is tied to Hezbollah's June 12 cross-border attack ``and is entirely unrelated to future diplomatic moves in other arenas,'' according to an e-mailed statement from the prime minister's office. The statement said ``the complete unity of the army and the home front must be maintained in order to succeed in this harsh war.''

The UN has made little progress toward a cease-fire since U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Israel July 31 after failing to broker an agreement. A resolution drafted by France, which administered Lebanon from after World War I until 1944, calls for an immediate cease-fire. The U.S. has resisted such a truce until a political framework is in place to disarm Hezbollah and bar the group from control of southern Lebanon.

Political Role

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said yesterday that Hezbollah needs to decide what role it will play in Lebanon. ``If it wants to be a political party, it needs to be a real political party,'' he said in New York.

Hezbollah, founded in 1982, is sponsored by Syria and Iran. It has been linked to scores of terrorist attacks on Israelis and Americans, including rocket assaults on Israeli towns, the 1983 bombings that killed 241 U.S. and 58 French soldiers in Beirut, and the 1994 attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, has made the group a major player in Lebanon by controlling seats in parliament and Cabinet posts. While participating in politics, Hezbollah has defied a UN Security Council resolution that calls for the disarming and disbanding of militias in Lebanon.

Death Toll

The conflict has so far claimed the lives of at least 570 Lebanese, according to police in Lebanon, and 52 Israelis, according to the military and police in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes by Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel and Israeli air raids in Lebanon. A Lebanese police spokesman said 2,131 people have been injured.

``Israel has clearly damaged Hezbollah,'' former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said on the ``Charlie Rose'' show. ``Israel can achieve significant military gains.''

Israeli ground troops are trying to root out Hezbollah fighters from the border strip and create an isolated zone that might be patrolled by multinational forces.

``We have no intention to occupy Lebanon,'' Air Force Brigadier General Ido Nehushtam said yesterday. ``We moved out six years ago now we have to create a new reality.''

Islamic Movement: Prevent Jewish groups from visiting Temple Mount on Thursday (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745740.html)

Hezbollah used civilians as shields in Qana
By The Associated Press

Israel Defense Forces' inquiry on the bombing of a building in the south Lebanese village of Qana that killed 56 civilians admits a mistake but charges that Hezbollah guerrillas used civilians as shields for their rocket attacks, according to a statement released early Thursday.

Israel Air Force planes attacked an apartment house in Qana in the early hours of Sunday. The house collapsed, and rescue workers pulled the bodies of civilians, most of them women and children, out of the rubble. An international outcry led Israel to call a halt to its airstrikes in Lebanon for 48 hours and increased pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire in its three-week offensive against Hezbollah.

In a statement summarizing the inquiry report, the Israeli military said Israel did not know there were civilians in the building. "Had the information indicated that civilians were present ... the attack would not have been carried out," the statement said.

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The bombing followed guidelines regarding attacking "suspicious structures" in villages where civilians have been warned to evacuate, the statement said, adding that Hezbollah forces "use civilian structures inside villages to store weaponry and hide in after launching rocket attacks." The statement said more than 150 rockets have been launched from Qana and the area around it since July 12, when the current conflict erupted.

As a result of the incident, the statement said, the guidelines would be evaluated and updated.

IDF chief of staff, . Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, apologized for the loss of civilian life but charged that Hezbollah "uses civilians as human shields and intentionally operates from within civilian villages and infrastructure."

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch questioned the death toll in the Qana attack. The international group listed the names of 28 known dead from the attack and said that 13 others were missing and might still be buried under the rubble. The discrepancy was attributed to an assumption that only nine of the people who took shelter in the basement of the building survived, but it emerged that at least 22 escaped, the group said.

Human Rights Watch called for an impartial international investigation of the incident.

Hezbollah used civilians as shields in Qana (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745828.html)

IDF carving out south Lebanon buffer zone to extend 6-8 kilometers north of border
By Ze'ev Schiff, Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Israeli warplanes renewed strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in the battered outskirts of the Lebanese capital as well as on Lebanon's northern border with Syria and in the eastern Bekaa Valley on Thursday.

An IDF soldier was killed in fierce gunfights in south Lebanon Wednesday night, as ground forces continued battled with Hezbollah militants near the border.

Witnesses said at least four explosions reverberated through Beirut as missiles hit Dahieh, a Shiite Muslim suburb that has been repeatedly shelled by Israel since fighting began three weeks ago.

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Residents heard the impact of a large explosion about every five minutes starting at 2:30 a.m., as missiles apparently targeted areas close to Hezbollah's headquarters in Dahieh, a neighborhood to the south of the capital that has been partly flattened by air strikes in previous weeks.

It was the first air raid against the Lebanese capital's suburb in almost a week.

Lebanese television said the attacks targeted several buildings in a Hezbollah compound of Dahieh's al-Ruweis neighborhood. The compound, which includes a center for religious teaching, has been attacked in earlier raids and sustained sizeable damage.

The air strikes came as Israel Defense Forces is planning a new defensive line in southern Lebanon that will be six to eight kilometers north of the Israeli border.

The area that the IDF has brought under its control is comparable to the security zone it held until the pullout from Lebanon in May 2000.

IDF soldiers engaged in fierce gunbattles in south Lebanon on Wednesday evening, and killed at least seven Hezbollah gunmen, the IDF said.

Sergent Adi Cohen, 18, from Hadera was killed and two were seriously wounded in the fighting which began before dawn Wednesday. Twelve others were lightly hurt.

Sgt. Cohen will be buried at the military section in Hadera cemetery.

Most of the fighting, conducted by Golani Brigade infantry troops, took place near the village of Mahabib, north of the Israeli community of Manara, and in the village of Ayta a-Shab.

Two Armored Corps soldiers were lightly hurt as the IDF made slow progress and took positions in the village of Ataybeh.

Paratroopers exchanged fire with Hezbollah guerillas in the village of Ayta a-Shab. The IDF reports killing seven Hezbollah men, and wounding 10 others.

Earlier Wednesday, IDF reserve troops killed four Hezbollah fighters in clashes as they advanced in southern Lebanon.

The brigade of reservists has been advancing since Wednesday morning, and has taken up positions within the local villages. As they advanced, the soldiers seized ammunition and other Hezbollah materiel.

IDF sources said several Lebanese civilians suspected of aiding Israel were executed on Wednesday by the Hezbollah near the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbail.

The Israel Air Force dropped leaflets Wednesday morning in 10 villages in south Lebanon, up to 20km north of the border, urging residents to leave their homes immediately if they did not wish to endanger their lives.

In an attack on the Lebanese army, Israeli jets fired at least one missile on a base in the village of Sarba, in the Iqlim al Tuffah province, a highland region where Hezbollah is also believed to have offices and bases. One soldier was killed, bringing to 26 the number of Lebanese soldiers killed since July 12. It was not clear what prompted the air strike on the army base.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday that Israel's offensive in Lebanon had "entirely destroyed" the infrastructure of Hizbollah, citing the reduced number of rockets hitting Israel.

"I think Hizbollah has been disarmed by the military operation of Israel to a large degree," he said.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Wednesday that Israel is considering the resumption of its air strikes deep inside Lebanon, including in Beirut.

Halutz said that such a move would require approval from the government.

"We will need to evaluate the air strikes in the depth of Lebanon, especially in Beirut," he said. "I assume, the matter will come up for authorization in the next day or two."

Two IDF soldiers were wounded Wednesday when a Hezbollah rocket landed on the Lebanese side of the border.

A sixth ground forces brigade entered Lebanon early Wednesday, joining the other five operating along the border between the town of Metula and the community of Zarit.

IAF warplanes raided a Lebanon army base in the south Lebanon village of Sarba on Wednesday morning. The jets fired at least one missile on the base in a hilly region where Hezbollah is also believed to have offices and bases. Three soldiers were killed instantly, said a Lebanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.

Air strikes also targeted a bridge, an overpass and a road in the northern province of Akkar, officials said.

Near the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, warplanes staged several air raids early Wednesday, Lebanese security officials said. No casualties were reported.

Three IDF soldiers killed Tuesday
Three IDF soldiers were killed in battles with Hezbollah fighters in Ayta a-Shab on Tuesday. Twenty-five soldiers were also lightly wounded.

Lieutenant Ilan Gabay, 21, from Kiryat Tivon, Staff Sergeant Yehonatan Einhorn, 22, from Moshav Gizmo, and Michael Levine, 21, from Jerusalem were named as the three soldiers killed in the battle.

IDF paratroopers have been operating in Ayta a-Shab since Monday. The IDF said Tuesday that at least 10 Hezbollah guerillas were killed in the clashes.

During the morning hours, paratroopers took positions in a number of houses and prepared to search the village. Around 11 A.M., Hezbollah men opened fire on with anti-tank weapons on two houses in which the paratroopers were situated. One soldier was killed in the first house and an officer and soldier were killed in a second house.

The other soldiers were lightly wounded by the anti-tank fire and in a series of incidents that occurred afterward.

cont'd next post

An IDF soldier was also lightly hurt in Maroun Ras in southern Lebanon and was evacuated to hospital in Safed.

During the evening hours, five soldiers were lightly wounded by Hezbollah mortar fire on the northern border.

A total of five units - thousands of soldiers - are currently deployed in Lebanon. The forces are active from the Metula region to the area of Zarit, reaching some three to six kilometers inside Lebanese territory. As yet, no reserve soldiers have entered Lebanon, although their deployment is being considered.

The object of the operations was to complete the destruction of Hezbollah border strongpoints by Thursday. The IDF troops are also seeking Hezbollah weaponry dumps.

Soldiers will also move into villages used as Hezbollah bases, in operations similar to the one last week in Bint Jbail.

On Tuesday morning, troops took over a Hezbollah command center in the town of Taibeh and were operating in the area of the villages of al-Adaisa and Rab a-Talatin, west of Metula. The IDF said that a large number of Katyushas have been fired from these villages in the past few weeks. Near Taibeh, troops were operating not far from the Litani River.

Hezbollah said on its Al-Manar television station Tuesday that its fighters continued to "confront" IDF ground troops in Kfar Kila, Adaisse, and Taibeh, near the Christian town of Marjayoun. The guerrilla group released a statement saying four of its fighters died in the battles.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel is "winning the battle" in its 21-day offensive against Hezbollah guerillas in southern Lebanon.

The prime minister said, however, that the diplomatic process to create conditions for a cease-fire was underway.

Five IDF soldiers hurt by mortar attack on northern border
Hezbollah gunners fired five rockets and a number of mortar shells at the western Galilee between Rosh Hanikra and Ma'alot on Tuesday.

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers, including reservists, were lightly to moderately wounded in a mortar attack on the border Tuesday evening. Other mortar shells landed in open areas and did not cause damage or casualties.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday advised Israelis not to travel to the north, despite the relative lull in rocket attacks over the past 24 hours, saying Israel is experiencing a false calm.

"The other side also knows that the sands of time are running out for military activity in Lebanon, and it's possible that it will use the ammunition it has left in order to hit the Israeli home front," he said.

"We have already paid a heavy price in blood and I don't want more people to be hurt."

The Israel Defense Forces has destroyed an estimated two-thirds of Hezbollah's long-range missile capabilities, a senior government official said Monday.

The Iranian-supplied Zelzal-2 missiles have a range of 200 km (125 miles) and are believed to be capable of carrying biological or chemical warheads.

"We know how many of them we destroyed and we know how many they shot," the official said.

"But one-third [left undestroyed] is a lot. That can cause a lot of damage if they are launched," the official added.

The official said that according to estimates, Hezbollah retains 9,000-10,000 122-mm diameter Katyusha rockets and hundreds of rocket launchers.

Most of the rockets launched at northern Israel in recent weeks were Katyushas.

Hezbollah still has the ability to launch 302-mm diameter rockets like those which landed in Afula, and which can reach even further into Israel.

Since Israel Air Force planes bombed the launch site used to fire rockets at Afula, no rockets of the larger type have been launched.

Still, Hezbollah retains rockets and launchers of a similar type, and the groups which fire them retains fighting capability. These rockets, which Hezbollah calls "Khaiber 1" have a range of 90-115 km.

Government sources say Hezbollah still has half of its original inventory of 220-km rockets. Still, they believe Syria to be actively supplying the group.

IDF carving out south Lebanon buffer zone to extend 6-8 kilometers north of border (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745277.html)

Muslim powers stage Mideast summit
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 3, 2006

The Muslim world's biggest bloc held an emergency summit Thursday to muster support for a swift cease-fire, peacekeeping missions and coordinated humanitarian relief in Lebanese and Palestinian territories.

Malaysia, which chairs the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, rallied presidents, prime ministers and policy-makers of 17 key Muslim countries - including Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey - to articulate their anguish over Israel's warfare in the Middle East.

The conflict "carries the danger of a spillover that will have disastrous consequences," Bangladesh's Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said in a prepared speech at the one-day talks.

"This will surely add to radicalization in the Muslim world, (which) in turn will increase difficulties for those of us on the side of moderation," she said.

The leaders were likely to demand an immediate, unconditional cease-fire between Israel and the Hizbullah, as well as a multinational force to stabilize the Israeli-Lebanon border under the United Nations and properly coordinated humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Palestinian sites, Malaysian officials have said.

The summit comprising member governments of the OIC's executive committee and primary stakeholders also was expected to consider peacekeeping troop commitments from Muslim countries and call for a UN sponsored conference to spur the reconstruction of Lebanon's economy and infrastructure.

Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzi Salloukh expressed hopes that "the voice of the Muslim world should be heard solemnly ... in solidarity with the Lebanese people."

Israel "will not be victorious," Salloukh told Malaysia's national news agency, Bernama. "They have destroyed our infrastructure, bridges, airports and seaports, but they cannot destroy our spirit."

Top figures assembled included President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, which is allegedly the principal arms sponsor for Hizbullah.

Also present were President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan, the only known Muslim nuclear power, and leaders of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei and Turkey.

Foreign ministers, royalty members and senior officials represented Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said Israel's actions took the world "back to the laws of the jungle."

"It's a massacre," Kasuri said. "I wouldn't even call it a war, it's so one-sided."

About 100 Malaysian Muslim activists demonstrated outside the summit venue as the leaders arrived, chanting anti-Israeli slogans and holding banners that read, "Israelis are real terrorists" and "Don't allow Muslims to be slaughtered."

Muslim powers stage Mideast summit (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525794826&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

U.N. Talks Focus on Terms of Cease-Fire
Lebanon Sees No Solution to the Conflict Without a Role for Syria and Iran

By Colum Lynch and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 3, 2006; Page A22

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 2 -- Lebanon's acting foreign minister, Tarek Mitri, said Wednesday he doubts that his government would agree to invite a European-led intervention force into southern Lebanon, citing fierce opposition from Hezbollah and its key foreign backers, Syria and Iran.

Mitri said Hezbollah's political standing in Lebanon has been greatly enhanced during its three-week battle with Israel, and that its views on the size and mandate of an international force will have to be taken into account. He also said that "no solution" to the current violence in Lebanon can be found without the participation of Syria and Iran in the search for a political settlement.

"Hezbollah's resisting so forcefully to Israel has raised their popularity," Mitri said in an interview in New York, where he lobbied the United States and other countries to support an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon. "No one has exact information on what impact it has had on their military strength. But I can assure you Hezbollah has gained more popular support because of what Israel did than it had before the war. The Lebanese are united in opposition to this onslaught."

While U.S. and French officials reported progress in discussions on a U.N. resolution, diplomats said some key differences remained, including whether to call for an immediate end to the hostilities, as the French prefer, or only an end to offensive military operations, which the U.S. side advocates to allow Israel to defend itself. British diplomats appear to lean more toward the French phrasing.

Under the emerging approach favored by the Americans, a full cease-fire might not take place until a second resolution is approved by the Security Council. "The idea is you stop the fighting first, put in place the political principle and then you would go to a second resolution with a complete cease-fire and authorize . . . force," one senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Diplomats said the French and United States largely agree on a set of principles, outlined in the resolution, that would attempt to reach a lasting solution, including clearing the area between Israel's border and the Litani River of all armed personnel and weapons other than the Lebanese military and a U.N.-mandated force.

Diplomats expect that the second resolution would authorize the deployment of a U.N.-mandated international force, but the French and Americans have not agreed on the precise language. Both sides agree U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan should try to present a plan within 30 days to delineate the international borders of Lebanon, including the disputed Shebaa Farms area.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week that she anticipated reaching an agreement this week, but diplomats said Wednesday it was unlikely that would occur until next week. Rice plans to consult with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., over the weekend.

France had advocated a plan for an immediate halt to the fighting and a political agreement before an international force is deployed. The United States has taken the position that a cease-fire will succeed only if it is part of a broader political settlement that would help the Lebanese government extend its authority through southern areas now controlled by Hezbollah.

Another senior U.S. official, echoing others, said be believes the two sides are close to an agreement that would "bridge" their differences. "I think that we and the French agree on that framework," the official said. "There's always issues of timing and sequence, and that's what a lot of these things come down to."

But in another sign of Hezbollah's growing political clout, U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown contested characterizations of the Lebanese militia as a terrorist organization in the mold of al-Qaeda and challenged the U.S. diplomatic approach to the crisis. In remarks published Wednesday, he told the Financial Times: "It's not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism."

He said that while Hezbollah "employs terrorist tactics," it is "an organization whose roots historically are completely separate and different from al-Qaeda."

Malloch Brown also highlighted a need to include Syria and Iran in any diplomatic settlement to the crisis and appealed to the United States and Britain to pursue a more discreet diplomatic strategy. France, Spain and other foreign powers have been meeting with Syrian and Iranian officials this week to secure their support for a multinational force that would initially focus on humanitarian relief and ensure the return of displaced Lebanese civilians to their homes.

Malloch Brown's remarks were directed at President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who have angered France by publicly taking the lead in promoting the need for an international force in southern Lebanon while declining to participate.

"What is troubling to me is the U.S. and U.K. now carry with them a particular set of baggage in the Middle East," Malloch Brown said. "The challenge for them is to recognize that ultimately they have to allow others to share the lead in this effort diplomatically."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Malloch Brown's comments "misguided and misplaced" and cited a "troubling pattern" by the senior U.N. official of "making it his business to criticize member states."

Mitri voiced frustration with the Bush administration's diplomatic strategy, criticizing what he characterized as an American belief that the intervention of a robust multinational force "will fix it all." Mitri said, "But when you get into the details of what that means, it means securing the border of Israel and putting everything else in peril."

His remarks reflected mounting concern among Lebanese officials and some U.N. diplomats that opposition by Hezbollah and its allies could spoil a deal that challenges its power in southern Lebanon. "It's no secret that Iran and Syria exercise indeed undeniable influence over Hezbollah," he said.

Mitri said that the Lebanese government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, has endorsed a proposal by Lebanon's prime minister, Fouad Siniora, to permit the enlargement of the 2,000-member U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

He said the U.N. force would facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, help displaced civilians return to their homes, and aid the Lebanese army in exerting control over southern Lebanon. He said any decision to disarm Hezbollah would be achieved through negotiations within the Lebanese government, not through the use of force.

The proposal to expand the U.N. role is opposed by Israel, which has faulted the U.N. force for failing to restrain Hezbollah's attacks against Israel for more than two decades. The head of the U.N. peacekeeping department, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, told the French newspaper Le Monde that in the best case "it will take months" to send a large peacekeeping mission.

U.N. Talks Focus on Terms of Cease-Fire (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080201683_pf.html)

Olmert: 15,000 int'l troops needed
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 3, 2006

The international force Israel is seeking in southern Lebanon needs to be comprised of some 15,000 troops, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told British newspapers on Wednesday.

"It has to be made up of armies, not of retirees, of real soldiers, not of pensioners who have come to spend leisurely months in south Lebanon, but, rather, an army with combat units that is prepared to implement the UN resolution. I think it has to have about 15,000 soldiers. I think that's more or less what the international community understands," Olmert told the Times and the Telegraph.

When asked how much time is left, Olmert replied, "I don't think it will take weeks. I think that a resolution will be made sometime next week by the UN Security Council and then it depends on the rapidity of deployment of the international forces into the south of Lebanon. Obviously, as I said, we will not pull out and we will not stop shooting until there is an international force that will effectively control the area."

"I think Hizbullah has been disarmed by the military operation of Israel to a large degree," he said. "The infrastructure of the group has been entirely destroyed. More than 700 of its command positions were entirely wiped out by the Israeli army."

Olmert stressed that "Israel will never, ever allow anyone any more to attack Israel without response." Asked whether the offensive is going to crush Hizbullah, the prime minister said, "I have never talked in those terms. I am not a Nasrallah. I am not talking in this arrogant and pompous manner."

"I think already there has been a lot of damage inflicted on them and I think they feel it. By the way, if Nasrallah is so courageous why doesn't he resurface? Why is he afraid even to feel the light of the sun. No one knows where he is. I am in my office and I have been to the northern part of Israel many times in the last few weeks and I am not hiding. Where exactly is Nasrallah, this big mouth? It shows how cowardly he is and how afraid he is to even surface."

Olmert described the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader, as "reckless" and "immature", adding: "I don't see that Syria is ready or is even prepared to avail itself to any act of moderation."

Olmert: 15,000 int'l troops needed (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525796501&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Evidence Mounts that Kana "Massacre" Was a Fake
15:02 Aug 03, '06 / 9 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

The world awoke this Sunday to the news that an Israeli airstrike had killed 57 Lebanese civilians, leading Israel to stop airstrikes for 2 days - but evidence shows the "massacre" was just a fraud.

The supposed massacre caused a major turnabout in world diplomacy. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suddenly canceled her plans to fly to Beirut, saying "my work towards a ceasefire is really here [in Jerusalem] today." The implication was clearly that the onus was now upon Israel. French President Jacques Chirac condemned Israel's "unjustified action which demonstrates more than ever the need for an immediate ceasefire," Jordan's King Abdullah called it an "ugly crime," and other world leaders echoed these sentiments.

Though Israel emphasized that Hizbullah was to blame for waging its rocket war against Israel from within a civilian population, Foreign Ministry officials repeated their "deep regret at the loss of innocent life in the campaign against Hizbullah," and were forced to promise a "thorough and comprehensive examination."

Apparently, however, the incident was all one big fraud, staged by Arab elements for the world media in order to lead precisely to the situation described above.

The central piece of evidence leading to this conclusion is the fact, mentioned by IDF officials from the very beginning, that the building collapsed a full seven hours after the Israel Air Force bombing. Why, then, would the residents inside not have been evacuated in the meantime? As Brig.-Gen. Amir Eshel of the Israeli Air Force told reporters Sunday night, “It is difficult for me to believe that they waited eight hours to evacuate it.” Without additional evidence, Eshel merely left open the possibility that Hizbullah terrorists, or explosives they left behind, caused the explosion.

"Indeed," writes Robert Spencer for FrontPageMagazine, "it strains credulity that not only did these Lebanese civilians remain in a house that had been bombed for eight hours, but peacefully went to sleep in it after the bombing – since the victims were all apparently sleeping, despite continuing Israeli air bombardment in the area, when the building collapsed."

Gen. Eshel also said that the building was used by Hizbullah to store explosives. This was supported by a letter by Dr. Mounir Herzallah, a southern Lebanese Shiite, who wrote that Hizbullah terrorists came to his town, dug a munitions depot and then built a school and a residence directly over it.

In addition, as Reuven Koret writes for IsraelInsider, the bombing of the area occurred in three waves. The first bombs, according to CNN correspondent Brent Sadler, did not hit the building in question, but rather landed "20 or 30 meters" away. The second strike hit targets further away, and the third strike, around 7:30 in the morning, landed over 400 meters away. The first reports of a collapsed building arrived a half-hour later.

Another CNN correspondent, Ben Wedeman, noted that there was a larger crater next to the building. He observed that the roof of the building was intact and that the building appeared not to have collapsed as a result of the Israeli strike.

Thus, the building was used to store explosives, was apparently not destroyed by the bombing, and sheltered dozens of women and children throughout a night of bombing. The identity of the victims was also not clear, except that they were not the original occupants of the building; a National Public Radio correspondent reported that they had left. "The victims were non-residents who chose to shelter in the building that night," Koret writes, and who were "'too poor' to leave the town, one resident told CNN's Wedeman. Who were these people?"

Hear Koret speak about the Hizbullah manipulation on IsraelNationalRadio.com.

As an aside, the hospital in Tyre, Lebanon, and Human Rights Watch both reported today that 28 people were killed in the Kafr Kana bombing, and not twice that number, as originally reported.

Other facts brought by Koret and Spencer:

* Sometime after dawn a call went out to journalists and rescue workers to come to the scene. Though Hizbullah has been claiming that civilians could not freely flee the scene due to Israeli destruction of bridges and roads, the journalists and rescue teams from nearby Tyre had no problem getting there.

* Lebanese rescue teams did not start evacuating the building until after the camera crews came. The absence of a real rescue effort was explained by saying that equipment was lacking. There were no scenes of live or injured people being extracted.

* There was little blood, CNN's Wedeman noted, concluding that the victims appeared to have died while they were sleeping - despite the thunderous Israeli air attacks. Rescue workers equipped with cameras were removing the bodies from one opening in the collapsed structure, and journalists were not allowed near it.

* Rescue workers carrying the victims on stretchers occasionally flipped up the blankets so that cameras could show the faces and bodies of the dead. But, Koret noted, the ashen-gray faces of the victims gave cause to think that the bodies looked like they had been dead for days.

* Photos of the rescue operation transmitted all over the world are "extremely suspicious," Spencer writes, citing work by EU Referendum showing numerous anomalies in the photos. "Most notably," he writes, "the dating of the various photos suggests that the same bodies were paraded before reporters on different occasions, each time as if they had just been pulled from the rubble. [In addition], some workers are wearing different gear in different photos, yet clearly carrying the same corpse."

* The Christian Lebanese (French-language) website LIBANOSCOPIE has charged that Hizbullah staged the entire incident in order to stimulate calls for a ceasefire, thereby staving off its destruction by Israel and Lebanese plans to rid themselves of this terrorist plague.

Spencer concludes, "Americans and Westerners are not used to dealing with carefully orchestrated and large-scale deception of this kind. It is time that it be recognized as a weapon of warfare, and an extremely potent one at that."

Evidence Mounts that Kana "Massacre" Was a Fake (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109072)

Hizbollah rockets rain on Israel: Commando assault deep in Lebanon
Islamabad, Aug 3, IRNA

Pakistan-Lebanon
Lebanese Hizbollah fired more rockets into Israel on Wednesday than on any previous day of the 22-day-old war, killing an Israeli and wounding 123, after helicopter-borne commandos launched Israel's deepest raid into Lebanon during which they claimed to have seized five guerrillas.

According to the Pakistani daily Dawn on Thursday, air strikes in support of the helicopter raid in the Hizbollah stronghold of Baalbek, north-eastern Lebanon, killed 19 people, including four children.

Israeli sources said around 10,000 soldiers were now battling Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.

The United Nations force in the area reported heavy exchanges of fire, with bombings in some areas and intensive shelling across the south.

Israel said its troops had seized five Hizbollah militants in the night raid on Baalbek, which is 95kms northeast of Beirut.

Hizbollah denied those taken belonged to the group.

Security sources said two Hizbollah fighters were also killed.

It was the first helicopter-borne assault deep inside Lebanon in the conflict that flared after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Thirteen civilians were killed when Israeli warplanes hit Jammaliyeh, a village near Baalbek, and six died in air strikes elsewhere.

A Lebanese army soldier was killed and two were wounded when their post in the south was bombed.

Battles raged between Hizbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops in south Lebanon, especially around the villages of Aita Shaab and Kfar Kila, where there was intense Israeli shelling and air strikes, the UN peacekeeping force said.

It said Israeli forces were present in four areas of the south and troops had landed by helicopter during the night near the south eastern border village of Meis al-Jabal.

Lebanese security sources said the Israelis had captured a hilltop at Al-Aweida overlooking several villages, including Kfar Kila and Adaiseh where fighting has raged this week.

In Beit-ul Moqaddas, Zionist prime minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel would fight on until an international force reaches south Lebanon even though no country has volunteered to send troops in the absence of a truce and a durable ceasefire agreement.

Olmert called for an international combat force to implement a UN resolution calling for Hizbollah to be disarmed, claiming Israel had already destroyed much of the group's military power.

Soon after he spoke, one of 206 rockets launched by Hizbollah landed just inside the West Bank after flying further than any fired at Israel in the past three weeks.

Israeli police and Hizbollah both said it was the highest number of rockets fired into Israel on one day since the war began.

The barrage killed one person near Nahariya.

Hizbollah rockets rain on Israel: Commando assault deep in Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608030061160057.htm)

Abdullah: OIC wants role in peace-building in war-hit Lebanon
Kuala Lumpur, Aug 3, IRNA

Malaysia-OIC-Badawi
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) wants a role in peace-building in war-torn Lebanon after a ceasefire has been enforced, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday.

Abdullah remarks came during his address to the Meeting of Friends of the Chairman of the 10th Islamic Conference, in Putrajaya, near the Malaysian capital.

The OIC chairman, Abdullah, said every member country of the biggest Islamic body must play a proactive role in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

He added that the 57-member organization members should also be prepared to contribute troops for peacekeeping operations under the United Nations (UN) banner, reported the Malaysian new agency, Bernama.

"Malaysia is ready to do that," Badawi said to the the one-day conference, attended by several heads of state and government and foreign ministers of 18 member countries.

It is expected to issue a declaration condemning Israeli offensive in Lebanon and call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

The meeting is also expected to demand the inclusion of OIC member states should the United Nations decide to send a peacekeeping force to Lebanon, Bernama reported.

It is also expected to urge the UN and the international community to ensure a proper coordination of humanitarian assistance from OIC member states to Lebanon and Palestine.

Abdullah urged OIC members to help rebuild Lebanon and Palestine and address the humanitarian situation in the affected region.

He also urged every member state to counsel their national media to play a proactive role and make sure stories from all sides were told.

Currently, he said, the western media had only been reporting Israel's side of the story by broadcasting pictures of Israeli families being forced to leave their homes to seek shelter from Hizbollah attacks.

"The world must see with their own eyes the atrocities and inhumanity inflicted in Lebanon and Palestine where children constitute the majority of the dead, maimed and made homeless." Abdullah said Israel must be made to understand their actions would only breed greater hatred and contempt.

Abdullah: OIC wants role in peace-building in war-hit Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608031780140908.htm)

Rights group calls on Israel to end 'indiscriminate strikes'
New York, Aug 3, IRNA

Lebanon-Israel-Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that some Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians constitute "war crimes".

It said in a 50-page report made available to reporters in United Nations headquarters in New York that it was "wrong" to blame the high death toll on Hezbollah fighters using civilians as shields.

"The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated, indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes," the New York-based rights group said in a statement.

"The pattern of attacks shows the Israeli military's disturbing disregard for the lives of Lebanese civilians," said HRW executive director Kenneth Roth.

"Our research shows that Israeli claim that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain, let alone justify, Israel's indiscriminate warfare."
Based on interviews with victims and witnesses, visits to blast sites and information from hospitals, humanitarian groups, security forces and government agencies, the report paints a dire picture of the ongoing combats in Lebanon.

It said if found "numerous cases" where Israeli army launched artillery and air strikes "with limited or dubious military objectives but excessive civilian cost.

"In many cases, Israeli forces struck an area with no apparent military target. In some instances, Israeli forces appear to have 'deliberately' targeted civilians. "
The report said "in none of the cases of civilian deaths documented in the report is there evidence to suggest that Hezbollah was operating in or around the area during or prior to the attack." "Hezbollah fighters must not hide behind civilians - that's an absolute - but the image that Israel has promoted of such shielding as the cause of so high a civilian death toll is wrong," said Roth.

"At the very least," HRW said, "Israeli army have blurred the distinction between civilians and combatants, arguing that only people associated with Hezbollah remain in southern Lebanon, so all are legitimate targets of attack," the statement deplored.

"Under international law, however, only civilians directly participating in hostilities lose their immunity from attack." HRW also criticized Israeli attacks on convoys of Lebanese civilians fleeing combat zones, "many flying white flags." Israel's explanation that it was targeting Hezbollah fighters moving weapons in the convoys was also shot down by the rights group, which found that none of those attacks it investigated "resulted in Hezbollah casualties or the destruction of weapons."
The rights group urged Israel to "immediately end indiscriminate attacks and distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants."
It also called on the United states to "immediately suspend transfers of arms, ammunition, and other materiel credibly alleged to have been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, until these violations cease."
In the meantime, HRW asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to "establish an International Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of such violations, including possible war crimes," adding that the commission should examine both Israeli and Hezbollah attacks.

Rights group calls on Israel to end 'indiscriminate strikes' (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0608036285152259.htm)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[rant]Talk about indiscriminate strikes, what about Hezbollah?? Firing indiscriminately into Israel!! These rights groups need to get a life or MOVE to Iran. Then lets see them scream about rights. [/rant]

Rice hints at compromise on Mideast cease-fire
Secretary of state, Rumsfeld approve plan to train, outfit Lebanese army
The Associated Press

Updated: 5:47 p.m. MT Aug 3, 2006

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support Thursday for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon as the first phase in ending the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, in the most concrete signal yet that the U.S. may be willing to compromise on the stalemate over how to end the fighting.

Moving closer to the position that France and other European countries are taking, Rice predicted that a U.N. Security Council resolution would be approved within days that would include a cease-fire and describe principles for a lasting peace.

On CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Rice said the U.S. is moving “towards being able to do this in phases that will permit first an end or a stoppage in the hostilities and based on the establishment on some very important principles for how we move forward,” according to a partial transcript of the show being aired Thursday night.

Almost since the outbreak of the fighting on July 12, the Bush administration has insisted that a cease-fire and steps aimed at creating a long-term peace be worked out simultaneously. These included establishing an international peacekeeping force and requiring the disarmament of the Hezbollah militant group.

“We need to end the hostilities in a way that points forward a direction for a sustainable peace,” Rice said.

‘ Certainly getting close’
The measure that France and the U.S. were working on would be the first of two resolutions aimed at achieving a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution to the conflict.

“We’re certainly getting close,” she said. “We’re working with the French very closely. We’re working with others.”

Asked if U.S. policy had shifted, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment.

The war, now in its fourth week, is taking a growing toll of Lebanese and Israeli civilians, as well as Hezbollah and Israeli fighters. Amid the intensifying bloodshed, calls for an immediate cease-fire have intensified.

Rice said the resolution would be “based on the establishment of some very important principles for how we move forward.”

Rice, Rumsfeld OK plan for Lebanese army
Earlier Thursday, the State Department said the United States plans to help train and equip the Lebanese army so it can take control of all of the nation’s territory when warfare between Israel and Hezbollah eases.

The program was approved by Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the program was to take effect “once we have conditions on the ground permitting.”

McCormack provided no details on what equipment the United States might provide, the training that would be conducted, how many U.S. personnel would be involved, or possible costs.

Last week, the State Department notified Congress it wanted to add $10 million to the $1.5 million it provides annually to the Lebanese military.

Other nations will help out, too, McCormack said Thursday, as American diplomats consulted with French and other officials on a U.N. resolution for a cease-fire in Lebanon.

“We feel pretty optimistic that there’s going to be something” worked out on a resolution at the end of the week or early next week, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

‘A significant upgrade’
Gen. John Abizaid, who heads the U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday the Lebanese armed force “needs a significant upgrade of equipment and training capability that I believe the Western nations, particularly the United States, can assist with.”

Before the war, command officials visited the Lebanese armed forces for an assessment, Abizaid said, and “we saw that they needed some significant spare parts” and other help.

On prospects for ending the fighting, he said “it will never work for Lebanon if, over time, Hezbollah has a greater military capacity than the Lebanese armed forces.”

Abizaid also said he believes Lebanon can extend government control over the entire country if it gets sufficient help, including an international peacekeeping force with a clear mandate, cooperation from the Lebanese government and “robust rules of engagement.”

Asked what he meant by “robust rules of engagement,” Abizaid said the commander of the peacekeeping force must be able to use “all available means at his forces’ disposal. And I think, in the case of southern Lebanon, it’ll have to have capabilities that are just not minor, small arms, but would include all arms.”

Diplomatic resolution in the works
Rice, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary David Welch are working with other governments, mostly by telephone, to put together a resolution “that stands up,” McCormack said.

This would include disarming Hezbollah, already ordered by the Security Council in 2004, and establishing an international peacekeeping force to move into southern Lebanon.

Nations that would contribute troops are expected to meet next week at the U.N. A meeting was postponed on Monday and again on Thursday.

Rice plans to spend the weekend at President Bush’s ranch in Texas and will be “working the phones from Crawford,” McCormack said.

“There’s still some diplomacy that needs to be done,” he said,

Cease-fire — now or later?
Bush has said he does not envision having American ground troops in a peacekeeping force, but the U.S. could contribute communications, logistics and other support.

The administration is striving for a resolution that would end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, now in its fourth week, and also establish conditions for a lasting cease-fire. Many other countries favor an immediate cease-fire.

The military training would be designed to help the Lebanese armed forces “exercise control and sovereignty over all of Lebanese territory once we have an end to the fighting in such a way that is durable,” McCormack said.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said Wednesday night the Americans and French were working on a two-stage process: An initial resolution would focus on a cease-fire and broad political principles for a settlement, and a second resolution would deal with an international peacekeeping force, border security and other long-term issues.

“Doing it in at least two resolutions, if not more, creates much more manageable, bite-sized ways of moving the diplomacy forward and allowing you to stop the fighting at the start, rather than waiting until the end of a torturous, complex, long diplomatic process,” Malloch Brown said on PBS’s “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer.”

Conditions for cease-fire
France circulated an initial resolution Saturday and the new draft again expresses “utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel.”

It also details conditions needed for a cease-fire, including:
# Strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon.
# Release of the two captured Israeli soldiers that sparked the fighting.
# Disarmament of all militias in Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army throughout southern Lebanon, which is now controlled by Hezbollah.
# Marking the international borders of Lebanon, including the disputed Chebaa farms area, which Israel seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
# Establishing a buffer zone from the border to Lebanon’s Litani River. Only Lebanese security forces and U.N.-mandated international forces would be allowed in the buffer zone.
# Settlement of “the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel.”

Israeli leaders have said they want to continue fighting for 10 days to two weeks to seriously diminish Hezbollah’s military capability. Hezbollah’s chief spokesman said Thursday the militia will not agree to a cease-fire until all Israeli troops leave Lebanon.

Rice hints at compromise on Mideast cease-fire (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14171553/)

4 soldiers killed in south Lebanon; Peretz to IDF: Plan to take territory up to Litani
By Ze'ev Schiff, Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Israel Defense Forces officials on Thursday evening to begin preparing for the next stage of the military offensive in south Lebanon, which would extend the IDF's control to all Lebanese territory south of the Litani River.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, is said to be reluctant about expanding Israel's ground operation. While Peretz believes that the short-range rocket threat posed by Hezbollah can be neutralized by taking the area up to the Litani, Olmert feels that such a move would not be able to counter the longer-range missile threat posed by the Shi'ite organization.

The directive issued by Peretz was made in the wake of Hezbollah rocket attacks that killed eight people in northern Israel earlier Thursday, officials said.

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The move, which would include occupying the port city of Tyre, still requires the approval of the security cabinet, and could mean a further call-up of reservist soldiers.

Such an operation would extend Israel's control past the security zone it held until the withdrawal of its troops in May 2000. For now, the cabinet has approved the creation of a buffer zone some eight kilometers inside Lebanon which Olmert wants the military to control until an international peacekeeping force can be deployed in the area.

Earlier Thursday, IDF reserve soldiers operating in southwestern Lebanon killed four Hezbollah gunmen. They also destroyed two rocket launchers and a warehouse in which rockets were stored.

The IDF is planning a new defensive line in southern Lebanon that will be six to eight kilometers north of the Israeli border.

By 2 P.M., IDF troops had established positions overlooking 11 south Lebanese towns and villages up to six kilometers north of the Israeli border.

The area that the IDF is bringing under its control is effectively the same security zone it held until the pullout from Lebanon in May 2000.

Israel Air Force warplanes renewed strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in the battered outskirts of the Lebanese capital in the early hours of Thursday, as well as on Lebanon's northern border with Syria and in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Lebanese security officials said an IAF missile slammed into a house in the border village of Taibeh on Thursday morning, killing a family of three.

A missile crashed into the two-story house of Hani Abdo Marmar, killing him instantly along with his wife and child, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make statements to the media.

The three victims were buried under the rubble of their house, which was flattened, witnesses said.

More than an hour after the strike, the Lebanese Red Cross was unable to reach Taibeh to pull out the bodies, because of fierce fighting in the village, witnesses said.

Another house was hit in the south Lebanese village of Qleia. An Associated Press reporter saw two IAF missiles slam into the house, igniting a fire that sent a column of heavy black smoke up from the site. The frame of the house remained standing, but it was burning and gutted.

IDF artillery shells soared into nearby hills sporadically, sometimes as many as 15 a minute.

In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, fighter jets struck an ambulance working for a local Muslim group, Lebanese security officials said. They also hit the village of Zarariyeh, about 10 kilometers away, destroying roads and some deserted houses there.

Six missiles struck roads in the southern villages of Mlita and Ein Bouswar in the Iqlim al Tuffah province, a highland apple-growing region where Hezbollah is believed to have offices and bases, security officials said. IAF warplanes returned to the province hours later for additional raids.

Witnesses said at least four missiles hit south Beirut, a Shiite Muslim sector that has been repeatedly hit by Israel since fighting began three weeks ago. Lebanese television said the attacks targeted several buildings in a Hezbollah compound in the al-Ruweis neighborhood, which had been hit several times before.

An IDF soldier was killed in fierce gunfights in south Lebanon on Wednesday night, as ground forces continued battling with Hezbollah militants near the border. Fifteen IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in battles on Thursday morning and evacuated to hospital in Israel.

Witnesses said at least four explosions reverberated through Beirut as missiles hit Dahieh, a Shiite Muslim suburb that has been repeatedly shelled by Israel since fighting began three weeks ago.

Residents heard the impact of a large explosion about every five minutes starting at 2:30 A.M., as missiles apparently targeted areas close to Hezbollah's headquarters in Dahieh, a neighborhood to the south of the capital that has been partly flattened by air strikes in previous weeks.

It was the first air raid against the Lebanese capital's suburb in almost a week.

Lebanese television said the attacks targeted several buildings in a Hezbollah compound of Dahieh's al-Ruweis neighborhood. The compound, which includes a center for religious teaching, has been attacked in earlier raids and sustained sizeable damage.

Sergeant Adi Cohen, 18, from Hadera was killed and two other soldiers were seriously wounded in the fighting Wednesday. Cohen will be buried at the military section in Hadera cemetery at 5 P.M. Thursday.

Lebanon: More than 900 dead
Israel's three-week-old offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon has killed more than 900 people and wounded 3,000, with a third of the casualties children under 12, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Thursday.

Siniora, in a video message to a summit of leaders of the Muslim world, added that a quarter of the population, or one million people, had been displaced.

4 soldiers killed in south Lebanon; Peretz to IDF: Plan to take territory up to Litani (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746085.html)

U.N.'s Malloch Brown Questions Hezbollah's 'Terror' Designation

Thursday , August 03, 2006

By Sharon Kehnemui Liss

WASHINGTON — U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown may want to stick to reforming his own office and stop criticizing member states, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.

Malloch Brown was quoted in a British newspaper Wednesday suggesting that he does not think that Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-backed group currently fighting Israeli Defense Forces, is a terrorist organization.

"It's not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism. Hezbollah employs terrorist tactics; it is an organization, however, whose roots historically are completely separate and different from Al Qaeda," he said, according to a transcript of an interview.

"I have to say that some of his comments, as reported today, are really misguided and misplaced. And we are seeing a troubling pattern of a high official of the U.N. who seems to be making it his business to criticize member states and, frankly, with misplaced and misguided criticisms. So I really don't understand the origin of these comments," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

This is not the first time Malloch Brown has made remarks revealing his distaste for the U.S. administration or its policies. Last month, he said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn't defend it in "Middle America," which remains largely ignorant while it criticizes the world body.

Many of the U.N.'s good works are largely lost on America because "much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and FOX News," he said during a speech in which he also defended the success of U.N. peacekeeping missions.

McCormack said the United States has a good working relationship with the U.N.'s second in command, but Kofi Annan's top deputy should redirect his attention to issues closer to home.

"We hope, also, that he can focus his efforts, really, where they are needed: on working with members states to help bring about an end to this current crisis, to work on U.N. reform. We want to make sure that member state contributions, that U.S. taxpayer dollars are well spent. And there's a lot more work to be done on U.N. reform," McCormack said.

Unlike the United States, the European Union does not list Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamic group that takes "its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini," as a terrorist organization.

"Hezbollah supports a variety of violent anti-Western groups, including Palestinian terrorist organizations. This support includes the covert provision of weapons, explosives, training, funding and guidance as well as overt political support," reads the State Department report on Hezbollah in its list of designated terror groups.

The report also notes that Hezbollah earned considerable legitimacy in 2005 after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon. Having been a political party operating in Lebanon since 1992, Hezbollah now has 14 elected officials in the 128-seat Lebanese National Assembly and holds the Ministry of Water and Electricity.

"We believe Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. And in terms of Mr. Malloch Brown's comments regarding Hezbollah, clearly, we disagree," McCormack said.

A British citizen, Malloch Brown said he didn't think Hezbollah would lose support for its militia unless a political solution can be reached on Shebaa Farms. In 2000, after the United Nations declared complete Israel's withdrew from Lebanon, Hezbollah began claiming Israel still occupied part of the country because it holds the 25 square-mile area in the Golan Heights. Israel took Shebaa Farms from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967.

"The idea that there is a peace which either Hezbollah would respect or which would draw the wind out of Hezbollah's sails, which doesn't address those political things is, I think, far-fetched," Malloch Brown told the newspaper.

The latest military conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began when the terror group crossed into Israeli territory on July 12, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Israel responded by dropping bombs on key Hezbollah strongholds. It started a new ground offensive on Tuesday.

Top members of the United Nations are trying to find a solution to end the current conflict. Malloch Brown suggested one way for that to happen is for Great Britain to fall back and "follow" the international community's lead in finding a solution.

"What is troubling to me is the U.S. and UK now carry with them a particular set of baggage in the Middle East. The challenge for them is to recognize that ultimately they have to allow others to share the lead in this effort diplomatically and [in putting together] a stabilization force," Malloch Brown told The Financial Times.

"The U.K. has immense knowledge and influence; it can be a behind the scenes player. But we need Chirac and Bush, or Chirac, Bush, and Mubarak and Abdullah on a podium, not President Bush and Mr. Blair," Malloch Brown said, referring to the leaders of France, the United States, Egypt, Jordan and England, respectively.

A diplomatic solution, however, has yet to be reached among the international community, with French officials saying they will not take part in a Thursday meeting at the United Nations of countries that could send troops to help monitor a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

U.S. officials say an international force needs to be ready to go to make sure a cease-fire will last. The chicken and egg argument about which comes first, the cease-fire or the peacekeepers, has heightened tensions between the United States and France, which ruled Lebanon between World Wars I and II and retains close ties to it.

White House spokesman Tony Snow tried to put a damper on the dispute on Wednesday.

"I think, when those issues are ironed out, everybody will have a full answer to it. I'm not going to get myself into what are ongoing and very constructive conversations," Snow said.

McCormack added that the United States and France are working very closely together, "off one paper, a common text."

Meanwhile, an Israeli official told FOX News on Wednesday that American support for Israel during the entire crisis has been "superb," a function of Israel's and Bush's "identical strategic view" of the nexus of Syria, Iran and regional terrorist groups.

The official said the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah should be over by the end of next week, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated in an interview with FOX News on Tuesday. The official also noted that Israel acknowledges that Hezbollah will remain a military force after the end of next week, but a "much weakened" one.

The IDF have seen a "continuous and constant erosion" of Hezbollah's ability to inflict damage on Israel, but the purpose behind Israeli diplomacy at the United Nations is to make sure that the supply lines connecting Hezbollah and Syria be permanently severed, the official said. Any multinational force installed by the United Nations at the Israeli-Lebanese border must be as dedicated to that task.

U.N.'s Malloch Brown Questions Hezbollah's 'Terror' Designation (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,206774,00.html)

Hezbollah’s Prominence Has Many Arabs Worried

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: August 4, 2006

DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 3 — To one Damascus University professor, the faint echo of Israeli bombs exploding in the lower Bekaa Valley brings two fears. He recoils at the destruction he imagines across the border, less than 10 miles from his village home, but deeper down he worries that any Hezbollah triumph will come at the expense of his own Sunni branch of Islam.

“Since the Americans invaded Iraq we have all become aware of the danger from the Shiites,” said the professor, who asked not to be identified by name because discussing sectarian rivalry is taboo in Syria, an authoritarian state run by a religious minority. “Ordinary people only think of Hezbollah as fighting against Israeli aggression. But the educated classes think that if Hezbollah controls the region, then the Sunnis will be abused.”

Intensifying Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq in the last couple of years has already raised sectarian awareness across the Middle East in ways not experienced since the Islamic Revolution in Shiite Iran in 1979. The fighting in Lebanon promises to further increase Sunnis’ unease about Shiites challenging their dominance.

Mushrooming public support for Hezbollah has overshadowed the issue somewhat, with public anger focused on Israel for the civilian deaths and widespread destruction in Lebanon. Yet sectarian disquiet persists in whispered conversations, on Web sites, in the corridors of government and in mosques.

Governments like those in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, whose initial criticism of Hezbollah proved untenable, use “Shiite” as a euphemism for Iran’s waxing regional influence; the religious put more emphasis on doctrinal differences.

Zabadani, a Syrian resort in the pine-shaded mountains facing Lebanon, fills with Arabs from the Persian Gulf each summer. Many interviewed at random along the main street said they supported Hezbollah in its fight with Israel, but some made their distaste for Shiites clear.

“They think they will be the leaders of all Muslims, and I don’t want that,” said a 45-year-old high school math teacher from Riyadh, who declined to give his name due to the topic’s sensitivity. “Hezbollah is Iranian; everyone knows that.”

He described some of the rituals Shiites perform, including beating and cutting themselves during Ashura to commemorate the battlefield martyrdom of Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson. “This is wrong!” he said, his face contorting in disgust. “I don’t want to see all this blood.”

The Sunni-Shiite rivalry dates back almost 1,400 years, to Islam’s earliest decades. After the Prophet Muhammad died, the group that became the Shiites backed his son-inlaw Ali — Shiite means partisan, as in partisans of Ali — as his rightful heir. Ali and his sons died in a series of battles lost to the caliph ruling from Damascus.

The Shiites make up about 15 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims. There is little difference between Sunnis and Shiites when it comes to basic rituals like prayer and fasting, but Shiites have a more hierarchical system. Fundamentalist Sunnis label some Shiite practices — treating dead religious figures as saints, for example — as blasphemy.

In Saudi Arabia, puritanical Wahhabi Muslims lace their writings with suggestions that being a Christian or a Jew is far preferable to being Shiite — often referred to as rejectionist, for rejecting the true faith. And they often disparage the Shiite practice of takiya, or sanctioned lying about beliefs, an insurance policy developed during repeated Sunni inquisitions.

One prominent Saudi cleric, Abdullah bin Jibreen, just reissued a fatwa accusing Shiite groups like Hezbollah of habitually betraying Sunnis. “It is not appropriate to support this rejectionist party and to fall under its authority, and it is not appropriate to pray for their victory and control,” the fatwa read in part.

Raging arguments erupted on Internet chat rooms, including rare public criticism of senior clerics for being too aloof from the Arab struggle against Israel. Mohsen al-Awaji, a well-known Saudi religious activist, said such fatwas seemed as though they “came from another planet.” But some called Iran’s Islamic Revolution one of the worst disasters ever visited on Sunni Islam. In Lebanon, the Druse leader Walid Jumblatt is among the few who dare voice the belief that Hezbollah needlessly brought destruction raining down.

In an interview in his mountain redoubt at Mukhtara, Mr. Jumblatt said Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, represented the same ideology espoused by Ayatollah Khomeini and Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — awaiting the return of the Mahdi, or savior, at the end of the world.

cont'd next post

“He’s part of the Shiite Armageddon,” Mr. Jumblatt said of Sheik Nasrallah.

In a televised speech last Saturday, Sheik Nasrallah tried to assuage fears about Shiite dominance. “I say to the Lebanese that none of you should be afraid of the victory of the resistance, but you should be afraid of its defeat,” he said. “It will be a victory for every Arab, Muslim, Christian and honorable person in the world who stood against the aggression and defended Lebanon.”

He also referred to the sectarian tension, thanking those who confront attempts to sow sedition and tear apart the ranks of Muslims.

Since the beginning of this outbreak of violence, extremist Sunni groups like Al Qaeda have tried to portray their struggle as parallel with Hezbollah’s, as a fight against Zionism and the sinful West. But the late Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, issued long screeds that labeled all Shiites heretics deserving death for collaborating with the Americans.

Even mainstream Sunni leaders like King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke darkly of a “Shiite crescent” emerging from Iran through the Persian Gulf to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

The Shiites were last ascendant from the 10th to the 12th century. During much of that period a Shiite dynasty ruled Egypt and a large swath of the region, including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Saladin, the commander who captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, overthrew the dynasty. So the comparisons now springing up between Sheik Nasrallah and Saladin are anathema to Shiites.

Modern Egypt lacks any significant population of Shiites and views them with some tolerance.

In a recent newspaper column, Ahmed Fouad Negm, a poet, described an episode at a rally in support of Hezbollah. A clean-cut young man — the archetype of a secret-police infiltrator — shouted, “You people, Hassan Nasrallah is a Shiite!”

A woman yelled back in mock horror, “Does that mean he’s Christian?”

The security agent, answered, “No, of course he’s Muslim.”

“So why are you picking on him?” the women responded, prompting widespread snickering.

Egypt’s grand mufti, Sheik Ali Gomaa, the country’s highest religious authority, issued a statement supporting Hezbollah, while Sheik Youssef Qaradawi, whose program on Al Jazeera makes him one of the Arab world’s most influential clerics, defined supporting the guerrillas as a “religious duty.”

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamist group founded in Egypt, has been particularly outspoken. Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a member of its guidance office, said that Washington had invaded Iraq to divide Muslims and that it was better to support a Hezbollah-Iranian agenda than an “American-Zionist” one.

“Which one is more dangerous to the Muslim world?” he said in an interview, before attacking “the regimes who tremble before Iran. They are weak and tattered regimes who don’t acknowledge the will of their people.”

When pressed, though, a vague ambivalence emerges. “Iran would be at the end of our list of enemies, even though it’s not an enemy,” he said. “Let’s combat the American danger on the region before we ‘compete’ with Iran.”

Unease exists in Egypt on a popular level, too. Sheik Khalid al-Guindy runs a well-used dial-a-fatwa service, where the faithful can pose religious questions. Most callers voice frustration over not doing enough to help, but a few raise sectarian doubts, he said.

They ask questions like “Does this mean that the Shiites are the ones who are right and the Sunnis have been mistaken?”

“The problem is that they are looking at the battle as one between Israel and a specific group — the Shiites,” Sheik Guindy said he told his callers. “This is not true. The battle is against Islam specifically and the Arabs generally, and we shouldn’t differentiate. I think talking about sectarian differences at this time is one of the greatest sins.”

Syria has long adhered to a secular, pan-Arabist viewpoint, not least because a tiny minority of Alawites — members of a Shiite offshoot — control the country. Here, even in official news reports about Iraq’s sectarian fighting, a bombed mosque is not identified as Shiite or Sunni.

But recently Sheik Mohamed al-Bouti, a populist imam, was allowed to address the differences. The sheik a Sunni cleric, recently interrupted his usual televised Koranic lesson to describe the whispered fears he was hearing at his mosque that a Hezbollah victory would expand the “Shiitization” of the Arab world.

“Oh my followers!” he said. “This is wrong! This is what Israel wants! These sectarian differences will only lead to strife. When there is war, when there is holy jihad, then we have to unify as one Islamic and Arab nation. Hezbollah is fighting on behalf of the whole nation.”

Watching the rising tide of Islam, even secular Syrians who support Hezbollah worry that their lifestyle is at risk. Leaving the Arab-Israeli dispute unsettled for decades has opened the door to all manner of religious extremists, they argue.

“The idea of a Shiite crescent is imaginary,” said Hunein Nemer, a lawyer and one of the Communist Party members of Syria’s rubber-stamp Parliament. “But let me tell you a fact: once this situation lasts for a long time, then the influence of the Islamic groups will grow more and more.”

Hezbollah’s Prominence Has Many Arabs Worried (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/world/middleeast/04muslims.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Leaked EU Secret Report Smacks Of Anti-Semitism
By Jim Kouri
Aug 3, 2006

A leaked European Union secret report advises European government officials that they should "consider direct intervention in an attempt to curb the systematic measures being undertaken by Israel to increase its control and population in the historically -- and legally -- Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem

The classified report warns that the chances of a two-state solution are being eroded by Israel's "deliberate policy" -- in breach of international of law -- of "completing the annexation of East Jerusalem".

But European foreign ministers decided against releasing the report -- which also warns that rapid expansion of Jewish settlements in and around East Jerusalem, along with use of the separation barrier to isolate East Jerusalem from the West Bank, "risk radicalizing the relatively quiescent Palestinian population of East Jerusalem." They risk radicalizing the Palestinian population? Is there anything more radical than suicide bombers?

No where in the report is there mention of terrorist attacks by groups such as Hamas and Hezbullah. In fact, the report claims East Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians and sees it as the eventual capital of the a new Palestinian state.

The EU report also distorts the history of Jewish control of East Jerusalem. The report writers claim that the Israelis "seized" it during the Six Days War of 1967, without mentioning that the war was intiated by Arab nations and Israel was merely defending itself from multiple attacking armies. They commandeered the territory in order to create a security buffer zone. Of course, to do so they had to push back the invading armies to prevent Israelis from being driven into the sea.

The report's recommendations includes meeting with the elected-leaders of the Palestinians, such as President Mahmoud Abbas, to show support for their endeavors to create their own independent nation.

The classified report, leaked to a British news organization, says: "Israel's activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its Roadmap obligations and international law. We and others in the international community have made our concerns clear on numerous occasions with varying effect. Palestinians are, without exception, deeply alarmed about East Jerusalem. They fear that Israel will 'get away with it' under cover of disengagement [from Gaza]."
Continue reading this article below

This report shocks very few observers who follow European politics. Anti-semitism is deeply entrenched in these nations who are well-known appeasers. Although no single country is mentioned as far as their part in formulating the report, intelligence sources believe it has all the earmarks of a French and German coalition.

Even in the United States, there are many liberals and radical leftists who either criticize Israel or out and out blame the Jews for all the world's ills. So-called conservative Pat Buchanan and others have created this mythical Israeli lobby whom they blame for everything from foreign aid for Israel to the US invasion of Iraq.

Meanwhile, anti-war movement icon Cindy Sheehan has repeatedly made references to American soldiers dying for Israel. Recently, this writer observed a bumber sticker that read: "Fight for America, Not Israel." What strange bedfellows hatred for Israel breeds.

This "secret report", although never officially released, displays a total distortion of Middle East history. Prior to the 1967 war, there was no such thing as "Palestinians." Arabs who lived in that region called themselves Syrians or Egyptian or Jordanians. Even the top leader of the so-called Palestinian people -- Yassar Arafat -- was born and raised in Egypt and his biography refers to him as being Eqyptian.

This writer's grandfather lived in the city of Haifa, but he called himself a Syrian (he left for America in 1917 because of the violence perpetrated by Muslims on the Christian Arabs). My grandfather and grandmother never called themselves Palestinians.

Leaked EU Secret Report Smacks Of Anti-Semitism (http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21231970.shtml)

Thousands of gotcha2tes Rally in Baghdad for Hezbollah

Friday , August 04, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of thousands of Shiites chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" marched through the streets of Baghdad's biggest Shiite district Friday in a show of support for Hezbollah militants battling Israeli troops in Lebanon.

No violence was reported during the rally in the Sadr City neighborhood. But at least 26 people were killed elsewhere in Iraq, most of them in a car bombing and gunbattle in the northern city of Mosul.

The demonstration was the biggest in the Middle East in support of Hezbollah since the Israeli army launched an offensive July 12 after a guerrilla raid on northern Israel. The protest was organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose political movement built around the Mahdi Army militia has been modeled after Hezbollah.

Al-Sadr summoned followers from throughout the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq to converge on Baghdad for the rally but he did not attend.

Demonstrators, wearing white burial shrouds symbolizing their willingness to die for Hezbollah, waved the group's yellow banner and chanted slogans in support of its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who has attained a cult status in the Arab world for his defiance of Israel.

"Allah, Allah, give victory to Hassan Nasrallah," the crowd chanted.

"Mahdi Army and Hezbollah are one. Let them confront us if they dare," the predominantly male crowd shouted, waving the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iraq.

Many walked with umbrellas in the searing afternoon sun. Volunteers sprayed them with water.

"I am wearing the shroud and I am ready to meet martyrdom," said Mohammed Khalaf, 35, owner of a clothes shop in the southern city of Amarah.

Al-Sadr followers painted U.S. and Israeli flags on the main road leading to the rally site, and demonstrators stepped on them — a gesture of contempt in Iraq. Alongside the painted flags was written: "These are the terrorists."

Protesters set fire to American and Israeli flags, as well as effigies of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, showing the men with Dracula teeth. "Saddam and Bush, Two Faces of One Coin" was scrawled on Bush's effigy.

Iraqi government television said the Defense Ministry had approved the demonstration, a sign of public anger over Israel's offensive and of al-Sadr's stature as a major player in Iraqi politics.

"I consider my participation in this rally a religious duty. I am proud to join this crowd and I am ready to die for the sake of Lebanon," said Khazim al-Ibadi, 40, a government employee from Hillah.

Although the rally was about Hezbollah, it was also a show of strength by al-Sadr. Many people worried the presence of so many Shiite demonstrators — most of them from the Mahdi Army — would add to sectarian tensions in the city, which has seen almost daily clashes between Shiite and Sunni extremists.

The sectarian violence escalated after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks on Sunnis nationwide.

On Thursday, Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told a Senate committee in Washington that sectarian violence in Iraq "is probably as bad as I have seen it" and that if the spiral continued the country "could move toward civil war."

In the latest violence Friday, at least 13 people were killed when Iraqi security forces fought gunbattles with suspected insurgents in Mosul after a suicide car bomber blew up a police patrol, said the provincial police commander, Maj. Gen. Withiq al-Hamdani.

He said that the suicide bombing killed four policemen and that eight insurgents died in the subsequent gunbattle.

Also Friday, another suicide bomber killed three people on a soccer field in the town of Hatra near Mosul. An engineer was shot dead and an unidentified body, showing signs of torture, was found in western Baghdad.

The U.S. military said in a statement that coalition forces killed at least three "terrorists" during an air strike and multiple raids southeast of Baghdad on Thursday.

Separately. gunmen shot and killed four people and wounded eight from a Shiite family late Thursday in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, police Lt. Hussam al-Dujeili said.

Thousands of gotcha2tes Rally in Baghdad for Hezbollah (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,207014,00.html)

Iranian official admits Tehran supplied missiles to Hezbollah
By Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents

A senior Iranian official admitted for the first time Friday that Tehran did indeed supply long-range Zelzal-2 missiles to Hezbollah.

Mohtashami Pur, a one-time ambassador to Lebanon who currently holds the title of secretary-general of the "Intifada conference," told an Iranian newspaper that Iran transferred the missiles to the Shi'ite militia, adding that the organization has his country's blessing to use the weapons in defense of Lebanon.

Pur's statements are thought to be unusual given that Tehran has thus far been reluctant to comment on the extent of its aid which it has extended to Hezbollah.

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Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah warned Thursday night in a televised broadcast that his organization would target Tel Aviv if Beirut was attacked by Israel.

"If our capital, Beirut, is attacked, we will attack your capital, Tel Aviv," Nasrallah threatened.

The Hezbollah leader issued his warning after Israel Air Force aircraft dropped leaflets over the Lebanese capital, calling on residents of three Shi'ite neighborhoods in southern Beirut to evacuate their homes.

Israeli security sources assessed that Nasrallah's threats are serious.

On Wednesday evening, the IAF attacked Beirut for the first time after a hiatus of nearly five days. The dropping of the leaflets yesterday is considered to be a precursor to new air strikes on the city.

Military Intelligence estimates that Nasrallah would like to end the war with a dramatic move, such as the firing of missiles against Tel Aviv.

The range of the Iranian-made Zelzal missiles is estimated to be 210 kilometers, enabling Hezbollah to target the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv and its environs. Last week, the IAF deployed Patriot anti-aircraft missiles near Netanya as part of the overall effort to foil a possible Zelzal attack.

Iranian official admits Tehran supplied missiles to Hezbollah (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746631.html)

Islamic group: 200 militants sent to bomb 'Israel's vital interests'
By Reuters

JAKARTA - More than 200 Islamic militants from Southeast Asia have
been sent on missions to bomb Israel's "vital interests" and countries that support the Jewish state, their leader said on Friday.

The militants have been trained to carry out suicide bombings to avenge Israel's military strikes on the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, said Suaib Didu, chairman of the Jakarta-based ASEAN Muslim Youth Movement.

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"We will limit our targets to Israel's vital interests and those that support Israel's aggression in Palestine and Lebanon," Didu said. "We will not carry out attacks indiscriminately."

Hardline militant groups in Indonesia have made claims in the past of sending volunteers to participate in conflicts overseas that have sometimes proved exaggerated.

Western countries such as the United States and Britain, as well as businesses, could be targeted unless they cease supporting Israel, he said.

Didu said the group was watching Australia's position on the Middle East conflict.

"If John Howard makes a statement in support of Israel, he will be a target," Didu said.

More than 3,000 people have signed up for the mission, and 217 people from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore have been dispatched abroad so far, he said.

A "show of force" of the more than 3,000 volunteers will be held on Saturday in Pontianak in West Kalimantan province on Borneo island, Didu said, adding that many of the 200-plus militants had fought with Afghanistan against the Soviets.

Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the moderate Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, said Thursday that threats by radical Muslim groups to send volunteers to fight Israel were just "symbolic gestures" to show solidarity with the Palestinians and Lebanese.

"There are too many obstacles for these people to travel there. It is too costly and the Israeli army is no match for them," he told reporters.

But in Canberra, Human Services Minister Joe Hockey said Friday the government was not shrugging off reports of the plans to carry out suicide bombings.

"The minister for foreign affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs are investigating what is reported in the papers today and we are treating it very, very seriously," Hockey told Australian television.

Australia is a staunch ally of the United States, with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. While it has been targeted in attacks in Indonesia, Australia has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil.

Australia and Indonesia strengthened cooperation on counter-terrorism following the 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australian tourists.

Islamic group: 200 militants sent to bomb 'Israel's vital interests' (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746587.html)

Judges in Egypt: Scrap peace deal with Israel

Egyptian judges ask government to cancel peace accord with Israel; Strike scheduled for Sunday
Roee Nahmias

Judges in Egypt called upon the government to dissolve its peace agreement with Israel, on the grounds that it is inconceivable for Egypt to coexist peaceably with Israel while the IDF operates in Lebanon. The judges expressed support of popular resistance against Israeli advances, which, in their eyes, is the only way to protect the Arab ummah (greater nation).

In a statement issued Thursday, Egyptian judges censured "the barbaric Israeli attacks on the Palestinian and Lebanese people." They also warned of American attempts "to rearrange the Middle East, based on the 'Greater Middle East' plan, via Israeli pride and American hegemony, in whose eyes the lives of hundreds of Arab children are not worth the wounds of one Israeli child."

The judges expressed their belief that the popular resistance is the only way to protect the Arab nation and their honor, and stated their support from "the bravery of Lebanese resistance fighters and the stance of Lebanese people of all denominations." The statement declared that it is inconceivable that the US will continue to be considered a friend or strategic ally of any nation in the region, after having proven itself to be the primary instigator of attacks on the Arab nation.

According to the judges, the US incited this attack, encourages it, and is the main beneficiary from it. They censured those trying to bring about war between Sunni and Shiites and labeled them "an agent with malicious motives." Likewise, they condemned anyone trying to provoke war between Muslims and Christians and anyone expressing doubt that an entrenched nation in the area (implying Iran) has nuclear know-how.

The Egyptian judges called upon judges from around the world to do their duty and aid in imposing values of justice and equality between human beings.

Sunday: General strike

The Egyptian union of professional associations, boasting seven million members, announced that they intend to hold a general, hour-long strike on Sunday, including all members of the union with the exception of emergency medical workers.

Granted, it will not be the first public condemnation of Israel in Egypt. The London-based al-Sharq al Wasat newspaper, reported that Egyptian lawyers conducted a general strike on Thursday against IDF operations in Lebanon.

Member of Parliament and chairman of the Egyptian Physician's Association, Hamdi al-Sayyid, announced that Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had told him that the organization required only moral support, not volunteers. Al-Sayyid announced that Egyptian armed forces agreed to transfer airborne aid to Lebanon.

The Egyptian reform movement, 'Kafia', is also pressing on the Egyptian government. In the last presidential and parliament elections, the movement protested against the continued leadership of Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.

This time, they focused their criticism on Israel and demanded a cessation of gas exports from Egpyt to that country. Newspapers also reported that popular anti-Israeli sentiment was growing, including among organizations, political movements and factions of the population that had previously not actively expressed such views.

These accounts come on the heels of similar reports in Egypt and other Arab countries. Several days ago, it was reported that Egyptian opposition sources demanded the removal of Israel's ambassador in Cairo, Shalom Cohen.

Comparable demands were voiced in Mauritania and Jordan. Abdullah, the king of Jordan, was asked, in an interview published Thursday, if he intended to comply. Skirting the issue, the king responded that: "We will do everything in the best interest of our homeland and our brothers in Lebanon and Palestine."

Judges in Egypt: Scrud peace deal with Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3286242,00.html)

France and U.S. said close to agreement on Israel-Hezbollah resolution

NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

August 4, 2006 11:12 AM

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.S. and France are close to agreement on a Security Council resolution aimed at ending fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the American ambassador said Friday.

However, he and others said disagreements that have prevented a deal for weeks still remain.

After a meeting with his French counterpart, Ambassador John Bolton said the sides had to report on their latest talks to senior officials in their capitals. He said it was possible they could soon present the text of a draft resolution to the rest of the council.

''We want to check one more time with our respective capitals,'' Bolton said. ''There are still some issues we've not resolved, but I think we've come a little bit closer this morning.''

He refused to say what the differences were, but Security Council diplomats said one crucial problem was the timing of a cease-fire.

France, reflecting wide international opinion, wants an immediate halt to combat. The United States, all but isolated except for Israel, does not want a cease-fire without the immediate implementation of other steps, such as the deployment of international peacekeepers.

''This is the major difference between the parties in the region and the parties now having the talks,'' said China's deputy ambassador, Liu Zhenmin.

There were indications the United States might be inching closer to the French position.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support Thursday for an immediate cease-fire as the first step in ending the conflict. It was the most concrete signal yet that the U.S. might be willing to compromise.

On CNN's ''Larry King Live,'' Rice said Washington was moving ''toward being able to do this in phases that will permit first an end or a stoppage in the hostilities and based on the establishment of some very important principles for how we move forward.''

Still, it was difficult to say how much Rice's comments indicated a softening of the American position - or was just a rephrasing of it.

Almost since the outbreak of fighting July 12, the Bush administration has insisted a cease-fire be accompanied by simultaneous steps aimed at creating a long-term peace.

Some diplomats expressed impatience with the Americans and the French.

''We need an urgent cease-fire - this is what I can tell you,'' Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. ''Urgent cease-fire. We're working very hard for it.''

Ghana's ambassador, Nana Effah-Apenteng said the council was trying its best to get a quick solution. ''I wish that the council could have acted faster, but I also understand the difficulties and the realities on the ground,'' he said.

Other officials, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, expressed hope for a deal within days. Blair echoed Rice when he said he hoped a resolution would outline a framework to prevent renewed conflict.

Any deal will have to gain agreement from both Israel and Hezbollah, which could prove difficult.

Israel has said it will not halt its campaign against Hezbollah unless an international military force is in place. Hezbollah's chief spokesman said the militia will not agree to a cease-fire until Israeli troops leave Lebanon.

France and U.S. said close to agreement on Israel-Hezbollah resolution (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564782053594629527)

Tehrani worshipers condemn Zionist regime's crimes in Lebanon, Palestine
Tehran, Aug 4, IRNA

Tehran-Worshipers-Lebanon
Tehrani worshipers staged a vast rally after performing their Friday prayers here, in support of the oppressed Lebanese and Palestinian nations.

During the rally, held between Tehran University and the nearby Enqelab (Revolution) Square, the Tehrani worshipers chanted slogans in favor of the Lebanese and Palestinian nations, as well as the Hezbollah Movement, and condemned in strongest words the US and British support for the racist-Zionist regime.

"Down With USA" and "Down With Britain" slogans were heard as often as "Down With Israel" slogans during the rally.

The Tehrani worshipers meanwhile signed a petition declaring their readiness to contribute financial support to the Lebanese and Palestinian nations, and to attend the war fronts with the Zionist enemy in defense of the Lebanese and Palestinian nations, "if necessary."
The Lebanese Hezbollah Movement's Leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has often reiterated that the Hezbollah guerrillas are fully prepared for a full scale military confrontation with the Zionist aggressors, needless of other Islamic nations support, merely asking certain Islamic governments not to betray them.

People from different walks of life were present at the massive self-propelled rally.

Chemical victim, war disables veteran, Ali Assadzadeh told IRNA during the rally that the ongoing events in Palestine and Lebanon were "the repetition of history", adding, "Just as the army of Yazid, that massacred the most pious Muslims of the time, the Zionists are today determined to martyr the best Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon."
He added, "One day Imam Hussain, along with seventy-two of his faithful disciples, went to an uneven and unfair war in a bid to safeguard the eternity of dear Islam, during which his very young children, too, were martyred, and today, too, the Muslims, along with their very young children are being martyred in Qana, Rafah, and Gaza to safeguard Islam."
A university student, Davoud Ahadzadeh, too, told IRNA that today, Islam, as a justice seeking religion, is the greatest enemy of the global oppression.

He added, "The Great Satan (USA), by fabricating such grouplets as the stone age Taliban, or the sectarian extremist Al-Qaeda, try to sow the seeds of discord among Islamic and Arab societies, leading to the massacre of innocent Muslims in sectarian violence, and meanwhile, seeking assistance from the racist-Zionists, they start massive massacre of the Palestinian and Lebanese Muslims."
The Tehrani worshipers at the end of their anti-Israeli rally read out a communique in defense of the oppressed Palestinian and Lebanese nations, condemning the criminal acts of the occupier regime of Holy Qods.

The worshipers meanwhile condemned the international bodies, particularly the United Nations, deadly silence towards the Israeli crimes in Lebanon and Palestine, while issuing a resolution against Iran's righteous peaceful nuclear program.

Tehrani worshipers condemn Zionist regime's crimes in Lebanon, Palestine (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608049313193758.htm)

Pakistani parliament condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon
Islamabad, August 4, IRNA

Pakistan-Parliament-Lebanon
Pakistani parliament on Friday passed a resolution, condemning the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and brutal killing of innocent people there by its forces describing it genocide of humanity.

The National Assembly, Lower House of the Parliament, in the resolution expressed complete solidarity and integrity with the people and government of Lebanon in this difficult time and asked the government to provide all possible support to the people of Lebanon.

"The National Assembly strongly condemns barbaric bombing, shelling and naked aggression from Israel and its supporters against the innocent and defenseless people of Lebanon and Palestine and view it as repressive and brutal steps against humanity. Such actions are blatant violation of international laws and human values," the resolution said.

Moved by Liaquat Baloch of Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, the resolution described human killing in Lebanon as blatant violation of all international Laws and called for immediate ceasefire and expressed strong resentment over Israeli brutality.

The National Assembly expresses its profound grief and sorrow over the use of destructive weapons by Israeli troops on the innocent Lebanese, especially children, women and old people.

The continuous attacks also completely destroyed the
infrastructure of Lebanon and Gaza, airports, highways and roads were made impracticable, hospitals and educational institutions were giving a deserted look and the water and electricity installations were uprooted.

Even 37 disabled children were also martyred.

The resolution also expressed surprise that the European community has become mute spectacle and even could not unite on ceasefire appeal.

The House also condemned the role of the United Nations and its failure in bringing ceasefire, saying that the international body is losing its credibility and its recent action will result in no-confidence from oppressed nations.

The resolution called upon the United Nations and its Security Council to play its effective role for immediate ceasefire and stop brutality in Lebanon.

The house expresses shock over the senselessness of OIC which is proving its non-existence, although it had decided in the Mecca Declaration that attack on one member country would be considered attack on Muslim Ummah.

It urged the OIC to take immediate measures and raise the voice of Muslims Ummah against this naked aggression and also adopt a strategy to unite the Muslim world at a single platform to face the challenges.

The resolution called upon the Muslim countries to continue their moral, political and diplomatic support for Lebanon to stop this aggression.

It also urged the international community to persuade Israel for halting uncalled for aggression against Lebanon and targeting innocent people particularly women and children.

Pakistani parliament condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608044354200559.htm)

USA, Britain, main obstacles for Mideast peace - IRI envoy
Kuala Lumpur, Aug 4, IRNA

Iran-US-Diplomat
Iran's Ambassador to New Zealand, Kambiz Sheikh-Hassani, referring to Mideast developments at that country's Asian Council, said on Friday that the United States and Britain are currently among main obstacles for establishment of peace in Middle East.

The session was held at the presence of former foreign minister of News Zealand Alain Williams, that country's current Deputy Foreign Minister in Asia-Pacific Affairs, representatives from the US, British, and Russian embassies, university professors and researchers, and New Zealander diplomats.

Sheikh-Hosseini added, "The responsible parties for the entire crises in the Middle East are the United States, Britain, and Israel." Reading a couple of paragraphs from retired US General Wessley Clarck's book, titled `Victory in Modern Time Wars', published in 2003, Sheikh-Hassani said, General Clark writes, "In November 2001, I had once gone to the Pentagon to heed an affair. I saw a high brass Pentagon official there and had a brief talk with him. He was enthusiastically talking about the US war plan against Iraq, and telling me that there are also other approved plans for the region.

"He was telling me that there are five countries that we would take care of within a five year plan, beginning with Iraq, followed by Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. I left Pentagon highly worried on that day."
Sheikh-Hassani said, "Keeping in mind Clarck's remarks and the prevailing Middle East developments due to the continuation of the US plots for the Middle East, we realized that the Lebanese Hezbollah's move in taking captive two Israeli soldiers merely provided the required pretext for the racist-Zionist regime to pursue US plots by launching such a massive attack relying on full US-British support." He added, "The arrested Israeli soldiers in Lebanon have confessed that Tel Aviv had plans to attack southern Lebanon between September and November 2006."
The Iranian Ambassador said, "We believe the Zionists' attack against Lebanon is the result of full harmony among the United States, Britain, and Israel, and proof for that claim is the very broad dimensions of the committed crimes there, that is the result of many months of premeditated planning and preparation."
He added, "The strong US and British opposition to the announcement of truce in Lebanon, exporting anti-cement US bombs through Britain to Israel shortly before the outbreak of the Zionists' criminal move, and the remarks made publicly by Bush, Blair, and Ulmert are all other proofs for the claim.

"The United States did not even permit the UN to condemn the premeditated murder of its peacekeeper forces in souther Lebanon by the invading Zionist forces."
Sheikh-Hassani referring to the continuation of Israeli crimes in Lebanon, said, "They intended to eliminate Hezbollah and pave the path for broader US plots in the region, occupy the southern Lebanon once again and deliver it to multi-national forces so that Israel would be totally safe from Hezbollah's missile attacks, minimizing Hezbollah's role in Lebanon, and establishment of a pro-US government in Lebanon."
Elaborating on the gained results due to Israeli attack, he said, "Hezbollah is definitely not eliminated, while Israel is under heavy missile attacks now and has lost at least two war ships and lost dozens of its military forces."
He added, "Four weeks after the beginning of the uneven war, Hezbollah has fired at least 230 missiles, including some that have landed some seventy kilometers in depth of the occupied Palestine, that proves not only Hezbollah's unpredictable power, put also unbelievable resistance and readiness to inflict heavier losses against the intruders."
Sheikh-Hassani said, "The Israelis have not had an easy time proceeding in Lebanese soil, and the number of their casualties is truly high, under such conditions that Hezbollah has announced it has engaged merely a tenth of its forces in the operations so far." He reiterated, "On the other hand, the public support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Islamic World, and the entire public opinion of the world nations is at highest level currently, the world nations keep condemning Israel for massacring the civilians and for destroying lebanon's infrastructure facilities, and pressure for putting an end to those crimes finds greater dimensions with the passage of each new day."
The Iranian Ambassador said, "Israel has not only not achieved any of its pre-planned objectives, but also lost very dearly in the region and the world up to now."
He added that the result of the land operations would definitely be of greatest significance for both sides, but one thing is already taken for granted and that is the fact that the myth of an invulnerable Israel belongs to the past today, and it is further proved that Hezbollah cannot be eliminated from the political and military scenes of the Lebanese developments.

The Iranian envoy said, "As the former US president Jimmy Carter has recently confessed in an article published in New Zealand daly, Dominion, the Middle East crisis is the result of six decades of oppressive policies, criminal acts, occupation, and violation of the most natural human rights of the Palestinian, Lebanese, and other regional nations."
He added, "We believe the establishment of peace and stability in the region is not possible under such conditions that the United States and Israel keep on committing crimes in the region.

"Today, the result of any free and fair election in the Middle East, free form US hegemony and interference, would be in favor of resistance and the Islamic movement."
He quoted the late British Prime Minister Winiston Churchil at the end, where he said, "The United States chooses the right option only after testing all other alternatives and facing failure in all.

Sheikh-Hassani added, "The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the New Middle East is being born today. She may be right, but the new Middle East would be far from the one on the dreams of the White House, Tel Aviv, and No. 10 Downing Street." He prayed for the return of rationalism and sound reasoning to the political circles in Washington and London at the end, so that peace and stability would return to the world and the mankind would live free from the war threat.

Iran Is Racing To Resupply Hezbollah

BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
August 4, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/37347

TEL AVIV, Israel — Iran is racing to resupply Hezbollah across the Syrian border ahead of a possible cease-fire being ironed out this week at the United Nations. Meanwhile, Israeli jets have begun a new bombardment of Beirut's suburbs and Hezbollah is threatening to launch a missile attack on Tel Aviv.

Israeli military and intelligence officials here say Iranian technicians were aboard a flight to Damascus on Monday with the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki.

The Israel Defense Forces also says it has not been able to seal the border between Syria and Lebanon, making it possible to ferry men, small rockets, and other materiel to Hezbollah through the back roads and smuggling routes in the Bekaa Valley.

The Iranians this week began a double game in Lebanon best summed up by President Ahmadinejad's message to Muslim nations yesterday in Malaysia: "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."

This approach — of seeking both Israel's destruction and a temporary ceasefire — is evident in signals from Iran's Foreign Ministry to European countries. Mr. Mottaki met with his French counterpart Monday at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The French are supporting an immediate cease-fire and have pledged to contribute troops to an international force for southern Lebanon.

The meeting was significant because the French in the past year have been supportive of efforts to censure, if not sanction, Iran for its nuclear program at the United Nations, and have pressured Syria to remove its forces from Lebanon in 2005 as part of resolution 1559.

As Hezbollah was the only major political party in Lebanon to oppose the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, the French meeting with Iran — preceded by French praise for the "constructive" role Iran is playing in the region — signals that Paris is willing to keep Hezbollah armed for now.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said yesterday, "The French played an important role in implementing the first part of resolution 1559 to get the Syrians to leave. We believe they can play an important role in implementing the second part of the resolution: to disarm Hezbollah."

As for the possible rapprochement between Iran and France on Lebanon, Mr. Regev said, "We are hopeful that France, with the rest of the international community, are making it clear to countries that act against 1559 that they are acting outside the international consensus that such behavior will not be tolerated."

But the diplomatic game for Iran is only part of their role in the war, Israeli officials say. One intelligence analyst pointed to statements this week from an Iranian member of parliament and former ambassador to Syria, Mohtashemi Pur.

Mr. Pur, who was one of the founders of Hezbollah in the early 1980s, told the Iranian reformist newspaper Sharq that Hezbollah had the Zelzal-2 missile, with a range of 160 miles and the "courage to use them." This analyst interpreted this as "a green light from Iran to use the Zelzals at their own discretion and without permission."

If such a decision was made, then it would partly explain Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's threat to Israel yesterday on Al-Manar television. He said, "If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity," he said. "We will bomb Tel Aviv."

In the same speech, he said Hezbollah's rockets would stop raining on northern Israel if Israel stopped bombing Lebanon. The threat, however, does not seem to have deterred Israel's air force.

Yesterday evening, Israeli jets dropped leaflets on a southern Shiite suburb of Beirut that called on residents to leave their homes. In the early hours of Friday morning, wire services reported that two bombs hit southern Beirut.

A retired colonel in Israel's military intelligence, Reuven Erlich, said yesterday that there were gaps between the Syrian-Lebanese border that could be exploited by Iran. "Of course there are gaps. The Syrian-Lebanese border is a long border. It is very difficult to close such a border hermetically if the Syrian regime does not cooperate, and this is not the case. I guess the IDF are doing their best to decrease the amount of supply, but I don't think it can be stopped."

Mr. Erlich, head of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Tel Aviv-based Center for Special Studies, said he believes that President Ahmadinejad is supporting a cease-fire now because it is in Hezbollah's best interest.

A former Pentagon analyst on Iran and current scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, Michael Rubin, said, "Iran is fighting a proxy war, but smugly feels itself immune to consequence. Not only is this unfair to the Lebanese, but it is dangerous for Washington. The more overconfident Iran becomes in its ability to get away with murder, the more likely Americans will be targeted down the line."

Turkey, in spite of its efforts to remain a pro-Western nation, clearly appears headed for a dramatic change of mind in the prophetic future - one that will see it become one with its Islamic brethren in seeking Israel's destruction. Is there any evidence to support that notion? Yes, as I have documented on numerous occasions. As Turkey continues to attempt to gain entry into the European Union, all kinds of issues are popping up, seemingly frustrating Turkey's efforts. Am I surprised by that? Not at all, as this is what Bible prophecy seems to indicate we should expect to see happening.

The latest? Turkey, according to a Fox News story, recently tapped a hardliner to head its military, General Yasar Buyukanit. As I perused the story's content, I didn't see a great deal of significance in this taking place until I read the following (emphasis added mine):

Quote

Buyukanit's outspokenness and his strong nationalist views have made him popular in Turkey, especially as Turks become increasingly disillusioned with their country's EU bid and the growing opposition in Europe to their possible membership.

The appointment came in advance of a meeting of the military's top leadership, which is expected to make a regularly scheduled series of appointments to the military's top positions. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said the extensive military changes were likely to have delayed the military's consideration of the possibility of Turkey contributing to a possible Lebanon peacekeeping force.

The Fox News story above is dated 7-31-06. What has shown up in the news since then is equally interesting, in my opinion. Middle East Newsline (http://menewsline.com/stories/2006/august/08_03_1.html), in a story dated 8-3-06, is claiming Turkey plans to buy 30 advanced F-16 aircraft from the United States at a cost of $1.5 billion. Additionally, a Middle East Newsline (http://menewsline.com/stories/2006/august/08_04_1.html) story dated 8-4-06 indicates China and Turkey have developed and marketed an advanced rocket - the B-611, which the story indicates was "developed in secret", adding that "its arrival marks a secret Chinese-Turkish project meant to supply artillery-based rockets to both countries as well as client states."

While there seems to be no cause for anyone to conclude that General Yasar Buyukanit had anything to do with either of the matters addressed by the Middle East Newsline articles, isn't it interesting that, at a moment when tensions in the Middle East are so high, a hardliner would be appointed as the commander of Turkey's military? Isn't it likewise interesting that he is specifically popular with Turks who are disillusioned with Europe's growing opposition to Turkey becoming an EU member? Isn't it interesting that Turkey is presently looking to upgrade its air forces, in light of Ezekiel's prediction that the Gog-Magog alliance will "be like a cloud to cover the land?"

I think it's quite possible we're witnessing yet another development leading us closer to the fulfillment of Ezekiel's end time prophecies hidden within the selection of this Turkish hardliner to head Turkey's military, another reason for us to keep looking up!

Israeli police wilt before threat of Muslim violence
Close Temple Mount to Jews and Christians on Tisha B'Av

By Stan Goodenough
Aug 03, 2006

The Israeli Police Force, able to turn out tens of thousands of members in order to uproot Jews from their homes in parts of the Promised Land, was unwilling to secure the rights of Jews to pray at their holiest site Thursday for fear of Arab violence.

In an announcement aimed at circumventing a ruling of the High Court of Justice earlier this week, according to which members of the Temple Mount Faithful would be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av, Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco ruled that the site would be off-limits to Jews and Christians for the day.

The reason, according to Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby as stated by The Jerusalem Post:

The decision to shut the Mount to visitors … followed an amalgamation of intelligence information that thousands of Muslims were planning to flock to the site to "protect" it from Jews who were planning to visit on Tisha B'av at the urging of "extremist" Jewish groups…

Muslims, who refuse to recognize or respect Jewish veneration of the place on which Israel’s ancient temples stood, are being allowed to pray on the Mount today

Tisha B’Av (the Ninth Day of Av) is one of the holiest days on Israel’s calendar, when Jews around the world mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples, along with numerous other catastrophes that impacted them as a nation down the ages.

Included in that long list this year is the 2005 uprooting of Jews from their homes in the Gaza Strip and the abandoning of that ancient Jewish land to Muslim Arabs. Tens of thousands of soldiers and policemen were used to carry out that expulsion.

The lack of readiness on Israel’s part to use its law-enforcers to guarantee the rights of its own people to worship God at sacred sites has only served to strengthen the Islamic hold on these places.

And instead of coming out in support of their countrymen, Israel’s almost exclusively leftist media supports these police decisions. Reported the Post Thursday:

In the past, the site has been repeatedly closed down to non-Muslim visitors on Tisha B'av due to concern over the outbreak of violence, drawing the wrath of Israeli rightists who accuse police of "capitulating" to Arab threats.

Israeli police wilt before threat of Muslim violence (http://www.jnewswire.com/articles/print/1010)

England: You could be next
‘Iran already has the missiles to reach London’ - Netanyahu

By Stan Goodenough
Aug 04, 2006

Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned the people of England Thursday that they, too, are in the firing line for missiles out of the Islamic Middle East.

In an interview in the London studios of Sky News television, Netanyahu – who heads the opposition Likud Party – explained to skeptical presenter Mark Longhurst why Israel has no choice but to seriously degrade, and in fact defeat, the Hizb’allah.

That Islamist terror group was fighting a proxy war on behalf of both Syria and Iran, especially Iran, the Israeli said. Removing this Hizb’allah threat – as Israel is trying to do – was only “part of the problem.”

“The big problem, the mother of all problems is Iran [and] the fact that if it arms itself with nuclear weapons it already has the missiles to reach London and soon it will have the missiles to reach the United States.

“They’re developing those missiles, not because they want to target Israel, they already can, but because they want to target you.”

Netanyahu said the Islamic world – Shiite and Sunni, representatives of whom are currently tearing each other apart in Iraq – believes that “fighting with and defeating each other is a prelude to fighting and defeating the west.”

And Israel just “happens to be the first western country in the way.”

Already today, before Israel is even defeated, Islamic eyes are turning greedily towards Europe.

“So unless the West wakes up and realizes that there is a new fascism here, a new Islamic-Hitlerism that threatens the West, it will not wake up in time.”

In an attempt to reason with his British viewers, Netanyahu questioned their widespread condemnation of Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

Seventy-seven percent of Britons polled believe Israel is acting disproportionately in its fight against the Hizb’allah.

“What would you be saying today, what would you ask Tony Blair, the prime minister of Britain, to do today if London was being hit by hundreds and indeed thousands of rockets?

“You would be screaming your head off, saying ‘Get rid of the source of that fire!’”

England’s capital knows (or once knew) what it feels like to have its civilians targeted by flying bombs. In World War II, 2,400 V-1 rockets, (the Vengeance Weapon-1, also known as the “doodle bug” and the “buzz bomb”) were fired into London by the Germans.

Said Netanyahu:

“When London was rocketed, [Prime Minister Winston] Churchill’s response was to flatten German cities. Dresden was wiped out completely.

“And I do not criticize Churchill’s government for doing that because it was in fact a time of great urgency.”

Hizb’allah has fired 2,400 Katyusha, Fajr-1 and Khaider-1 rockets into northern Israel since July 12, intentionally killing and maiming Jewish civilians.

Israel’s response, which Britain and virtually all mankind has slammed as “disproportionate,” has been to avoid in every way possible in the midst of a war situation the targeting of civilian Lebanese life, even when this has meant risking – and paying with – the lives of its own soldiers.

The V-1 may have carried a greater payload than do the rockets Hizb’allah has thus far drafted from its arsenal. But for more than a decade, Iran has been developing its Shahab-5 and Shahab-6 rockets, whose range brings almost all of Europe within striking distance. The utility of these rockets has been described as “attacking population centers or spreading radiation rather than hitting military targets.”

That Iran is feverishly and deceptively working on its nuclear program too is a reality that has alarmed western states.

Jerusalem Newswire believes that the stubborn and pride-driven insistence of politically-correct, and in many cases anti-Semitic, British journalists and politicians to criticize and condemn Israel for trying to crush Hizb’allah will ultimately help pave the way for a devastating rocket strike on the UK.

England: You could be next (http://www.jnewswire.com/articles/print/1012)

The Fate of Hezbollah between Syrian Interests and Iranian Bargaining
Raghida Dergham Al-Hayat - 04/08/06//

New York - The Security Council will not agree to cease all hostilities for a period of time during which negotiations would be conducted to reach a framework for a political solution that would lead to a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. And Israel will not stop the war, whether in the form of a truce or ceasefire or even an end to hostilities, as long as Hezbollah does not disarm and hand over its weapons to the Lebanese State. An additional condition is the deployment of international forces to help the Lebanese State impose its sovereignty over all Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah may know more than any of the other factions what the continuation of this war means, in terms of the endless destruction of Lebanon and the killing and displacement of its people. Hezbollah's knowledge derives from the fact that it is aware of Israel's extensive military capabilities and its own ability to resist such an army with a sophisticated arsenal. The war is ultimately raging on Lebanese, not Israeli territory. No matter how great Israeli losses are, the greater loss will always be Lebanon's, even if Hezbollah feels it is somehow 'victorious' in this stage of the conflict because it has denied Israel a lightning victory. The balance and the diplomatic efforts have reached a critical stage after certain concerned parties turned a blind eye because they garner benefits from prolonging the war. There are regional factions that have an interest in this, even though they claim they want a ceasefire.

The Security Council began to take up the Lebanese portfolio this week, prompted by the Qana massacre committed by the Israeli army whose hands are stained by the blood of the children of Qana. Last Sunday, the Security Council convened for an open session. It issued an official communiqué on the killing of the UN observers by Israeli fire. The UN Secretary General even said that this act was "apparently deliberate". The Qana massacre speeded up the diplomatic process, which had busied itself with general issues, by taking it to the level of the Security Council.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked openly of a decision that would soon be reached for a 'ceasefire' within days. This announcement is noteworthy in itself, all the more so, given that it came at the same time that the Israelis announced that the military operation could take 'weeks'. Questions were thus raised about what exactly Rice has in mind and what she has up her sleeve.

American diplomacy claims that the difference between it and French diplomacy is this: Paris merely wants to end hostilities and to calm the situation, while Washington wants a deep-rooted solution that will prevent the situation from returning to the way it was. Specifically, the situation was that Hezbollah took from the Lebanese government the authority to declare war whenever it feels like it. This in turn means that Hezbollah must be disarmed, by hook or by crook.

France prefers the means of persuasion so that Hezbollah will reach the logical conclusion that it has no option but to give up its weapons, and willingly and wholeheartedly support the Lebanese State and its sovereignty over the whole country.

Therefore, France sees an end to hostilities as an entry point to a comprehensive political solution that encompasses the Shebaa Farms, removing the very pretext for resistance. This approach also relies on effective international forces aiding the Lebanese State in imposing its authority over the whole of the South. In this way, the international force will avoid controversial tasks, such as disarming Hezbollah by force. The US administration does not oppose this approach of persuasion, provided it does not seem as though Hezbollah is being rewarded. Its idea is built around the principle that an international force should be set up, capable of forcefully disarming Hezbollah, and thus implementing Resolution 1559 in the process. The only other alternative is to leave the Israeli army to decide the issue through its military operations, and to let it do what it must in the context of the military balance of power that dictates how wars are waged. And this regardless of how much Israel may lose in terms of public support and human lives.

Therefore, the proposal Washington has tabled to the Security Council is an attempt to convince Israel that an end to hostilities means the deployment of an international force that has the strength to forcefully disarm Hezbollah if it does not choose to willingly disarm.

Washington in general, and Rice in particular, are working for a comprehensive political solution and are prepared, according to indications, to pressure Israel to withdraw from the Shebaa Farms and hand it over to international supervision, with international forces to boot, in order to remove the pretext of the Resistance.

Such a formula would avoid any semblance of rewarding Hezbollah, or Syria for that matter, which has declared that the Shebaa Farms fall under the remit of Resolutions 242 and 338 that cover the Syrian-Israeli dispute. In other words, Damascus has now suddenly decided, for its own convenience, that the Shebaa Farms are Syrian after all, after having originally claimed - at least verbally - that it was Lebanese to justify Hezbollah's resistance. That original move also excused Syria from resisting Israel in its own occupied territories. Israel and Syria have a solid relationship, it seems, when it comes to keeping resistance off occupied territory.

With the return to negotiations between the members of the Security Council over what will be declared, there is talk of either one resolution in two phases or two resolutions that would do the same job separately. One is for a cessation of hostilities, and the other is for a ceasefire, with a political framework for a comprehensive solution linking the two phases. Talk concerning the international force revolves around ensuring stability, and sending these forces to Lebanon also involves a two-phase solution, where the vanguard is sent over first to be followed by the main body. This demands two kinds of forces and two different schedules to send them.

France has made its draft proposal, and the Lebanese government has forwarded its seven-point plan to the Security Council under the official title of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's plan. It was delivered, point by point, by the acting Foreign Minister, Tarek Mitri, during Lebanon's turn at the open session mentioned above.

This plan was agreed to by the cabinet, and calls for the Security Council to commit itself to placing the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba heights under UN jurisdiction, until final borders are drawn up between Lebanon and Syria. The plan also involves the Lebanese government exercising full control over its territories via its armed forces, so that there remains no armed body other except that of the Lebanese State. It does not concern the international community in the least that Lebanese President Emile Lahoud denies there is any consensus on the Siniora plan. The denial will not annul the official records of the Security Council, which registered the official position of Lebanon, endorsed by the majority of the cabinet as being Lebanon's path to salvation.

If Lahoud is wary of the implementation of this step, then he need not worry because the Security Council honestly could not care less, and is only concerned with keeping official records. The Siniora plan has been presented to the Security Council, whether President Lahoud likes it or not, and the SC members are trying to make the best of it for any subsequent approach they may take.

cont'd next post

Many of the council member States are well aware that there are many plans for toppling the Siniora government and any initiative tied to his name. More than this, they are diligently keeping an eye on the preparations being made against Siniora, not only against his government. There is also the conviction among the member States that whoever dares will pay a very heavy price with interest.

Russia and China most definitely support the Siniora administration and will not allow for any such move. Their position as regards to the developments in Lebanon would indicate that they all for the sovereignty of the State, not for Hezbollah and its arrogation of this sovereignty, no matter what the pretext. For strategic reasons, Russia and China may revel in any blow to American prestige and any hardship facing US foreign policy, but they do not want Israel's military might blunted by a Hezbollah supported by Syria and Iran. This would go against other considerations and bilateral interests they have. Russia and China simply look at the equation of defeat and victory from a different perspective than Iran's.

When the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Manuchehr Motaki, boldly declares from Beirut a proposal that Tehran finds suitable, he is in effect declaring to all that he is the godfather of Hezbollah's war and is in charge of negotiating on its behalf. He will decide under what conditions the war that Iran is fighting through Hezbollah can be ended. Motaki speaks the language of the victor and is outlining impossible conditions that he knows full well will prolong the war. He is a capable and experienced man and he knows that if Iran were in Israel's position it would categorically refuse a ceasefire and a cessation of hostilities at such a delicate stage in the military operations where the other side can use these to claim victory. Every Iranian official knows and understands that Israel will not stop the offensive except on its military terms, including the disarming of Hezbollah.

Therefore, the question poses itself: What does Tehran have in mind? Is it confident that Hezbollah in the long-run will achieve a real and permanent victory against Israel? Or is Tehran bargaining with the major powers in the Security Council to find a way out for Hezbollah before temporary victory turns into a permanent defeat? Or is Tehran widening the remit of its bargaining to include the nuclear portfolio, especially after the latest Security Council decision - with Russian and Chinese support - giving Iran an ultimatum to the effect that it should take the Security Council's threats seriously if it refuses to comply?

The Lebanese theatre is wide open to Iranian haggling and outbidding. Iran knows what diction to use to rescue Hezbollah or sacrifice it, for that matter, if it smells the whiff of military defeat. Tehran is also expert at pushing matters to the edge, as long as it feels secure in the knowledge of how US forces are sinking increasingly into the Iraqi quagmire a stone's throw away from Iran.

As long as Iran is confident that its near cooling off with Israel will not be transformed into confrontation, it shows brazen confidence, and with it the ability to impose conditions, complicate matters diplomatically, and force a military decision. Nonetheless, there are indications that the Iranians' customary acumen is warning them of the slippery slope ahead when one continues to depend on wild dreams and effervescent populist emotions.

Syria is a completely different matter because it is merely a spectator, geopolitically revolving around Iran. Its status is summed up by its negative role in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. This is the way Syria ultimately sees itself, and the way the world sees it.

The Syrian government wants to prolong the war in Lebanon and sees that Israel's massacres will turn world public opinion against it. Gradually, and with perseverance, Damascus has regained the initiative and its self-confidence, forgetting that what Hezbollah was able to achieve in three short weeks, Syria failed to accomplish in all its years of war with Israel. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim's words about the danger of Lebanon becoming 'another Iraq' and 'al-Qaeda infiltration' came more as a warning than a piece of advice. These words might have a negative impact on Israel and the US more than Damascus bargained for.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not made his mind up about Damascus, even if he appears to be concentrating exclusively on the Hezbollah and Palestinian fronts. He obviously does not want a third front, but transforming Lebanon into a 'new Iraq' bordering Israel involves other, unconventional considerations that make AIPAC cling to the idea that the Syrian regime is a safety valve and should not be overthrown. Unless, that is, Syria actually threatens to turn Lebanon into 'another Iraq' and allow 'al-Qaeda to infiltrate'. In this case, this effective organization may change its mind about Syria, and we have all been forewarned about that.

In addition, we do not know Olmert very well, nor do we know what decisions he has made about Syria. What we do know for certain is that the US administration is adamant about two things: Syria should not be rewarded for what it is doing in Lebanon so that its armed forces could return there; and that Syria must be kept away from any regional arrangement because the international investigation into the assassination of Rafik al-Harirri, among other assassinations, is still ongoing.

Therefore, the Golan Heights are currently out of the equation and will remains so because Syria must be isolated as a price it should pay for its policies toward Lebanon and Palestine, which it uses for resistance by proxy.

The words of a Syrian woman in New York made this clear. She was responding to another woman who supported Syria's backing and encouragement of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine. However, they suddenly disagreed when the other woman extended this logic to the Syrian front, leading the Syrian woman to say: 'No, we don't want that. Let the Lebanese resist.' These words have tremendous implications, because this is what most Syrians, the Arabs and others beyond the Arab World think.

The Lebanese, most of them anyway, do not want to fight on Syria's behalf. Lebanon has had enough of paying the price of Arab impotence, whether at the popular or official levels. Meanwhile, crocodile tears are being shed for Lebanon. There should be no partial resistance in Lebanon and no resistance by proxy. This is Lebanon's promise from now on. The important thing is that, this time, the Security Council agrees with a wounded Lebanon, and Lebanon will do something effective in reply.

The Fate of Hezbollah between Syrian Interests and Iranian Bargaining (http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/08-2006/Article-20060804-d8659976-c0a8-10ed-019d-d97bda4d42bb/story.html)

The past 24 hours................

04:19    Humanitarian groups claim IDF keeping supplies from reaching Lebanon (Israel Radio)
04:13    IDF says it struck missile launch site near Tyre used to hit Hadera (Israel Radio)
03:34    U.S. Asst. Secretary of State David Welch to meet Siniora on Wednesday (Reuters)
02:54    Hezbollah official praises Chavez for pulling Venezuelan ambassador to Israel (AP)
02:16    Victims of Gaza air strike identified as brother and sister, not mother and son (AP)
01:58    Israeli envoy to U.S.: We will agree to cease-fire if captive soldiers released (Reuters)
01:13    Sirens sound in Ramot Naftali area in Galilee panhandle (Israel Radio)
00:43    Palestinian medics: 2 killed in IAF strike in S. Gaza (AP)
00:33    Total of 191 rockets launched from Lebanon to Israel on Friday (AP)
00:18    Bush conducts 15 minute phone conversation with UN`s Annan (Reuters)
23:31    U.S. Jews meet Annan, voice displeasure at UN`s stance on Lebanon crisis (Haaretz)
23:29    IDF says air force struck missile launcher thought to have fired at Hadera (Haaretz)
23:03    U.S. sanctions seven foreign companies for conducting business with Iran (AP)
23:02    Israeli Arab male, 27, dies in auto accident near Golani junction in north (Haaretz)
22:37    Hezbollah: We fired `Khaibar 1` missiles at Hadera, same type fired at Afula (Ch. 10)
22:22    Two people treated for shock following missile strike in Hadera region (Haaretz)
22:18    Arab League foreign ministers to hold emergency meeting in Beirut on Monday (AP)
22:09    U.S. says `very close` to deal on final UN draft for Lebanon ceasefire proposal (AP)
21:34    Three missiles land in an open field in Hadera; no injuries reported (Ch. 10)
21:27    Missiles reported to have landed in Hadera (Channel 10)
21:27    Venezuela`s Chavez compares Israel`s operations in Lebanon to Nazi regime (Reuters)
21:19    Hezbollah rockets slam into Jezreel Valley region (Haaretz)
21:18    Sirens sound in Haifa and Hadera (Channel 10)
20:46    Balad MK Bishara: Slain Jewish, Arab civilians are victims of the same policy (Haaretz)
20:43    MK Barakeh: Everyone with a conscience must scream for insanity to stop (Haaretz)
20:42    Hadash MK Dov Hanin calls for widening protest campaign against the gov`t (Haaretz)
20:22    Palestinian gunmen fire at IDF troops near security fence in Gaza; no casualties (Itim)
19:59    Sources: 57 people buried under rubble of homes in 2 villages struck by IAF (Haaretz)
19:45    1 person moderately hurt, 2 lightly hurt in Migdal Ha`emek rocket attack (Haaretz)
19:28    Iranian official admits Tehran has supplied Zelzal missiles to Hezbollah (Haaretz)
19:26    Hezbollah rockets slam into Migdal Ha`emek region in north (Haaretz)
19:05    IDF officer killed in operation in south Lebanon town of Markaba (Haaretz)
19:03    U.S., French officials say obstacles remain to deal on UN ceasefire resolution (AP)
18:41    Balad party MKs, activists gather in Tira to protest IDF campaign in Lebanon (Haaretz)
18:37    Haniyeh: IDF campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon are part of Israel`s `war on Islam` (Reuters)
18:23    Woman killed by rocket attack in Maghar to be laid to rest at 7:00 P.M. (Haaretz)
18:19    Woman killed by rocket attack in Maghar identified as Manal Azzam, 27 (Haaretz)
18:17    Hundreds of thousands of Shi`ites in Baghdad rally in support of Hezbollah (AP)
18:12    Police say unable to reach wounded in Carmiel due to crowding of people (Haaretz)
18:08    Katyusha lands in town of Quneitra on Syrian side of Golan Heights (Haaretz)
18:03    At least 2 people killed in rocket strike on Majdal Krum restaurant (Haaretz)
17:50    Sirens are heard in Carmiel, Shfaram, Acre, Ibalin, and Sakhnin (Israel Radio)
17:46    Death toll in IAF strike near Lebanon-Syria border rises to 28 (AP)
17:25    Police say 2,500 rockets have been fired into Israel since start of fighting (Haaretz)
17:07    Qassam rocket lands in kibbutz in western Negev; residents treated for shock (Haaretz)
16:45    Five armed men in military fatigues storm PA jail in Jericho, kill 6 prisoners (Haaretz)
16:28    Hezbollah fired 135 rockets at northern Israel towns since Friday morning (Ch. 10)
16:26    Palestinians dressed in police uniforms kill 6 inmates at Jericho prison (Reuters)
16:23    TA police arrest suspects in stabbing death of 28-year-old migrant worker (Haaretz)
16:19    IDF soldier killed in Lebanon named as Omri Haim Almakeis-Yakobovitch, 20 (Haaretz)
16:13    IDF soldier killed in Lebanon identified as Staff Sergeant Daniel Shiran, 20 (Itim)
16:04    Authorities locate rocket landing site near Tiberias (Haaretz)
16:02    Five hurt, one moderately, as rocket strikes village of Majdal Krum (Haaretz)
15:38    Iranians hurl stones at U.K. embassy in Tehran to protest IDF`s Lebanon raid (Reuters)
15:23    UN: Aid supply may be cut off because of overnight IAF strike in north Lebanon (AP)
15:20    Sirens sound in Safed and Hatzor (Channel 10)
15:13    Medics: 25 Lebanese civilians hurt in IAF strike near Lebanon-Syria border (Reuters)
15:10    Some 80 rockets slam into north in latest Hezbollah attacks (Haaretz)
15:02    Sirens that sounded in Zichron Ya`akov, Pardes Hannah were false alarms (Haaretz)
14:59    Sirens sound in Nahariya and Shlomi (Israel Radio)
14:50    Two IDF soldiers killed in clashes in south Lebanon (Haaretz)
14:48    Police: 45 Hezbollah rockets fell on northern Israel within half an hour (AP)
14:42    One person seriously hurt, 2 moderately hurt in Kiryat Shmona rocket strike (Haaretz)
14:34    Person wounded in rocket strike near Tiberias dies of wounds (Haaretz)
14:23    Blair postpones summer vacation to work on UN resolution on Mideast crisis (AP)
14:19    Four rockets hit Nahariya, four land in Golan Heights, three land in Carmiel (Haaretz)
14:17    One person lightly wounded in rocket strike near Safed (Haaretz)
14:16    One person seriously injured in rocket strike near Tiberias (Haaretz)
14:14    Representative dollar exchange rate set at $1 / NIS 4.4050 (Haaretz)
14:11    Six rockets land near Safed, five land near Kiryat Shmona; no injuries (Haaretz)
14:08    Siren sounds in Golan Heights (Israel Radio)
14:08    Katyusha rocket lands in open area near Tiberias; no injuries (Haaretz)
14:02    Sirens sound Acre, Carmiel, Zichron Ya`akov, Yokne`am (Israel Radio)
13:55    Lebanese president: Israel is waging `war of starvation` on our civilians (AP)
13:25    MK Zahalka: Umm al-Fahm searches without warrants violate civil rights (Haaretz)
13:19    Two rockets hit open areas in Safed; no injuries (Haaretz)
13:04    Nahariya residents instructed to find shelter (Israel Radio)
13:03    IDF soldier seriously hurt, another lightly wounded in Taibeh, South Lebanon (Haaretz)
13:03    80 Israelis in northern hospitals due to rocket fire, combat (Israel Radio)
13:01    UN to help Lebanon immunize refugee children against measles outbreak (AP)
12:45    1,000 Muslims in Bangladeshi capital protest Israel`s bombing of Lebanon (AP)
12:41    Safed resident arrested on charges of assaulting soldier distributing food (Haaretz)
12:41    Three rockets hit open areas near Kiryat Shmona; no injuries (Haaretz)
12:37    Pedestrian seriously hurt after bus runs her over in central Tel Aviv (Itim)
12:11    Border Police officers search Umm al-Fahm homes without warrants (Haaretz)
12:02    Three rockets hit western Galilee; no injuries (Israel Radio)
11:48    Air-raid sirens sound in Carmiel, Ma`alot-Tarhisha, Peki`in, Kfar Vradim (Israel Radio)
11:37    Lebanese Red Cross: 4 civilians killed, 10 hurt in IAF strikes north of Beirut (AP)
11:32    Israel restricting entry to Friday prayers at Temple Mount (Israel Radio)
11:28    Palestinians: Hamas gunman killed in IAF strike in Rafah (Reuters)
11:07    Police: Or Akiva man, 49, murdered in drunken brawl (Itim)
11:02    Yehonatan Sharabi, a soldier killed Thurs., is to be buried at 2:30 P.M. (Israel Radio)
10:38    Olmert: I hope peacekeeping force in Lebanon will be German (Reuters)
10:32    Man killed, woman lightly hurt in car accident on Jerusalem-Dead Sea highway (Itim)
10:10    Malaysia pledges to send 1,000 troops to Lebanon if cease-fire is declared (AP)
09:48    Israel seeks dialogue with Indonesia, Malaysia to work on problems in Mideast (AP)
08:44    200 Islamic militants said sent on missions to bomb `Israel`s vital interests` (Reuters)
08:20    Three of four soldiers killed in Lebanon on Thurs. to be buried Friday (Israel Radio)
07:32    One soldier moderately hurt, one lightly hurt in clashes with Hezbollah (Ch. 10)
07:31    Two Katyushas hit open area near Kiryat Shmona; no injuries (Ch. 10)
07:04    IDF, Hezbollah fighters engage in heavy combat in southern Lebanon (Channel 10)
06:59    Witnesses: IDF gunfire kills two Palestinians in southern Gaza (Reuters)
05:58    U.S. envoy Bolton: U.S., France have come a long way in Mideast cease-fire talks (AP)
05:34    Australia investigating reported terrorist threats against Jewish targets (Reuters)

News Alerts (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html)

NA condemns Israel supporters

By Raja Asghar

ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: The National Assembly on Friday took a rare swipe at Israel’s Western “supporters” without naming them, condemning them along with the Jewish state for “naked aggression” against the Lebanese and Palestinian civilians.

But a lone member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), who sought condemnation of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant movement as well, denied unanimity to a multi-partisan resolution, which also asked the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) members to provide “all possible material, moral, diplomatic and political support” to Lebanon and the Palestinians.

“The National Assembly of Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms the cruel bombing, shelling, naked aggression and invasion on unarmed civilians of Lebanon and Palestine by Israel and its supporters...,” said the resolution sponsored by all parliamentary groups in the house.

It came two days after a unanimously passed Senate resolution on the present Middle East crisis said that Israel was “raining death and destruction with full backing of its allies”.

But the Assembly resolution went further to condemn and blame Israel’s “supporters” for the invasion.

It refrained from naming these supporters, but several opposition speakers particularly condemned the United States for supporting Israel, some even asking the Pakistani government to review its foreign policy as a key ally to the American-led so- called war on terrorism.

In most previous joint resolutions in the present parliament, the government had succeeded in avoiding even an indirect condemnation of the United States.

But PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told the house the government had not much changed an opposition draft in the interest of a united stand on the situation.

In a brief sentimental speech, he regretted that the United Nations had done little to stop the Israeli actions and that not many heads of government turned up at an OIC executive committee meeting on the issue that ended in Malaysia on Thursday.

“If this remains the situation then God help the Islamic world,” he said and added: “If the Islamic countries unite, they will not remain dependent on the United Nations. We will have to do something now and come out of the present situation.”

The resolution said the UN Security Council had endangered its own credibility by failing to take steps for an immediate ceasefire, adding that it feared the UN was itself moving towards the fate of its liquidated predecessor, the League of Nations.

The house expressed its surprise that the international community was watching “this human tragedy as a silent spectator and cannot agree even on an appeal for a ceasefire”.

It asked the 57-nation OIC to fulfil

its duties under its Makkah Declaration to protect Lebanon’s territorial integrity.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who opened the debate after the house suspended other business on the agenda, said the United Nations had failed to take any action because it had become a US hostage.

He said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had emerged as a Muslim leader while “dictators and kings” of Muslim countries had abandoned the cause of resistance.

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) said assembly members of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy would donate their one months’ salaries while the alliance would also collect more funds to help the victims of the Israeli attacks.

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ijazul Haq proposed sending a joint parliamentary delegation to the conflict area, but MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said it would be better to take a joint stand than sending a delegation there.

PML member M.P. Bhandara said the house should pass a balanced resolution to condemn Israel for its occupation of the West Bank and not agreeing to a prisoner exchange and the Hezbollah for “becoming a state within a state”.

He was the only member to say “no” when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain put the resolution to vote, before adjourning the house until 5pm on Monday, and was greeted with a cry of “shame” from opposition benches.

NA condemns Israel supporters (http://www.dawn.com/2006/08/05/top2.htm)

Attack on Israel hid truth

By Bob Fields
The Daily News

Published August 4, 2006
A more lopsided, nonsensical description of the Israeli-Arabic conflict cannot be found outside of Charley Reese’s column on the subject.

“Israel and its war crimes are a liability” (The Daily News, July 25) is more of his usual pap. He starts by saying Hezbollah “struck across the Israeli border with Lebanon, kidnapped two ... Israeli soldiers and killed eight and now Israel is inflicting collective punishment on Lebanon.”

Only a fraction of the truth is here. Missing is the fact that Hezbollah had begun raining down rockets on Israeli cities, roughly 500 or so, in the previous week. Missing also is the fact that Hezbollah, based in southern Lebanon, has been behind terrorist attacks in Israel for the past couple of decades or more.

Next, he says, “Israel’s over-the-top attacks on Gaza have nothing to do with trying to free one soldier.” It’s “a dress rehearsal for Israel’s long-term plan to drive the Palestinians out of Palestine.”

If Israel were planning to drive Palestinians out of Palestine, wouldn’t it defy logic for them to withdraw from Gaza in the first place, and to be planing to withdraw from most of the West Bank in the near future?

The reason for Israel’s recent attack in Gaza is the same as all their other counterattacks against the Arabs for the past 50 years: No matter what Israel does, she is attacked again and again by enemies that surround her. So she strikes back. Hard.

Israel withdrew from Gaza hoping the Palestinians would take it as a peaceful gesture and begin to build a prosperous government and society.

Instead, they elect Hamas, a terrorist organization, to govern, turn Gaza into an open terrorist center, launch constant terrorist attacks against Israel and kidnap an Israeli soldier to boot.

Israel responds to these unprovoked attacks and Reese, along with most of the Arabic world, calls it the aggressor. Astounding.

Reese’s final nonsense is: “If we cut Israel’s apron string, some more sensible Israelis, who realize they cannot ... exist indefinitely surrounded by hostile neighbors, could come to power. That is Israel’s only hope for long-term survival.”

In other words, just give up, Israel, and then you can survive. He is simply insane.

Since its birth, Israel has endured the wrath of all the Arab nations around it, determined to survive despite four wars launched by Arabs and countless terrorist attacks in between.

How does “realizing it cannot exist” surrounded by enemies contribute to its long-term survival?

It’s more an Arabic solution to the problem: Stop resisting all Arabic attacks, Israel. Just die, everyone else will be happy and there will be peace at last.

All of Arabia (and apparently all of Reese) is consumed with hatred of Israel. There can never be peace in the Middle East while it’s the driving force there.

Attack on Israel hid truth (http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=811fe90104bbaf2c)

Top Iran cleric urges financial aid for Hezbollah

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Archived Picture - One of Iran's most senior clerics urged his countrymen to financially help Lebanon's Hezbollah, marking a break with Iran's usual position of emphasizing "moral support" only for the movement, AFP reported. "It is a religious duty to help them politically and financially," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said of Hezbollah in a Friday sermon broadcast on state radio.

LONDON, August 5 (IranMania) - One of Iran's most senior clerics urged his countrymen to financially help Lebanon's Hezbollah, marking a break with Iran's usual position of emphasizing "moral support" only for the movement, AFP reported.

"It is a religious duty to help them politically and financially," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said of Hezbollah in a Friday sermon broadcast on state radio.

"If we were there we would have helped them with our lives, but since we are not there and cannot do it, then we should aid them financially," said Jannati.

His remarks were greeted by chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

Jannati also asked the Iranian media to support Hezbollah with constant publicity.

Earlier this week, Jannati called on Muslim countries to give weapons to Hezbollah.

"Muslim countries are expected not to deny Hezbollah and the Lebanese any kind of help, especially weapons, medicine and food," said Jannati.

The comments mark a break with Shiite-dominated Iran's stated position, which emphasizes "moral support" only for the Shiite movement.

Iran is one of the main backers of Hezbollah, which captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 to try to secure the release of Lebanese held by Israel, and triggered the massive Israeli onslaught on Lebanon.

Tehran regularly denies Israeli and Western allegations that it finances and arms the movement.

Appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Jannati heads the Guardians Council, which vets all legislation and candidates running for office.

Iran does not recognize Israel, and hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday said the answer to the conflict in south Lebanon was the "elimination of the Zionist regime."

Top Iran cleric urges financial aid for Hezbollah (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44844&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah'

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Archived Picture - Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

LONDON, August 5 (IranMania) - Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

In a meeting, held late last month, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia called on Tehran to "accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets."

Hezbollah's representatives pressed for "an array of more advanced weaponry, including more advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems," Jane's said.

"Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems,"it added.

"The details coming from the meeting reveal that they are about ensuring a constant supply of weapons to support Islamic Resistance operations against Israel," said Robin Hughes, the magazine's Middle East Editor.

"We are told the latest meeting was attended by senior representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods force which is responsible for training and logistic support for Iranian-backed insurgent groups."

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, Iranian authorities have supplied the militia with Iranian-made Noor radar-guided anti-ship cruise missiles and Chinese QW-1 (Vanguard) shoulder-launched SAMs.

Russian-made SAMs will reportedly be supplied at a later date.

Hezbollah has been locked in a more than three-week long deadly conflict against Israel since it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others on July 12, AFP added.

Israel has carried out a widespread bombing campaign of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, and Hezbollah has fired rockets into northern Israel.

A Hezbollah anti-ship missile also damaged an Israeli corvette off the Lebanese coast in the early days of the conflict, killing four sailors. Israel said the missile was Iranian-built but Tehran denied involvement.

'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah' (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44848&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The Iranian People Is the Owner of Nuclear Technology. Talking to Iran in Language of Threats Is a Bitter Mistake.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 1, 2006.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Look, they are destroying homes with the people inside. They are burning fields. Neither children nor adults are safe from them. With laser-guided bombs, they attack shelters of defenseless women and children leaving them in a pool of their blood.

Crowd: Death to Israel.

Death to Israel.

Death to Israel.

Death to Israel.

Death to Israel.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: They have no boundaries, limits, or taboos when it comes to killing human beings. Who are they? Where did they come from? Are they human beings? "They are like cattle, nay, more misguided." A bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians. Next to them, all the criminals in the world seem righteous.

[...]

They are a bunch of Zionists. Where have they come from? As you know, the rule of hegemony and the web of colonialism strived to establish a base in the heart of the Middle East. A hundred years ago, they began to devise conspiracies on the basis of a diabolical plan. Bit by bit they arrived, and backed by the devious, deceiving Britain, they sneaked people in, and placed them in control over the people of Palestine. Sixty years ago, by means of a highly complex plan, involving psychology, politics, and propaganda, and by means of weapons, they managed to establish a false regime in the heart of the Middle East. At first they claimed: "Since some of those [Jews] lost their families in World War II, and were killed by the German government, we must give them a land." They established a regime, and placed them here. Afterwards, we saw that they did not make do with [the Jews] who presumably were harmed in the war. They gathered people from all over the world, brought them here, and turned them into the landlords. They expelled more than five million Palestinians from their homes with weapons and with oppression. They gathered people from all over the world, and imposed them here. Our question was: "If these people were harmed in Europe, why do you wish to compensate them out of the pockets of the people of Palestine, and with their honor and their land?" Then they claimed that these are people whose forefathers had lived in this land 2,500 years ago, and that they should therefore be the rulers of this land. We say to them that if we were to accept this principle, and were to apply it throughout the world, all the political borders in today's world would change.

We ask you: Who lived on the land of America 250 or 300 years ago? Don't the rulers of America today rule because of the massacre of the native Americans? If we accept the principle that anybody whose forefathers ever lived on any land 2,000 or 3,000 years ago should rule today, then America should be ruled by the native Americans who are there today. There is proof that they existed. There are films, photos, documents, maps, and their descendants.

Crowd: Death to America

Death to America

Death to America

Death to America

Death to America

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: They established a regime, aimed at threatening, trespassing, murdering, and pillaging. They established this regime so that the peoples of the region would never be tranquil. They threaten everybody. Even if a country wants to made scientific progress, they have the nerve to prevent its scientific progress under the pretext that the safety of the regime that occupied Jerusalem would be threatened by this scientific progress.

[...]

They established that regime so that it would constitute a constant threat, and would prepare the ground for the control of the rule of hegemony, and so that they would be able to impose agreements on the people. As you know, some of the countries in our region made armament deals worth more than 150 billion dollars with America and England, under the pretext of the regime that occupied Jerusalem. Since they are under America's control, they never used these weapons against the regime that occupied Jerusalem.

[...]

It is totally obvious from what is going on that this plan was made a long time ago. The Americans failed to implement their Greater Middle East policy. They thought that by attacking and occupying Lebanon, they would be able to revive the dead plan to establish a Greater Middle East. That is why they attacked. As you can see, their crimes know no limits.

I hereby declare: The world must know that America and England are accomplices to each and every one of the crimes of the regime that has occupied Jerusalem. They must be held accountable.

[...]

Look at the international organizations. We used to say that these organizations are a tool in the hands of some of the great powers, and we were told we were being pessimistic. Look at the Security Council. It was established to bring about security. But as you can see, whenever the proposal for a cease-fire is raised, the Security Council - which is responsible for security, and which should welcome the cease-fire proposal - is, unfortunately, opposed to the cease-fire proposal and to preventing the killing of women and children. I hereby declare: This behavior of the Security Council is a mark of eternal shame on the forehead of the U.N. and those who control it.

[...]

Everybody knows that this regime [Israel] can do nothing without the orders and backing of America and its intimate friend, England. That's why we have declared these two regimes are responsible for all the crimes of the insubordinate Zionist regime.

[...]

It is inconceivable that they allow themselves to make decisions to attack and totally destroy a certain country, and then, on the basis of a few agreements, they bring groups from the countries supporting this corrupt regime [Israel], and deploy them along the borders, in order to oppress the people of the region even more. They must know that those days are over. The peoples have awoken.

The Lebanese scene is like a mirror. It displays the criminal essence of the rule of hegemony and the false claims of the great powers to support human rights, freedom, and democracy. At the same time, it exhibits the oppression of the Lebanese people.

Today, the Hizbullah in Lebanon is the standard-bearer of the resistance of all the monotheistic peoples, of the seekers of justice, and of the free people. Hassan Nasrallah is shouting the loud cry of the vigilant human consciences. Today, Hizbullah stands tall as the representative of all the peoples, all the vigilant consciences, all the monotheistic people, all the seekers of justice, and all free people of the world, against the rule of hegemony. Until now, with the help of Allah, [Hizbullah] is winning, and, Allah willing, it will reach the ultimate victory in the near future.

[...]

I hereby demand that all the peoples declare their position regarding these crimes. It is inconceivable for people to play a double game in the Middle East and Lebanon. On the one hand, they maintain cooperation and economic and political ties with the Zionist criminals, and on the other hand, they wish to appear as supporters of human rights, of the oppressed, and of peace. They all must declare their position. I call upon all the governments to remove the restrictions upon their peoples. The peoples have become vigilant today, and are studying the scene with precision and awareness. The peoples are keeping record of the behavior of all the governments, the officials, and the groups. All these crimes are engraved on the hearts of the peoples. Soon, the people will begin to move, and, Allah willing, they will drag these criminals to the defendant's bench.

[...]

I declare, before all the dear people of Bojnourd, that in light of America and England's behavior, it has become clear that they don't have what it takes to participate in international forums. They don't have what it takes to sit in the Security Council, and to have a right of veto. They themselves are guilty and criminal, and they must be placed on trial.

[...]

When I see the behavior of America, England, and their other accomplices in recent days, I get the impression that they are preparing even greater crimes. I warn them: Know that the fire of the wrath of the peoples is about to erupt and overflow. If you do not put an end to your crimes, know that the ocean of the peoples will soon rage. When the peoples begin to move, they will drag everybody to the defendant's bench, and will remove them from the throne of power.

[...]

Today, the Iranian people is the owner of nuclear technology. Those who want to talk with our people should know what people they are talking to. If some believe they can keep talking to the Iranian people in the language of threats and aggressiveness, they should know that they are making a bitter mistake. If they have not realized this by now, they soon will, but then it will be too late. Then they will realize that they are facing a vigilant, proud people.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The Iranian People Is the Owner of Nuclear Technology. Talking to Iran in Language of Threats Is a Bitter Mistake. (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1216)

Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh: I Hope Syria Will Join the War; The Jews May Leave the Middle East; Arab Countries Should Allow Transfer of Weapons, People to Lebanon and Palestine

Following are excerpts from an interview with President of Yemen Ali Abdallah Saleh, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 1, 2006.

Interviewer: Do you expect the war to expand?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Yes.

Interviewer: to include Syria?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I would certainly hope that it expands. I would hope so, but the Israelis would not dare. They are frustrated in South Lebanon, so how could they expand the war? All Israeli cities would be within the range of the Syrian missiles. Syria is armed, and is ready for anything. It would be foolish, even more than foolish... I say in all honesty that the Israeli government is defeated. The Israeli army is also defeated by any standard. The Israeli government will fall. It will fall soon because it misjudged things. Israeli strategy is based on brief wars, on swift strikes. By now it has been 19 days, and the equation has changed. If Israel were to act foolishly and wage war against Syria, I expect Israel would find itself in an extremely difficult situation. Perhaps they would even leave the region, because their society is a mixture [of identities], full of contradictions.

[...]

Interviewer: Do you call upon the Syrian president to enter this war?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: No, I do not call upon Syria to enter the war. But if war is imposed upon it, Syria has the right to defend itself.

Interviewer: Regarding international forces...

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Why shouldn't we involve Syria?

Interviewer: I am asking because you said you were hoping for this.

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I hope that all the countries bordering with Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war. I meant the countries bordering with Israel. We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment, to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

[...]

This war has become a duty incumbent upon us. Every Muslim has the individual duty to fight on this front.

Interviewer: Mr. President, do you support what has been said about incorporating Arab forces in the international force [in Lebanon]?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I haven't heard this, but it is forbidden. I haven't heard about this, but international forces must not serve as a buffer between the Israeli enemy and the resistance. It's forbidden.

[...]

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I completely reject becoming a police force protecting the security of Israel. Even the agreements between Israel and its neighboring Arab regimes were signed under certain circumstances and have greatly restricted us. Some of these agreements include restrictions. Restrictions that apply to the regimes - keep them, but let the people, the masses, act. Let the people donate money, equipment, weapons, and young men who will join the resistance.

Interviewer: Do you think that today...

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Wait just a minute... Just as we helped Afghanistan to fight the Communist occupation back then - why not help our brothers in Palestine and in Lebanon, who have Arab blood, with mujahideen, with fighters. Why don't we help them, and send send money and missiles, like we sent to Afghanistan in order to fight the Communists? This is my opinion, and I present it to the Arab public. This is what we must do. If we do not enter [the war] as regimes, and if we say Hizbullah is dragging us into a war of its choosing - a war that we, the regimes, did not choose... In such a case, we will not enter the war as regimes, as regular armies, with our air forces and our missiles, but we should allow people to volunteer.

[...]

Interviewer: The secretary-general of Hizbullah said that this is a battle of the nation. Do you agree with him?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Yes, I believe this is a battle for the Islamic nation, not the Arab nation.

Interviewer: Shimon Peres said this was a matter of life and death for Israel.

Ali Abdallah Saleh: That's his opinion. Shimon Peres is a senile old man. All he cares about is being in power. He makes coalitions with whoever reaches power. He is a power seeker.

Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh: I Hope Syria Will Join the War; The Jews May Leave the Middle East; Arab Countries Should Allow Transfer of Weapons, People to Lebanon and Palestine (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1217)

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls upon Arab Leaders to Promote Cease-Fire in Meetings with the Americans

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 3, 2006.

Hassan Nasrallah: I want to say to our Lebanese people, the peoples of our nation, and the world, and to be very clear: What has happened since the first day of this war, and is still happening, even today - the killing, massacres, destruction, brutality, and barbarism - the ones responsible for all this are, first and foremost, Bush and his administration. In our opinion, Olmert and his government are no more than tools in this war. I'd like to stress this by saying that the blood of the women and children in Qana and the blood of all the elderly and the innocent civilians that has been spilled in Lebanon stains the faces of Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. This is the murderous, criminal, aggressive, and blood-shedding administration which continues to prevent the cessation of the aggression, by making conditions and trying to dictate them. This must be clear to every Lebanese, every Arab, to every Muslim, every Christian, and every honorable man in the world. I want to say things as they are, with no confusion. I say to the Lebanese: Today, there is a war, but when the war comes to an end, which will eventually happen, I want you never to forget that this is the same American administration, Lebanon's "friend," Lebanon's "ally," who "loves" Lebanon, whose heart bleeds for the Lebanese people, who wants the Lebanese people to live in an oasis of security and peace, and to become a model for democracy in the region. This is the same American administration on which some people pinned their hopes, and may still do so in the future. I hope we will not forget this in the days, months, and years to come. I want to emphasize that whatever the results of this war may be, Lebanon will never be American or Israeli. Lebanon will never be one of the posts of the New Middle East, which Bush and Condoleezza Rice desire.

[...]

To those who love Lebanon and want to help it, I say: You should pay close attention and note that the homes destroyed in Lebanon were destroyed by Israel, not by an earthquake. The people who were displaced from their homes were not displaced by a tsunami, nor by a flood, or a volcano eruption. It was Israel that got them out of their homes. It killed their women and children. Armed with an American decision, with American weapons, and American missiles, Israel created in this country this blood-soaked, destructive, and saddening scene.

[...]

We will not agree that anyone treat Lebanon like a miserable, humanitarian case - giving it medicine, rations of supplies, and some money. In any case, we are grateful to whoever gives this aid. But this does not express real love. In order to convey real love to Lebanon, you should make efforts to stop the aggression against it. You are capable of doing this. You can raise your voices, and more importantly, you can say in your private meetings with the Americans and others the same things you say in public. Today, the entire world knows - the Lebanese, the Arabs, the European countries, and the whole world - who prevents and thwarts the cessation of the Zionist aggression against Lebanon. It is Bush and his American administration.

Go, and prove your love to Lebanon over there. Raise your voice over there. Be real men, if only for a single day, over there, in order to save your thrones, and to save whatever is left of your honor. I'd like to say to the leaders of our Arab and Islamic countries that in the New Middle East there will be no place for your thrones. You have abandoned your moral and national responsibility, out of fear for your thrones. But in the New Middle East, you will have no thrones, and there is no certainty that you will even have countries. Your states will be divided, by the map of the New Middle East, into cantons and midget-states, on the basis of religion, sects, and race. That large country will not remain a large country, that rich country will not remain a rich country, thrones will not remain thrones, and seats will not remain seats. For your own sake, for the sake of your thrones, I say to you: Combine your humanity with your thrones, and act - even for a single day - to stop this aggression against Lebanon. From the first day, I said that I do not ask or call upon you to do anything. I still do not, but I want to protect you, our country, and our homeland. This is how those who want can help Lebanon.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls upon Arab Leaders to Promote Cease-Fire in Meetings with the Americans (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1219)

More and more Germans become Muslims
Islam-Institute: Number of converts rising steadily
Posted: August 5, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Wolfgang Polzer
© 2006 ASSIST News Service

SOEST, Germany – More and more Germans are converting to Islam. Last year approximately 4,000 persons became Muslims.

According to the Central Islam-Institute in Soest, the numbers have been rising since the turn of the century. Up to the year 2000 the annual number of conversions stagnated at 300, but it has been rising ever since.

The institute’s director, Salim Abdullah, has no plausible explanation for this trend, as he told the evangelical news agency "idea." In the past, converts were chiefly women, who married Muslims, or academics with an "affection for the Orient."

Today people from all walks of life are among the converts, according to Abdullah, who is a German born Muslim himself.

The Islamic Fellowship of Germany attracts especially high numbers of converts – about 500 per year. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Baden-Wuerttemberg (one of the 16 federal states) the fellowship is associated with the radical Muslim Brotherhoods.

According to Abdullah there are 3.2 million Muslims in Germany. Most of them are Turkish immigrants. Their religious life is flourishing. Abdullah expects the number of mosques to double within the coming years.

Currently there are 143 full-fledged mosques, with 128 more in the planning or building stages. In addition Muslims gather in 2,600 prayer and meeting places.

Approximately two-thirds of the 82 million inhabitants are church members. The Protestant Churches have 25.6 million members and the Roman Catholic Church 25.8 million. Approximately 500,000 Germans belong to smaller, often evangelical churches such as Baptists or Pentecostals.

It has been noted by the churches that interest in religion is rising in Germany, but it is not focused on Christianity. Today, the citizens in Martin Luther’ home country are equally fascinated by esoteric practices, Buddhism and Islam.

President: Zionists crimes not even comparable to those of Mongols
Bojnourd, Northern Khorasan prov, Aug 2, IRNA

Iran-Ahmadinejad-Israel
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Wednesday said that Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Palestine under the US supervision had not even been committed by Mongols including Changiz Khan.

Speaking to a large crowd of people in the provincial town of Farouj, he said that the Zionists have made even the most brutal men in the course of history look tame.

"The miserable captives and Zionist soldiers who were brought to the occupied land under various pretexts fell prey to the unsaturable greed of the Zionists.

"These savage arrogant powers, who love taking human lives and enjoy bloodshed, commit many crimes in these countries while chanting slogans of freedom and democracy," said the president.

The chief executive said that they make plans in their own evil interests behind closed doors and use the most advanced equipment including aircraft and rockets to kill human beings and continue their crimes.

Turning to the Zionists crimes at the Lebanese village of Qana as an example of the aggressors' crimes, he said that whenever the Zionists are defeated by the honorable Hizbollah combatants, they commit crimes in various areas in Lebanon and Palestine.

"Israel and its supporters should be aware that the flame ignited by them will just make them despicable.

"Given that they have disobeyed the commandments of God Almighty and have been haunted by the devil they have to face all these miseries," he said.

Ahmadinejad said that the Iranian people stand on the front line of monotheists and worshipers of God Almighty, are forerunners in seeking justice as well as models of freedom-seeking and monotheism, adding that he takes pride in the Iranian nation.

The president, accompanied by members of his cabinet, arrived here Tuesday afternoon.

Ahmadinejad's current provincial visit is his 17th to various provinces of the country since the start of his initiative of bringing the government closer to the people.

The president and his entourage have already visited the provinces of South Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Ilam, Qom, Hormuzgan, Bushehr, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Golestan, Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Khorassan Razavi, Zanjan, Markazi, Qazvin, Hamedan and East Azarbaijan.

President: Zionists crimes not even comparable to those of Mongols (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0608023828162512.htm)

Islamic, Arabic states vow to establish truce between Israel, Lebanon
Beirut, Aug 3, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-Zionist
All Islamic and Arab states along with a number of western countries are trying to establish a truce in Lebanon, IRNA reporters said on Thursday.

In the past 24 hours, various diplomatic delegations have arrived in Lebanon to discuss the issue.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Spain arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to seek an immediate truce.

Foreign ministers from the Islamic Republic of Iran and France arrived in Beirut earlier to help establish immediate truce.

Officials from Arab and Western countries held separate talks with high-ranking Lebanese officials to urge the need for an immediate truce and called for dispatching multinational and international forces to the south of Lebanon.

Foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt and Spain backed the seven clause plan proposed by the Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora calling for an immediate truce.

According to the daily Al-Safir, foreign ministers of Arab states attending the OIC meeting are to leave Malaysia for Beirut.

Foreign ministers from Arab countries are to issue a statement to support Lebanon in its confrontation with Zionist occupiers along with plan proposed by Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora.

The seven clause article proposed by Siniora consisted of establishment of an immediate truce, swap of PoWs between Hizbollah and Israel under the supervision of International Red Cross, withdrawal of Israeli troops to the border marked as 'UN Blue Line' in the south of Lebanon and repatriation of refugees to their homes, deployment of the UN forces in border lines until demarcation of borders between Lebanon and Israel, legitimizing Lebanese sovereignty of farms.

According to Al-Safir, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal announced on Wednesday that negotiations continue to hold a meeting among Arab foreign ministers in Beirut.

He tacitly, and for the first time criticized US stands in the ongoing crisis in Lebanon, saying Israel does not seek truce and they attack civilians.

Lebanese media declared on Thursday that an advocate of human rights organization in New York has sharply criticized Zionist regime for attacking civilians and the silence of some countries.

Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has criticized the West for its double-standard in dealing with current conflict between Israel and Lebanon and said if plans for truce fail, the flames of war would engulf the entire Middle East region.

According to the report, the OIC in its special meeting on Thursday in Putrajaya, Malaysia called for establishment of an immediate truce between Israel and Lebanon.

OIC has called UNSC to appeal for truce to meet regional and international peace and security.

Under the present circumstances that the Islamic and western countries are trying to put an end to this conflict, the Zionist forces launched a full-scale attack to Lebanon on Thursday but encountered Hizbollah's brave resistance.

Hizbollah's forces launched 30 missiles to the north of occupied Palestine which wounded several Zionists.

In a related news, Hizbollah forces fired 300 missiles on Wednesday and a total number of 1,000 missiles in the past three weeks on Zionists townships.

Islamic, Arabic states vow to establish truce between Israel, Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0608033798184105.htm)

Spanish FM: Syria to exercise its influence on Hezbollah
By Yossi Lempkowicz Updated: 04/Aug/2006 17:00

BRUSSELS (EJP)--- Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has declared that “Syria will exercise its influence on Hezbollah if circumstances change in Lebanon.”

“The Syrians are going to exercise all their influence on Hezbollah, but the circumstances and political and military context of Lebanon must change,” Moratinos told reporters after after a meeting Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials.

"Syria is part of the solution to solve regional complicated problems ... and common stances have been reached," Moratinos said, warning that the situation in the Middle East has become very dangerous and might lead to passive reflections against all.

He said that he reached an agreement with the Syrian side on the need to let all parties concerned take part in seeking solutions to the current crisis.

"We came to the conclusion that there is no military solution to any conflict or crisis in the Middle East and we have to call for immediate ceasefire and a political package," he said.

He said Syria backs Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s seven-point plan to end the conflict.

Siniora’s plan called for a ceasefire; the return of refugees; the exchange of Lebanese and Israeli prisoners; the need to settle the issue of the disputed Shebaa Farms region; extending the state’s control over all national territory; limiting arms possession to state institutions; boosting UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon; and reviving the 1949 armistice agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

"I will go back to Madrid with more hope after I received a constructive and fruitful response from Syria", Moratinos said, adding that he would brief the Finnish EU presidency, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on his talks here.

EU’s contacts

According to diplomatic sources in Brussels, Moratinos’s visit to Damascus after talks with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, is viewed as an attempt by the EU to reach out to Hezbollah’s main backers in the region, Iran and Syria.

At an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict earlier this week, Solana said : “We have contacts with all the states in the region, including Syria and Iran.”

Solana has been asked by the EU Council to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process,” said a statement issued after the EU meeting.

Solana said Moratinos, a former EU Mideast envoy, would be talking to the Syrians “doubtless on behalf of all of us, including myself”.

“There can be no effective solution without Syria,” Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said after EU’s meeting.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met his Iranian counterpart, Manoucher Mottaki, in Beirut last Sunday and raised critics by saying Iran “plays a stabilising role in the region”.

He later sought to clarify his remark, saying: “Iran has a share of responsibility in the current situation, so Iran can play a role in its solution, and can therefore contribute to stabilisation in the region.”

But beyond making Syrian and Iranian leaders feel respected, it is not clear what the Europeans can offer to persuade Damascus or Tehran to lean on Hezbollah to stop firing missiles into Israel or accept eventual disarmament.

Spanish FM: Syria to exercise its influence on Hezbollah (http://www.ejpress.org/article/10062)

British marchers urge end to Lebanon war

By Adrian Croft Sat Aug 5, 9:47 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands marched through London to demand a halt to the Lebanon war on Saturday as the British government tried to deflect criticism that it has failed to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has come under fire at home for following U.S. President George W. Bush's lead on the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas and refusing to call for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London holding placards reading "End Israeli crimes in Lebanon" and "Freedom for Palestine." Police said around 15,000 people were marching but organizers put the number at more than 100,000.

The Stop the War Coalition, a group formed to oppose the U.S.-led "war on terror" which helped organize the march, urged demonstrators to pile children's shoes near Blair's residence in protest at the death of children in the war.

Marchers will also hand in a petition to Blair urging the government to call for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Despite Blair's decision to delay his holiday to take part in negotiations on a U.N. resolution aimed at stopping the fighting, members of his Labour Party kept up attacks on his stance.

"Our prime minister has failed to represent the country's feelings during the conflict," Mohammad Sarwar, one of a number of Labour legislators calling for parliament to return from its summer break to discuss the crisis, told BBC radio.

CABINET SPLIT DENIED

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton, speaking for the government, denied the cabinet was split and tried to placate critics by saying Blair was making efforts to stop the war.

"The prime minister has made it very clear that the present situation simply cannot continue ... The violence is unacceptable," Hutton told the BBC, adding that Blair was trying to bring the conflict to an end as quickly as possible.

Israel has responded to Hizbollah rocket attacks by pounding Lebanon with devastating air strikes. At least 734 people in Lebanon and 75 Israelis have been killed.

Hutton said London had made clear to Israel that its actions must be proportionate and comply with international law.

Minister and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw fueled reports of cabinet divisions last week when he called Israel's bombing of Lebanon "disproportionate." Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have avoided similar language.

A spokesman for Blair said he had talked to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday and would make further calls on Saturday. "The prime minister believes progress is being made in New York (at the United Nations)," he said.

Worried by Blair's plunging popularity, some Labour politicians were already urging him to quit sooner rather than later, after he said he would not stand in the next election expected in 2009.

Blair's stance on the Lebanon crisis has further weakened his authority, potentially hastening his departure from office.

In another threat to Blair's Labour Party, The Guardian newspaper reported that relatives of British soldiers killed in Iraq planned to form a new political party to stand against Labour ministers at the next general election.

British marchers urge end to Lebanon war (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060805/wl_nm/mideast_britain_dc_1;_ylt=ArBJRfpVSk4d1vMk57Dd_8oUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Olmert says Israel may target Hezbollah leader

Sat Aug 5, 7:43 AM ET

BERLIN (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not rule out an assassination attempt on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by the Israeli military, in an interview with a German newspaper to be published Sunday.

Olmert told the weekly Welt am Sonntag that the normal rules of war did not apply to Nasrallah, who was not a head of state but "the chief of a terrorist organisation".

Nasrallah could not expect to be treated like a legitimate leader, Olmert said, while adding that he was not waging a "personal war against anyone in particular."

Israel has killed dozens of leading Palestinian militants in targeted strikes which have also left civilians dead and aroused international criticism.

But Welt am Sonntag said that some 80 percent of Israelis were in favour of the death of the fiery Shiite cleric.

Olmert again hit back at critics of Israel's massive response to last month's capture of two of its soldiers by the Lebanese guerrilla group which has killed hundred of civilians and devastated a large part of Lebanon.

"Where do they get the right to lecture Israel?" he demanded, recalling the NATO air strikes on Kosovo in 1999.

"European countries killed 10,000 civilians," he charged, "and none of those countries had been the target of any missiles."

Olmert also repeated a statement made to Germany's Der Spiegel weekly that Israel would be happy to see German troops in a proposed international force to take over in southern Lebanon.

But German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier warned against a hasty decision for or against sending German troops to the region.

Most German politicians are against such participation for historical reasons linked to Nazi Germany's elimination of the Jews and the possibility of German troops finding themselves in conflict with Israeli forces.

The government's official position is to wait until the question arises with an agreement on an international force.

Olmert says Israel may target Hezbollah leader (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060805/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisrael_060805114326;_ylt=AtT71ryJmMiAIlReoYe8cBkUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah
Fri Aug 4, 2006 10:48am ET135

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Seventy-seven-year-old Mona Muzaber lights a candle for Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the Orthodox Church of the Cross in the center of Damascus.

"I love him. I never felt Nasrallah was a religious zealot. He is a patriot who doesn't seek personal gain," she said. "I light a candle daily for him to remain under God's protection."

Israel's offensive against Lebanon has brought Christians in neighboring Syria closer to Nasrallah, a Shi'ite Muslim, reviving Arab nationalist feelings and blurring sectarian divisions.

Bishops and priests say Syria's Christians, a devout community of around three million out of a population of 18 million, identify strongly with Nasrallah's battle with Israel, which has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since 1967.

"Pray for the resistance, pray for Hassan Nasrallah. He is defending justice," Father Elias Zahlawi told the congregation at special mass held at the Lady of Damascus, a Catholic church.

Across Damascus Christians, like Muslims, sit glued to Nasrallah's al-Manar television, receptive to his portrayal of the war as one in defense of all Arabs, as well as Muslims.

At the biblical-era Straight Street, Khaldoun Uzrai hung the yellow flags of Hizbollah all over his liquor and grocery shop.

"We are Arabs at the end of the day. Nasrallah is one of our own. He is realizing our dreams," Uzrai said.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon and 750,000 have been displaced by the conflict ignited by a cross-border raid in which Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers. Seventy-two Israelis have been killed, many by Hizbollah rockets.

NOT ENOUGH ROCKETS

Iyad Elias, a doctor working at a hospital in the mixed Jaramana district, wishes Hizbollah could unleash more rockets on the Jewish state.

"Nasrallah transcends religion and ethnicity. Unfortunately he does not have the firepower Israel has," he said.

Jaramana has been a main receiving center for thousands of Lebanese refugees, mostly Shi'ite from the south. They have been housed in schools, mosques, monasteries and private homes.

Thabet Salem, a leading political commentator, said Nasrallah brought out nationalist feelings which have been dormant for years as Israel dealt the Arabs a series of defeats.

"Nasrallah extols the Muslim nation, but he is also seen as a symbol of a national liberation movement. No wonder Christians feel such affinity to him," Salem said.

A leading Christian businessman called Nasrallah "the uncrowned Arab king".

"Unlike most Arab rulers, Nasrallah is not an agent. After all he sacrificed his son," the businessman said, referring to Hadi Nasrallah, who was killed at 18 fighting occupying Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topnews&storyid=2006-08-04T144759Z_01_L0319542_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&src=080406_1313_TOPSTORY_deadly_air_strike)

Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cairo, Egypt

A top Saudi Sunni cleric, whose ideas inspired Osama bin Laden, issued a religious edict Saturday disavowing the Shi'ite guerrilla group Hizbullah, evidence that a rift remained among Muslims over the fighting in Lebanon.

Hizbullah, which translates as "the party of God," is actually "the party of the devil," said Sheik Safar al-Hawali, whose radical views made the al-Qaida leader one of his followers in the past.

"Don't pray for Hizbullah," he said in the fatwa posted on his Web site.

The edict, which reflects the historical stand of strict Wahhabi doctrine viewing Shi'ite Muslims as heretics, follows a similar fatwa from another popular Saudi cleric Sheik Abdullah bin Jibreen two weeks into the conflict with Israel.

"It is not acceptable to support this rejectionist party (Hizbullah), and one should not fall under its command, or pray for its victory," bin Jibreen said at the time. That fatwa set off a maelstrom across the Arab world, with other leaders and people at the grass roots level imploring Muslims to put aside differences to support the fight against Israel.

There have been daily demonstrations in support of Hizbullah around the region, including in predominantly Sunni and generally pro-western countries like Jordan.

Even the Saudi government, which initially condemned Hizbullah for sparking the fighting by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers in "uncalculated adventures," backed down and said it warned the United States the region would be headed toward war unless Washington halted the Israeli attacks.

Last week, al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri issued a videotape that urged all Muslims everywhere to rise up in holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.

Mohammed Habib, deputy leader of Egypt's largest Islamic Sunni group, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, immediately rejected al-Hawali's new religious edict, saying Hizbullah is defending "the whole Islamic nation."

Al-Hawali is receiving medical treatment in Jeddah and could not be reached for comment.

In remarks published Saturday, Kuwait's prime minister, Sheik Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah, also warned that if the conflict does not end soon, it could give rise to new radicals.

"I believe that if this Israeli war on Lebanon goes on, it could contribute to creating new terrorists, and that of course would pose a new danger in the area," he told Egyptian magazine el-Mussawar.

Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525810323&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

Peretz: Iran wants to combine nuclear threat with northern front

In Channel 10 interview, defense minister says Hizbullah is Iran's commando unit in Lebanon. If events would have taken place in one year things would have been more complicated, he says
Ynet

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Wednesday that Israel 's military offensive against Hizbullah "exposed what Iran really planned."

Speaking to Israel's Channel 10 TV Peretz said if the offensive were to have been launched a year from now it would have been much more complex because "they (Hizbullah) would have been combined with a nuclear threat which is being developed in Iran."

He said Iran would be willing to send troops to Lebanon, which would make it more complicated for Israel to fight Hizbullah.

Peretz stressed the importance of the operation.

He said Hizbullah made a strategic mistake when it executed Iran's orders to attack Israeli soldiers on July 12, an attack which claimed the lives of eight soldiers and led to the capture of two others, because it didn't expect Israel to launch a large-scale operation.

Turning point

Asked about Hizbullah's seemingly unharmed rocket firing capability with the Shiite group managing to fire over 210 rockets into Israel on Thursday, Peretz said the intensity of the attack proves that Israel is fighting for its existence but promised that a turning point in the battle is closer than ever.

Peretz said that Israel will not be pressured to end the operation despite intensifying international calls for a ceasefire, adding that the United States is fully backing Israel.

"I believe that the United States is giving us all the support, but we will not make decision about our military offensive based on pressure – be it the Americans or the Europeans," he said.

Peretz said the success of Israel's military operation against Hizbullah will create the necessary conditions for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

He said Israel's strategy of "turning a blind eye" to Hizbullah's rocket arsenal and belief that the group would not jeopardize years of economic growth and reconstruction in Lebanon by provoking Israel proved erroneous as the Shiite proved it is indifferent to the country's economic interests.

Peretz: Iran wants to combine nuclear threat with northern front (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3285562,00.html)

Scrud peace deal with Israel

Egyptian judges ask government to cancel peace accord with Israel; Strike scheduled for Sunday
Roee Nahmias

Judges in Egypt called upon the government to dissolve its peace agreement with Israel, on the grounds that it is inconceivable for Egypt to coexist peaceably with Israel while the IDF operates in Lebanon. The judges expressed support of popular resistance against Israeli advances, which, in their eyes, is the only way to protect the Arab ummah (greater nation).

In a statement issued Thursday, Egyptian judges censured "the barbaric Israeli attacks on the Palestinian and Lebanese people." They also warned of American attempts "to rearrange the Middle East, based on the 'Greater Middle East' plan, via Israeli pride and American hegemony, in whose eyes the lives of hundreds of Arab children are not worth the wounds of one Israeli child."

The judges expressed their belief that the popular resistance is the only way to protect the Arab nation and their honor, and stated their support from "the bravery of Lebanese resistance fighters and the stance of Lebanese people of all denominations." The statement declared that it is inconceivable that the US will continue to be considered a friend or strategic ally of any nation in the region, after having proven itself to be the primary instigator of attacks on the Arab nation.

According to the judges, the US incited this attack, encourages it, and is the main beneficiary from it. They censured those trying to bring about war between Sunni and Shiites and labeled them "an agent with malicious motives." Likewise, they condemned anyone trying to provoke war between Muslims and Christians and anyone expressing doubt that an entrenched nation in the area (implying Iran) has nuclear know-how.

The Egyptian judges called upon judges from around the world to do their duty and aid in imposing values of justice and equality between human beings.

Sunday: General strike

The Egyptian union of professional associations, boasting seven million members, announced that they intend to hold a general, hour-long strike on Sunday, including all members of the union with the exception of emergency medical workers.

Granted, it will not be the first public condemnation of Israel in Egypt. The London-based al-Sharq al Wasat newspaper, reported that Egyptian lawyers conducted a general strike on Thursday against IDF operations in Lebanon.

Member of Parliament and chairman of the Egyptian Physician's Association, Hamdi al-Sayyid, announced that Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had told him that the organization required only moral support, not volunteers. Al-Sayyid announced that Egyptian armed forces agreed to transfer airborne aid to Lebanon.

The Egyptian reform movement, 'Kafia', is also pressing on the Egyptian government. In the last presidential and parliament elections, the movement protested against the continued leadership of Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.

This time, they focused their criticism on Israel and demanded a cessation of gas exports from Egpyt to that country. Newspapers also reported that popular anti-Israeli sentiment was growing, including among organizations, political movements and factions of the population that had previously not actively expressed such views.

These accounts come on the heels of similar reports in Egypt and other Arab countries. Several days ago, it was reported that Egyptian opposition sources demanded the removal of Israel's ambassador in Cairo, Shalom Cohen.

Comparable demands were voiced in Mauritania and Jordan. Abdullah, the king of Jordan, was asked, in an interview published Thursday, if he intended to comply. Skirting the issue, the king responded that: "We will do everything in the best interest of our homeland and our brothers in Lebanon and Palestine."

Scrud peace deal with Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3286242%2C00.html)

'The US is the kiss of death' in the Arab world
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - After almost four weeks of fighting between Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Israel, the US administration's ambitions to transform the Arab Middle East into a pro-Western, more democratic region are fading fast.

Not only is Washington's thus far staunch support for Israel losing Arab "hearts and minds" at an astonishing pace, but the "moderate" governments and non-governmental forces the administration had hoped would act as catalysts for reform are increasingly isolated across the region, according to Middle East specialists.

"I have never seen the United States being so demonized or savaged by Arab commentators, by Arab politicians," Hisham Melham, veteran Washington correspondent for Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper, told a conference this week at the Brookings

Institution, an influential think-tank.

"People are clinging to Hezbollah, clinging to Hamas, because they see them as the remaining voices or forces in the Arab world that are resisting what they see as an ongoing hegemonic American-Israeli plan to control the region," he said.

Shibley Telhami, an expert on Arab public opinion at the University of Maryland, observed at the same meeting, "Right now, the United States is the kiss of death.

"If you really are trying to empower the ruling elites and nudge them to reform and be more representative, you have to deliver policies that are going to empower," he said. "What we see in Lebanon is a policy that is not empowering them. It is widening the gap [between the moderate elites and the people], and people are moving toward the militants."

That point was echoed by none other than King Abdullah of Jordan, who, in the early days of the current round of fighting, had joined the Egyptian and Saudi governments in denouncing Hezbollah for "adventurism" in attacking across the Lebanese border, thus provoking Israel's devastating military campaign.

"A fact America and Israel must understand is that as long as there is aggression and occupation, there will be resistance and popular support for the resistance," Abdullah, arguably Washington's closest Arab ally, said on Thursday. "People cannot sleep and wake up to pictures of the dead and images of destruction in Lebanon and Gaza and ... say 'we want moderation'. Moderation needs deeds.

"Unfortunately, Israeli policy ... has contributed to the rise in the wave of extremism in the Arab world, and this war has come to weaken the voices of moderation," he went on, warning that even if Israel destroyed Hezbollah in Lebanon - an increasingly unlikely prospect - "a new Hezbollah would emerge, maybe in Jordan, Syria or Egypt" unless a comprehensive peace settlement were reached.

Even before the outbreak of this latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, Washington's hopes of regional transformation appeared to be dimming fast.

Besides Lebanon, whose "Cedar Revolution" last year was repeatedly cited by the administration US President George W Bush as vindication of its domino theory of democratic change, the two other Arab polities in which it has invested most of its hopes for transformation - Iraq and the Palestinian Authority (PA) - were already in deep trouble.

In the PA, not only had Hamas, the Islamist party on the State Department's terrorism list, won last January's parliamentary elections, but a subsequent US-led aid and diplomatic embargo against its government only strengthened its popularity at home, partly at the expense of Washington's preferred interlocutor, the Fatah Party's Mahmoud Abbas, president of the PA.

Moreover, Israel's US-backed military campaign against Hamas, now in its sixth week, does not appear to have reduced its hold on public opinion.

In Iraq, where Washington is currently spending nearly US$7 billion a month, a series of US-organized elections appears only to have hastened the country's descent into a brutal sectarian civil war, a scenario conceded by two of Washington's top generals on Thursday as having become increasingly possible.

"Sectarian violence probably is as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular," General John Abizaid, the head of Central Command, told a Senate hearing in Washington. "If not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war." His remarks were echoed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace.

Meanwhile, another leaked memo, this time from Britain's outgoing ambassador to Iraq, warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that "the prospect of a low-intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy".

Now, Israel's onslaught against Hezbollah, which has included the destruction of key infrastructure throughout the country, as well as Shi'ite strongholds in southern Lebanon and south Beirut, has quite possibly dealt a lethal blow to the government of the moderate, pro-Western Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, even as it has boosted the popularity of Hezbollah - contrary to the initial expectations in both Washington and Jerusalem.

Even Hezbollah's fiercest Lebanese foe, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who during the Cedar Revolution praised Bush's transformation strategy as "the start of a new Arab world" comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall, told the Financial Times this week that he was forced to support the Shi'ite militia against "brutal Israeli aggression" that would result in the weakening of the central government and the strengthening of Hezbollah and, through it, Syria and Iran.

"All American policy in the Middle East is at stake because their failure in Palestine, then failure in Iraq and now this failure in Lebanon will lead to a new Arab world where the so-called radical Arabs will profit," he said, adding that "this is ... not the new Middle East of Ms [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice".

Moreover, the situation in Lebanon - particularly the devastation wrought by Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah and Washington's support for it - increasingly threatens the US position in Iraq by further alienating its majority Shi'ite population and its leadership, many of whom have close ties to their Lebanese co-religionists.

While faction leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, which battled US forces in 2004, has been holding big anti-American demonstrations in Baghdad since the Israeli offensive began in mid-July, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the single strongest and most influential voice for moderation in Iraq's Shi'ite community, warned last Sunday after a particularly deadly Israeli air strike in which dozens of civilians were killed in Qana that "dire consequences will befall the region ... if an immediate ceasefire in this Israeli aggression is not imposed".

According to Juan Cole, a Middle East expert at the University of Michigan and president of the US Middle East Studies Association, Sisanti's warning was aimed directly at the United States. "Sistani could call massive anti-US and anti-Israel demonstrations," noted Cole.

"Given Iraq's profound political instability, this development could be extremely dangerous," he wrote on his weblog, www.juancole.com. "The US is already not winning against a Sunni Arab insurgency ... If 16 million Shi'ites turned on the US because of its wholehearted support for Israel's actions in Lebanon, the US military mission in Iraq could quickly become completely and urgently untenable."

Meanwhile, Washington's most loyal Sunni-led allies, as noted by King Abdullah, also feel under growing threat by popular support for Hezbollah and the radicalization among their subjects provoked by the current Israeli campaign.

"Arab leaders are seen by the public as American puppets who have no standing of their own," said Hassan Barari, a senior researcher at Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies, writing for Bitterlemons-international.org.

"The Americans and Israelis are once again giving victory to extremists, thus critically emasculating moderate forces and their allies," he wrote, noting that Hezbollah "has managed to expose the weakness and docility of Arab leaders".

At the same time, however, the very weakness of these regimes, combined with the fact that the gap between the rulers and the ruled has now widened to such a dangerous extent, means that the Bush administration's pressure on Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other authoritarian states to implement political reform has come to abrupt halt.

'The US is the kiss of death' in the Arab world (http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HH05Ak03.html)

Hezbollah's Nazi roots
Across the Middle East, radical Islamists yearn for a new Holocaust

Daniel Johnson
The New York Sun

Friday, August 04, 2006

This is the first Middle East war in which the main threat to Israel comes, not from secular Arab nationalism, but from Islamism.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas draw their main inspiration, armaments and funding from Islamist sources, ranging from the Sunni ideologues of the Muslim Brotherhood to the Shiite demagogues of Iran. What unites them all is a fanatical dedication to the destruction of Israel.

Sounding like a modern-day Hitler, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week repeated his call for the "elimination" of Israel, home to six million Jews. Hezbollah, Iran's proxy army in Lebanon, shares that objective. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has urged the world's Jews to collect in Israel in order to facilitate the task of exterminating them.

In this regard, there are parallels between the present war and previous campaigns waged against Israel by Arab nationalists. One thing that Arab nationalists and Islamists clearly have in common, though it is usually ignored in the Western media, is their explicit debt to the Nazis.

This extends even to overt Nazi symbolism. I am indebted to one of the most seasoned observers of the Middle East, Tom Gross, for a photograph of a Hezbollah rally on the Lebanese side of the border fence, shortly before the present conflict. With houses in the Israeli town of Metullah in the background, hundreds of uniformed Hezbollah terrorists are raising their arms in a Nazi-style salute. This obscene ceremony, complete with yellow standards and mullah commanders taking the salute, was happening in full view of Israeli civilians. Mr. Gross asks pointedly, "Are all those now attacking Israel around the world even capable of imagining what an elderly Holocaust survivor who happened to glance across the fence might have felt?"

Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of Hitler's support for Arab agitators such as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-Nazi coup in Iraq. The Nazi legacy also manifests itself in Holocaust denial or revisionism, a Middle Eastern obsession that unites the most extreme Islamists, including Iran's president, with "moderate" secularists such as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Arabs appropriated anti-Semitic ideology directly from the Nazis and have recycled it ever since. In the 1950s, the Baathist parties in Syria and Iraq modelled themselves on Hitler's heady brew of nationalism and socialism. Charismatic dictators from Nasser and Gaddafi to Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat turned themselves into little Hitlers, weaving anti-Semitism into their political agendas. However, the Nazi connection is usually mentioned by Arab nationalists and Islamists sotto voce, because they constantly identify Zionism with Nazism in their propaganda.

A second key similarity between today's Islamists and past Arab nationalists relates less to ideology than to geopolitics. As the British historian Efraim Karsh convincingly shows in his new book, Islamic Imperialism, the pursuit of empire through ruthless military conquest has been a constant theme from the time of Muhammad till that of Osama bin Laden, whose jihad is aimed at creating a timeless, universal Caliphate.

Yet the dominant historical narrative stands this on its head, portraying the Arabists and Islamists as anti-imperialist. Even as Gamal Abdel Nasser dreamt of what John Dulles called "an empire stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean," the Egyptian dictator posed as the champion of the "non-aligned" nations, struggling against European colonialism and superpower hegemony.

The whole issue of imperialism is invariably accompanied by much hypocrisy. Today, for example, America is criticized because of its refusal to intervene to stop Israel from retaliating against Hezbollah. America's critics are demanding that a superpower should intervene to prevent a sovereign state from defending its population against bombardment by proxies of a government that has declared its intention of wiping that state off the map. What could be more imperialist than such an intervention?

The classic example of Arab exploitation of the West's confusion over imperialism was the Suez crisis of 1956. Fifty years ago this week, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, thereby precipitating an international crisis. The British prime minister, Anthony Eden, decided it was his duty to reject appeasement and stop Nasser. But President Eisenhower, campaigning for re-election, refused to have anything to do with it. And American and Russian pressure eventually forced the British and their allies to back down.

So Nasser snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Arab war against the West began. Fifty years on, it is by no means over. Indeed, if those Nazi-saluting Hezbollah thugs are anything to go by, we may have seen nothing yet.

Hezbollah's Nazi roots (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=e3157f0d-21ad-41e9-b26e-a3c06a460e73)

Sakka says fighting Jews is Muslims' duty
Saturday, August 5, 2006

ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

A man alleged to be a senior al-Qaeda operative told a court on Thursday it was the duty of all Muslims to fight Jews, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Louai Sakka, a Syrian jailed in Istanbul over botched plans to blow up an Israeli cruise ship off Turkey's southern coast last year, said he had planned the attack after witnessing atrocities in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

If the enemy attacks a Muslim country, Jihad (Holy War) becomes an obligation for every Muslim,� Anatolia quoted Sakka as saying. �The Jews have occupied the Al-Aqsa mosque (in Jerusalem) and therefore it is my duty to fight these brutal aggressors,� he said.

But Sakka, who faces a life sentence, denied prosecution charges that he was the mastermind behind four suicide bombings in Istanbul in 2003 and that he was the courier who brought the money that helped Turkish bombers organize the attacks.

Sixty-three people were killed and hundreds were injured in the bombings that targeted two synagogues on Nov. 15, 2003, and the British Consulate General and the Britain-based HSBC bank five days later.

I absolutely disapprove of these attacks. ... One cannot achieve legitimate aims by killing civilians,� he said.

The judge later expelled Sakka from the courtroom after he refused to stand to answer questions, Anatolia reported.

The prosecution has described Sakka as a senior al-Qaeda member personally tasked by Osama bin Ladin to organize the attacks in Turkey.

Sakka was arrested in August 2005 after a fire that broke out in a flat in the popular Mediterranean resort of Antalya sparked a major police operation. The blaze reportedly began when Sakka and a Syrian accomplice, Hamed Obysi, were preparing explosives for an alleged plot to ram a bomb-laden boat into an Israeli cruise ship carrying tourists to Antalya. The pair managed to escape, but were arrested several days later -- Sakka at an airport in the southeast and Obysi at a border crossing with Syria.

Four Israeli ships carrying 3,500 tourists were scheduled to dock near Antalya at the time but were rerouted.

Sakka had purchased a seaside villa, a yacht and a jet ski to use in the attack, the indictment said, and had undergone facial plastic surgery to avoid recognition.

The case of the two Syrians has been merged with the trial of 71 other people in connection with the Istanbul bombings. It was not immediately clear when the next hearing would be held.

Sakka says fighting Jews is Muslims' duty (http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=50681)

Time running out in Lebanon campaign-Israeli minister
05 Aug 2006 18:57:36 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A draft U.N. Security Council resolution on a cessation of fighting in Lebanon puts pressure on Israel to complete its military operation quickly, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Saturday.

"We have the coming days for lots of military moves. But we have to realise the timetable is getting shorter," Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog, a member of the security cabinet, said on Channel 1 TV in Israel's first response to the draft resolution.

"It is a fact that we have to accept and act in accordance with," he said.

Herzog spoke after the United States and France completed the draft resolution on an end to fighting between Israel and Hizbollah that began when the Iranian-backed group seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

The full 15-member council has to review and accept the text, which also calls for a framework for a political settlement between Israel and Lebanon.

A second resolution is envisaged a week or two after the first is adopted, setting down conditions for a permanent ceasefire and authorising an international force for southern Lebanon.

Hizbollah leaders have sworn to fight as long as Israeli soldiers remain on Lebanese soil. At least 10,000 Israeli troops are inside Lebanon trying to dislodge Hizbollah fighters from the border and stop them firing rockets into Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that Israel would stop fighting when an effective international force deployed in southern Lebanon.

Olmert was due to consult late on Saturday with senior cabinet ministers and meet in Jerusalem on Sunday with Assistant Secretary of State David Welch. The U.S. envoy held talks with Lebanese leaders on Saturday on ways to end the conflict.

10,000 ROCKETS

Herzog said the Israeli military could in the next few days "very significantly weaken" Hizbollah's ability to continue to pound northern Israel with rocket fire.

But he said: "The problem is (that Hizbollah has) 10,000 rockets. These rockets are hidden in houses, in warehouses. They set the timer for launching 20 Katyushas, and they flee within 30 seconds."

Israel warned residents of Sidon to evacuate south Lebanon's biggest city ahead of planned air strikes on what it said were Hizbollah offices and rocket-launching sites located there.

An Israeli army spokesman said leaflets dropped on Sidon, whose normal population of 100,000 has been swollen by refugees from fighting further south, had warned all residents to leave.

In the television interview, Herzog questioned whether a deeper Israeli push towards the Litani River, some 20 km (13 miles) into Lebanon -- a move Israeli media reports said Defence Minister Amir Peretz supported -- would be wise.

"Hizbollah has trained for years for the scenario of the Israeli military reaching the Litani," Herzog said.

The conflict has killed at least 734 people in Lebanon and 78 Israelis. Hizbollah has fired 2,600 rockets into Israel.

Time running out in Lebanon campaign-Israeli minister (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05668469.htm)

Russia reignites feud with Japan by investing £350m in disputed islands

· Snub from Moscow stirs 500-year-old conflict
· Dispute prevented signing of second world war treaty

Tom Parfitt in Moscow
Saturday August 5, 2006
The Guardian

Russia is to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into developing a group of small islands seized from Japan at the end of the second world war, in a calculated snub to Tokyo. The decision will aggravate a dispute that has kept the countries technically at war for more than 60 years.

Moscow denies the huge funding boost for the Kuril Islands is political, but it is sure to antagonise the Japanese who want to regain control of them.

Article continues
The Kurils, situated off the north-eastern tip of Japan, were ceded to Tokyo in 1875 in exchange for Russia taking a larger island nearer its coast. But in 1945 Moscow annexed them, forcibly deporting Japanese residents.

Fewer than 20,000 Russians now inhabit the foggy, volcanic islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories. Half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, and in recent years many islanders have left for the mainland or abroad.

The islands have a crumbling infrastructure and their main airstrip is too short - apparently, because it was built only for the take-off of kamikaze planes that never had to land again.

Russia's economic development and trade minister, German Gref, told a cabinet meeting the islands would be revived by investing £350m in building a new airport and transport links, promoting tourism and boosting the fishing industry.

The development programme - which represents a twentyfold increase in infrastructure spending over the next two years - had nothing to do with politics he said. However, it means Russia is unlikely to hand back the islands to Japan. In the past Moscow had indicated it might be willing to give up the two smaller islands in exchange for keeping the larger two.

"The Japanese are being told to forget about the four islands, while Russia's foreign ministry must forget about a peaceful settlement with Japan," said the Moscow-based Gazeta newspaper.

Russia and Japan have been at odds over the islands which have rich and undeveloped deposits of precious metals for more than half a century. Because of this dispute, no peace treaty was signed between them after the second world war.

In recent years, the islands have struggled with crippling unemployment and isolation, frequently being cut off for weeks at a time because of bad weather preventing flights.

In a televised meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, the country's defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, highlighted the difficulty of delivering supplies to the main island because of its short runway.

"If pilots complete flights to South Kuril then they deserve the title Hero of Russia, seeing as the infrastructure of the airport was designed by the Japanese for the take-off of kamikazes," he said.

Hundreds of aircraft were kept on the Kurils and Japan's northern Hokkaido island during the war, and suicide missions were flown from the area.

Mr Gref said that a major aim of the funding increase was to stem the exodus of Russians and boost the islands' population by 50%. That would also bolster Moscow's legitimacy in continuing to control them.

Japan has yet to comment on the development plan but its foreign ministry maintains the Northern Territories are illegally occupied.

Russia reignites feud with Japan by investing £350m in disputed islands (http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1837843,00.html)

Well Fox news just reported that, Gamaa Islamiya is joining the al-qaeda terror network. As soon as I can find something, I will post it. Below is what I know and can find on Gamaa Islamiya. Several of us older people remember Gamaa Islamiya.

Gamaa Islamiya is a terror organization from the late 1970s.

The group issued a cease-fire in March 1999, but its spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al- Rahman—sentenced to life in prison in January 1996 for his involvement in the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and incarcerated in the United States—rescinded his support for the cease-fi re in June 2000. The IG has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since August 1998. Senior member signed Usama Bin Ladin’s fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks against the United States.

Unofficially split in two factions: one that supports the cease-fire led by Mustafa Hamza, and one led by Rifa’i Taha Musa, calling for a return to armed operations. Taha Musa in early 2001 published a book in which he attempted to justify terrorist attacks that would cause mass casualties. Musa disappeared several months thereafter, and there are conflicting reports as to his current whereabouts. In March 2002, members of the group’s historic leadership in Egypt declared use of violence misguided and renounced its future use, prompting denunciations by much of the leadership abroad. In 2003, the Egyptian Government released more than 900 former IG members from prison.

For members still dedicated to violent jihad, the primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Disaffected IG members, such as those potentially inspired by Taha Musa or Abd al-Rahman, may be interested in carrying out attacks against US interests. First designated October 1997.

Group conducted armed attacks against Egyptian security and other government officials, Coptic Christians, and Egyptian opponents of Islamic extremism before the cease-fire. From 1993 until the cease-fire, al-Gama’a launched attacks on tourists in Egypt, most notably the attack in November 1997 at Luxor that killed 58 foreign tourists. Also claimed responsibility for the attempt in June 1995 to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Gama’a never has specifically attacked a US citizen or facility but has threatened US interests.

Location and Area of Operations are mainly in the Al-Minya, Asyut, Qina, and Sohaj Governorates of southern Egypt. Also appears to have support in Cairo, Alexandria, and other urban locations, particularly among unemployed graduates and students. Has a worldwide presence, including in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Yemen, and various locations in Europe.

Damascus writes to UN on Israeli "massacre" against Syrians, Lebanese
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-06 06:24:51

DAMASCUS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Syria on Saturday sent two letters to the United Nations on the "massacre" perpetrated by Israel Friday in the Lebanese northern Bekaa town of al-Qaa against Syrian and Lebanese workers.

According to the official SANA news agency, Syrian Foreign Ministry sent the letters, identical in contents, respectively to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the rotating chairman of the UN Security Council.

The letters denounced that Israeli warplanes "intentionally" killed 33 Syrian and Lebanese civilians and wounded 14 others, who were having lunch after a day long work in loading food stuff to the Lebanese.

"Among those victims were 26 Syrian civilians," the letters added.

The letters attributed the cause of "mass killings" in Lebanese villages, such as Qana and Qaa, to "preventing the UN Security Council from shouldering responsibility, failure to punish the killers of the UN soldiers in south Lebanon.

The letters also described the act of blocking the UN Security Council from stopping Israel's state terrorism and war crimes as "systematic destruction" of the UN Charter and international laws.

"Syria supports the call that a fact-finding mission on Qana massacre carry out its duties immediately and expand its mandate to investigate into the Qaa massacre," the letters added, demanding full compensation for the Syrian victims.

The letters called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and the Israeli withdrawal beyond the blue line in south Lebanon. Earlier on Saturday, the 26 killed Syrian civilians, including six woman, were buried on the orders of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who called those killed "martyrs".

On Friday, the Israeli warplanes pounded the village of al-Qaa, which is close to Lebanon's border with Syria, killing at least 30 farm workers and wounding over a dozen others. Most of the dead were Syrian Kurds from poor villages in northern part of the country.

It was one of the highest death toll in a single strike since the start of Israeli aggression on Lebanon on July 12. The deadliest Israeli strike was that in another Lebanese village of Qana last week, which the Lebanese government said killed up to 54 civilians.

Damascus writes to UN on Israeli "massacre" against Syrians, Lebanese (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/06/content_4924276.htm)

Arab world unified in supporting Lebanon: AL chief
2006-08-05 20:18:15

Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts

CAIRO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Saturday that the entire Arab world was now moving in one direction in support of Lebanon against the Israeli aggression, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

Moussa made the remarks in Cairo during an interview with the BBC earlier in the day, said the report.

The AL chief is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon soon.

Moussa said that his regional tour, which has taken him to Jordan on a two-day visit, was aimed to consult with Arab countries over the Lebanon crisis and show support for the Lebanese people's steadfastness in defiance of Israel's military offensive.

The trip will be a chance to discuss with Arab nations the latest developments in the region and the preparation work for an extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting of the AL in Beirut scheduled for Monday, Moussa said.

He again criticized the UN Security Council for failing so far to pass a ceasefire resolution, adding that the AL could have been able to offer a lot if the Security Council had done its duty to end hostilities.

The AL has been doing its best to offer political support to Lebanon, unify Arab stands on the current Lebanese situation and mobilize efforts to reconstruct the country and rebuild its economy, said Moussa.

He also denied claims that his visit to Lebanon and the visits by some Arab officials to Beirut recently were aimed at pressuring the Lebanese to make concessions.

The AL declared on Friday that foreign ministers from Arab countries would hold an extraordinary meeting in Beirut on Monday,t he second of its kind since the eruption of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict on July 12.

On July 15, foreign ministers or representatives of the AL's 22 member states convened an emergency meeting in Cairo over the violence in Lebanon.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas erupted on July 12 when Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight during cross-border raids.

Lebanon said over 900 Lebanese were killed and 3,000 wounded in the violence. Over 70 Israelis have also been killed in the 25 days of fighting.

Arab world unified in supporting Lebanon: AL chief (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/05/content_4923766.htm)

Hezbollah equipped like the `Syrian or Iranian army'
Israel's enemy is no ragtag militia

Anti-tank missiles proving deadly
Aug. 5, 2006. 01:00 AM
BENJAMIN HARVEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM—Hezbollah's sophisticated anti-tank missiles are perhaps its deadliest weapon in the fighting in Lebanon, with their ability to pierce Israel's most advanced tanks.

Experts say this is further evidence that Israel is facing a well-equipped army in this war, not a ragtag militia.

Hezbollah has fired Russian-made Metis-M anti-tank missiles and owns European-made Milan missiles, the army confirmed yesterday.

In the last two days alone, these missiles have killed seven soldiers and damaged three Israeli-made Merkava tanks, vaunted as symbols of Israel's might, the army said. Israeli media say most of the 44 soldiers killed in four weeks of fighting were hit by anti-tank missiles.

"They (Hezbollah guerrillas) have some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world," said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior military intelligence officer who retired earlier this summer.

"This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units," Kuperwasser said.

Israel contends Hezbollah gets almost all of its weaponry from Syria and by extension Iran, including its anti-tank missiles.

That's why cutting off the supply chain is essential and why fighting Hezbollah after it has spent six years building up its arsenal is proving so painful to Israel, officials say.

"To the best of my understanding, they (Hezbollah) are as well-equipped as any standing unit in the Syrian or Iranian armies," said Eran Lerman, a retired army colonel and now director of the Israel/Middle East office of the American Jewish Committee. "This is not a rat-pack guerrilla, this is an organized militia."

Besides the anti-tank missiles, Hezbollah is also known to have a powerful rocket-propelled grenade known as the RPG29. These weapons are also smuggled through Syria, an Israeli security official said, and were used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to damage tanks.

Yesterday, Jane's Defence Weekly, a defence industry magazine, reported that Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons" to support its operations against Israel.

It cited Western diplomats as saying Iranian officials promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons "for the next stage of the confrontation."

Top Israeli intelligence officials say they have seen Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers on the ground with Hezbollah troops. They say that permission to fire Hezbollah's longer-range missiles would likely require Iranian go-ahead.

Hezbollah equipped like the `Syrian or Iranian army' (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1154728213979&call_pageid=968332188854)

Iranians Suspected Of Operating Training Camps For Bombers
By Jim Kouri
Aug 5, 2006

British government officials have shown -- and continue to show -- American intelligence officials information indicating that Iran is operating "training camps" for bombers who carry out terrorist attacks on coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and civilians. It appears that the training is accelerating in order to create havoc and destabilize the fledgling Iraqi government at the same time that the terrorist group Hezbollah has instigated a war with Israel.

Previously, the British accused Iran of being accessories in the killings of soldiers using sophisticated explosive devices. But intelligence officers go much further now by saying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has close links to the government, is teaching Shia fighters how to make the bombs in Iran and then they're transporting them across the border into Iraq.

These latest charges come after Iraqi and coalition forces discovered unexploded devices and submitted them to ordinance experts. A forensic examination of the bombs is being made in Baghdad which military experts believe will aid in devising security measures and may also reveal evidence of an Iranian signature. The armor-piercing, infrared bombs have reportedly killed dozens of US and British soldiers.

Government officials in Britain have accused the Iranians of tactical involvement in Iraq as a result of what Tehran perceives as Western bullying over the nuclear issue. It's also to believed the Iranians wish to keep US and British forces tied down in Iraq to avert a possible attack on Iran. Iran has vehemently denied the accusations and has claimed instead that Britain is pressuring Iran over its nuclear program by publicizing the bombing incidents.

The revelations of the alleged Iranian involvement made by defense and diplomatic sources in Iraq is compelling and detailed. The military says they are "trying to counter the bomb threat by training the trainers and the [Iranians] are doing the same. People are being trained [in Iran] and then slip back into Iraq, 10 at a time, to train others maybe 50 at a time."

Intelligence reports strongly suggest that terrorist training camps are being run in Iran, and that there is some intelligence that strongly suggests there are camps in Syria. Forensic examinations of explosive devices shows that the technology has been "proliferating," leading to a drastic rise in attacks on civilians and soldiers which now average more than three per week.

US, British and Iraqi security forces have uncovered caches of weapons including over 60 rockets, mortars and landmines, as well as the Iranian-made infrared explosive devices. Intelligence officers believe weapons are being stashed by insurgents throughout Iraq in the hopes of initiating a major insurgency offensive. And Iran gains time to continue their nuclear weapons program by helping to keep coalition forces bogged down in Iraq.

Iranians Suspected Of Operating Training Camps For Bombers (http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21232461.shtml)

Heavy Rocket Barrage Hits North: Mother, Two Daughters Killed
22:19 Aug 05, '06 / 11 Av 5766
by Debbie Berman

An estimated 120 katyusha rockets landed throughout the north within a 90 minute period late Saturday afternoon. A mother and her two daughters were killed in the village of Arab al-Aramshe.

Fadya Juma, 60, and her daughters Samira, 33, and Sultana, 31 were killed when their home in the Arab-Israeli village of Arab-al-Aramshe suffered a direct rocket hit just after 4:00 PM. Members of the village located near Shlomi along the Lebanese border grieved openly, mourning the loss of the three family members.

Some 170 rockets were thrown at northern Israel during the day on Saturday, landing in Kiryat Shmona, Safed, Nahariya, the Tiberias area, Shlomi, and Ma'alot. During the heaviest bombardment 120-130 rockets fell within a one and a half hour period in the late afternoon between 4:00 and 5:30 PM. According to Israel Radio security sources confirmed that long-range rockets were launched and hit Israel in the Hadera area on Friday.

Two people sustained light injuries in Kiryat Shmona and an ammonia leak was reported after a rocket hit a factory in the city's industrial zone. Authorities cautioned residents to stay clear of the area while they determined the extent of the leak and whether it would be harmful to the public.

In the Haifa area the rocket barrage lightly wounded eight people while 16 others suffered from shock. An 85-year-old woman from Kiryat Ata went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead after her arrival at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The woman had reportedly run to a nearby shelter while the air raid siren sounded and suffered the heart attack while returning to her apartment.

A fire broke out after a rocket directly hit a residential building in Haifa. Industrial buildings and cars in the area were also hit and the rocket attack caused a temporary disruption to the electrical power supply in the Haifa area.

Two buildings in Ma'alot and one in Nahariya were hit by katyushas. Fires were reported in both cities as well as the in the Golan Heights. Alarms went off in cities throughout northern Israel including Safed, Rosh Pina, Nazareth, Afula, Haifa, Akko and Karmiel.

Heavy Rocket Barrage Hits North: Mother, Two Daughters Killed (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109193)

IDF Naval Commando Hits Top Hizbullah Operatives In Tyre raid
23:10 Aug 05, '06 / 11 Av 5766
by Debbie Berman

Two soldiers were seriously wounded when IDF naval commandos targeted a Hizbullah long-range missile-launching site during a heroic overnight raid on the Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday.

According to Brigadier General Noam Feig, head of naval shipyards, the Naval Commando 13's operation in Tyre targeted senior Hizbullah operatives responsible for the launch of long-range rockets, like the ones fired at Hadera on Friday. “The goal of the operation was a commando raid against senior Hizbullah operatives involved in launching long-range rockets. Among other things, they were involved in launching rockets at Hadera Friday. The operation brought closure to all other operations," he said.

Feig stressed that the heroic operation was deemed necessary in an effort to combat the threat of long-term rocket launches into Israel while minimizing the possibility of Lebanese civilian casualties. "The force, under the command of a Commando 13 commander, was made up of three separate forces. Hizbullah's pattern of operations, hiding in apartments, endangers the lives of Lebanese civilians and necessitates selective and accurate capabilities," Feig stated.

The elite commando unit killed four terrorists, while two IDF soldiers sustained serious injuries in the battle. “At 3:15 a.m., the force forged their way into the target. In the fight over the target in the apartment, the force killed four terrorists who belonged to the launching unit. Upon entrance into the apartment, one of the soldiers was injured. Another soldier in the inner circle was also injured,” Feig reported.

Feig presented a video documentary highlighting the mission that showed the soldiers enterance into the building complex and the barrage of fire aimed at them when they emerged. The commandos worked cooperatively with the IAF who sent planes and drones to clear a route for the unit to exit. “The two soldiers were treated in the field by a medical unit under the command of the unit's doctor and an operation was performed in the field. The force evacuated under fire to the coast, where a helicopter waited, as planned, to transport them back to Israel at 5 a.m. All in all – fighting and presence in the field - one hour and 45 minutes," explained Feig.

IDF Naval Commando Hits Top Hizbullah Operatives In Tyre raid (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109202)

US imposes sanctions on Russia for Iran sales

Saturday, August 05, 2006

LONDON, August 5 (- According to an AFP report, the United States announced sanctions against seven foreign firms, including the Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi, for providing Iran with materiel that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems.

The move drew an angry response from Moscow, which called the punitive action "unlawful" and "unacceptable".

The sanctions, imposed under a six-year-old US law, targetted major Russian airplane manufacturer Sukhoi, Moscow's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, as well as two Indian companies, a Cuban entity and two North Korean firms, the State Department said.

The measure bars US government agencies from purchasing any goods or services from, or providing any assistance to the targetted firms.

It also outlaws the sale of sensitive military equipment, services or technologies to the companies or any of their subsidiaries.

The sanctions took effect on July 28 and will remain in place for at least two years, the State Department said.

US officials said there were no current or pending contracts between government agencies and the seven firms which would be affected by the sanctions.

But it was not immediately clear if the move could jeopardize some business relationships, including a joint project involving Sukhoi and US aeronautics giant Boeing in the development of civilian passenger aircraft.

Russia denied any wrongdoing and condemned the sanctions, which came at a time when the two governments are already involved in difficult diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"We consider such actions by the United States to be unacceptable," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, calling the move "the latest unlawful attempt to force foreign companies to work by domestic American rules".

"We want to underline that Russia always limits its exports to Iran to arms used only for defense and not capable of destabilising the situation in the region."

Sukhoi denied having any contracts with Iran within the past "six or seven" years.

The sanctions were ordered under a 2000 US law, the Iran Nonproliferation Act.

"They were imposed on these entities because there was credible information indicating that they had transferred to Iran since January 1, 1999, either chemical, biological, nuclear or missile systems," Jim Kelman, an official with the State Department's nonproliferation department, told AFP.

But Kelman would not provide any further details on just what the firms allegedly sold to Tehran.

In addition to the Russian firms, the sanctions hit Balaji Amines and Prachi Poly Products of India; Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; and the North Korean firms Korean Mining and Industrial Development Corporation (KOMID) and Korea Pugang Trading Corporation, the State Department said.

Gladys Gines of the State Department's Office of the Procurement Executive said the punitive measure would have no immediate economic effect given the lack of dealings between US government agencies and the seven firms.

"But it will obviously have an impact on any potential future arrangements," she said.

After weeks of diplomatic jousting, Russia this week joined the United States and other members of the UN Security Council in voting for a resolution giving Iran until the end of the month to suspend uranium enrichment activities that could help the Islamic republic develop nuclear weapons.

But Moscow remains a major partner for Tehran, notably building Iran's first nuclear reactor and agreeing late last year to sell it 700 million dollars worth of surface-to-air missile defense systems.

The sanctions could also complicate relations between the United States and India amid controversy over a landmark US decision to ease restrictions on Indian access to nuclear technology for its civilian energy industry.

US officials have defended the decision in part by saying it will advance US non-proliferation goals by bringing India into the international mainstream.

But Friday's sanctions gave ammunition to critics of the deal who complain that India has still not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

US imposes sanctions on Russia for Iran sales (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44850&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

US sanctions on Russia 'unlawful': Iran Ministry

Saturday, August 05, 2006

LONDON, August 5 - Russia slammed as "unlawful" Friday sanctions by the United States on aircraft maker Sukhoi and the arms export agency Rosoboronexport over their dealings with Iran, AFP reported.

"We consider such actions by the United States to be unacceptable. In essence we are talking about the latest unlawful attempt to force foreign companies to work by domestic American rules," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Such sanctions implemented unilaterally by the United States against third countries and their organisations are clear historical and legal anachronisms," it added.

"We want to underline that Russia always limits its exports to Iran to arms used only for defence and not capable of destabilising the situation in the region."

Sukhoi denied having any contracts with Iran and said it was concerned about the effect of the sanctions on its civil aviation operations, most notably the upcoming 100-seat regional airliner known as "Superjet 100" -- a joint project with US aerospace giant Boeing and others.

"Sukhoi has not delivered anything to Iran for six or seven years," the company's chairman Alexander Klementev told radio station Echo of Moscow.

Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, part of defence group Finmeccanica, owns a 25 percent stake in Suhkoi's civil aviation division.

The US said Friday it had implemented sanctions against seven foreign firms for providing Iran with material that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems.

As well as the two Russian firms, the sanctions, which came into effect on July 28, affect two Indian companies, a Cuban organisation and two North Korean firms, the State Department said.

The measure, imposed for an initial period of two years, bars US government agencies from purchasing any goods or services or providing any assistance to the seven firms.

It also bars the sale of sensitive military equipment, services or technologies to the companies or any of their subsidiaries.

The sanctions were ordered under the 2000 Iran Nonproliferation Act, which aims to prevent the sale to Iran of equipment and technology "having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems".

In addition to Sukhoi and Rosoboronexport, the Russian monopoly arms exporter, the sanctions targeted Balaji Amines and Prachi Poly Products of India; Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; and the North Korean firms Korean Mining and Industrial Development Corporation (KOMID) and Korea Pugang Trading Corporation, the State Department said.

US sanctions on Russia 'unlawful': Iran Ministry (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44851&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah'

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

LONDON, August 5 - Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

In a meeting, held late last month, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia called on Tehran to "accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets."

Hezbollah's representatives pressed for "an array of more advanced weaponry, including more advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems," Jane's said.

"Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems,"it added.

"The details coming from the meeting reveal that they are about ensuring a constant supply of weapons to support Islamic Resistance operations against Israel," said Robin Hughes, the magazine's Middle East Editor.

"We are told the latest meeting was attended by senior representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods force which is responsible for training and logistic support for Iranian-backed insurgent groups."

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, Iranian authorities have supplied the militia with Iranian-made Noor radar-guided anti-ship cruise missiles and Chinese QW-1 (Vanguard) shoulder-launched SAMs.

Russian-made SAMs will reportedly be supplied at a later date.

Hezbollah has been locked in a more than three-week long deadly conflict against Israel since it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others on July 12, AFP added.

Israel has carried out a widespread bombing campaign of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, and Hezbollah has fired rockets into northern Israel.

A Hezbollah anti-ship missile also damaged an Israeli corvette off the Lebanese coast in the early days of the conflict, killing four sailors. Israel said the missile was Iranian-built but Tehran denied involvement.

'Iran's surface-to-air missiles to back Hezbollah' (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44848&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Tehran Sends Archterrorist Mughniyeh to Rescue Hizballah

Exclusive Military Report

August 5, 2006, 4:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

In the middle of the fourth week of the Lebanon War, the tide began to turn in Israel’s favor. DEBKAfile’s military sources report the battlefield finally responded to the effect of Israel’s air might, its tank columns, the pounding by mobile artillery and naval craft and its repeated armored infantry assaults.

After losing 44 fighting men, more than 30 civilians, many thousands of wounded and billions of dollars of damage, finally, the Israeli military was given the chance to do what it does best: focus its firepower instead of spreading it out thin over too many targets.

The setbacks of the first three weeks were partly due to tactical incompetence and laggard decision-making on the part of prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Peretz. Israeli troops therefore spent too long in abrading combat against stubborn Hizballah resistance in such places as Maroun er Ras and Bint Jubeil. But as soon as Israeli ground forces shifted to the massive, long-distance firing mode which they knows best, the impact on the warfront was immediate. The battle went their way with a minimum of casualties. In places where Israeli troops adhered to the close combat tactics practiced in the first three weeks, they continued to suffer high casualties.

Hizballah soon showed signs of distress. Lacking the weapons and resources to stand up to IDF’s precise-shooting juggernaut, their commanders quickly pulled their men out most combat sectors of South Lebanon and ordered them to regroup in five places:

1. The Western Sector and the center of Tyre.

2. The Wadi Hajar pocket east of Tyre.

3. The Central Sector surrounding Bint Jubeil, where the outcome is still unresolved after many days of fighting.

4. The Wadi Saluki area northwest of the northernmost Israeli town of Metullah.

5. The Eastern Sector, including al Khiam, the Shabaa Farms and Mt Dov, which has seen little fighting - although last week Israeli forces began - then stopped - a major offensive before it got underway.

These pockets are now the main launching-pads for rockets fired into Israel.

Outside, there is no ground fighting in South Lebanon but for Israeli air strikes.

Hizballah also has also been using the Tapuach and al-Haroub areas south and northeast of Sidon for shooting rockets. It is from this region that Hizballah fired the long-range Khaibar-1 missiles at Hadera Friday night, August 4, which came 45 km short of Tel Aviv. Saturday morning, Sidon’s 200,000 inhabitants and its outlying villages up to the Zahrani River were warned to leave their homes and head north to escape the coming Israeli air offensive.

Until the Khaibar attack on Hadera, the concentration of Hizballah’s rocket launchers and stores in and around Sidon had been immune from Israeli attack – largely because Olmert and his senior ministers refused to increase the number of ground troops deployed in Lebanon. The military commanders had to do their best with the limited numbers available.

In other words, with the right manpower level, Hizballah’s abilty to fire rockets can be dented, notwithstanding claims by Israel officials and generals that there is no way to do this when most of Hizballah’s 13,000-rocket stockpile remains intact.

But even cutting down on the daily 200-plus rocket blitz on northern Israel is

not plain sailing because:

cont'd next post ;D

First, Neither the Israeli Air Force nor any other air force is capable of completely halting rocket fire from the ground. In the relatively small distances between Lebanon and Israel, the short-range Katyusha rockets have the effect of medium-range weapons, while the short-to-medium range rockets perform like long-range missiles.

Second, Israel does not have enough infantry on the ground to make substantial inroads on Hizballah’s rocket-firing capabilities.

Third, Iran and Syria are constantly restocking Hizballah’s diminishing supplies of rockets of all types, launchers and operating manpower by a round- the-clock airlift from Iran via Syrian military air fields. Some of the incoming supplies are destroyed by Israeli air attacks as they cross into Lebanon, but a substantial part is conveyed to Hizballah by smuggling networks employing mules to traverse Lebanese mountain paths. Even if 2,000 have been wiped out and a similar amount has been fired, no one knows how many are left in stock because it is replenished. As long as that corridor is not severed by bombing the Syrian stopover air facilities, Iran will continue to top up Hizballah’s stockpile. Therefore, the rocket offensive cannot be reduced by very much.

Fourth, Israeli forces do not operate in all parts of South Lebanon.

Hizballah’s withdrawal to five pockets in South Lebanon affords the IDF certain tactical advantages - although liabilities too.

The Advantages:

It is now possible to carve the region the Israeli army controls into three sections, western, central and eastern, a tactic familiar from the Gaza Strip, for encumbering Hizballah guerrilla movement between the sections. The goal is to confine Hizballah to the five pockets and place them under blockade. They can then be made to capitulate or face liquidation.

The Liabilities:

Leaving the two banks of the Litani River, the Nabatea plain and Hazbaya to the north of the river in Hizballah hands leaves a route open for its reinforcements to come through and to strike Israeli forces from the rear.

Nonetheless, by Thursday, August 3, Hizballah was showing signs of being in trouble.

A. Local Hizballah village commanders signaled repeated appeals for more manpower and ammunition. The appeals were not met because outside forces cannot break through the defense lines held by the advancing Israeli troops. The village commanders were therefore told by their superiors to fight to the last man and last bullet and reserve the last grenade for suicide.

B. Hizballah’s shadowy leader, the long-wanted Imad Mughniyeh, was hurriedly appointed commander of the southern front as a last resort to save South Lebanon from falling to Israel.(picture from the 1980s)

DEBKAfile’s military and counter-terror sources maintain that this appointment raises the conflict to a new and dangerous level on several counts.

Mughniyeh, wanted for a quarter of a century by the FBI for the huge bombing attacks he orchestrated on the US embassy in Beirut and American and French troops, as well as a spate of hijackings and murders, is important enough to take orders from no-one ranking lower than Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those orders come through the Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Rahim Safavi.

Therefore, placing Mughniyeh at the head of Hizballah forces in South Lebanon confronts prime minister Olmert uncomfortably close to Iran’s supreme leader; ranges defense minister Peretz opposite his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Najer and chief of staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz opposite Gen. Safavi, while on the warfront, Israel’s war leaders face the formidable Mughniyeh, Tehran’s secret weapon for rescuing Hizballah from collapse.

Informed circles in the West have a high opinion of Mughniyeh’s military, intelligence and tactical skills. His hand was seen in the transformation of al Qaeda’s 2001 defeat in Afghanistan into a launch pad for its anti-US campaign in Iraq and many other ventures in the terror war against America. After the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Mughniyeh is rated the world Islamic terror movement’s most outstanding field commander.

Therefore, while the appointment is a measure of Israel’s belated military success in the Lebanese war, it also brings the conflict ever closer to two dangerous orbits – Tehran and al Qaeda. Mughniyeh is the only undercover agent in the Middle East who enjoys the complete personal trust of Khamenei and Osama bin Laden, on both of whom he is in a position to call for aid.

On the diplomatic front, even if the United States and France can get together on a unified UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, DEBKAfile’s military sources report that neither Iran nor Hizballah has any intention of complying with a resolution dictated by the United States, France and Israel.

Tehran Sends Archterrorist Mughniyeh to Rescue Hizballah (http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1196)

Quote from: DreamWeaver on August 05, 2006, 03:15:22 PM

Ok... am I lost or what? How can a 'true' Christian be against Israel?

Same solutions, same dangers for war-fatigued Lebanon
Published: 8/5/2006

BEIRUT - Israel's proposals for a long term solution to its conflict with Hezbollah are eerily reminiscent of similar initiatives that had bloody consequences in the past, according to analysts.

Israel is seeking the deployment of an international force and also wants to set up a buffer zone extending several kilometres (miles) into Lebanese territory.

Its stated goal is to neutralise the threat posed by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah fighters who have killed dozens of Israeli civilians in rocket attacks into northern Israel.

"This will not bring security to the Israelis," maintained Timur Goksel, former spokesman of the UN force in south Lebanon and regarded as the foremost foreign expert on the violence-ravaged region.

The buffer zone "would be an ideal target for Hezbollah," he cautioned.

Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years.

From 1985 to 2000, it controlled a 850-square-kilometre zone from which it only withdrew after becoming bogged down in the quagmire of guerrilla warfare against Hezbollah, whose fighters won the esteem of many Lebanese for winning what was seen as a war of liberation.

The new security zone sought by Israel would be nowhere near the same size nor would it rely on the presence of local auxiliaries, as was the case with the now-defunct South Lebanese Army (SLA), a Christian militia.

A security zone is no magic formula, analysts said, and will not help solve the very deep problems underlying Israel's standoff with Hezbollah, which has claimed almost 1,000 lives in Lebanon and almost 80 on the Israeli side since resurging in the past three weeks.

The security zone "would be a free fire zone," said Jamil Mroue, owner of Lebanon's English-language Daily Star newspaper.

"It is another version of their wall," he added, referring to the separation barrier Israel is building on the West Bank with the avowed aim of protecting itself against Palestinian attacks.

"We do not want to live like that," he said, emphasising that the only way to bring security to the border area was a comprehensive political agreement.

For political analyst and writer Michael Young, the idea of a security zone is "full of risks."

"It's difficult to adhere to the concept of a security zone. It's still possible to bomb beyond the security zone," he said.

Goksel commented: "You can already imagine the daily clashes that would take place along the frontier."

In order to avoid such incidents, the United States is touting the sending of a "robust" multinational force to the area, and which Israel wants to be made up of at least 15,000 soldiers capable of using force to stop attacks on the Jewish state.

But a catastrophic historical precedent haunts such an idea.

Between 1982-1983 a multinational force made up of US, French, British and Italian troops was sent to Lebanon to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian standoff which was playing out amid the Lebanese civil war.

Its mission came to a tragic end.

On October 23, 1983, 241 US soldiers and 58 French paratroopers were killed when truck bombs driven by suicide attackers exploded in their barracks in Beirut. Washington accused Hezbollah of being behind the strikes.

"This force of dissuasion would be regarded as a force of occupation," said Goksel. "And the Lebanese know how to make life miserable for a force of occupation."

The Lebanese government has come out against a multinational force and would prefer to see a strengthening of the existing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978, which would help the Lebanese army forge a presence in the south.

Even before the current conflict, the authority of the Lebanese government did not extend into the extreme southern border region which remained the fiefdom of Hezbollah and its armed militants.

Young said the deployment of an international force has the advantage of being a "mechanism that allows the Israelis to get out of the south," where up to 10,000 of its troops have massed in their ongoing incursion.

For Mroue, the problem of a force in south Lebanon is that it implies that the only risk to border security lies inside Lebanon.

"This cannot work. The Lebanese government will not accept it. This force has to be deployed on both sides of the border," he said.

Goksel said that the new force will never see the light of day as potential contributors shy away after becoming aware of the considerable risks. "It's a non-starter," he said.

Same solutions, same dangers for war-fatigued Lebanon (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=136317)

India Bans Arab TV Channels Under Pressure From Israel
ubgone19 Raza Burney, Arab News

BOMBAY, 6 August 2006 — In a country widely referred to as the world’s largest democracy, the Indian government has succumbed to mounting Israeli pressure and ordered a nationwide ban on the broadcast of Arab television channels.

The Indian government’s ban on Arab television stations is in complete contrast to the friendship that Arab countries imagine exists with their neighbor across the Arabian Sea. It seems the ban is a move to ensure that Indians do not get to see the atrocities that are presently being committed by Israel in Lebanon and the occupied territories.

Nabila Al-Bassam, a Saudi businesswoman on a trip to Bombay, told Arab News how she became exasperated at not being able to watch Arab channels at Bombay’s leading five-star Oberoi Hotel. When she took up the issue with the hotel manager, she was told that Arab television channels had been banned across India.

A perplexed Al-Bassam then sent an SMS to Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Almaeena to verify whether this was indeed the case. “Oberoi Hotel tells me that the government of India has banned all Arab TV channels. Why? I hate watching CNN and BBC,” she wrote to Almaeena.

Talking to Arab News, Oberoi Hotel Manager Mohit Nirula did allude to the fact that a ban was in place. “The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has laid down certain rules. It is our duty to abide by and follow the rules of the country,” he told this correspondent.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi was busy in Parliament and was unavailable for comment on the issue. However, a ministry official explained why the Indian government decided to enforce the ban. The official highlighted that India enjoys close and cordial relations with Israel and the US more than any of the Arab governments.

According to another source within the government, the ban is a clear sign to all governments in the Middle East that the Israeli, American and British governments carry far more influence in India than any of the Arab governments.

Several senior Indian journalists explained that the ban was an indication that India had succumbed to Israeli pressure rather than American.

“The whole exercise is to browbeat Arabs and show them as terrorists. The government is subscribing to the absurd argument that channels like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya promote hatred and encourage terrorism,” they said.

Political analysts in India described the move as a game of double standard that India is playing. On the one hand India establishes friendship with the Arab world while simultaneously it joins with Israel and the US in defaming them. It seems that the pro-Israeli lobby wishes to drive a wedge between India and its time-tested Arab allies. The Indian government’s present stance is in stark contrast to the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s staunch support of the Palestinian cause.

The banning of Arabic channels is a federal government decision, done under what senior Indian journalists claim to be intense pressure from the Israeli, American and British governments.

The Indian government has been vocal in its condemnation of Israeli barbarity and has offered millions of rupees in aid to refugees in Lebanon. Arabs sympathetic to India have therefore met the news with surprise.

Many Arabs draw inspiration from India’s heroic struggle against British imperialism and the Indian independence struggle is seen by Palestinians as a brilliant example of throwing out the yoke of imperialism. It is sad that 50 years after independence the world’s largest democracy unfairly suppresses alternative opinion and allows itself to be dictated to by foreign powers.

The analysts believe the Indian government may have used a clause within the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, that certain channels or programs that can potentially cause damage to India’s friendly relations with foreign countries can be banned, a clear violation of democratic ideals such as freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

The response to the ban by hotel administrations across Bombay has been dismal. Chad Alberico, JW Marriott’s customer care official in Washington, said: “We have reviewed your recent inquiries regarding the television offerings at our JW Marriott Bombay. We have phoned our colleagues at the hotel to discuss the matter at hand, but as it is the weekend, we will need additional time to form a complete response.”

“I’m on my way home, it’s the weekend and I will respond on Monday,” said Shehnaz Ankelsaria from the Taj President Hotel. Annan Udeshi from The Hilton was unavailable and asked for a message to be left on her recorder. Khushnooma Kapadia of Marriott Hotel said she would get back later. Rafat Kazi from the Grand Central Sheraton said that she would answer after consulting her general manager. Puja Guleria of Sheraton Maratta said she needed time to deal with the questions. Firuza Mistry of Grand Hyatt said that she was not aware of the facts and would check and respond, and Priya Mathias of Hyatt Regency said that she would also need to check with her senior officials to comment.

India Bans Arab TV Channels Under Pressure From Israel (http://arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=75907&d=6&m=8&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World)

Pakistan, India Expel Diplomats
Azhar Masood, Arab News

ISLAMABAD, 6 August 2006 — Pakistan yesterday ordered an Indian diplomat to leave the country and India reciprocated with a tit-for-tat expulsion in a new setback to the already troubled peace process.

Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said that Deepak Kaul, counsellor at the Indian High Commission (embassy) in Islamabad, was “caught indulging in practices incompatable to his status.”

“We have asked that he should be withdrawn from Pakistan by the beginning of next week,” she said.

A security official said the diplomat had exchanged “sensitive” documents with an unidentified man.

Kaul, a visa officer, was on his way to the Wagah border yesterday morning when he stopped his car and exchanged documents with the man, the security official said.

He added that Kaul was brought back to Islamabad and handed over to the Indian Embassy who were “explained the circumstances leading to his detention.”

Kaul must leave the country within 48 hours.

India lodged a protest with Pakistan and within hours announced the expulsion of a Pakistani diplomat, Syed Muhammad Rafiq Ahmad, who held the rank of councillor at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.

India gave no immediate reason for Ahmad’s expulsion.

An Indian Embassy official here said that Kaul was held for several hours before the authorities were informed.

“He was taken out of his car, blindfolded and kept under detention for several hours before the embassy was informed,” the official said.

The tit-for-tat expulsion was the first since the two countries launched a slow moving peace process about two years ago. The rivals last expelled diplomats in February 2003.

It comes amid tensions between the two countries since the July 7 bombings of rush-hour trains in Bombay that killed more than 200 people.

After the blasts, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh accused “elements from across the border” of helping the Bombay attackers. Pakistan denied any involvement in the blasts and offered to help in the investigation.

Political analyst Talat Masood, a retired army general, described the development as “very disturbing for the peace process.”

“It shows a lack of confidence in the two countries,” he said. “It is also very unfortunate if Kaul was caught red-handed.”

Masood said the expulsions indicate that “the peace process was not steady and stable.”

Another political analyst Hasan Askari, the former head of the political science department at the prestigious Punjab University, echoed that, saying that “this incident is likely to put further strains on the already troubled peace process.”

Indian analysts felt the developments reflected mutual mistrust.

“This shows a fraying of the trust and confidence that was being put in place in a very incremental way between the two countries from 2004,” said Indian security expert Uday Bhaskar.

“Much of the deterioration started after the Bombay blasts. We seem to be going back to a phase when the political relationship was not exuding much resilience and trust.”

Masood, however, advised the leadership in the two countries to take steps to prevent a “downward spiral” of the peace process.

Pakistan, India Expel Diplomats (http://arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=83408&d=6&m=8&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World)

Terrorist caught with explosive belt

Following concrete warning, security forces manage to arrest terrorist in possession of explosive belt, which he planned to detonate in central Israeli city. Four group members also arrested
Efrat Weiss

Terror attack in central Israel thwarted: A Haruv Battalion force on Saturday night arrested a Palestinian terrorists who planned to carry out a suicide bombing inside Israel.

The terrorist was captured in possession of an explosive belt weighing 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds).

Before the terrorist was captured Friday, the alert level in the Sharon region was raised following a concrete warning received by the Shin Bet on a plan to carry out a terror attack in the area.

The police set up roadblocks at the entrance to the cities of Kfar Saba, Petah Tikva and Rosh Haayin. Another roadblock was set up on Road 5. In addition, the Israel Defense Forces boosted its operation in the Nablus area.

During the operation in the area, soldiers began chasing two suspicious Palestinian taxis southwest of Nablus, in which the terrorists and four other Palestinians were riding. When the terrorists noticed the soldiers, he tried to get rid of the explosive belt and threw it out of the taxi window.

Border Guard sappers who were dispatched to the area detonated the belt in a controlled manner. At the end of the chase, the terrorist was arrested, as well as the rest of the group members. The five were taken into interrogation by security forces.

Senior officials at the Central Command said following the operation Saturday night, and following the ongoing fighting in the north, the the terror organizations were attempting to create a third fighting front opposite Israel in the West Bank area.

In the past three weeks, since the onset of the fighting in Lebanon, security forces have thwarted seven suicide bombings, most of them directed by Hizbullah.

Terrorist caught with explosive belt (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286885,00.html)

Jews note rise in anti-Semitism
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 1, 2006

Anti-Semitic acts are becoming increasingly prevalent during Israel's offensive against Lebanon, Jewish communities worldwide have reported. In response, they have stepped up private security and coordination with local authorities.

Friday's fatal shooting of an employee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle was followed by further incidents over the weekend. On Sunday, the windows of a synagogue in Australia were broken and two Florida synagogues and Jewish businesses were defaced by graffiti, while several groups have received threatening e-mails and letters.

Since the fighting began "there's been a rise in expressions of hostility toward Israel" and "a spike in incidents of anti-Semitism," according to Paul Gardner, chairman of Bnai Brith of Australia's Anti-Defamation Committee. "So this is not surprising."

Australian media reported that officers were searching for 10 men of Middle Eastern appearance seen laughing and running from the synagogue soon after cement blocks were hurled at a Sydney synagogue, an attack believed to be connected to events in Lebanon.

Gardner said the Australian Jewish community - which numbers about 120,000 - had expressed "concern" but not fear, echoing comments made throughout the Jewish world.

Judy Gilbert-Gould, who heads the Jewish Community Relations Council for the Miami federation, also said that the community wasn't afraid, but that it was "saddened and dismayed."

One of the perpetrators of the Miami desecrations, a youth, has been held by police after swastikas and KKK lettering appeared on two synagogues, a kosher butcher and a Judaica store.

Gilbert-Gould said there was no specific proof of a connection between the vandalism and the Middle East conflict, but pointed to the coincidence of the timing and the fact that the issue was constantly in the public eye.

Mark Garner, spokesman for British Jewry's Community Security Trust, estimated that there has been a 25 percent increase in anti-Jewish incidents since Israeli-Hizbullah violence broke out nearly three weeks ago. He said there had been a particular rise in the number of threatening e-mails individuals had received, many of which mentioned the situation in Lebanon.

"It's a really dangerous and difficult time," he said. "I'm keenly aware that these are exactly the types of conditions that terrorists will use to pin an attack on."

He added that his organization had received no news of specific threats, but is "in more than daily contact" with the British police.

Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress, said that he was not aware of any targeted threats facing European communities, though he added that security had been bolstered across Eastern and Western Europe. "We must be very careful and remain extremely vigilant," he said.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, also said that there had been no specific threats received in America, but that the national security network for Jewish communities has five former law enforcement officials working full-time on security and that they were in constant contact with Jewish leaders, particularly after the Seattle murder.

"We are urging people to be more vigilant," he said. "Incidents like the shooting tend to invite copycatting."

Jews note rise in anti-Semitism (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153292045430&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Israel Cuts off "Umbilical Cord" for Lebanon Aid

GENEVA — The massive Israeli bombings in Lebanon have cut off the "umbilical cord" for relief supplies, raising the threat of a humanitarian disaster, international and UN agencies have warned as 40 more civilians were killed Friday, August 4, in a fresh Israeli massacre.

Israeli warplanes wrecked Friday four bridges along the coastal highway in the Christian heartland north of Beirut, cutting off almost the last land link with neighboring Syria.

"This was the main supply route for UNHCR, all our supplies come from Syria," said Jennifer Pagonis, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The UNHCR, backed by other UN relief agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the humanitarian crisis had deepened after the bombings.

"The road was badly damaged ... with the result that we cannot bring assistance from Arida, from Syria to Beirut," said Christiane Berthiaume, a spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Program (WFP).

A convoy due to carry medical supplies for 13,000 people from Syria on Saturday was also unable to move, the World Health Organization said.

A UN team was unable to evaluate the damage caused by the air raids because Israeli military forces did not give security clearance, known as "concurrence", according to Berthiaume.

"We did not have concurrence to be able to check the road from Beirut to Arida which is really the umbilical cord to bring relief inside Lebanon," she told reporters. The WFP said later it was checking possible alternative routes.

The bombings also halted the IOM's evacuation of Filipino and Sri Lankan migrant workers from the conflict in Lebanon.

A convoy of 720 migrants had been due to travel to Syria Friday.

Fewer than half the people in southern Lebanon who need food assistance had received help from the WFP, the agency's executive director James Morris warned during a visit to Syria.

One of three scheduled UN convoys carrying food, water and sanitation equipment was able to head to Jezzine, half-way between Beirut and the Israeli border, Friday.

Spread of Disease

Access to towns and villages in the heart of the conflict in southern Lebanon was again hampered, raising the threat of disease in the summer heat because of growing shortages of clean water.

"The situation is getting desperate. If shortages continue we may be witnessing outbreaks," Paul Sherlock, a UNICEF sanitation expert said in Lebanon.

"We fear bloody diarrhea, cholera and other epidemics. But what we fear most is bloody diarrhea, especially for children under five years old," he added.

UNICEF was pressing ahead with an immunization campaign for tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese children to prevent outbreaks of polio or measles, starting with 18,000 children around Beirut.

In Brussels, the EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the deteriorating humanitarian conditions made access essential, "now more than ever".

The UNHCR warned that aid was also needed in northern Lebanon.

"About 800,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, mainly to the north and they will need assistance," Pagonis told journalists. About 130,000 of them were in public shelters.

Another 140,000 Lebanese were now in Syria, according to the UNHCR. Lebanese refugees have been fleeing at a rate of about 5,000 a day.

Fresh Massacre

Israeli bombardment killed at least 40 civilians in Lebanon on Friday as Tel Aviv is still under international diatribe for the grisly killing of 60 civilians, including 38 children, in the southern village of Qana.

One Israeli air strike hit a farm near Qaa, close to the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley where workers, mostly Syrian Kurds, were loading plums and peaches onto trucks, local officials told Reuters.

They said 33 people were killed and 20 wounded.

Television footage showed bodies of what appeared to be farm workers lined up near the ruins of a small structure in fruit groves. Strewn nearby were fruit baskets.

"I was picking peaches when three bombs hit. Others were having lunch and they were torn to pieces," said Mohammad Rashed, one of the wounded.

Syria's official news agency said 17 of the dead were Syrian workers, five of them women.

It was one of the deadliest air strikes in 24 days of war.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because of pictures on this news site, I will not post the link.

The UN as a convenience store
Basil Ince

Sunday, August 6th 2006

After three weeks of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, over 800 are dead in Lebanon and more than 20 civilians in Israel. Is there a crisis? My recollection is that UN members had conferred on the Security Council the "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," and this was done to "ensure prompt and effective action" by the UN. But the carnage continues.

At this point there has been no resolution calling for a cease-fire. The French had called for an immediate cessation of hostilities while the Lebanese special envoy to the UN, on whose soil the destruction is being wrought, has proclaimed to the world: "We want a resolution. We want a ceasefire. We want a very clear stand from the Security Council." A clear stand is what has not been forthcoming from the Security Council. All that we have been told about Security Council action has come from a State Department spokesman of the top power in that Council: " (we) are beginning to see some real progress on the diplomatic front." We heard that the five permanent members had held informal talks and that there had been "widespread agreement" that a resolution be introduced to halt the fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Earlier when Israel bombed the UN post in error, as Tel Aviv asserted, the Security Council was on the verge of issuing a statement that would have condemned Israel. The US blocked that statement.

The US has not called for an immediate cease-fire simply because Israel announced its plans to extend its offensive against Hezbollah. In other words, the Security Council has been paralysed in order to allow Israel to conclude its military aim-the establishment of a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon.

The UN has been under fire during the current Bush administration. Now the organisation has the opportunity to act, but is restrained from calling for an end to hostilities. Many will take out their brickbats to administer a shellacking on the "useless" and "hopeless" UN. But they must realise that the UN can only be as strong as its members want it to be. It can only act when its members wish it to act. In this specific case, the lone superpower does not want the organisation to act at this time. It will be allowed to act at a time that is convenient to Israel.

Those familiar with the voting behaviour of the US in the Security Council when it comes to sparing Israel from condemnation, will not be surprised. The record speaks for itself. Between 1983 and 2006 there were 26 resolutions on the Middle East condemning Israeli actions, and on 26 occasions, the lone superpower vetoed the resolutions. Washington consistently voted for Israel, while other allies, friendly to the Israel and the United States, have abstained.

The UN is not perfect. But polls in the US have generally shown approval and trust for it, and sometimes, higher than Congress. But the UN does have its detractors in the United States. When the UN came into existence more than 60 years ago in San Francisco, it was ushered into the world with the full blessing of the United States.

Emerging as the major power after the war, the US was virtually in full charge of hammering out the Charter in San Francisco.

In fact, the US was so much in the saddle that one observer noted that while the delegates were discussing humdrum affairs in committees, the real decisions were made at a hotel where a high ranking US official summoned the other great powers. In brief, the US drew up a Charter that would not put the brakes on its global dominance. But Harry Truman, who saw the UN as a diplomatic tool, sounded a warning: "No matter how great our strength we must deny ourselves the licence to do always as we please."

That was sound advice which has been ignored at times. The Cold War and decolonisation were instrumental in upsetting the applecart for US pre-eminence in the driving seat. The US saw the UN as an agent for change, an agent for reform, not revolution. It did not expect new states to be challenging the tenets of the liberal economic order. And neither did it envisage international law as hamstringing US action. Jesse Helms, former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee warned that international treaties simply became part of domestic law when adopted by Congress. For him, international law was " a make-believe justification for hindering the march of freedom," and he believed, "no UN institution is competent to judge the foreign policy and national security decisions of the US."

The current US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, has been called "a treasured friend" by Jesse Helms because they think alike, coming up with such plums as "There is no such thing as the UN," and " If the UN Secretariat building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." When the UN did not back the war in Iraq, Bolton saw it as "further evidence to many why nothing should be paid to the UN system." Recently Mark Malloch Brown, a Briton and UN Deputy Secretary General, criticised the US "practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up against its domestic critics." He clarified that he was not critical of the United States but was calling for greater US involvement in the UN.

Malloch Brown's comments were not anti-US but a plea for the US to desist from unilateral action and act in concert with other nations when it should. In sum, the UN should not be used as a convenience store.

The UN as a convenience store (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=160993215)

Iranians Creating Mischief

By Jim Kouri

(AXcess News) New York - British government officials have shown -- and continue to show -- American intelligence officials information indicating that Iran is operating "training camps" for bombers who carry out terrorist attacks on coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and civilians. It appears that the training is accelerating in order to create havoc and destabilize the fledgling Iraqi government at the same time that the terrorist group Hezbollah has instigated a war with Israel.

Previously, the British accused Iran of being accessories in the killings of soldiers using sophisticated explosive devices. But intelligence officers go much further now by saying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has close links to the government, is teaching Shia fighters how to make the bombs in Iran and then they're transporting them across the border into Iraq.

These latest charges come after Iraqi and coalition forces discovered unexploded devices and submitted them to ordinance experts. A forensic examination of the bombs is being made in Baghdad which military experts believe will aid in devising security measures and may also reveal evidence of an Iranian signature. The armor-piercing, infrared bombs have reportedly killed dozens of US and British soldiers.

Government officials in Britain have accused the Iranians of tactical involvement in Iraq as a result of what Tehran perceives as Western bullying over the nuclear issue. It's also to believed the Iranians wish to keep US and British forces tied down in Iraq to avert a possible attack on Iran. Iran has vehemently denied the accusations and has claimed instead that Britain is pressuring Iran over its nuclear program by publicizing the bombing incidents.

The revelations of the alleged Iranian involvement made by defense and diplomatic sources in Iraq was compelling and detailed. The military says they are "trying to counter the bomb threat by training the trainers and the [Iranians] are doing the same. People are being trained [in Iran] and then slip back into Iraq, 10 at a time, to train others maybe 50 at a time."

Intelligence reports strongly suggest that terrorist training camps are being run in Iran, and that there is some intelligence that strongly suggests there are camps in Syria. Forensic examinations of explosive devices shows that the technology has been "proliferating," leading to a drastic rise in attacks on civilians and soldiers which now average more than three per week.

US, British and Iraqi security forces have uncovered caches of weapons including over 60 rockets, mortars and landmines, as well as the Iranian-made infrared explosive devices. Intelligence officers believe weapons are being stashed by insurgents throughout Iraq in the hopes of initiating a major insurgency offensive. And Iran gains time to continue their nuclear weapons program by helping to keep coalition forces bogged down in Iraq.

Iranians Creating Mischief (http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=10760)

Arab nation 'humiliated'

Herman Grech

President Emeritus Guido de Marco fears that the Israeli attacks in Lebanon could fuel more fundamentalism in regions beyond the Middle East. Israel's attacks are disproportioned by any stretch of the imagination, the former UN General Assembly president says.

Israel is waging its campaign in Lebanon to try and weed out terrorists. Is it creating more terrorists in the process?

Creating terrorists is not the correct term. Israel is waging an all-out war in Lebanon and those who some way or other resist the invaders are considered to be heroes. Their defiance of superior forces, which are killing hundreds of innocent civilians and causing untold harm to the infrastructure of Lebanon, are creating a measure of support for the Hizbollah, although they do not represent the majority of the Lebanese people.

So they're playing into their hands... ::)

Precisely. And this is why I'm so concerned. I think there is utter disproportion between Hizbollah's provocation and Israel's reaction. The abduction of two Israeli soldiers does not justify the major bombing that has taken place in Lebanon. Hizbollah fired missiles in retaliation to the military attack launched by Israel. They (Hizbollah) initially had in mind the bargaining of two Israeli soldiers with Lebanese prisoners in Israel.

But Israel says Hizbollah has been launching missiles into Israel for the past months.

Maybe it was so, but the military attack was not prompted by some solitary rocket. This came about by the abduction of two Israeli soldiers, which I condemn.

Three weeks into the conflict, do you think Israel has achieved anything?

Israel is trying to annihilate Hizbollah. They are trying to ensure that Lebanon is not in a position to be of nuisance value to the security of Israel and in the process see to what extent Syria is involved.

Are you saying Israel is trying to provoke a conflict?

I think the Syrian issue has not been solved in the eyes of some nations. Israel and the US consider Syria a rogue state. Nor can Syria recognise Israel so long as Israel maintains its annexation of the Golan Heights and this in defiance of UN resolutions.

Can Israel afford to go it alone in this conflict?

A former Israeli Prime Minister once said: "So long as the US is on our side, we need no more friends nor do we fear enemies". I'm not saying the US wants to extend the conflict.

So you think the US is a player behind the scenes in this conflict?

We have to distinguish between Europe, part of Europe and the US. All the West is against the provocative action taken by Hizbollah. The majority of Europe is against the disproportionate reaction by Israel and has called for a ceasefire. The US is speaking about a sustainable peace. I think by this, the US means that Israel has to feel completely safe in its security and role in the Middle East.

So is the US, Israel and to a certain extent the UK isolated with their stand?

It depends what you mean by isolated. The rest of the world is also opposed to the Hizbollah provocation. But, yes, with the exception of these three countries, with possibly Germany, - which under the present administration is close to the Anglo-American approach- everyone thinks Israel's reaction is out of proportion and that the major victims are the Lebanese people.

Hizbollah have rockets but even if they fire many of them they can only represent a limited threat to Israel. Hizbollah has no planes, tanks, heavy artillery or ground forces to match Israel's defence. Hundreds of innocent people have been killed and untold damage has been caused in Lebanon, which, as its Prime Minister said, has been forced down to its knees.

In a recent interview, the outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Malta Ehud Gol said that us Westerners can never understand what it means to be living in constant fear of your neighbour, which explains Israel's aggressive reaction.

We have to first understand the siege mentality of the Israel people, who were born out of the Holocaust. This is a scar that the Israeli people will carry to the next millennium and unless we understand this scar we can never understand their overreaction to events. When three persons worked for peace - Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres - leading to the Oslo agreement, things were moving in the right way.

But then Mr Rabin was assassinated by Israeli extremists, Benyamin Netanyahu was elected and he was against the Oslo agreement. The Israeli settlements were not only not dismantled but were trebled and this on Palestinian territory and in constant violation of Security Council resolutions.

Through the Oslo agreement, Mr Arafat was the first person who acknowledged the existence of Israel and was prepared to share Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine. But his constant requests to stop the illegal settlements were met with defiance. President Arafat was treated in a humiliating manner in front of his own people. He was only allowed to leave his bombed office when he was moribund. I'm saying this because it adds to the poignancy of the situation. It makes a return to an international conference on the Middle East a real step forward for the future of the region.

cont'd next post ::)

To what extent is Iran helping Hizbollah?

I have no idea. But one cannot exclude the possibility of a Shi'ite brotherhood in the circumstances.

Do you believe Hizbollah timed the capture of the two soldiers to divert attention from Iran, which was coming under increasing pressure to give up its nuclear programme?

I'm against all nuclear programmes. An Iranian government is bound to take into consideration that countries like Pakistan, India and reportedly Israel have nuclear weapons. Notwithstanding this, I believe the international community has to do its utmost to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, including Iran.

The UN is appearing completely helpless.

The UN is as strong as its member countries want it to be. I think Kofi Annan is trying to do his best as he asked for a cessation of hostilities. The G8 came out with a good suggestion that a UN force should be put on the border between Israel and Lebanon. In the meantime diplomacy is dragging its feet and Israel's war campaign continues.

And who do you think is responsible for this?

There are different points of view about how the Lebanon issue should be solved. The Americans, the British and the Germans have similar approaches that there has to be a sustainable ceasefire. Most of the other countries in the world are for an immediate ceasefire.

Do you believe an immediate ceasefire will solve the problem?

An immediate ceasefire is essential for discussions to start. It's only through discussions that solutions can be found.

What do you think of Ehud Olmert as Israeli Prime Minister?

He is in charge of a country which considers itself to be under siege. He is a Prime Minister who, contrary to his predecessors like Mr Rabin and Ariel Sharon, does not belong to the generation of generals. He wants to prove himself no less a defender of Israel's sovereignty and security. I think Dr Olmert wants to ensure the military superiority of Israel over all states in the region, including political movements in arms.

The Arab nation is being humiliated and people are turning to extremists to represent their resistance. Unless we are careful in our foreign policies we could end up seeing fundamentalists run governments in nearby countries like Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. We have to win back the support of the Arab nation, not only of its leaders, but the average Arab person.

Do you think Dr Olmert is flexing his muscles to the extent that he's not realising the possible repercussions?

I think Dr Olmert is doing what he thinks is best for his country. I disagree with his disproportionate reaction.

He is surrounded by countries that are bent on destroying Israel, including the government of the Palestinian people.

That's true, but the Hamas government is the result of the way Prime Minister Olmert and others treated President Arafat. The Fatah movement certainly did commit mistakes in its governance but the main reason Hamas is in government is because President Arafat was mistreated and portrayed as ineffective.

When Kuwait was invaded and I was president of the UN General Assembly, the Palestinians stupidly took Saddam Hussein's side. I went to visit the Palestinian refugees in Gaza and West Bank and they explained to me how the UN had done nothing to liberate them from Israeli occupation for decades. They asked whether it was because they had no oil in their veins. Though this reasoning was wrong, I could understand it.

Do you fear that the Lebanon conflict could spread beyond the Middle East and indirectly underline the chasm between West versus East?

Yes, this is a danger whether it's in Egypt or Libya. This is not a hypothetical situation. Fundamentalists could be in charge of oil supplies. And don't forget that fundamentalism was not initially an Arab notion but it was, and is, an Islamic notion. Islam goes beyond Arab nations. Pakistan is not an easy country, nor is Indonesia.

How do you see the Middle East in five years time?

We are contributing to prejudice and a hate mentality. You no longer win wars by defeating armies. There is something more basic - the emotions of people. Unless something dramatic is done in a short time to bring about the parties at an international conference we'll end up by creating in these Islamic countries troubled areas that will spread like wildfire. We will be ourselves making a reality of Huntington's clash of civilisations. You can't end the suffering by rockets and killing innocent civilians. As I had occasion to say elsewhere, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth can be a mistake, but 10 eyes for an eye and 10 teeth for a tooth is much worse. This is what's happening in Lebanon.

Arab nation 'humiliated' (http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=232922)

Lebanon 'does not agree' with UN cease-fire draft
Israel drops call for immediate deployment of int'l force in S. Lebanon, UNIFIL can oversee cease-fire
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies

Israel has lifted its demand for the deployment of a new multinational force in southern Lebanon and agreed that UNIFIL, the United Nations force already in place, would oversee the cease-fire.

In a draft text for a UN Security Council resolution on ending the crisis in Lebanon, agreed Saturday by the United States and France, it was concluded that the UN Interim Force in Lebanon would be replaced by a new force only after Israel and Lebanon reach agreement on the principles of a long-term accord.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Sunday, however, that despite the agreement on the draft UN resolution Israel will continue to attack Hezbollah militants.

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Ramon said on Army Radio that the draft resolution was good for Israel, but the country still had military goals to meet.

"Even if it is passed, it is doubtful that Hezbollah will honor the resolution and halt its fire," Ramon said.

"Therefore we have to continue fighting, continue hitting anyone we can hit in Hezbollah, and I assume that as long as that goes on, Israel's standing, diplomatically and militarily, will improve."

Under the draft resolution, UNIFIL will be reinforced with more troops in order to be able to carry out its new mandate.

Initially Israel opposed the expansion of UNIFIL's role and asked that it be replaced, arguing that to date its performance was poor and its troops did not prevent terrorist attacks.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that Israel "will not accept a force of the UNIFIL type, that was proven not to be effective. The force that will be deployed will have to comprise of armies, not pensioners who come to vacation in southern Lebanon, but real soldiers capable of fighting."

Political sources in Jerusalem said Saturday night that Israel received assurances through diplomatic channels that UNIFIL will be bolstered by quality troops from France. The current commander of UNIFIL is a French General, Alain Pelegrini. Currently, UNIFIL has 2,000 men from France, China, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine.

Political sources in Israel said the deployment of a multinational force in a country requires agreements, and the government of Lebanon announced that following the Qana incident last week that it would refuse a new force.

Broadening the UNIFIL mandate is essentially meant to deal with the Lebanese opposition to a new force at this time.

Lebanon 'does not agree' with UN resolution on cease-fire
Lebanon does not agree with the UN draft resolution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior political source said Sunday.

"Lebanon does not agree with the draft UN resolution to end the war," the source said.

The resolution calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but would allow Israel to defend itself if attacked, officials said.

The resolution was proposed as two IDF soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon and as a mother and her two daughters were killed in a Katyusha attack in the Western Galilee.

The Lebanese government said it objects to portions of the U.S-French draft resolution and would demand that some provisions be amended.

"The government has objected to the U.S.-French draft resolution. It has made amendments to some of the provisions and has sent them to Lebanon's UN representative," an aide to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said late Saturday.

"We would have liked to see our concerns more reflected in the text," Lebanese Foreign Ministry official Nouhad Mahmoud said at the UN.

"Unfortunately, it lacked, for instance, a call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces which are now in Lebanon. That is a recipe for more confrontation," he said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and French President Jacques Chirac's office confirmed that agreement had been reached.

The full 15-nation Security Council met Saturday to discuss the resolution, and was likely to be adopted in the next couple of days, Bolton said.

An official with knowledge of the document said the draft calls for a "full cessation of violence" between Israel and Hezbollah, but would allow Israel the right to launch strikes if Hezbollah attacks it.

"It does not say immediate cessation of violence," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft had not yet been made public.

That appeared to be a major victory for the U.S. and Israel. France and many other nations had demanded an immediate halt to the fighting without conditions as a way to push the region back toward stability.

The proposal does not include a demand that Israel withdraw its troops from positions in southern Lebanon, as demanded by Hezbollah.

The French presidential palace in Paris said a deal was reached on a resolution that seeks a total halt to hostilities and would work toward a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution.

Bolton said the resolution would be the first of two. He said this one deals with the immediate issue of the fighting. The second would likely spell out a larger political framework for peace between Israel and Hezbollah.

"We're prepared to continue to work tomorrow in order to make progress on the adoption of the resolution but we have reached agreement and we're now ready to proceed," Bolton said. "We're prepared to move as quickly as other members of the council want to move."

Bush 'happy with progress' on Middle East fighting
U.S. President George W. Bush has signed off on the draft and is "happy with the progress being made," his spokesman said Saturday.

But Bush knows there could be a long road before violence stops, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

"I don't think he has any delusions about what lies ahead," said Snow, accompanying Bush on his vacation to his private ranch.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley arrived at the ranch Saturday to consult with Bush as the full Security Council began discussions on the agreement.

"The president knew this was going on and he's happy with the progress being made," Snow said. "He's happy with it. He's signed off on it."

Snow said there would be a second resolution offered at the UN. "There's still more to do," Snow said. "There's going to be more than one resolution."

Bush did not have any plans to speak to other foreign leaders Saturday, Snow said, including Prime Minister Olmert. "I don't know if he needs to," Snow said. "I haven't heard Olmert complaining."

The draft calls for maintaining the Blue Line international border between Israel and Lebanon, demands the halt of weapons smuggling into Lbanon and calls for the release of abducted IDF soldiers.

It also calls for the implementation of resolutions 1559 and 1680. According to a diplomat, contrary to a resolution passed in 1996 following Operation Grapes of Wrath that left a breach allowing Hezbollah to fire on IDF troops, the current proposal demands that Hezbollah halt all military actitvity, including firing on civilians and soldiers.

In response to the draft resolution, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said "this is a first step. There is still much to be done. But there is no reason why this resolution should not be adopted now and we have the cessation of hostilities ... within the next couple of days."

Top Rice aide arrives in Beirut for talks on ending conflict
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch arrived in Beirut late Friday for talks with Lebanese officials about ways to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, a Lebanese government official said Saturday.

Welch will meet Sunday with Defense Minister Amir Peretz in Jerusalem.

Lebanon's leading An-Nahar daily said Welch met immediately Friday night with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, but the government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give official statements.

He said Welch would meet with Lebanese officials Saturday, but would not provide more details for security reasons.

Lebanese army troops deployed heavily in central Beirut and around the Government House Saturday, possibly in anticipation of anti-U.S. protests timed to coincide with Welch's visit.

Rice expressed support Thursday for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon as the first phase in ending the conflict.

Moving closer to the position that France and other European countries are taking, Rice predicted that a UN Security Council resolution would be approved within days that would include a cease-fire and outline principles for a lasting peace.

On the CNN program "Larry King Live," Rice said that the U.S. is moving "toward being able to do this in phases that will permit first an end or a stoppage in the hostilities and based on the establishment of some very important principles for how we move forward," according to a transcript of the program.

Lebanon 'does not agree' with UN cease-fire draft (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746632.html)

Iranian scientists have visas revoked on eve of meeting in U.S.

By Jessie Mangaliman and Katherine Corcoran

San Jose Mercury News

(MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. - It was supposed to be an academic gathering about earthquakes. But a political temblor bouncing all the way from the war-torn Middle East shook a meeting of elite Iranian scientists and engineers in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday when dozens of their colleagues arrived to find their visas had been inexplicably revoked.

U.S. consular officials in Washington, D.C., declined to comment on why as many as 100 people with the Sharif University of Technology Association, who carried valid visas approved months ago, were detained over the last week when they arrived at San Francisco International and other airports from Iran.

The three-day conference at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara is tied to the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as well as recent earthquakes in Iran.

Leaders of the California-based technology group, known as SUTA, said the actions of the U.S. government were clearly political.

"This must be retaliation for what's going on in the region," said Fredun Hojabri, a retired University of California-San Diego professor and SUTA founding president. "We're a non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization . . . our first reunion was in 2000 in San Diego. They know all about us."

Laura Tischler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, declined to comment on the case of detained and deported Iranians, citing confidentiality.

Visas "can be revoked at anytime, when there are indications of possibility of ineligibility for admission," she said.

The United States has accused Iran of supplying and supporting Hezbollah, a militant group in a conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon. Before violence broke out a month ago, the U.S. government was at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, alleged involvement with the Iraqi insurgency and anti-Western and anti-Israel statements from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Denied travelers were given the choice to withdraw their applications and head home, or face a ban on applying for future U.S. visas if they contested the revocation, SUTA representatives said.

Most chose simply to return home, but not after spending the night in "jail-like" conditions with spouses and children in some cases.

"We're here in a country known for law and order," said Max Panahandeh, principal at Berkeley Applied Science and Engineering Inc. whose engineering colleague was detained at San Francisco International overnight before being put on a plane back to Tehran on Friday. "You don't expect to see these kinds of incidents that are common in other countries. These individuals are highly professional and coming with families and children. To keep them in a setup like a prison or jail environment is against their human rights."

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is of Iranian heritage, condemned the action of customs and immigration officials and tried contacting the offices of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., but had yet to hear back Friday.

"Everyone should be concerned that rights have been breached," Mirkarimi said at a San Francisco news conference called by SUTA on Friday.

SUTA is expecting about 650 people this weekend from around the world at its meeting, which is held every two years in cities around the world. About 120 Sharif alumni and professors in Tehran were granted visas out of about 300 who applied after rigorous security checks, said Elahe Enssani, a civil engineering professor at San Francisco State University and a Sharif graduate. They obtained visas in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and other countries because the United States does not have diplomatic ties with Iran.

Enssani said the group doesn't know how many people were turned away at airports, but 15 people were allowed to enter from Tehran two weeks ago.

The first visa denial came July 25, when attendee Kourosh Elahidoost was turned away at Los Angeles International Airport "for reasons of national security" he wrote in an e-mail to SUTA after returning to Tehran.

As many as a dozen were detained at San Francisco International on Thursday.

Hamed Khalkhali, an aerospace engineer from Irvine, sat by himself in the lounge at the Hyatt on Friday afternoon, disappointed that his former professors would not be joining him.

"It's just some educated people coming here for a scientific reunion," he said. "The whole thing is just a misunderstanding."

Iranian scientists have visas revoked on eve of meeting in U.S. (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/15207418.htm)

Hello Dreamweaver,

Brother Bob, I find many of these reports to be lunacy. They defy common sense completely.

The military strength of Israel is ONLY material when one considers why Israel has allowed terrorists to kill innocent people in Israel for 60 years. No other country in the world would tolerate this unless they were to weak to defend themselves. If the terrorists make it plain that they will continue and only be stopped by death, they should be buried.

Many publications seem to be more concerned about the possible embarrassment of terrorists and terrorists states than they are about the lives and peace of innocent citizens in a sovereign country. The terrorists SHOULD be embarrassed and humiliated by the entire free world at every opportunity. People with average intelligence should know that the terrorists of this world don't want peace, and nothing can be given to them so they will desire peace. So, negotiating with terrorists is exactly like negotiating with a mass murderer - nothing but a common criminal who loves to kill innocent people. The only way to deal with them is to stop them by whatever means necessary, exactly the way that one would stop any other mass murderer. In reality, many of the terrorists would be more like rabid pigs than humans. Any glory that they hope to obtain should be completely replaced with NOTHING BUT total contempt, humiliation, and whatever END that they earn for themselves.

I'm far too shy on this topic, but I'm working on expressing an opinion of some sort. No country in the world tolerate what Israel has for 60 years. World opinion shouldn't make any difference. On top of everything else, we might be watching the unfolding of Bible prophecy that will happen at GOD'S precise appointed time, regardless of what any politician or nation in the world does.

I'll work on trying to firm up an opinion of some sort and not being so shy.

(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/tlr10/favor/favor033.gif)

Tom

(Small Print: ;D )

Iran vows more atom work
Sun Aug 6, 2006 11:49 AM BST184

By Christian Oliver

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran vowed on Sunday to expand its atomic fuel work and warned that any U.N. sanctions aimed at halting its uranium enrichment would incur a painful riposte, possibly including a cut in oil exports.

Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran would expand the number of atomic centrifuges it was running. Centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning it at supersonic speeds.

"We will expand nuclear technology at whatever stage it may be necessary and all of Iran's nuclear technology including the (centrifuge) cascades will be expanded," he told a news conference.

Such remarks flatly reject a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding Tehran halt its nuclear work by August 31 or face the threat of sanctions. The West fears Iran will use enriched uranium to make atomic bombs.

Iranian officials, who argue they need enriched uranium only to run power stations, say the resolution was illegal and that Tehran has every right to produce fuel from the uranium ore that it mines in its central deserts.

Iran said in April it had produced enriched uranium from a cascade of 164 centrifuges.

It has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it will start installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year, enough to produce material for a nuclear warhead in one year.

IRAN WILL HIT BACK AGAINST SANCTIONS

Larijani said the expansion of atomic work would be conducted under the supervision of the IAEA but even that could be in question if Iran felt unfairly treated.

"We do not want to end the supervision of the agency, but you should not do anything to force Iran to do so," he said.

He warned the U.N. Security Council not to impose sanctions on the world's fourth biggest exporter of crude oil.

"If they do, we will react in a way that would be painful for them. They should not think that they can hurt us and we would stand still without a reaction," he said.

"We do not want to use the oil weapon, it is they who would impose it upon us. Iran should be allowed to defend its rights in proportion to their stance," he added.

Although Iran has intermittently threatened to use its massive oil exports as a weapon in international diplomacy, Tehran receives 80 percent of its export earnings from energy and would find such a cut hard to maintain.

"Do not force us to do something that will make people shiver in the cold. We do not want that," said Larijani, stressing Iran's reluctance to cut energy supplies.

Iranian officials often say that sanctions would hurt the West more than Tehran by lifting already high oil prices to levels that would be unmanageable for industrialised economies.

However, analysts and diplomats point out Iran's economy would be highly vulnerable to sanctions on gasoline imports, European financing and industrial components.

Iran vows more atom work (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-08-06T104925Z_01_OLI627629_RTRUKOC_0_UK-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml&src=rss)

Larijani: Iran's doctrine is to ensure lasting regional stability
Tehran, Aug 6, IRNA

Iran-Larijani-Nuclear-Conference
Ensuring a lasting regional stability is the doctrine of Iran's foreign policy, said Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani here Sunday.

Addressing domestic and foreign reporters at a press conference, Larijani said "Sustainable stability will not be established either by the presence of foreign forces (in the region), meddling schemes such as the 'Greater Middle East Plan,' deployment of (military) forces or occupation."
The SNSC secretary argued it has become clear that sending military forces to Iraq could not bring peace and security for that country.

"Americans failed to provide security in Iraq. They said they wanted to build a tower of democracy in Iraq but the result was building of the Abu Ghraib prison," Larijani said.

Noting that the occupation forces were only seeking "dominance over oil and gas resources of the region," Larijani said regional security and stability would only be provided by the regional governments.

"The US is the cause of all regional conflicts," said the SNSC secretary, adding that Tehran was informed that US ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, had separate sessions with a number of Iraqi terrorist groups calling on them to help the US by shifting the direction of their struggles towards Iran and Iraqi Shi'ites.

"In order to restore peace and security to the region, they should stop offering such disgraceful theories which will bring the region closer to its boiling point," Larijani warned.

He stressed that occupiers and aggressors should notice that the vigilant people of the region can determine their own destiny and have no need to the plans made by foreigners.

Larijani: Iran's doctrine is to ensure lasting regional stability (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608065936144115.htm)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yup we already know what Irans plan calls for, ImagineAnut has said it many times. Destroy Israel, well I don't think so....

Syrian FM: Ready to join Hizbullah ranks

Walid Mouallem tells reporters in Beirut that Syria is not hiding its military readiness to defend itself against any Israeli attack
Reuters

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem said Sunday that he is ready to join the ranks of Hizbullah and warned that Syria will respond to any Israeli aggression against Damascus.

"If you wish, I'm ready to be a soldier at the disposal of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ," Mouallem told reporters on arrival in Lebanon .

Asked about fears that the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah could spread to the whole region, Mouallem said: "Most welcome."

"Syria is readying itself and doesn't hide its military readiness. We will respond to any Israeli aggression immediately," he added.

"If Israel attacks Syria by any means, on the ground, in the air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately," he said.

'Defending the dignity of the Arab nation'

Mouallem, the first senior Syrian official to visit Lebanon since Syria ended three decades of military presence in April last year, criticized a US-French draft of a UN Security Council resolution to end the war.

"This draft resolution is a description for the continuation of the war because, unfortunately, it's not fair for Lebanon, therefore it's a plan for the possibility of the eruption of civil war in Lebanon and nobody, nobody, nobody has anything to gain from that happening, except Israel," he said.

"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the Lebanese national resistance today are defending the dignity of the Arab nation and the unity of the nation like it is defending the dignity of Lebanon, the unity of Lebanon and the Lebanese people," Mouallem said.

The veteran diplomat, who will attend an Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Beirut on Monday, dismissed allegations that Hizbullah was fighting a proxy war for Iran and Syria.

"This talk is silly. Hizbullah is fighting the battle of Lebanon."

Syrian FM: Ready to join Hizbullah ranks (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3287292,00.html)

Interview on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopooulos

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Crawford, Texas
August 6, 2006

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary.

SECRETARY RICE: Good morning, George.

QUESTION: The Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Beri, just moments ago said that Lebanon rejects the draft UN resolution. I know you've spoken to the Prime Minister at least twice. Is that what he told you?

SECRETARY RICE: I talked with the Prime Minister and my conversations with the Prime Minister concerned what concerns Lebanon about this resolution. But let's -- I think we have to realize we have to vote the resolution, and then I think you will see the parties recognize that they have an obligation to respond to UN Security Council resolutions.

This resolution represents a very now extensive period of consultation, starting with the G-8 statement in St. Petersburg, moving through consultations that I've held with the parties when I was in the region, that the French Foreign Minister and others have held with the parties, and this represents the international community's view of how this violence can abate so that we can move on to the next phase by bringing in troops.

QUESTION: But let me press you on that.

SECRETARY RICE: So, George, I just want to say let's vote the resolution and then there's going to be an obligation by Lebanon and by Israel to obey that resolution.

QUESTION: But last week you were in Lebanon and Israel trying to get them to sign on before you went to the UN. Now you're saying, just to be clear, that you're going to press for a vote in the United Nations even before Lebanon or Israel agree to this?

SECRETARY RICE: We've been in contact with the Lebanese and the Israelis. I think that the differences here are really not -- not really very great. Obviously Israel would have liked to have seen other things in this resolution. Lebanon would have liked to have seen other things in this resolution. But what we need is a basis now for a cessation of the hostilities, a cessation of offensive military operations, a cessation of rockets firing on Israel, so that we can move to the next step, which is bringing in an international security force.

Because what we want to do here, George, and what the principles in this resolution do, is to establish a basis so that you can't go back to the status quo ante where Hezbollah acted as a state within a state, attacking Israel without the Lebanese Government even knowing.

QUESTION: You say the differences --

SECRETARY RICE: That's what is being done here.

QUESTION: You say the differences aren't great, but Mr. Beri said, and Hezbollah representatives have said the same thing, that they're not going to accept any ceasefire agreement that allows Israelforces to stay in Lebanon during the ceasefire.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have to say I really do hope and I do believe that both parties understand the need to bring this violence to a halt, the need to have a situation in which international forces can be brought in. I suspect that after this resolution is passed that you will see an understanding on the part of both parties that the time to have an abatement in this violence is now.

George, I want to be very clear. This is a first step. It's not the end of the road by any means. There will unlikely be -- there will likely be some skirmishes, some difficulty, but the major offensive operations, the rocket attacks, the violence that we are all seeing every day on our screens, has simply got to stop so that the Lebanese people have an opportunity to begin to return to a normal life. That is what is contemplated here. It's contemplated on the basis of principles that will not allow a return to the status quo ante. We're going to vote this resolution within, I think, a couple of days here at the very latest, and I think that you will see parties that understand that this is the best first step to ending this conflict and moving to a more stable future.

QUESTION: Doesn't Hezbollah have an effective veto, though, over any kind of international force that's supposed be authorized by the next resolution? All the nations who have said they're going to contribute say they won't go in if that requires them fighting Hezbollah. Hezbollah has to accept it, don't they?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, let's just be very clear. If Hezbollah does not respond to a cessation of violence, there's going to be a very strange situation in which we're going to know exactly that it is not the Lebanese people for whom Hezbollah cares but rather its own agenda. This is a good first step by the international community and it will be, I believe, a very good first step by Israel and Lebanon to have an abatement in the fighting, a cessation of the hostilities, so that we can move on to bringing international forces in.

I just want to remind that the elected Prime Minister of Lebanon, who by the way has Hezbollah ministers in his cabinet, has put forward a statement when he was at Rome that talked about the need of international forces to help the Lebanese army extend the authority of the Lebanese Government throughout the country. We have to remember that the problem that came here, that arose here, was that Hezbollah, acting like a state within a state, went into Israel, did it without the knowledge of the Lebanese Government. Lebanonneeds to extend its authority south and that is what is contemplated in this resolution, but it's going to need the help of the international forces to do that.

QUESTION: You mentioned the Prime Minister's statement. But so far, just to be clear before we move on, the Prime Minister has told you he has concerns with the resolution; he has not signed on.

cont'd next post

SECRETARY RICE: I think both parties will have concerns because they would have liked more. That's the nature of a two-sided cessation of hostilities. But this is a good basis for the cessation of hostilities. Everybody has been calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities. This is the time now to do it, but it does it on a basis that does not permit a return to the status quo ante.

The Prime Minister has also told me that he wants to extend the authority of the Lebanese Government throughout the country. He has also told me that he wants very much not to return to the status quo ante. The Israelis don't want to return to the status quo ante. And so this resolution is a very good basis for providing that framework and we're going to move forward with voting it and I think you will see that the parties will understand that this is the right first step.

QUESTION: I want to move on to Iraq. You know, no doubt, of the hearing this week where General Abizaid and General Peter Pace spoke to the Senate Armed Services Committee with their starkest warnings yet that civil war could -- could -- break out in Iraq. At that hearing the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator John Warner, questioned whether Congress has authorized U.S.forces to be put into the middle of a civil war. I want to show you what he said:

"We have to examine very carefully what Congress authorized the President to do in the context of a situation if we're faced with an all out civil war, whether we have to come back to the Congress to get further indication of support."

I spoke to several members of that committee after the hearing, and to a person they said that they did not believe that U.S.forces should be put in the middle of a civil war. If civil war does break out, will President Bush pull troops out of Iraq?

SECRETARY RICE: George, I'm not going to deal with a hypothetical and that's what this is. This is a hypothetical. Because I think what General Abizaid was saying -- and the tense is very important here. He said -- he didn't say they're sliding to civil war. He said that, yes, the sectarian violence is as bad as he's ever seen it. But he made very clear that we have the forces and, he believes, the plan to prevent any slide to civil war.

Now, the Iraqi people and the Iraqi Government has not made a choice for civil war. They've made a choice for a unity government. They've made a choice to live in a single, unified Iraq. They've made a choice based on the legitimacy that is granted them by the votes of 12.5 million Iraqis who risked their lives to bring this government into power.

When you talk to the Iraqi Foreign Minister, you're talking to a Kurd. When you talk to the Prime Minister, you're talking to someone who is Shia. When you talk to the Speaker, you're talking to a Sunni. This is a unity government. And yes, the circumstances are very difficult. It's a young democracy. There are determined enemies who would like to stoke sectarianism and to bring about civil war.

But it would be really erroneous to say that the Iraqis are somehow making a choice for civil war, or I think even sliding into civil war. They are concentrating on the right things: getting security in Baghdad; building up their security forces so that they can be the lead element in securing the country; bringing about changes in the Ministry of Interior so that it is not a hotbed of sectarianism; getting a reconciliation plan so that Iraqis can lay down their arms who wish to lay down their arms; and having a reconstruction effort that shows the Iraqi people that their lives are indeed going to be better. Those are the things this government is concentrating on. Those are the things we're supporting them in doing. And they're a very new government. It's a difficult time, but I believe they're going to be successful.

QUESTION: As you know, Madame Secretary, not everyone agrees that civil war has not broken out. I want to show you an article from yesterday's McClatchy newspapers. The headline: "Iraqi Civil War Has Already Begun, U.S. Troops Say." And then it goes on to say:

"'Army troops in and around the capital interviewed in the last week cite a long list of evidence that the center of the nation is coming undone… 'It's to the point of being irreconcilable; you know, we've found a lot of bodies, entire villages have been cleared out, we get reports of entire markets being gunned down -- and if that's not a marker of a civil war, I don't know what is,' says Staff Sgt. Wesley Ramon of San Antonio, Texas."

So let me ask you again. You say it's a hypothetical, but it's an important hypothetical. If civil war breaks out, will the United Statestroops remain?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, again, it is a hypothetical and I'm not going to comment on a hypothetical. The U.S.troops are there to support a unity government and unified security forces, and that is what they're doing and that's what they're doing all day. I'm certain that if you're on the ground in the midst of sometimes terrible violence that it's difficult to see the larger political process that is underway. I don't doubt the sincerity of the sergeant who spoke in that way.

But I know what the Iraqi Government and the great majority of the Iraqi people are doing, and they are trying to build a unified Iraq. Nobody has made a choice here. The south has not walked out of the senate and declared civil war. People are working to try to build a unified Iraqand we are going to help them with that. Yes, the sectarian violence is higher than it has been at any other time. The Iraqis have to get a handle on that. They're going to have to make some difficult political choices in order to do that and they're going to have to have security forces that are capable of carrying out some difficult security functions. But that is what we're helping them to do.

The people who wish to destroy the foundation for this new Iraqhave clearly gone at Baghdad because that's the center of the country. That's why the Iraqi Government is so focused on a Baghdad security plan, because they understand that they have to deliver security in Baghdad.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, that's all we have time for today. Thanks very much.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much.

Interview on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopooulos (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/70012.htm#lebanon)

Olmert tells Europe to stop preaching to Israel ;D ;D
Email this Story

Aug 6, 6:56 AM (ET)

BERLIN (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told European leaders to stop preaching to him about civilian war casualties in an interview published on Sunday in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

Olmert also said it would not be possible to completely destroy Hizbollah and insisted he did not underestimate them, saying they had fired just 3,000 of their arsenal of 15,000 rockets so far.

"Where do they get the right to preach to Israel?" Olmert said when asked about criticism from European capitals of Israeli military operations that have led to a heavy civilian toll.

"European countries attacked Kosovo and killed ten thousand civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket.

"I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: Don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians."

Kosovo became a U.N. protectorate in June 1999 after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign forced out Serb security forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians during a rebel insurgency by separatist Albanian guerrillas.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch estimates about 500 civilians were killed in the NATO bombing in Kosovo.

Some 10,000 Albanians died in Serbia's 1998-99 counter-insurgency war and there were allegations of random brutality by both sides.

In the Welt am Sonntag interview, Olmert was asked if he had underestimated Hizbollah.

"No, we know that they have only fired 3,000 rockets so far and that they have 15,000," he said. "The question is more: If Hizbollah knew what the consequences of their attack would be, would they nevertheless have done it? I don't think so."

Olmert said Hizbollah was being defeated but it was not possible to eradicate a grass-roots guerrilla movement.

"They are beaten but it is not possible to completely destroy they. Israel has nevertheless been more successful than any other country in the battle against a guerrilla organization."

Olmert tells Europe to stop preaching to Israel (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060806/2006-08-06T105613Z_01_L06692082_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-MIDEAST-OLMERT-EUROPE-DC.html) ;D

UN Lebanon resolution recipe for instability-Assad
06 Aug 2006 20:49:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned of worsening instability if a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Lebanon is passed without the approval of all political forces in that country.

The government news agency said Assad told U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan by telephone on Sunday that "any decision taken without a Lebanese consensus will complicate matters and deepen instability."

Annan phoned Assad to discuss the U.S.-French draft resolution, which Syria, a key backer of Hizbollah guerrillas, regards as one-sided and which the speaker of the Lebanese parliament has said is unacceptable.

"There are a number of powers that are trying to secure political gains for Israel that could not be achieved by waging war," Assad said.

The draft calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon ... the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations".

It implicitly gives Israel the right to pursue "defensive" military operations without demanding its immediate withdrawal from Lebanese territory it has been occupying since July 12, when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, who is in Beirut, said the draft resolution could lead to another civil war in Lebanon, which went through a civil war from 1975-1990.

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri said his country rejected the draft because it would let occupying Israeli forces stay on Lebanese soil.

The resolution envisages a long-term settlement partly based on the "elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government". It does not call for a prisoner exchange -- a key Hizbollah demand.

Assad said Syria backed "what the Lebanese agree to", in reference to a peace plan approved by the Lebanese cabinet last month, which Syrian and Lebanese officials say was largely overlooked in the draft resolution.

The plan voted for by the cabinet, including two Hizbollah ministers, calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, including the Shebaa Farms, an area occupied by Israel that the United Nations considers Syrian but which Lebanon and Syria regard as Lebanese.

It also calls a prisoners exchange and expanding an existing U.N. force in south Lebanon.

UN Lebanon resolution recipe for instability-Assad (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06100082.htm)

Debate in the Arab Countries - Is Hizbullah a "Resistance" Organization or Not?
Special Dispatch - Jihad & Terrorism Project
August 7, 2006
No. 1234

Debate in the Arab Countries - Is Hizbullah a "Resistance" Organization or
Not?
Cracks in the United Arab Position on Hizbullah's Right to "Resistance"
Against Israel

The war between Israel and Hizbullah has revealed profound disagreement in
the Arab world concerning the legitimacy of Hizbullah's activities against
Israel. Two major camps have emerged. The first camp, led by Saudi Arabia,
opposed Hizbullah's activities and called them "uncalculated adventures,"
not "resistance," and said that in order for a group to be considered a
resistance organization it must meet certain criteria that Hizbullah does
not meet. The second camp, headed by Syria, has supported Hizbullah and has
considered it a true resistance organization that is conducting "glorious
national resistance" that brings honor to the Arabs. They contend that
resistance is always legitimate, and that its legitimacy is not dependent on
any particular conditions.(1)

In a speech at the emergency summit of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, on
July 15, 2006, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh observed that there
was a shift in Arab perceptions: "There has been a development in the
concepts and criteria employed in the international arena. [These concepts]
are crystallizing in a manner that is contrary to the Arab interest.
[According to these criteria,] resistance is terrorism, but [Israel is seen
as employing] self-defense, which gives it a free hand to destroy and kill
without any limitation."(2)

The following are excerpts from statements by Saudi and Syrian officials and
media, as well as the Egyptian press.

Senior Saudi Officials: Hizbullah's Actions "Uncalculated Adventures"

The contention that Hizbullah's actions were not resistance was first heard
July 12, 2006, from a senior Saudi official who stated: "There is no choice
but to differentiate between legitimate resistance and the uncalculated
adventures that some elements in the country [i.e. Hizbullah] are carrying
out - they and those who stand behind them - this without their having had
recourse to the legitimate sovereign authority in their country, and without
any coordination or consultation with the Arab countries. Saudi Arabia sees
this as a very dangerous situation that is bringing destruction to the Arab
countries and to their achievements, without these countries being able to
express their opinion [on the matter]. The time has come for these elements,
and they alone, to bear full responsibility for their irresponsible
behavior, and they alone need to bear the burden of the crisis they
caused."(3)

Similar statements were made by Saudi Foreign Minister Sa'ud Al-Faisal, in a
speech at the emergency summit of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on July
15, 2006: "A decision made [independently] by a single country is not
acceptable - all the more so when irresponsible elements who do not
recognize the supremacy of the state make decisions on their own that not
only entangle that country, but also push the other countries to
uncalculated adventures."(4)

*"The Land Has Been Liberated; the Role of the Resistance Must End"
Saudi Ambassador to the Arab League Ahmad 'Abd Al-'Aziz Qattan explained the
Saudi position: "No one is opposed to resistance everywhere in the Arab
world, but the true aim of any resistance must be the liberation of land. If
the land has [already] been liberated, then the role of the resistance must
end, and it must be dissolved into the melting pot of the country..."(5)

Saudi Daily: "[Hizbullah] Cannot Be Considered Legitimate National
Resistance if it is Loyal to Anyone Other than Lebanon... [if it is]
Unilateral... And if it Disregards [Arab] Reactions"

An editorial in the Saudi daily 'Okaz claimed that Hizbullah does not meet
the criteria to be considered legitimate resistance: "There exists a
consensus concerning the definition of an 'occupier': he is one who uses
force to illegitimately steal land that is not his own from its residents.
However, there is disagreement concerning the definition of 'legitimate
resistance.' In the case of the resistance in southern Lebanon and the
degree of legitimacy [given] to Hizbullah as national resistance, we find
ourselves before an interpretation that is different [than the standard one
in support of resistance movements]... The Hizbullah organization's being a
defense [organization] on Lebanese soil is not sufficient for it to be
considered a legitimate resistance movement, if it acts outside of the
umbrella of the Lebanese government. Actions that some [i.e. Hizbullah]
consider quality actions against the Israeli enemy are actually [actions]
that bring disasters and troubles on all of
Lebanon.

"Likewise, [Hizbullah's] resistance cannot be considered legitimate national
resistance if it is loyal to anyone other than Lebanon, for any reason, and
it cannot be [considered] legitimate national resistance as long as it does
not receive the blessing of the government and the people. It also cannot be
considered legitimate resistance that enjoys the support of Arab and Muslim
public opinion if [it undertakes] unilateral actions whose consequences are
uncalculated, and if it disregards the [Arabs'] reactions to this..."(6)

*"When Injustice is Done, This is No Longer Resistance"

Egyptian columnist 'Abdallah 'Abd Al-Salam also claimed that Hizbullah's
actions can no longer be considered resistance. In an article in the
Egyptian daily Al-Ahram he wrote: "Isn't it strange that Hizbullah
disregarded even to the need to inform the Lebanese government about the
operation before it happened - and then afterwards demanded that it attest
that it had seen nothing, that it lend its signature to [Hizbullah's]
strategy being correct, and that it got Lebanon entangled in a declared war
with Israel - this after Hizbullah expropriated the decision to go to war
from the government, and made it into its own decision...

"One of the most important goals of resistance is to eliminate injustice and
to restore to the people their stolen honor. But when [the resistance]
becomes a tool that gives the enemy an excuse to violate the country's
sovereignty, wipe out installations on the ground, and murder innocent
Lebanese - and even worse, when other countries can take advantage of the
resistance for the sake of escalation - then the resistance fully ceases to
be resistance."(7)

*The Sovereignty of the Government "Has Been Expropriated"

Yahya Rabbah, former PLO Ambassador to Yemen and columnist for the
Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote: "The Palestinian
resistance forces [i.e. Hamas] took political decision[-making] hostage from
the Palestinian political framework [i.e. the PLO]; the Lebanese resistance
forces - Hizbullah - took political decision[-making] hostage from the
Lebanese [government]. The resistance forces here [in the PA] and there [in
Lebanon] led to both of the political regimes, the Palestinian and Lebanese,
having to pay a high price, even though they did not know what was going on,
and even though they were not given even the smallest chance to manage the
crisis that was caused by the two actions.

"In other words, the roles of the two regimes were expropriated, their
legitimacy was sidestepped, and they were left irrelevant to what was going
on. The resistance forces here and there took hostage the role of the
regimes in the Arab states, and left them [i.e. the regimes] standing
confused and impotent, almost completely paralyzed... All of this [was
carried out] via a regional coalition axis, stretching from Gaza to southern
Lebanon, to Damascus, to Tehran."(8)

cont'd next post

Top Syrian Officials: Criticism for Hizbullah's Critics; "We Support the
Resistance"

The countries supporting Hizbullah's activities - and first and foremost
Syria - claimed that Hizbullah was carrying out legitimate resistance, and
denounced its Arab critics. At the Cairo summit of Arab foreign ministers,
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mu'allem defended "Hizbullah's right, and
the right of the Lebanese people, to put up resistance against Israel's wild
behavior, which is not in need of excuses [in order to attack]," and
expressed criticism of any Arab element providing "Arab backing for
[Israeli] aggression."(9)

Mahdi Dakhlallah, former Syrian information minister and current head of the
Syrian leadership's research department, said: "We are proud of our support
for Hizbullah and the resistance, wherever it is being conducted. It is a
great source of pride, not shame. We support the resistance with all our
force and with all our capabilities, whether in southern Lebanon or in
Palestine... The Arab people has taken matters into its own hands. The issue
is no longer in the hands of official institutions, governments, and armies.
It is rather the people who decide. This is a positive development for the
Arabs."(10)

Syrian Dailies Praise the "Resistance"

*"The Resistance... is the True Face of the Nation, Whose History is Full of
Glorious Deeds"

An article in the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra read: "The brave
resistance of today, as Hassan Nasrallah said, is leading the nation's
battle, and this is a historic opportunity for the nation to achieve victory
over its enemy. The resistance... is the true face of the nation whose
history is full of glorious deeds. This face will never agree to [accept]
the denigrating blows, and it has freshness and vitality that allow it to be
the face of the new East."(11)

*"Resistance is Always a Legitimate Act"

Another article in Al-Thawra fiercely attacked those who cast doubt on
whether Hizbullah was a resistance organization: "It is unthinkable that, at
a time when the nation is facing the boundless Israeli hatred and is subject
to these mad crimes, the criteria are being turned inside out in the
dictionary of some of the Arabs, and the resistance [i.e. Hizbullah] is
being blamed for what is happening...

"The strange thing is that these voices... still do not understand that
resistance is always a legitimate act for which there is no need to receive
permission from anyone or to consult anyone. In light of this, the quality
operation that the Islamic resistance carried out in southern Lebanon is a
moment of glory and victory for this nation whose honor has been destroyed
by the Arabs' traitorous positions, and the open conspiring with the
nation's enemies..."(12)

*"The Arab Public... Is Stunned by These Voices [Critical of Hizbullah]"

A third article in Al-Thawra read: "It would have been better if these
voices [of criticism], which remained silent for a long period of time and
did not do the slightest thing in the face of what is going on in Gaza and
the cities of the West Bank... had continued to remain silent, so long as
they do not understand the meaning of the action of the capture of the two
Israeli soldiers... Indeed, the Arab public, which expected [to hear]
positions in support of the Islamic resistance, is stunned by these voices,
about which the least that can be said is that they justify Israel's
barbaric aggression and its wild crimes, and give it a green light to pursue
its attacks and its open war on all fronts... Those who are saying these
things should have listened to the pulse of the Arab public..."(13)

The Arab Press: The Lebanese Have the Right to Resist the Occupation

The Syrian position, that Hizbullah is a true resistance organization, has
been echoed in numerous other articles in the Arab press. For instance,
columnist and former editor-in-chief of the Egyptian government daily
Al-Akhbar, Galal Duweidar, wrote: "As is known to all - and to Israel as
well - Israel's refusal to sit at the negotiating table led to despair among
the Palestinian people. Likewise, its determination to persist in its
occupation of Lebanese territories and to apply pressure, through the U.S.,
to lay siege to the legitimate resistance to this occupation [i.e.
Hizbullah] - these are among the factors that encouraged the outbreak of
this crisis. It is impossible to separate the aggression and the destruction
planned in advance that is occurring in Lebanon from what is happening in
the Palestinian territories. Did Israel think that the Palestinians and the
Lebanese should surrender and accept the occupation and the [territorial]
expansion? In fact, the international
conventions grant peoples the right to resist occupation and to confront
military forces..."(14)

Columnist Ahmad Bahjat wrote in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram: "Nasrallah did
nothing wrong when he took two Israeli soldiers prisoner. The capture took
place on Lebanese territory that is occupied by Israeli forces. The meaning
of this is that he [i.e. Nasrallah] has the right to take prisoner or to
kidnap any Israeli soldier who places foot on Lebanese land, as part of the
legitimate resistance.

"International, human, and religious [i.e. Muslim] law grant him this
right... Southern Lebanon is occupied land, and following this logic, the
residents of the occupied south can resist the occupying army."(15)

Endnotes:
(1) The last major split in the Arab world on an issue related to fighting
Israel was over suicide attacks. See:
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 53, " Debating the Religious, Political and
Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings Part 1: The Debate over Religious
Legitimacy," May 2, 2001,
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA5301;
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 54, " Debating the Religious, Political and
Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings Part 2: The Debate over Political and
Moral Legitimacy" ,
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA5401 ;
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 65, " Part 3: Debating the Religious,
Political, and Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings"
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA6501 ;
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 66, "Part 4: Debating the Religious,
Political, and Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings: Part"
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA6601 .
(2) Al-Nahhar (Lebanon), July 16, 2006.
(3) Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), July 14, 2006.
(4) 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), July 16, 2006.
(5) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 21, 2006.
(6) 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), July 15, 2006.
(7) Al-Ahram (Egypt), July 15, 2006.
(8) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), July 14, 2006.
(9) Al-Nahhar (Lebanon), July 16, 2006.
(10) Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), August 2, 2006.
(11) Al-Thawra (Syria), July 18, 2006.
(12) Al-Thawra (Syria), July 17, 2006.
(13) Al-Thawra (Syria), July 17, 2006.
(14) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), July 14, 2006,
(15) Al-Ahram (Egypt), July 21, 2006.

Debate in the Arab Countries - Is Hizbullah a "Resistance" Organization or Not? (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30516)

Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh on Al-Jazeera TV: I Hope All Countries Bordering Israel Will Join the War; Arab Countries Should Allow Transfer of Weapons & People to Lebanon & Palestine

The following are excerpts from an interview with Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 1, 2006.

Interviewer: "Do you expect the war to expand?"

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "Yes."

Interviewer: "To include Syria?"

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "I would certainly hope that it expands. I would hope so, but the Israelis would not dare. They are frustrated in South Lebanon, so how could they expand the war? All Israeli cities would be within the range of the Syrian missiles. Syria is armed, and is ready for anything. It would be foolish, even more than foolish... I say in all honesty that the Israeli government is defeated. The Israeli army is also defeated by any standard. The Israeli government will fall. It will fall soon because it misjudged things. Israeli strategy is based on brief wars, on swift strikes. By now it has been 19 days, and the equation has changed. If Israel were to act foolishly and wage war against Syria, I expect Israel would find itself in an extremely difficult situation. Perhaps they would even leave the region, because their society is a mixture [of identities], full of contradictions."

[...]

Interviewer: "Do you call upon the Syrian president to enter this war?"

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "No, I do not call upon Syria to enter the war. But if war is imposed upon it, Syria has the right to defend itself."

Interviewer: "Regarding international forces..."

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "Why shouldn't we involve Syria?"

Interviewer: "I am asking because you said you were hoping for this."

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "I hope that all the countries bordering with Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war. I meant the countries bordering with Israel. We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment, to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza."

[...]

"This war has become a duty incumbent upon us. Every Muslim has the individual duty to fight on this front."

Interviewer: "Mr. President, do you support what has been said about incorporating Arab forces in the international force [in Lebanon]?"

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "I haven't heard this, but it is forbidden. I haven't heard about this, but international forces must not serve as a buffer between the Israeli enemy and the resistance. It's forbidden."

[...]

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "I completely reject becoming a police force protecting the security of Israel. Even the agreements between Israel and its neighboring Arab regimes were signed under certain circumstances and have greatly restricted us. Some of these agreements include restrictions. Restrictions that apply to the regimes - keep them, but let the people, the masses, act. Let the people donate money, equipment, weapons, and young men who will join the resistance."

Interviewer: "Do you think that today..."

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "Wait just a minute... Just as we helped Afghanistan to fight the Communist occupation back then - why not help our brothers in Palestine and in Lebanon, who have Arab blood, with mujahideen, with fighters. Why don't we help them, and send money and missiles, like we sent to Afghanistan in order to fight the Communists? This is my opinion, and I present it to the Arab public. This is what we must do. If we do not enter [the war] as regimes, and if we say Hizbullah is dragging us into a war of its choosing - a war that we, the regimes, did not choose... In such a case, we will not enter the war as regimes, as regular armies, with our air forces and our missiles, but we should allow people to volunteer."

[...]

Interviewer: "The secretary-general of Hizbullah said that this is a battle of the nation. Do you agree with him?"

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "Yes, I believe this is a battle for the Islamic nation, not the Arab nation."

Interviewer: "Shimon Peres said this was a matter of life and death for Israel."

Ali Abdallah Saleh: "That's his opinion. Shimon Peres is a senile old man. All he cares about is being in power. He makes coalitions with whoever reaches power. He is a power seeker."

I Hope All Countries Bordering Israel Will Join the War (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD123106)

Tel Avivians prepare for war
By Roni Singer-Heruti

"Bro, don't ask, they've bombed Hadera too," a young man whispered into his phone as he waited to be seated at Tel Aviv's Brasserie restaurant. But everyone around him heard the whisper clearly and minutes later, many of the patrons were busy making phone calls and sending text messages to everyone who lived in the area or had heard about the blast.

Friends in Herzliya heard a "boom," friends in Rishpon hurriedly packed a bag after hearing the tremendous blast, and police dispatchers for the central and Tel Aviv districts fielded numerous calls from residents from Hadera to Herzliya, who reported hearing the strike.

The waitress reassured people at one of the tables that "there's nothing to worry about; the Zelzal won't get us here, we're in a protected space."

Her words, Friday evening at the popular restaurant, made it clear that Tel Avivians had long since ceased living in a bubble, and that the war had left its mark here too.

Not far from there, on the walls of the Gan Ha'ir shopping mall, signs were hung last week directing passersby to the bomb shelter. "Central and crowded places in the city have prepared the shelters at the demand of the Home Front Command, and it was decided that underground parking lots in these places would serve as protective spaces," the Tel Aviv municipality's deputy director of operations, Rubi Zluff, explained this past weekend.

The readiness of Tel Avivians for the war is best indicated by the amount of junk that has piled up in the streets in recent weeks: "We're picking up endless amounts of garbage and junk, much more than usual," Zluff said, explaining that people have been cleaning out the shelters in their building to get them ready if necessary.

Private shelters in residential buildings are the responsibility of each residents' committee. The city's 235 public shelters have been readied by the municipality, but remain locked by order of the Home Front Command. "Based on a drill we held recently you can say that from the moment it becomes necessary, we can open the shelter in the city within two hours," Zluff said.

By contrast, Colonel Yehiel Kuperstein of the Home Front Command told Haaretz this past weekend that "Tel Aviv residents will have at most a minute's warning before a rocket lands in the city."

The municipality is therefore well aware that the shelters will not be the answer, at least not the first time that frightened residents hear the siren.

"The directive for now is not to run to the shelter but rather to go into a reinforced room or protective space," Kuperstein said. "Our findings to date indicate that most of the casualties were whose who were outside. And this is also the place to stress that you must not leave the protected space until 15 minutes have gone by."

Tel Aviv has prepared a large supply of drinking water, contacted food suppliers in case of shortages, prepared seven community centers to house residents in case they have to vacate their homes, and beefed up the municipal operations center.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv life continues as usual and the beaches are full. Along the beaches, incidentally, no protective areas have been prepared so if a siren sounds, bathers must follow the Home Front Command orders - find shelter or lie down on the ground.

Tel Avivians prepare for war (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746682.html)

Quote from: ibTina on August 06, 2006, 09:03:17 AM

What you and Dreanweaver said is what I thought... the Bible tells us that those that are with Israel will be blessed and those against are not. And all the scriptures that tell us that Jesus will be coming back to claim the throne of David...
I am so thankful to God that I am blessed that I have an 'ear to hear' and 'eyes to see' ... to understand His Word and to be prepared for things to come. AMEN!!

Tina... jumping for Joy... for He IS coming soon!!!!!!!!!

Amen Sister Tina!

The Holy Bible tells us that no man will know the day or the hour, but it is more than sufficient for all of God's children to know beyond doubt that we will all spend eternity together with JESUS.

I think one of the most important things we all need to do is realize that this world is not our home - our journey here will be short - and our Citizenship is in Heaven. The only real riches are in CHRIST, and they are for eternity.

We might or might not still be physically alive when JESUS comes to catch His CHURCH up into the sky. If we physically die before then, we will be absent from the body and present with the LORD. Regardless, we will spend eternity with JESUS. It makes me very happy and encouraged to think about the things of the LORD.

Love In Christ,
Tom

(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/tlr10/relig/relig150.gif)

KEEP LOOKING UP!

THE RAPTURE WILL BE A REALITY!

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NASB But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 NASB For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 NASB For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NASB For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 NASB Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 NASB Therefore comfort one another with these words.
____________________________

1 Corinthians 15:50 NASB Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

1 Corinthians 15:51 NASB Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:53 NASB For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:54 NASB But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.

1 Corinthians 15:55 NASB "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"

1 Corinthians 15:56 NASB The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

1 Corinthians 15:57 NASB but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

3 Dead, 160 Injured in Rocket Barrage on Haifa :'(
22:23 Aug 06, '06 / 12 Av 5766
by Hana Levi Julian

Three Israelis were killed and scores more wounded in a rocket barrage that slammed into Haifa a few minutes before 8:00 pm Sunday evening.

Victims continued to arrive at Haifa hospitals, hours after the attack in which 160 people were treated for physical injuries and psychological trauma. Four people were reported in serious but not life-threatening condition. Seven others suffered moderate wounds. Security officials said at least one of the rockets was a 220-mm Syrian-made missile.

The rocket barrage scored several direct hits, including two apartment buildings and a car. One building reportedly absorbed five rockets. An eyewitness interviewed by the Haaretz news service said those who were killed had not gone into bomb shelters or protected rooms when the air raid siren sounded.

Magen David Adom medics and firefighters rushed to the scene. Rescue personnel immediately began digging through the rubble of the two collapsed buildings, looking for other victims who might have been trapped below. Rescuers said they were concerned about a pervasive smell of gas, which they feared would explode into additional flames.

Most of the victims were reported with moderate to light injuries, including a small baby. They were evacuted to Rambam Hospital and other Haifa-area medical facilities, which was alerted to prepare for a large number of injured civilians.

According to an Army Radio reporter, there were three air raid sirens that sounded prior to the attack. "There was enough time for people to reach shelter,” said the reporter, who added that rescue workers were adamant that civilians should stay in protected rooms and bomb shelters until told by security personnel it is safe to leave.

Rescue workers also emphasized that civilians who leave the shelters in order to help dig through rubble or otherwise assist medics and Zaka workers are not welcome. "You can't help," said a rescue worker. "That's what we're here for. Stay safe."

3 Dead, 160 Injured in Rocket Barrage on Haifa (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109322) :'(

Israeli war deaths go largely unnoticed

Hours after mother and two daughters are killed in Hizbullah rocket attack, media outlets around world fail to report deaths; meanwhile, British press continues anti-Israel tirade
Yaakov Lappin

Media bias? Hours after 60-year-old Fadia Jumaa and her two daughters, Samira, 31, and Sultana, 33, were killed by a Hizbullah rocket attack on their home in the Israeli-Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, the international media has so far largely ignored their deaths.

Reuters was alone among non-Israeli media outlets to report the deaths, according to a Google news search, a number of hours after the first reports of the attack surfaced.

The lack of coverage of the Israeli civilian war casualties stands in marked contrast to the swift response by many sections of the international media to reported Lebanese casualties.

Meanwhile, the British press, which has produced some of the most venomous anti-Israel coverage during the war, has continued its tirade against Israel.

Inaccuracies

An article in the London-based Guardian, entitled "Militants merge with mainstream ," argues that Hizbullah has gained widespread, cross-religious support in the Arab world, and uses terms such as "the Qana massacre" to explain the apparent newfound unity.

The article argues that Sunnis and Shiites have come together in their backing of Hizbullah: "Whatever qualms Arabs once had about Hizbullah they have since been dissipated by Israel's attacks, the hundreds of deaths, the sight of up to a quarter of the Lebanese population fleeing their homes, and especially the bombing of UN observers and the massacre at Qana. The Shiite organisation and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have become symbols of resistance even in such unlikely places as the Gulf countries where Sunnis and Shiites have been spotted waving the yellow-and-green flag."

The article was co-written by Issandr el-Amrani, a freelance journalist in Egypt who referred to Hizbullah as " Lebanese resistance fighters " on his personal blog and who describes reports of Hizbullah members operating out of civilian areas as "Israeli lies."

The article's authors failed, however, to note that an influential Saudi Sunni cleric, Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, has issued an anti-Hizbullah fatwa declaring that "Hizbullah is not the 'Party of God' but the 'Party of Satan.'"

An Associated Press report, which undermines the Guardian's claims, says that "Al-Hawali's words are an addition to a previous fatwa issued two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia by the leader of the Wahhabi movement, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jabrin, which declared that it is illegal to support, join, or even pray for Hizbullah."

BBC correspondent reports his own views

Meanwhile, an article has appeared on the BBC website in which a reporter for the British broadcaster, Hugh Sykes, relays a conversation he has with Lebanese residents.

The article is remarkable as it contains the views of a BBC journalist being given to Lebanese locals, rather than the other way around.

In the piece, written in first person narrative, Sykes tells people in Lebanon that there would be "no point" for Israel to strike Hizbullah targets in Lebanon: "'People keep asking me… ' Beirut - will they bomb Beirut again?' 'What would be the point?" I reply.'"

The BBC journalist also attempts to second guess where Israeli strikes hit.

"Four massive thumps one night, and six the next, as Israeli bombs or shells slammed into the ground a few kilometres away. Or into the children's homes," Sykes wrote.

Israeli war deaths go largely unnoticed (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3286880%2C00.html)

The media war
, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 6, 2006

In bygone wars, it was often said that the less divulged, the better. Israel's upper echelons - both civilian and military - often conduct themselves as if this were still the case. It isn't. Today's media war is often inseparable from the physical conflict. Neglecting the war of words and images inevitably weakens Israel's ability to pursue its cause on the ground and in the air.

Hizbullah and the Palestinians know the value of propaganda. They often fight their media battles by the dirtiest possible means. An expose in these pages on Thursday by former Sunday Telegraph correspondent Tom Gross revealed that Hizbullah officers supervise CNN reports, that a CBS reporter admitted Hizbullah overseers determine what's filmed, that repeated shots of several downed buildings lend Beirut the erroneous image of devastated WWII Dresden, that journalists are threatened, that Hizbullah holds their passports for ransom, that their analyses are skewed to curry favor, and so on.

Not only doesn't Israel engage in significant preemptive damage control, it often seems resigned to lose by default. The axiomatic official Israeli attitude often seems to be that "the world hates us."

It may indeed deny us a fair shake, but there's a difference between giving up a priori and trying to do something about it. To forfeit without a fight is reckless neglect. It can only impact on Israel's image, its standing abroad, and the pressure on international politicians to take unsympathetic positions, and thus directly on Israel's future well-being.

Israel's sometimes spectacularly inept PR is often hampered by red tape. Information on incoming Hizbullah rockets, for instance, isn't the IDF's brief but that of police spokesman Mickey Rosenberg. He operates alone, from one cell-phone, with no switchboard or staff.

There's no excusing the enormous gap in the quality of information available to local media stars and foreign correspondents out-of-the-loop. Instead of capitalizing on what Israel knows about Hizbullah's nefarious tactics, unsavory associations and perfidy, such information is frequently meted out only to an exclusive coterie of domestic newsmen. The background material offered outsiders is pathetic instead of sophisticated.

Throughout the current war there have been few official briefings specifically for foreign correspondents - not even to explain air-strikes and show relevant footage - and fewer still by IDF higher-ups, ministers or the prime minister (whose speeches are translated a day too late). The IDF intelligence chief maintains no relations with representatives of overseas media. Press conferences are focused on the local media, held in Hebrew.

Indeed, official Israeli PR seems to lack a sense of timing, or even to understand the notion of urgency. When an Israeli missile boat was hit off Beirut, the information reluctantly and belatedly hemmed and hawed was sketchy and minimal. It might have done Israel's case good to stress that the missile in question could go 16 kilometers off-shore and that a Cambodian boat was hit by an even longer-range missile, both supplied from Iran and based on North Korean technology. Prominent stress on the collusion of the Lebanese army in that incident would have helped explain why its radar installations were targeted in a subsequent IAF raid.

Supply routes from Syria to Lebanon are often hit in Israeli air force raids. The inevitable claim from Hizbullah and Lebanese sources is that food-ferrying trucks are being bombed. The IDF rarely comments. That's plainly no way to do business.

In the aftermath of the Kana tragedy, it took officialdom all day to produce footage of Katyusha rockets flying out of the village toward Israel. Asked why this had not been released earlier, a very senior Israeli politician opined that the overseas channels would not have broadcast it anyway.

Politicians who are so adept at interacting with the local press could surely, assuming they have the language skills, do likewise vis-a-vis the international media. A war-room of the sort set up to react to negatives in any election campaign could do wonders in this situation.

On the domestic front, our leadership, like that of all democratic countries, understands the importance of crafting messages strategically and getting them out in real time. It is inexcusable that such skills and seriousness are not applied in the international sphere, in the mistaken belief that they will inevitably have no impact.

As our soldiers fight on the battlefield, our civilian leadership owes it to them and to the nation to do its job of fighting the media war with no less vigor.

The media war (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525813616&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Christian MPs meeting hits back at secularism
Patricia Karvelas
August 07, 2006
CHRISTIANITY has been under "consistent attack" and should be re-established as the dominant belief system in Australia.

This argument was mounted yesterday by more than a dozen politicians of all hues at a Christian conference in Canberra.

Former Nationals leader John Anderson, president of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, opened the 300-strong Christian forum at Parliament House last night, saying secularism had gone too far.

"I think we confuse in the public mind very much what we really are, and certainly our government is secular," he said. "It's actually a Christian concept that you should separate church and state -- it's one of the great differences between us and Muslim societies.

'What is a secular value system? I could argue the extreme case, that a secular value system gave us World WarII via Nazism."

Mr Anderson also delivered a statement from John Howard, who praised the contribution of Christianity and endorsed the forum.

"As I've said before, Judeo-Christian ethics, the progressive spirit of the enlightenment and the institutions and values of British political culture have been central to the development of Australian values," the Prime Minister said in his message.

Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd, who will address the conference today, said he was fed up with the Liberals and Nationals claiming they were the "natural" parties of God.

"I've had a complete gutful of the conservatives' political proposition that family values is somehow their policy terrain. I can think of no single policy more hostile to family values than the industrial relations legislation," Mr Rudd said.

Mr Anderson said Australians were enjoying the "fruits" of a Christian value system but warned that "no fruit will survive without you tending the roots that provided the growth in the first place and without replanting".

"Where are we going to draw our values and beliefs from in the future, Big Brother? Millions of Australians watch (the reality television show) rather than go to church," he said.

"Many people want to deny the historical basis of our society. I think it's quite self-evident that our way of life ... is deeply rooted in Christianity.

"It doesn't seem to be offensive for other faiths to strongly put their perspectives and their views."

Tasmanian Liberal senator Guy Barnett, who also spoke last night, said the forum had been stimulated in part by the "consistent attacks and the denigration of Australia's Christian heritage".

It was "a response to the denigration at a public level of Christian values", Senator Barnett said.

Christian MPs meeting hits back at secularism (http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20040912-2702,00.html)

Report: U.S., Japan Say Six of Seven North Korea Missile Tests Successful

Sunday , August 06, 2006

Click to learn more...

TOKYO — An analysis by Japan and the U.S. has concluded that six of the seven missiles tested by North Korea last month fell within their targets, indicating the tests were successful, a major Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.

Only a newly developed long-range missile, Taepodong-2, is believed to have failed, the Yomiuri newspaper said, quoting unidentified Japanese officials.

Based on initial data from U.S. military early-warning satellites, Japan's Defense Agency had doubted the targeting accuracy of the missiles, but later discovered that the six medium-range missiles actually fell inside the sea zone North Korea had marked beforehand, the newspaper said.

North Korea's July 5 missile tests drew strong international condemnation, prompting the U.N. Security Council to adopt a statement denouncing the launches and banning countries from missile-related dealings with the North.

Although the Taepodong-2, believed to be capable of reaching parts of the United States, crashed shortly after being launched, the targeting accuracy of the other missiles was relatively high, the newspaper quoted the officials as saying.

A U.S. and Japanese analysis based on data collected by radar on Aegis-equipped warships and other intelligence sources found that the six missiles traveled 300-400 kilometers (185-250 miles) northeast from the Kitaeryong missile base on North Korea's southeastern coast and landed inside a designated zone within a radius of about 50 kilometers (30 miles), the Yomiuri said.

North Korea set a restricted area — a triangle about 160 kilometers (100 miles) on each side — in the Sea of Japan off the North Korean coast between July 4 and 11.

The Defense Agency's planned release in early August of its analysis of the missile tests is expected to be delayed because of a need for further discussions with the United States, the Yomiuri said.

Report: U.S., Japan Say Six of Seven North Korea Missile Tests Successful (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,207194,00.html)

IDF plans attacks on key infrastructure in Lebanon
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

The Israel Defense Forces plan to ramp up their offensive in Lebanon in response to Sunday's rocket attacks on northern Israel, which killed three civilians in Haifa and 12 reservists near Kfar Giladi.

A senior General Staff officer told Haaretz that for the first time since the fighting began, Israel plans to attack strategic infrastructure targets and symbols of the Lebanese government.

Other than bombing the Beirut airport to prevent arms transfers to Hezbollah, Israel has hitherto not targeted Lebanon's infrastructure, insisting that it is only at war with Hezbollah, not with the Lebanese government or people.

However, the officer said, "we are now in a process of renewed escalation. We will continue hitting everything that moves in Hezbollah - but we will also hit strategic civilian infrastructure."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz will meet with senior defense officials this morning to discuss the continuation of the operation.

Altogether, Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets at Israel on Sunday, including a barrage of at least 22 rockets on Haifa at about 8 P.M. that killed three people and wounded about 40.

The 12 reservists were killed, and another 12 wounded, by a single rocket that hit their muster point at around noon - one of about 35 fired at the Galilee panhandle Sunday.

Altogether, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said that it treated 138 wounded people on Sunday, including five with serious injuries and six with moderate wounds. Sources in the IDF General Staff said that until the chances of a UN-sponsored cease-fire become clearer, which is expected to happen in the coming days, Israel will continue to press its offensive. If Hezbollah has not ceased its fire by this weekend, they added, the IDF will recommend an additional significant expansion of the operation, including the conquest of most of Lebanon south of the Litani River, including the area around Tyre, and a significant increase in air strikes on infrastructure targets. "It could be that at the end of the story, Lebanon will be dark for a few years," said one.

The General Staff believes that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has recently stepped up his attacks because he expects the international community to impose a cease-fire soon. "He thinks that we're nearing the end, and therefore, he's taking risks, such as activating long-range rocket launchers, even though he knows that the air force will destroy almost every such launcher immediately after the launch," explained one officer.

IDF plans attacks on key infrastructure in Lebanon (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747070.html)

Russian Opposition Holds Forum Ahead of Summit

Created: 11.07.2006 11:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:20 MSK

MosNews

The Other Russia conference opens in Moscow Tuesday, ahead of the Group of Eight summit. The event, held by opposition parties and public groups, will focus on what the real Russia looks like, prominent political scientist Georgy Sataraov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Several British and U.S. officials are expected to attend the gathering, TimesOnline reports. The British Ambassador to Russia will defy a warning from the Kremlin by addressing the conference of President Putin’s fiercest critics Tuesday, Times wrote.

Two senior U.S. officials and the Canadian Ambassador will also attend the meeting, in what many in Moscow see as a show of support for the Russian opposition in the face of an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin.

The two-day “Other Russia” conference in Moscow is being organized by Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion, and other prominent Kremlin critics to try to galvanize the opposition forces before the G8 summit. Among the participants are Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister who has pledged to run for President in 2008, and Andrei Illarionov, a former Kremlin economic adviser who resigned in protest last year.

Igor Shuvalov, who succeeded Illarionov as the Kremlin’s G8 chief representative, said last month that it would be seen as an “unfriendly gesture” if foreign governments sent senior officials to the forum. But a British Embassy spokesman told The Times that Anthony Brenton, the British Ambassador to Russia, had decided to attend, with the support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Western leaders have pledged to raise concerns at the G8 summit about the Kremlin’s moves to curb democracy by scrapping local elections and muffling the independent media. Dmitri Piskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said that Moscow would frown on foreign officials attending the Other Russia summit, which he described as “criticism for criticism’s sake”.

Russian Opposition Holds Forum Ahead of Summit (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/11/differentrussia.shtml)

Germany ready to help police Lebanon?
Web posted at: 8/7/2006 9:36:28
Source ::: AP

Berlin • It’s a prospect loaded with historical baggage: German troops joining a proposed international force in Lebanon to police the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he likes the idea. But Berlin, mindful of the Nazi past, seems in no hurry. For Germany, keeping the peace in Lebanon would represent a big opportunity to bury the Hitler demon and project itself as a force for world peace. But are Jews, with memories of the Holocaust, ready for German soldiers patrolling their border? What if German troops were forced into conflict with Israeli soldiers?

“We as Germans should approach this region with the greatest caution,” warns Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Olmert says he told Merkel that Israel had “absolutely no problem with German soldiers in southern Lebanon”.

“There is at the moment no nation that is behaving in a more friendly way toward Israel than Germany,” Olmert told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily. “If Germany can contribute to the security of the Israeli people, that would be a worthwhile task for your country. I would be very happy if Germany participated.” But Joseph Lapid, an Israeli Holocaust survivor and former justice minister, thinks differently.“I think that for us it would be difficult to face German soldiers, but even more so I think that for the Germans it would not be advisable to get involved in a border incident in which they could shoot an Israeli soldier. This would raise hell,” he said. “So I think that for both sides the best advice would be to leave it alone.”

However, what’s striking about the Israeli reaction is how little there has been. In the past, the very thought of German military uniforms anywhere near Israel would have caused uproar. Yet Israeli historian Tom Segev thinks German peacekeepers, contained within a European force, “won’t touch on Israeli nerves”. “Everyone knows that Germany is the most important country for Israel after the United States, both militarily and economically,” he said. Indeed, Germany has gone out of its way to show it is a friend of Israel.Berlin has avoided directly criticising Israel since fighting erupted, repeatedly underscoring the Jewish state’s right to exist and its right to self-defense. It has called for a cease-fire “as quickly as possible” rather than immediately. In that position, Germany appears to be tacitly backing the US and British position that Hezbollah must be weakened.

While many see that as part of Merkel’s efforts to warm relations with the White House that chilled under her predecessor — Gerhard Schroeder, a fierce critic of the Iraq war — the main factor in the German approach appears to be the loaded past. Berlin is not ruling out troops for Lebanon, but also has other reasons to be cautious: Its military is stretched by peacekeeping missions elsewhere, and opinion polls show a strong majority of Germans oppose committing troops to a Mideast force. Michel Friedman, a former deputy leader of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, has reservations about sending the German army, the Bundeswehr, to Lebanon. “One should not overestimate the capacity of the Bundeswehr, and one should avoid German soldiers coming into conflict with Israeli soldiers,” he said in a telephone interview. “In the Middle East, you never know what will happen.”

Olmert, however, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung: “Why should German soldiers shoot at Israel? They would be part of the force protecting Israel”. One possible answer: If the force had the task of preventing Israeli ground retaliation for a provocation such as Hezbollah rocket fire. Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung suggested last month that if all sides were to ask it to contribute troops, Germany would have to oblige.

Germany ready to help police Lebanon? (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=August2006&file=World_News2006080793628.xml)

Obstacles abound to U.N. Mideast force

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria - Across the globe, at least 15 nations are considering sending troops to an eventual U.N.-mandated international force in southern Lebanon — including Malaysia, Indonesia and Norway.

But scores of others — skittish about a potential Middle East quagmire or already stretched thin elsewhere, such as the United States and Britain — have ruled out sending soldiers.

And over the whole enterprise hangs a Catch-22: Israel refuses to leave until the force is in place, and nations won't go in until a cease-fire is in effect.

"We do not want foreign troops to commit suicide by entering Lebanon under the current situation," said Syed Hamid Albar, the foreign minister of Malaysia, which has 1,000 soldiers on standby.

That accounts for the wait-and-see approach adopted by many nations. Diplomats are preoccupied with pushing through a U.N. resolution aimed at ending nearly a month of fighting before they tackle the question of a multinational force.

The 15 countries willing in principle to deploy forces — provided they get a strong U.N. mandate with clear rules of engagement — are Australia, Brazil, Chile, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey. There is also Poland, which already has 200 soldiers serving as U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and has said it's inclined to keep them there.

Three of the 15 have offered specifics of what they're ready to commit: Malaysia, which says its 1,000-strong contingent would be backed by armored vehicles; Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, which has offered about 800 men; and Norway, which has pledged nearly 100 marines and four missile torpedo boats.

Troop contributions could come from Italy, which last month promised a "substantial contribution"; Turkey, which has experience leading U.N. peacekeeping operations in
Afghanistan and Somalia; and France, which already has about 1,300 personnel and several frigates in the area.

"I don't foresee any more than 5,000 French in the zone," said Cmdr. Jerome Erulin, a French military spokesman, cautioning that it was too early to determine his nation's role. Five thousand "would be the high end of the range," he said.

Speculation on who might command a multinational force in southern Lebanon has centered on Turkey and France.

A daunting tangle of potential complications threatens to bedevil the international effort even before it gets under way.

Among the more striking examples is Germany. It has not ruled out contributing troops, but its leaders — mindful of the country's Nazi past — are anxious to avoid any scenario in which German soldiers could wind up in conflict with Israelis.

There are plenty of other thorny issues.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said his country would stop its offensive only after the deployment of a robust international force — "an army with combat units" ready and willing to rein in Hezbollah.

That raises the question of whether the Europeans and others are prepared for a campaign that could go beyond peacekeeping and firing weapons purely in self defense to the potentially bloody business of engaging and disarming Hezbollah militants. And with Hezbollah mixed among civilians, that involves a very high risk that the force would cause civilian casualties.

Some military analysts have raised the possibility that Hezbollah, if forced back by international troops, could lob its rockets over their heads and keep hitting targets in northern Israel. If Israel wanted to strike back by ground assault, it would presumably be up to the force to stop it.

The United States says it plans to help train and equip the Lebanese army, which many hope would ultimately take over the border area. Britain has hinted it may offer technical assistance.

But there are questions about whether the United States — busy training Iraqi security forces — has enough instructors to train Lebanese troops, and whether that training would be possible in Lebanon or best done in another country.

Cyprus has been mentioned as a possible staging point for international troops. But Turkey, which does not recognize the island's Greek-led government, would be restricted to using Cyprus' northern, ethnically Turkish part.

In much of the Muslim world, there is broad support for the idea of sending troops. Even Malaysia's largest opposition bloc, the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, contends the world's Muslims have a moral responsibility to help end the violence.

"The mission is good because it can prevent a broader Middle East conflict," said Cholil Munawir, a supporter of Indonesia's Islamic Community Forum, which bitterly opposes Israel's campaign in Lebanon.

But elsewhere, public resistance is building, just as it did before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In Germany, polls suggest two in three people oppose committing troops.

"Nigerian soldiers should not be sent to a war that is none of our business," said Ahmed Mohammed, a politician in Nigeria, which has not yet specified how many troops it's prepared to send.

"We cannot continue to sacrifice the lives of our young men for the mistakes of others."

Obstacles abound to U.N. Mideast force (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060807/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_un_force;_ylt=AptqbAGM59F9xXEterTUemVn.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-)

Iran to Provide Hezbollah with Anti-Aircraft and Other Weapons System

By Jim Kouri

(AXcess News) New York - While the Israeli forces have been able to maintain total air supremacy in the skies over Lebanon, Iran is preparing to turn over state-of-the-art anti-aircraft weapons systems to Hezbollah for use against Israeli military planes, according to a report in Friday's Jane's Defense Weekly.

Jane's reported that during a strategy meeting last month, Hezbollah requested that its Iranian sponsors "accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets."

Jane's report also stated that, "Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems."

Intelligence agencies in Israel and the US believe that Iran has already supplied the Lebanese-based terrorist group with highly-advanced anti-ship missiles, one of which was used in the early days of fighting to damage and Israeli warship stationed off the coast of Lebanon.

So far, Hezbollah has not mounted any defensive attacks against Israeli planes which continue to bomb throughout Lebanon unhindered by any viable air defenses, evidence that Iran has not delivered the anti-aircraft systems.

In a separate report appearing on the The Conservative Voice website, the Iranian government received a delivery of medium-range missiles from North Korea. Some analysts fear these types of missiles, which are much more accurate than those in Hezbollah's current arsenal, may end us in the hands of the terrorists.

Also, according to Jane's, a shipment of Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems is expected in the coming weeks to address that issue. Both Russia and China have been selling weapons systems and arms to the Iranians.

Israel's effective Merkava tanks have been exposed to some of the most sophisticated and powerful anti-tank missiles in use in the Middle East. Majority of Israeli force casualties are the result anti-tank missile attacks.

According to the Associated Press, a military intelligence officer said that Hezbollah possesses "some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world."

"This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units," he said.

Israel fears that failing to meet its military objectives this time around will mean a far more difficult, protracted and bloody battle the next time with Hezbollah since there's little doubt they will continue to build on their military capabilities

Iran to Provide Hezbollah with Anti-Aircraft and Other Weapons System (http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=10787)

Russia Seeks More Satisfying UN Resolution for Lebanon

Created: 08.08.2006 12:25 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:11 MSK, 49 minutes ago

MosNews

Russia favors a Security Council resolution that would satisfy Lebanon, Russia’s ambassador to the UN has said.

The conflict between Lebanon-based radical Islamic movement Hezbollah and Israel has been continuing for three weeks in southern Lebanon and has claimed almost 1,000 lives.

“It is obvious to us that a draft resolution that fails to satisfy the Lebanese side should not be adopted because it will only further escalate the violence,” Vitaly Churkin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying after consultations at the UN Security Council on Monday.

The Security Council decided to convene an open session Tuesday to discuss a draft resolution on Lebanon with all interested parties, including a delegation from the Arab League and, in particular, diplomats from Qatar, the only Muslim country on the UN Security Council.

The session will focus on a resolution drafted by the United States and France earlier this week. The document stipulates no immediate ceasefire or Israel’s pullout from Lebanon. Islamic countries, including Lebanon, have slammed the document for what they called legitimizing Israel’s aggression.

“At the moment, intensive efforts, including contacts and consultations, are being made... to try to make the resolution more acceptable for Lebanon,” Churkin said, though he declined to make any forecasts on when this could happen.

He said Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon to beyond the Blue Line, a provisional border between the two countries, remained the stumbling bloc on the way to a resolution.

“The draft resolution envisions a political process that is supposed to lead out Israeli troops but this is something that you can only discover after thorough analysis of the text,” Churkin said, adding that the document stipulated no 100-percent guarantees that this would happen soon.

“The Lebanese government is demanding a clear resolution that Israel will withdraw from southern Lebanon shortly after the hostilities are over,” he said.

Churkin continued that an alternative plan proposed by the Lebanese government to introduce a 15,000-strong Lebanese contingent into the area after Israel’s departure could bring a resolution to the conflict closer.

“I think that this new element must be seriously studied by the UN Security Council,” he said.

Churkin’s French counterpart in the UN, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, said the Security Council would try to improve the text of the resolution Tuesday but added that the Franco-American draft was a good piece of work.

Russia Seeks More Satisfying UN Resolution for Lebanon (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/08/betterforlebanon.shtml)

President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez: Israel Uses the Methods of Hitler, the U.S. Uses the Methods of Dracula. I'm a Nasserist who Has Crossed the Deserts, Ridden Camels, and Sung Along with the Bedouins. Al-Jazeera Plays a Role in Liberating the World

Following are excerpts from an interview with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 4, 2006.

Hugo Chavez: I want to congratulate the people of Qatar, and its leader, my friend and brother, Prince Hamad. From this pulpit, I send my brotherly congratulations to the entire Arab people. I'm celebrating my birthday in the heart of the Arab homeland, on Arab land. What a happy coincidence! My heart beats along with millions of Arab hearts. I could have been an Arab. I have crossed deserts, I have ridden camels, and I have sang along with the Bedouins. I have learnt in those years to love and respect the Arab people.

[...]

We feel that the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and against Lebanon is directed against us too. This aggression is unjustified. It is perpetrated in the fascist manner of Hitler. Israel is justified in criticizing Hitler and his aggression - and we criticize this as well - but now they are doing what Hitler did to the Jews. They are killing innocent children and whole families. They dismantled the legitimate government of Palestine, and thwarted tremendous efforts to achieve peace and establish a Palestinian state.

Now they are attacking Lebanon, and have destroyed more than half of it, according to the latest information. They have assassinated hundreds of innocent people, and to what end? There is no justification for this. I am telling you with all honesty that the hand of the Americans is spurring them on. This hand is behind the Israeli aggression. It is imperialistic aggression. The real threat to the world is the imperialistic threat posed by the U.S., and Israel is one of its imperialistic instruments in this part of the world.

[...]

On this day, as I am celebrating my birthday, I demand, on behalf of the people of Venezuela, that Israel withdraws from the land of Palestine and from Lebanon. There must be an immediate cease-fire. We must give room for diplomacy, and respect law and human rights. We cannot go back to living in caves. This will be terrible for the future of humanity.

[...]

Once again, the mask has fallen from the Satanic imperialistic face of the U.S. They used their veto to prevent the Security Council from activating the mechanism of the U.N. in order to put an end to this aggression.

[...]

Interviewer: Mr. President, could this lead us to say, as has been claimed, that this is an American war by proxy, rather than an Israeli war against Lebanon and Palestine?

Hugo Chavez: Yes, I have no doubt about this.

[...]

In 50 years, the U.S. consumed the energy consumed by humanity in 150 years. Now, they are working to take control of the petroleum of the peoples, in order to consume it, just like Dracula. They are like Count Dracula - always in search of petrol and blood. Why? Because they want to preserve something transient - the American imperialistic way of life.

[...]

In all honesty, I say that it is the U.S. that should formulate a plan for post-imperialism. American society cannot and should not come to an end, but the imperialism of the fascist elite will. We must defeat imperialism in this century, so that this elite will not annihilate the world. Either we succeed in 1,000 different ways to end imperialism, or else imperialism will use 1,000 different ways to annihilate the world. This would constitute the end of mankind, the end of our hopes. Jesus Christ called on us to live in the Kingdom of Peace, but there can be no peace without freedom. I'm a Christian, and I believe that Jesus came to announce to us the coming of the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God is peace, equality, and justice. The American empire is the number one enemy in the way of the Kingdom of Peace and Justice.

[...]

How can this be achieved? The answer has to do with the strategy that will allow us to reach our goal - reaching what Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven. How? This can be done in a multi-polar world. The answer is that we must create a multi-polar world. This is the spirit of the foreign policy of Venezuela, my dear friend and brother, Muhammad.

[...]

Someone talked to me about his pessimism regarding the future of Arab nationalism. I told him I was optimistic, because the ideas of Nasser are still alive. Nasser was one of the greatest people of Arab history, to say the least, a Nasserist, ever since I was a young soldier.

[...]

Whenever I meet an Al-Jazeera reporter, I feel like giving him an interview or a statement. Allow me to say to the Al-Jazeera staff that I am amazed by them. As someone who fights for a just world, it is an honor for me to be here, and to sit across from you in these studios, and among these colleagues and brothers in Al-Jazeera. I say to the media people I have met here, and with some of whom I shook hands, that you are an example and a model of honor, bravery, and the fight for justice. You are committed to the code of journalistic work, and to the breaking of the monopoly over the media, and the distortion of the truth, despite all the pressure.

[...]

My heart is with Al-Jazeera and with its media people, its employees, and its workers. You should continue to serve as an example, and present the truth to the world, because the truth is that you have a role in liberating the world.

I'm a Nasserist who Has Crossed the Deserts, Ridden Camels, and Sung Along with the Bedouins. (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1220)

How China's Secret Deals Are Fueling the ME War
By Stephen Pollard
Times Online | August 8, 2006

The story behind the story in the Middle East today is the proxy war, as Israel, on behalf of the US, takes on Hezbollah, which fights on behalf of Iran and Syria. Indeed, one can widen it further and describe the participants as proxies for the West versus militant Islam.

This analysis of the conflict sometimes mentions, in passing, Russia’s declining influence. But there is another player that has somehow received almost no coverage.

For decades China has been building up influence in the Middle East. It suits China’s strategy well that coverage has been almost non-existent. As Deng Xiaoping once put it, China must “hide brightness and nourish obscurity . . . to bide our time and build up our capabilities”. As China develops into the role of global power, its influence on the region is no longer obscure; it cannot now be ignored.

The original postwar Middle East proxies were the US and the Soviet Union. Washington supporting Israel and the Kremlin sponsoring enemy regimes and their terrorist offshoots. But the Sino-Soviet split, which began in the 1960s, meant a lifting of the constraint on China getting involved, and it soon began to develop ties to countries that were not under Soviet influence, such as Egypt under Sadat.

A brilliant analysis of China’s role by Barry Rubin, in the Middle East Review of International Affairs, describes China’s first steps thus: “As hope for global revolution faded and Beijing switched its partners from tiny opposition groups to governments, China now projected itself as leader of the Third World, struggling against the hegemony of the two superpowers, the USSR and the United States. Lacking the strength and level of development of other great powers, China would try to make itself the head of a massive coalition of the weaker states.” That meant, in the Middle East, Israel’s enemies.

Today countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan — all key states in the region — have strong ties to China, which they are all likely to see as a counterbalance to American power in the Middle East and beyond.

As President Jiang Zemin put it in 1994, US “hegemony” should be opposed, in part by helping countries such as Iran, which were already fighting that battle. But China’s strategy dovetailed geopolitics with economic necessity. Without access to oil markets, China had to fuel economic expansion by turning to more neglected suppliers, such as Iran, Iraq and Sudan. And with a growing consumption of Gulf oil, so China has had to direct its security policy towards ensuring that the US will not be able to interfere with the flow of oil. This means developing ever stronger political and strategic relationships with oil exporters.

Jiang’s state visit in 1999 to Saudi Arabia cemented what he termed a “strategic oil partnership”. In 1996 Saudi exported 60,000 barrels per day to China. By 2000 exports stood 350,000 bpd (17 per cent of Beijing’s oil imports). Iranian oil exports rose even faster, from 20,000 bpd in 1995 to 200,000 bpd in 2000.

The Middle East is now China’s fourth largest trading partner. But its trade is hardly traditional. As Rubin puts it: “Being so late in entering the region — and having less to offer in economic or technology terms than the United States, Russia, Japan, and Europe — China must go after marginal or risky markets . . . supplying customers no one else will service with goods no one else will sell them.” What that means, of course, is arms.

In the war-by-proxy analysis, Iran is rightly said to be the power and arms supplier behind Hezbollah. But the issue of where Iran’s arms come from has been ignored. China has sold Iran tanks, planes, artillery, cruise, anti-tank, surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft missiles as well as ships and mines. It is also Iran’s main supplier of unconventional arms and is thought by almost all monitors to be illicitly involved in supplying key elements in Iran’s chemical and nuclear weapons programme. This is despite China being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

China has sold nuclear reactors to Algeria, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and Chinese nuclear weapons designs were found in Libya. It has also negotiated with Syria on the sale of M11 ballistic missiles. China is one of the few global suppliers of ballistic missiles. and can charge a heavy price. It demanded of the Saudis, for instance, to whom it sold CSS2 missiles, payment in cash, ensuring both the cementing of a key strategic relationship and total deniability of the sale.

Both nations have kept the relationship as secret as possible, but one expert, Robert Mullins, estimates that at least 1,000 Chinese military advisers have been based at Saudi missile installations since the mid-1990s. Such secret deals are handled by Polytechnologies Incorporated, a defence firm controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, which both installs weapons and trains handlers.

But like all the most successful illicit traders, China is ideologically profligate in its relations. Keen to supply weapons to Israel’s enemies in return for oil, it is equally happy to trade with Israel in return for its technology. As Benjamin Netanyahu put it to the Chinese when, as Prime Minister, he championed an Israeli investment in China: “Israeli knowhow is more valuable than Arab oil.” The estimates are that there has been between $1 billion and $3 billion of arms trade between China and Israel. But in this case the flow of arms and weapons technology has been from Israel to China.

In the immediate analysis of the present conflict, it is clearly Iran and Syria that, as President Bush put it, should “stop doing this gotcha2”. But any deeper explanation of the realpolitik of the Middle East has to include the insidious role of the Chinese, the 21st century’s next superpower.

How China's Secret Deals Are Fueling the ME War (http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=23749)

‘12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say
Aug 7, 2006
By Olivia Tulley
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among the nearly 68 million people in Iran, the vast majority are Muslim who place their hope not in modern-day politics or rulers but in a person who walked the earth centuries ago and is promised to return.

“Both Islam and Christianity have a very well-defined eschatology, or period of the last days; both of them cannot be correct …,” said William Wagner, senior professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, “How Islam Plans to Change the World.”

A majority of Shiite Muslims traditionally believe that the “12th Imam” (Islamic religious leader), born in 868 A.D., was placed by God into hiding (known as occultation) until the day of judgment. Southern Baptist author and evangelist Anis Shorrosh explained that many Shiites also refer to the 12th Imam as the Mahdi, an Arabic word that generally references a messiah, or a guide.

“This man will come to show them the way, because the prayer of every Muslim five times a day … ends with ‘Show us the right path, not the path of those who have incurred your anger or those who are lost, but those upon whom grace has come,’” Shorrosh said.

Though most strains of Islam have a belief in the Mahdi, Shiites traditionally believe he is Mohammed ibn Hasan, the 12th in the line of imams who were descendents of the prophet Mohammed. Though they do not know when the Mahdi will return, they believe he will come to end the misery of his people. Some strains of Islam even hold a belief that Jesus will be the Mahdi who will return and proclaim Islam as the true religion.

“Satan always tries to duplicate everything that God does,” Wagner said, “and I believe he has created his own eschatology that is somewhat similar to that of Christianity, but false enough to where it is apparent that it is not the truth.”

Ray Tallman, director of the school of intercultural studies at Golden Gate Seminary, noted that the major eschatological question for Shiite Muslims is when the Mahdi’s return will take place -– and many hold the belief that the time is near. The increasing clash with Israel and that with Christianity are two indications to Shiites that the Mahdi’s return could be near, said Tallman, who spent seven years as the international director for Arab World Ministries.

“All of that is sort of a sign of the times that now it has come to this, and that what is actually being done now out of hate has an eschatological sign of promise to it,” Tallman said of the Shiite view.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cited by various news sources as not only believing in the eventual return of the Mahdi, but that the return is near and that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to prepare the country for his return.

“Belief in a savior is universal,” BBC News quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in January. “It is the pivot of our beliefs as Muslims and Iranians. We believe that an offspring of the prophet, may peace be upon him, will be the ultimate savior. His name and attributes are clear. He will come and will administer ultimate justice.”

The belief that the Mahdi’s return is near is not a new claim among Shiites, Wagner said, but one that has been held almost since the 12th Imam was historically placed into hiding.

“Almost every generation has some figures in Islam that either claim to be the 12th Imam or claim that the 12th Imam will come to himself,” Wagner said.

Although Shiites and Sunnis often battle against each other, as is currently the case in Iraq, Wagner noted common efforts among both groups of Muslims to destroy Israel, which is a critical part of Islam taking control in the world and thus ushering in the Mahdi.

“They feel like one of the major blocking points is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel,” Wagner said.

Wagner further noted that Islam is “on the march” with the intention of the entire world becoming Muslims.

“The problem is that in many parts of the world today, Christianity has become very weak,” Wagner said. “It is extremely necessary for all Christians to reevaluate their faith and to become stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one thing that Islam fears the most because, down deep; they know that they cannot compete with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Wagner also noted that Islam is a religion of fear, with many Muslims fearing their own faith.

“It is the task of Christians to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to Muslims everywhere so that they can be released from this fear and find the assurance of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ,” Wagner said.

‘12th Imam,’ key facet of Islamic prophecy, fueling Middle East turmoil, experts say (http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?Id=23746)

Heavy Fighting in Southern Lebanon; Sleeping Terror Cell Caught
17:04 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

IDF captures 5 Hizbullah fighters overnight, including a cell that had fallen asleep. Two soldiers killed. Olmert meets with Katzav, says Lebanese proposal to take over south is "interesting."

In the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon, Israeli paratroopers discovered a small group of sleeping Hizbullah terrorists, complete with heavy weaponry and other equipment. The Israelis woke them up and brought them to Israel.

In a separate incident, a unit of reservists captured a Hizbullah unit with rockets ready for firing. Five Hizbullah terrorists were captured in total, and between 7 and 15 were killed. Heavy fighting continues in the area, and only at 1:30 PM was it released for publication that two soldiers had been killed. One soldier was brought to an Israeli hospital with a serious head wound, and seven others were lightly wounded.

Over 110 Katyushas have been fired at various Israeli cities in the north since this morning, including Kiryat Shmonah, Tzfat, Maalot, Nahariya and more. Sirens continue to sound all over the region, sending people to their shelters and generally increasing the feelings of helplessness and uncertainty suffered by the residents for the past month.

One person in Maalot suffered "moderate" wounds and four were wounded when a building was hit, while a similar strike in the Arab village of Kasuta wounded two. Over a dozen people were treated for shock - in addition to 17 people, including five children, treated for such in one afternoon attack in Tzfat.

More than 160 Katyushas were fired on Monday, wounding 17 people. Close to 3,150 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the war four weeks ago; 75 people are still hospitalized as a result.

Four soldiers were killed on Monday in three separate battles with Hizbullah terrorists. One, 22-year-old Staff Sergeant Malko (Moshe) Ambao of Lod, was killed Monday morning in a fierce exchange of gunfire with Hizbullah terrorists. Two other soldiers - Maj. Yotam Lotan from Kibbutz Beit Hagotcha2ah and Sgt. Noam Meirson, 23, of Jerusalem - were killed in a later incident when a rocket hit their tank nearby. Still later, an anti-tank rocket hit an IDF force in the village of Debl, killing First Sgt. Philip Mosko, 21, of Maaleh Adumim and lightly wounding five soldiers.

Olmert Studies Interesting Proposal
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert briefed President Moshe Katzav on the war this morning, and then met with reporters. He said that he and the government ministers are "studying" the proposal for the Lebanese Army to take immediate control of the south of the country, in place of Hizbullah. Calling it "interesting," the Prime Minister said the practicality of the idea would have to be looked into. It is not clear how it could be guaranteed that Hizbullah terrorists would not be integrated into the Lebanese forces. Hizbullah is a member of the Lebanese government coalition.

Speaking beforehand in a special broadcast to Jewish fundraisers in the United States, Olmert said, "We will win, but we will have to pay a terrible price." A special emergency appeal is underway in the U.S. for Israel's war effort.

"Our enemies wish to kill us," Olmert told them, "in the hope that they will help actualize the Iranian president's pledge to wipe Israel off the map."

Heavy Fighting in Southern Lebanon; Sleeping Terror Cell Caught (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109500)

Livni: Siniora must wipe away his tears and start acting

Foreign minister says in special Knesset discussion, in which families of kidnapped soldiers participate, that Israel is paying for weakness of Lebanese government. Knesset speaker, MK Itzik, attacks war critics and decisions of political and military apparatuses: 'We cannot conduct this war in atmosphere of inquiry committee'
Ilan Marciano

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called Tuesday in her Knesset speech to the Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora "to wipe away his tears and to start acting in order to create a better future for the citizens for whom he is crying." In a special discussion in which the families of the kidnapped soldiers participated, Livni related to Siniora's crying in front of the foreign ministers of the Arab world in Beirut Monday.

According to Livni, Israel is paying the price for the weakness of the Lebanese government, the same price the Lebanese people are paying. "Siniora is using his weakness to call the international community to strengthen him. We say to the international community not to leave its decisions as mere decisions on paper, which are later pointed to when they are preserved in archives. We must not give veto power to Hizbullah. With the international community understands Siniora's weakness it gives more power to Hizbullah."

The foreign minister mentioned the draft resolution submitted by the US and France to the UN Security Council, but refused to give Israel's official position on the issue, claiming that "we are also still asking to make corrections."

Among the changes Israel is asking be made are establishing Hizbullah, using their specific name in the draft, as the party that started the confrontation and not mentioning the kidnapped soldiers in the same clause as the prisoners. "At the same time, a discussion was held on the demands for an immediate ceasefire, at the end of which the future of Lebanon will be discussed, a demand which we claim will create a vacuum," Livni said.

"The understanding in the draft is that Hizbullah must stop their attacks against everyone, including soldiers, not only Israeli civilians. Israel is asked to suspend operations, but there is no demand to withdraw our forces. Of course we still have the right to respond," Livni clarified.

Itzik: They invented term 'refugee' for us

At the start of the discussion MK Itzik attacked those who criticize the war and the conduct of the military and political apparatuses saying that this is not the time to deal with "the day after." According to her, "There are those who it is important to them to be petty and find flaws in what we are doing while we are burying our dead. This is not the time. A country cannot conduct a way in an atmosphere of an inquiry committee.

She made a subtle criticism of the Arab Knesset members. "Also, for those among us who are calling in the name of humanitarianism to make a ceasefire, here and now with no conditions – the pictures from Lebanon are difficult to see, I admit, but they are no more difficult that pictures of thousands of Israeli children torn from their houses to the south away from the threat of rockets. They are no more difficult than the images of destruction and the burning of cities, towns, and agricultural areas from Haifa and northward. They are no more difficult than the pictures of the blood and killing in Kfar Giladi, Haifa, or Majdal Krum."

To those who are disturbed by the images of Lebanese refugees, Itzik said: "There is no nation who can teach us what it means to a refugee and uprooted. They invented the term 'refugee' for us. Enough of the self-flagellation and the self-righteous moral preaching. Anyway we are conducting this war with one hand tied behind our back because of our interest in protecting humanitarian and moral principles against a murderous enemy who makes no distinction and value of human life. I am still waiting for the first Hizbullah members, the first Lebanese, who will express regret or apologize for the suffering of innocent people on the Israeli side."

On the years gone by since IDF forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, Itzik said, "We exploited our exit to build guest houses, and on the other side of the border they exploited it to arm with rockets. When we cultivated agriculture, the economy, tourism, they cultivated the ability to launch rockets."

Like Livni, Itzik also made a call to the Lebanese prime minister saying, "Stop crying and start doing. Expel this excessive terrorist parasite called Hizbullah and out two nations will be able to go back to smiling."

Before the discussion, Itzik met with the families of the kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, and Gilad Shalit, who came on their own initiative to the Knesset to ensure that any political arrangement will include the return of their beloved. Itzik praised the restraint and the resilience of the families.

Livni: Siniora must wipe away his tears and start acting (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3288228,00.html)

U.S.-French Alliance on U.N. Cease-Fire Resolution Crumbling

Tuesday , August 08, 2006

UNITED NATIONS — The French-American alliance at the United Nations over a Mideast cease-fire agreement is crumbling, sources tell FOX News.

The French U.N. delegation has joined with Arab nations and is now calling for a complete and immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as a condition of any cease-fire, the sources said.

In addition, the French have reportedly agreed with Arab demands that the Lebanese force be accompanied only by UNIFIL, with no international force to be deployed.

Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are pushing to take Lebanon's offer to deploy 15,000 forces into the embattled southern region along with UNIFIL forces to gain stability without an international force there after more than three weeks of intense fighting.

The diplomatic efforts came as thirteen Lebanese fell victim to Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon as Israel announced it was planning to push further into Lebanon Military to target rocket sites.

The United States State Department said Lebanon's proposal was "an important proposal," but one Bush administration official told FOX News that the United States is drawing a "line in the sand," saying that an international force has to deployed alongside the Lebanese forces.

The United States and France wrangled Tuesday over ways to allay Lebanon's fears that Israel would win too much from a draft U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution, as three Arab foreign ministers argued for changes to the text.

In a private meeting, the Americans and French considered two tentative proposals they hoped would both accommodate Lebanon's demands and revive diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hezbollah fighting.

Both nations agree on one proposal: that the resolution should support Lebanon's offer Monday to deploy 15,000 troops to monitor a buffer zone in the south, once under de facto Hezbollah control and now partly occupied by Israeli troops, diplomats said.

The other proposal, still in the early stages, was to deploy some sort of international force to Chebaa Farms, an area along the Lebanese and Syrian borders occupied by Israeli troops, diplomats said. Lebanon had made that demand previously and was upset when the original draft resolution did not reflect it.

The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the talks.

The discussions were held ahead of a Security Council meeting set for later Tuesday in which a delegation of three top Arab officials were to spell out their objections to the U.S.-French draft resolution.

After that, the delegation planned to meet privately with U.S. and French diplomats to discuss concrete changes to the draft.

On Monday, Arab ministers agreed to send a delegation consisting of the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to plead Lebanon's case.

Washington and Paris had been expected to circulate a new draft of the resolution Monday but decided to wait to hear from the Arab delegation. The council planned to hold closed consultations after hearing from the delegation, and could introduce a new draft late in the day or on Wednesday.

Because of Security Council rules, 24 hours must pass before a resolution can be voted on. That means any vote probably won't occur until Thursday at the earliest.

Tarek Mitri, sent to the U.N. as a special envoy by Lebanon's Council of Ministers, criticized the resolution's failure to demand an Israeli pullout and its call for Israel to halt only offensive military operations, which he called "a recipe for the continuation of violence."

Hezbollah has said it will reject any halt in fighting that leaves Israeli troops in Lebanon, and Israel has insisted it won't withdraw until it is guaranteed Hezbollah rocket fire will stop.

U.S.-French Alliance on U.N. Cease-Fire Resolution Crumbling (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,207454,00.html)

Arab League Wants UN to Press for Withdrawal of Israeli Troops from Lebanon
By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
09 August 2006

A delegation from the League of Arab Nations has met with the U.N. Security Council to push for revisions to the U.S.-French draft resolution aimed at a truce in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. From New York, VOA correspondent Barbara Schoetzau reports talks will continue Wednesday.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr-Al-Thani, speaking for the delegation, warned the Council against adopting a non-enforceable resolution that would have grave repercussions throughout the Middle East, sowing seeds of hate that terrorists can use as a pretext for violence.

The Arab League is pushing for a series of amendments to the draft resolution presented by Lebanon to Arab foreign ministers Monday, including a call for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

After the Security Council meeting, Lebanon's special envoy Tareq Mitri expressed disappointment at the pace of talks.

"We have been talking to various members of the U.N. Security Counci," he said. "Those remarks, proposals, suggestions of ours have been heard by many, but yet, we have not reached a point where we can with confidence say that they have been taken on board by the two members of the Council who are drafting the resolution."

Mitri said Lebanon is ready to deploy 15,000 troops to work with an expanded U.N. force to take over southern Lebanon from Hezbollah forces.

Israeli U.N. ambassador Dan Gillerman said the meeting served little purpose. He said Israeli troops will pull out of southern Lebanon the minute there is a political solution and a viable multinational force is in place.

"We have had a U.N. blue-helmeted force in the region for 28 years," he said. "Just to remind you, it is called United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. This Interim Force has taken 28 years in which that force has been totally impotent and incapable in preventing any of the terror activities which have happened in our region. I think it should be a robust, professional, effective force. A blue-helmeted force has been tried for 28 years and obviously failed."

France and the United States reached agreement on the draft resolution Saturday and the Council had hoped to vote on it early in the week. But the Council delayed formal consideration to listen to the concerns of the Arab League. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa says the delegation will continue consultations with Security Council members Wednesday to try to come up with a resolution that is acceptable to Arab members.

Arab League Wants UN to Press for Withdrawal of Israeli Troops from Lebanon (http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-09-voa1.cfm)

UN deal may come too late to end fighting as obstacles to truce continue to mount

Ewen MacAskill and Rory McCarthy
Tuesday August 8, 2006
The Guardian

The UN security council will almost certainly adopt a ceasefire resolution this week, in spite of objections from Lebanon and others in the Arab world. But diplomats and analysts were united in despair yesterday, expressing doubts that the resolution could stop the fighting.

"It does not look good," one European diplomat said. "There is nobody interested in stopping now. Hizbullah has no reason to stop. The discrepancy between what is being discussed at the diplomatic table and what is happening on the ground is terrible."

They fear the draft resolution may have come too late. There is concern it is too weighted towards Israel and risks destabilising Lebanon's moderate government.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said on Sunday that once there was a resolution in place, it would be clear who was interested in peace and who was not. The assumption behind her words was that Israel would obey the ceasefire call and Hizbullah might not.

But the reality may be that neither side will obey a ceasefire call. The draft resolution would allow Israel to continue "defensive" operations against Hizbullah and for its forces to remain in southern Lebanon. It is doubtful if Israel could, at this stage, accept a ceasefire when Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, has so little to show for almost four weeks of fighting.

Hizbullah could welcome a ceasefire and declare itself victorious, having stood up to the Israelis longer than any Arab army. But the group has said it would not accept any deal that leaves Israel occupying southern Lebanon.

There are face-saving measures available for both sides. If Israel were to secure the release of the two soldiers held by Hizbullah, that would help Mr Olmert persuade the Israeli public the war was justified. If Israel was to hand over Sheba'a Farms, a pocket of land it held after its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hizbullah could claim a symbolic victory. But a deal on either is not in the draft resolution.

Nadim Shehadi, a specialist on Lebanon at the thinktank, Chatham House, was pessimistic. His estimate was that the draft resolution had a "less than 50% chance of success".

He said the resolution offered a chance to contain the conflict locally but that might be too late. The danger was of a wider regional engagement of Syria and Iran. In that case the Bush administration had two choices: make a deal with Syria, which would be a high price to pay, or go to war.

"If the US says 'we do not have the stomach [to make a deal] and do not accept defeat', then probably you have a regional military escalation," he said.

"If there was an attack on Syria, it will involve Iran because they have a pact. It means Iraq goes up in smoke. Everything in Iraq could look like a warm-up if Iran manages to set off a Shia rising. You would have the British army in a Zulu situation."

He said Iran had been playing chess while the US has been playing poker. "The Americans have been bluffing, saying 'we are going to attack you'. Either you are bluffing or not. It is time to show the cards," Mr Shehadi said.

Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, held out hope that the intervention of the Arab League, which represents all Arab governments, in support of Lebanon at the UN might yet avoid such an apocalyptic outcome. "What's happening here is an example of the strong hold that Hizbullah has over the Lebanese government," he said. "I think the Lebanese government would have accepted the draft resolution, but Hizbullah insist on their terms, which is that a ceasefire comes after an Israeli withdrawal.

Professor Avineri said there might be a way forward if the Arab League were to "provide a shield" against Hizbullah. "If they have that shield, then Lebanon might be able to accept that first step of the US-French draft and perhaps one can see progress," he said.

He said the Israeli public was still behind the government, but it expected a positive result from the conflict. "The Israeli government has to insist on the deployment of an international force and cannot accept the Hizbullah ultimatum," he said. "You don't go back to square one at the end of this war.

"The Israeli government has to respond to what is now a very angry Israeli population that wants to see some sort of result."

UN deal may come too late to end fighting as obstacles to truce continue to mount (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1839379,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is from "The Guardian" they mix the facts, with fiction.

IDF broadcasts Hizbullah's dead on al-Manar (Hizbollah TV HACKED) !!!
YNET/GAMLA News Item

August 9, 2006

Israeli army takes over terror group's TV station airwaves twice daily to show propaganda films presenting Nasrallah as liar, showing Hizbullah operatives fleeing from battle Ynet

While Israel Defense Forces soldiers are fighting brutal battles in the villages of southern Lebanon , the army is also fighting a fierce PR war against Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah .

The IDF took over the airwaves of Hizbullah's al-Manar television network as it showed Nasrallah's last speech and replaced the broadcast with propaganda footage. The video showed the bodies of Hizbullah operatives and asserted that fighters were fleeing from the battlegrounds.

Since the beginning of fighting in Lebanon the IDF has briefly taken control of the airwaves of al-Manar, Radio Nour, and Radio Sawt Al-Shab (the radio station of the communist party, which identifies with Hizbullah) to relay Israeli messages aimed at boosting deterrence, demoralizing Hizbullah and presenting Nasrallah as a liar and incapable leader.

Clips broadcast on al-Manar made use of motifs taken from the world of Lebanon and Hizbullah, including quotes from Nasrallah.

The IDF has only assumed control of ground transmissions via regular antennae; satellite broadcasts were uninterrupted.

Like everything in the IDF, there was a three-part explanation supporting the take-over of Hizbullah media:

1. Use of the organization's own platforms to broadcast Israel 's messages

2. Creating the sense that the organization is "penetrable" and that Israel has powerful capabilities

3. Damaging the organization's abilities for set periods of time, and using the media as part of the war on to access the consciousness of the Lebanese community.

The propaganda videos expose Nasrallah's lies regarding the number of casualties the organization has suffered in fighting against Israel.

Likewise, a clip was produced showing "the escape legend" of Hizbullah fighters in battles in the south and in Baalbeck, weighed against a letter Hizbullah operatives sent to Nasrallah which he presented as a "Letter of the brave."

In addition, the clip shows Israeli commando activities in Baalbek, as well as the report on the IDF take-over of al-Manar in a Lebanese newspaper.

The IDF broadcasts the programs twice daily at 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

IDF broadcasts Hizbullah's dead on al-Manar (Hizbollah TV HACKED) !!! (http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2006/aug/aug9a.htm)

Iran and Syria exploiting weak Israeli leadership to expand war
By Jonathan Ariel August 9, 2006

Iran and Syria have increased their involvement in the current war, after having reached a joint decision that the risk of Israeli retaliation against them is minimal.

According to a western intelligence source, which enjoys good access in Teheran and Damascus, this decision was facilitated by Israel's reluctance to take any action against Syria, despite the fact that Israeli intelligence is aware of the growing involvement of Damascus and Teheran.

Nasrallah transferred his command post to the Iranian embassy in Beirut almost two weeks ago. The Iranian authorities got confirmation that Israel was aware of this when Channel 2 news released the information earlier this week. The fact that the Iranian embassy has not received a visit from the IAF even after this became public knowledge convinced the Iranian leadership that Israel's political leadership lacks the stomach for a showdown, and that they therefore can continue to wage a war of attrition by proxy with impunity, causing Israel growing casualties as well as economic and diplomatic damage without risking any consequences.

In their eyes, the government has exhibited weakness and hesitatation since day one. The initial signal was the Israeli government's reluctance to declare a national emergency, which they took as a sign that the leadership was unwilling to even admit the possibility of involvement in a total war. The next development was the government's initial delay in calling up reserves, which they saw as a further sign of meekness emanating from an untested leadership.

The Qana affair was another Iranian move to test the waters. It has already been proven beyond a shadow of doubt that the entire affair was stage-managed by Hezbollah. The reason for this move was to check what Israel's reaction would be to adverse criticism coming in the wake of an accusation of large-scale civilian deaths.

The Israeli reaction was obliging, a panic followed by a statement to suspend air activities for 48 hours. Assad and Ahmadinejad saw in this response confirmation of their suspicions that Olmert and Peretz, both security neophytes, lacked the confidence needed to take them on, despite the IDF's superiority over their militaries, and that Israel's political leadership would vacillate rather than take decisive action.

The fact that Qana was chosen was not coincidental. The Iranians were aware of the fact that the name was seared in the memory of Israel and the media, because of the accidental Israeli shelling of the village during the 1996 Grapes of Wrath campaign. That incident caused major civilian casualties, generating diplomatic and media fallout that ended in then-Premier Peres ending the campaign prematurely, setting the stage for his electoral defeat a few months later, and providing the grounds for Hezbollah to massively upgrade its military and political infrastructure in Lebanon.

As soon as this decision was reached, both countries have increased their overt involvement, to prevent a Hezbollah collapse. Syria, at Iran's request, has allowed Hezbollah to set up a command post at Anjar, a Syrian military base adjacent to the Lebanese border in the Beqaa area. In addition to senior Hezbollah commanders, the base is also host to officers from the Syrian army and Iranian Pasderan (Revolutionary Islamic Guards), who liaison with the Hezbollah commanders, providing them with the best electronic surveillance of Israel at the disposal of the Syrian and Iranian military intelligence agencies.

The efforts to replenish Hezbollah's supplies of rockets is also being coordinated and managed from this base. Iranian- and Syrian-made rockets and missiles, loaded on pack animals, are entering Lebanon via narrow donkey tracks which have been used for decades by local smugglers. Due to the hilly and wooded terrain, the IAF cannot spot every shipment, and some are getting through. IDF intelligence is aware of the situation. Brig. General Yossi Beiditz, a senior military intelligence officer, has been quoted as saying: "Iran is actively involved in running and managing the war, and together with Syria is replenishing Hezbollah's supplies of rockets". Another senior IDF officer has voiced similar sentiments, saying that as long as Israel takes no decisive action against these convoys resupplying Hezbollah, there is no way the IDF can end the ongoing shelling of Israel's northern towns and cities. Neither the Prime Minister's office nor the IDF spokesperson denied Beiditz's statement, but refused to comment on it at all.

Iran has been trying to refresh Hezbollah's supply of medium and long range missiles, most of which have been destroyed by the IAF. This is proving more difficult, since these missiles, with their large launchers cannot be smuggled on mules traversing narrow mountainous donkey tracks. According to unconfirmed reports, Iran has succeeded in getting to Hezbollah one battery of upgraded Zelzal missiles, which have a range of over 200-300 kilometers (120-200 miles).

However, launching such a long-range missile is problematic for Hezbollah. Unlike Katyusha rockets (range up to 70 kilometers), which can be launched from small and highly mobile launchers, missiles such as the Zelzal require large launchers on heavy trucks, and longer launch preparation times, increasing the time-frame they are exposed and vulnerable to IAF bombing.

IDF sources have confirmed that several long range-missiles launches (unclear whether Zelzal or Khaibar missiles) have been foiled by bombing attacks in the middle of launch preparations. One launch, early in the war was prevented at the last minute when it was bombed as it was lifting off. Some Khaibars, which require shorter launch procedures than the Zelzal, have landed in Afula and Hadera. One Zelzal missile has actually been launched, but due to the hurried launch preparations to avoid an air raid, the guidance system was improperly set and the missile landed harmlessly several kilometers offshore, in the sea opposite a town in central Israel.

If the reports regarding the upgraded Zelzal are true, it is unclear whether this battery is in Lebanon or, as seems more likely, in Hezbollah's hands on Syrian soil. A more important question is whether Syria will take the next step, and allow Hezbollah to launch the missiles from its territory, where they are expected to be safe from the IAF.

Iran and Syria exploiting weak Israeli leadership to expand war (http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/9105.htm)

Hizbollah brings honor to world of Islam
Dubai, Aug 9, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-Ambassador
Iranian Consul General in Dubai Mohammad-Jaafar Khatibzadeh here Wednesday said that the Lebanese Hizbollah brings honor to the world of Islam and hoped for its victory in the Zionist regime's war against Lebanon.

He told IRNA that all world Muslims consider Lebanon as part of the world of Islam, adding that what is taking place in this country has annoyed the people of the world.

Turning to the glorious rallies in support of Lebanese people's resistance throughout the world, he said they are obvious examples of popular support for the country's resistance.

"During the Zionist regime's one-month war against Lebanon, independent governments have also been supporting Lebanon's resistance and innocent people.

"Fortunately, in the ongoing unequal war, the meeting point of right and wrong is so distinct that it prompts every free man to sympathize with the patient Lebanese people," he added.

The Iranian diplomat said that despite being displaced in the war, Lebanon's innocent people do not complain once they are questioned by reporters and consider themselves as soldiers of the brave and faithful Arab leader, Seyed Hassan Nasrollah and fully support him.

He pointed to the Zionist regime's brutal attacks on Lebanese people in a completely unequal war, he said that the flame of war ignited by the Zionist regime in Lebanon has so far resulted in major human and economic loss.

"In spite of all difficulties imposed on Lebanese people in the war, the US and France are seeking to have a biased resolution approved by the United Nations Security Council," he said.

Concerning the approach of UAE government to Lebanese resistance, he called it as favorable, advanced, Islamic and humanitarian.

He assessed the UAE press coverage of Zionist regime's war against Lebanon and Lebanese people's resistance as positive.

About the relief aid provided for Lebanese people by Iranian Consulate in Dubai, he said, "Hundreds of dirhams have so far been transferred to two bank accounts, which have been opened by the consulate and allocated to the cause.

"Besides, to encourage tradesmen to help Lebanese people, several meetings have already been held."

Hizbollah brings honor to world of Islam (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0608093494191739.htm)

For some evangelicals, Mideast war stirs hope
Believing the Mideast conflict is a sign that Christ will return soon, some evangelical groups have cheered Israel's military actions.
BY ALEXANDRA ALTER

The Rapture Index -- a popular evangelical Christian Web posting that calculates a global rise in natural disasters, war and inflation -- bills itself as ``a Dow Jones industrial average of end-time activity.''

An index below 85 signifies a week of ''slow prophetic activity.'' Anything above 145 signals the apocalypse is near.

The Rapture Index this week: 158. The spike reflects many U.S. evangelicals' view that growing conflict in the Middle East signals the start of a global struggle leading to Christ's return.

''We believe 100 percent what the Scripture has to say about this,'' said Jack Heintz, a South Florida businessman and president of the Christian group Peace for Israel, who recruited 23 evangelical Christians to join a July telephone fundraising event for Israel. ``There's going to be a total battle, the battle of Armageddon, and I believe that's very close to happening.''

Some have ratcheted up support for Israel in its current battle in Lebanon with Hezbollah out of belief that a raging war -- perhaps even a nuclear confrontation -- marks a prelude to the apocalypse. Christian groups are sending millions of dollars to Israeli communities and shelters, hosting pro-Israel rallies and urging U.S. politicians to back Israeli military action.

Evangelicals have issued dire warnings about a conflagration in the Middle East for decades, said Clyde Wilcox, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who studies evangelicals and politics. Many evangelicals regard such calls with skepticism, he said.

''Every time there's been a war in the Middle East, this comes up,'' Wilcox said. ``Most evangelicals would not interpret this as saying that Christ is coming back in the next couple of years.''

RAISED INTEREST

Since the current crisis erupted July 12, interest in the Rapture Index has mushroomed, said Todd Strandberg, a Christian from Nebraska who updates the index on his website, raptureready.com. The site had a quarter-million unique visitors in July, up from 180,000 the previous month, Strandberg said.

''The Scripture bears witness to these events being part of the end-times prophecy,'' said Gary Cristofaro, pastor of First Assembly of God in Melbourne. ``Israel is so important in God's eyes.''

Cristofaro's church is one of a handful of Florida congregations that tithes a monthly donation to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a practice that stems from a belief that Israel must control the Palestinian territories in order to fulfill biblical prophecy. The congregation has donated more than $100,000 to support Israeli settlements in the past decade, Cristofaro said. On Saturday, church members plan to hold a ''Bless Israel'' fundraising event for 2,000 people.

Evangelicals' financial support for Israel has increasingly been supplemented by political action, Christian and Jewish leaders say.

At a July 18-19 pro-Israel rally in Washington, Christians from Florida and other states lobbied politicians to back Israel's military campaign in Lebanon. The Rev. John Hagee, pastor of a mega-church in San Antonio and founder of Christians United for Israel, organized the convention in hopes of launching a pro-Israel political network in 50 states.

Hagee has issued dire predictions about instability in the region leading to apocalypse. In his 2006 book Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, Hagee warns: ``The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty. The war of Ezekiel 38-39 could begin before this book gets published.''

Other high-profile Christian leaders have espoused similar views. In a July 22 commentary, the Rev. Jerry Falwell predicted present-day conflict in the Middle East will ''serve as a prelude or forerunner to the future Battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ.'' Pat Robertson has shied away from declaring Armageddon but has warned ''God himself'' will fight for Israel.

WARY OF SOME EFFORTS

While a number of Jewish leaders have courted evangelicals' support for the Jewish homeland, others are troubled by its theological underpinnings, said Rabbi James Rudin, senior interreligious advisor at the America Jewish Committee in New York. Jewish leaders have long been wary of evangelicals' effort to convert Jews to Christianity through messianic groups such as Jews for Jesus and the Chosen People Ministries.

''Is the motivation to stand up for Israel, or convert the Jewish people and bring on the end of days?'' said Rabbi Solomon Schiff, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami.

Other Jewish leaders say evangelicals have toned down the religious aspects of their pro-Israel mission in recent years, particularly their insistence that Jews convert.

Avi Mizrachi, executive director of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, said he was overwhelmed by fervor for Israel at the Washington rally for Christians United for Israel.

''I saw more Israeli flags there than on Israeli independence day,'' he said. `In the past, there was concern about them trying to convert us. It doesn't even come up anymore.''

Christian Zionism -- the belief that Israel will set the stage for prophetic events such as the rise of the Antichrist, the Battle of Armageddon and Christ's 1,000-year reign -- has steadily gained popularity since the rise of the Christian right in the 1970s and '80s, said Timothy Weber, author of On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel's Best Friend.

In the most gruesome scenario, evangelicals envision a global battle breaking out when a 200-million-man army invades from the east and Jesus returns to take on the Antichrist. Jews and other non-Christians will face conversion or death.

In the past, some Christians predicted the armies would come from Russia or China, and today, many foresee an Islamic army led by Iran, Weber said.

Hagee and others caution that while Christians may have stepped up preparations for the end times, most believe the fate of the world remains in God's hands.

''No Christian or groups of Christians can do anything to hasten the return of Jesus Christ,'' Hagee said.

For some evangelicals, Mideast war stirs hope (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/religion/15221578.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quote

Hagee and others caution that while Christians may have stepped up preparations for the end times, most believe the fate of the world remains in God's hands.

''No Christian or groups of Christians can do anything to hasten the return of Jesus Christ,'' Hagee said.

AMEN!!

Robertson, Olmert pray for victory
Etgar Lefkovits and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 9, 2006

Israel's war against Hizbullah in Lebanon is the free world's "struggle for freedom" against Islamic-Fascism, which will soon imperil the security of the same European countries that are now criticizing Israel's war in Lebanon, prominent American Evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson said Wednesday.

"I am here to say I love Israel and that Christian
Evangelicals in America stand with Israel in its
struggle for freedom against Islamo-fascism, which is directed against Israel and all civilized nations of the world" Robertson said at a Jerusalem press conference during his 96-hour lightning solidarity trip.

He called Israel's four-week battle with the
Iranian-backed and Syrian-supported Shi'ite terror
group "the front line" for all free-loving people
around the world.

"For all of our sake, Israel cannot lose," he added.

The 76-year-old American Evangelical broadcaster, who visited bomb shelters in northern Israel and dodged Katyusha rockets before heading south to Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, predicted that European countries would soon face the same threat of Islamic Fundamentalism that Israel was now fighting,
adding that he was "dismayed" by the "growing amount of virulent anti-Semitism in Europe."

He heaped praise on the premier, who he prayed with after his security cabinet had just authorized broadening Israel's land offensive in Lebanon, as a "man of courage" and of "indomitable leadership" for his willingness to take on "one of the most serious challenges" Israel has ever faced.

Robertson said he joined hands Wednesday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to pray for victory in Lebanon.

Olmert's 15-minute meeting with Robertson came on an intense day of political activity, and could be seen as implicit recognition of the importance of the Christian right in US politics.

During his brief remarks, Robertson cautioned that
while the majority of Americans clearly understand
that Israel has been attacked by terrorists in the
same way the US was attacked by terrorists, a
drawn-out war could see public opinion shifting away from Israel as a result of the press focus on Lebanese civilians casualties of the war.

His unplanned visit comes at a time of burgeoning ties between Israel and the predominantly pro-Israel Evangelical Christian community around the world.

Robertson's war-time solidarity visit - his 17th trip to Israel - was also seen by some as an attempt to smooth over any remaining ill-will for remarks he made last year in which he said that former Prime Minister's Ariel Sharon's stroke was "divine retribution" for having evacuated the Gaza Strip, comments which he later apologized for and retracted amidst fierce criticism.

Many Evangelical Christians saw the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a retreat from a biblical prophecy of Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land, and similarily view any further Israeli pullout from the West Bank as an anathema.

Separately, Robertson also noted that US Senator's Joe Lieberman's loss in the Democratic primaries Tuesday was like "God's answer" to a Republican strategists' prayers to split the party.

Robertson, Olmert pray for victory (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525841189&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hizbollah vows Lebanon will be Israel's "graveyard"
09 Aug 2006 19:19:33 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Lin Noueihed

BEIRUT, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A defiant Hizbollah chief vowed on Wednesday to turn south Lebanon into a "graveyard" for invading Israeli troops, hours after the Jewish state ordered an expanded ground offensive.

"You won't be able to stay in our land, and if you come in, we'll force you out," said Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a televised speech shown on Hizbollah's television station.

"We will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the invading Zionists."

Nasrallah said four weeks of Israeli bombardment had not weakened the guerrilla group's rocket capabilities and called on the Arab residents of Haifa to quit the Israeli city to avoid being hurt by its barrages.

Israel decided on Wednesday to expand its ground offensive in Lebanon, increasing pressure on major powers struggling to win agreement on a United Nations resolution to end the war.

Israeli troops thrust deeper into Lebanon and 11 Israeli soldiers were reported killed in fierce clashes with Hizbollah.

Nasrallah, whose group waged guerrilla attacks instrumental in ending Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, said that the United States was trying to impose Israeli demands on Lebanon through the draft resolution.

"The least you can say about this resolution is that it is unjust and oppressive and gives the Israelis more than they wanted and demanded," Nasrallah said.

"The response to the Lebanese consensus and seven-point plan was this draft ... to give the Israelis politically and through diplomatic pressure what they were unable to gain by fighting."

Lebanon has presented a seven-point plan that demands the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon, the deployment of U.N. and Lebanese forces in the south, the return of the displaced and the disarmament of Hizbollah.

Nasrallah said the Shi'ite Muslim group supported a unanimous decision by the Lebanese government, which includes a Hizbollah minister, to deploy 15,000 troops to the border if that aided Lebanon's calls for the resolution to be amended.

Hizbollah, which largely controls Lebanon's southern border with Israel, has long resisted international pressure on Lebanon to deploy the Lebanese army to the south instead.

"If everyone sees that deploying the army will help find a way out politically that would result in the halting of aggression ... this for us is a national and honourable way out," he said.

"We want an end to all the aggression but if there must be a showdown, then we welcome a showdown in the field."

Nasrallah said his group had so far destroyed 60 Israeli tanks and dozens of Israeli bulldozers and armoured vehicles.

Hizbollah vows Lebanon will be Israel's "graveyard" (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0971529.htm)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think Nazzernut had better check history. Hitler and the arabs, couldn't do it and neither can Nuzzernut

Mike Wallace: Ahmadinejad Not Crazy

Twenty-seven years after a chilling sit-down with Ayatollah Khomeini that was one of Mike Wallace's most memorable, the CBS newsman snagged an interview this week with current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.

The 88-year-old Wallace had been pursuing the interview for so long that he had to be reminded by Ahmadinejad when he first asked for it.

A portion of Wallace's interview, conducted Tuesday at a crucial time in the Mideast with Israel fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah, will be shown Thursday on the "CBS Evening News." A fuller report will air on Sunday's "60 Minutes."

In the interview, Ahmadinejad said of the Bush administration, "see how they talk down to my nation."

During the midst of the American hostage crisis in 1979, Wallace interviewed Iranian leader Khomeini, locking eyes with the cleric when he asked for a response to Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat calling Khomeini a lunatic.

Of Ahmadinejad, Wallace said, "He's an impressive fellow, this guy. He really is. He's obviously smart as hell."

Wallace said he was surprised to find that the Iranian president was still a college professor who taught a graduate-level course.

"You'll find him an interesting man," he said. "I expected more of a firebrand. I don't think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected."

Wallace said he and producers Bob Anderson and Casey Morgan had been seeking the interview for more than a year, since he sat next to Ahmadinejad at a United Nations breakfast and told the Iranian leader that he'd like to come to Iran to talk to him someday. Wallace admitted he had forgotten about that encounter until the Iranian president brought it up.

Summoned to Iran for the interview, Wallace and his team waited for nearly a week until he was brought in to speak to Ahmadinejad.

Egyptian Artists Protest the War in Lebanon, Sing about Slaughtering Israelis and Americans and Call upon Nasrallah to Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv

Following are excerpts from an Eygptian song of protest, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 4, 2006:

Singer: Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, oh Lebanon.

Fill their eyes with shock and awe, slaughter them right, left, and center.

Fill their eyes with shock and awe, slaughter them right, left, and center -

Israel and the Americans.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Crowd: Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Singer: Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, dear Nasrallah.

Crowd: Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, dear Nasrallah.

Singer: Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, dear Nasrallah.

Crowd: Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, dear Nasrallah.

Singer: Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

Resist, resist, resist, resist, oh Lebanon.

[...]

Singer: If the martyrs of Palestine are terrorists, if Hizbullah are terrorists,

if the martyrs of Palestine are terrorists, if Hizbullah are terrorists,

if any resistance is terrorism,

I scream at the top of my lungs, I scream at the top of my lungs:

I'm a terrorist. I'm a terrorist.

Singer, together with crowd: If the martyrs of Palestine are terrorists, if Hizbullah are terrorists,

if the martyrs of Palestine are terrorists, if Hizbullah are terrorists,

if any resistance is terrorism,

I scream at the top of my lungs, I scream at the top of my lungs:

I'm a terrorist. I'm a terrorist.

Egyptian Artists Protest the War in Lebanon, Sing about Slaughtering Israelis and Americans and Call upon Nasrallah to Attack Haifa and Tel Aviv (http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1227)

Iran's rocket route to Israel
Tehran is playing a leading role in arming Hezbollah and testing Israel's response to rocket attacks.

August 10, 2006
TWELVE trucks crossed the Syrian border into Lebanon and rumbled south. When they were stopped at a checkpoint a few days later, the Lebanese Armed Forces found the trucks were brimming with ammunition and weapons, including Katyusha rockets that have been raining down on Israel since July 12.

What happened next, in this little-reported incident in late January, goes to the heart of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The convoy was waved on and travelled unhindered to its final destination: Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said the transportation and storage of ammunition belonged to the "resistance". Once inside Lebanon it was subject to a ministerial policy statement of the Lebanese Government, which considers the "resistance" to be legitimate.

"As the Government of Lebanon has confirmed, the Lebanese Armed Forces has thus not been authorised to prevent further movement of the ammunitions, which had been a common practice for more than 15 years," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a letter to the Security Council in April. "Hezbollah publicly confirmed that the arms were destined for the group."

It's this uninterrupted flow of weapons, mostly made in Iran, under the nose of the Lebanese Government, that has allowed Hezbollah to stockpile some 12,000 Katyusha rockets. Over the past 29 days of conflict, Hezbollah has fired more than 3000 rockets into Israel.

Syrian-made rockets, including mid-range 220mm units, have also fallen on Nazareth and Haifa, Israel's third-largest city. The warheads were filled with ball bearings to maximise civilian casualties.

Aside from rocket launchers, armoured personnel carriers, night vision goggles, aerial drones and motorised gliders make up the hardware for a 3000-strong guerilla unit that some say is in fact a well-organised and fierce military force.

"The fact that Hezbollah is difficult to dislodge from their positions is not a surprise for the Israelis or anyone else," David Schenker, a specialist in Middle East affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tells The Australian. Schenker also worked for four years at the Pentagon as a Middle East specialist. "Hezbollah fighters are well trained and highly motivated and they are dug in," he adds.

Former CIA officer Robert Baer, who has followed the group since 1983, told US News & World Report he has "a lot of respect for Hezbollah's capabilities". Baer, whose book See No Evil inspired the film Syriana, spent a couple of weeks with Hezbollah last year, touring its facilities. "You've got some of the most experienced operatives in the world there."

When the Israelis left Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah fortified its position along the northern border and continued to amass its cache of arms. In 2000, Hezbollah was estimated to have 6000 rockets. But in May, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed to have more than 12,000. "All of northern occupied Palestine is within range," Nasrallah said, referring to Israel. "Its ports, its bases, its factories and everything located there."

Until the Syrian pull-out of Lebanon last year this supply of arms to Hezbollah was relatively easy. Schenker says the route to Hezbollah was traditionally Iranian cargo planes flying into Damascus, Syria, and overland from there. The direct air route to Damascus is over Iraq but Schenker says the US occupation made any airlifts through Iraqi airspace perilous, meaning a more common route became either overland through Turkey and northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and into Syria, or through Turkish airspace.

While Hezbollah's burgeoning arsenal of rockets was well known, what has surprised Schenker and others during the conflict is Hezbollah's use of sophisticated weaponry.

Just two days into the war, an Israeli Sa'ar 5 class missile corvette, enforcing the naval blockade off Lebanon, was struck by a C-802 radar-guided anti-ship cruise missile, an Iranian-made version of a missile known as the Chinese silkworm. The explosion claimed the lives of four soldiers and the ship had to return to port.

It was the first time the missile had been used in the war with Israel and military officials reported that the Israeli ship's radar system was not calibrated to detect the missile, which is equipped with an advanced anti-tracking system.

Iran denied any involvement and US and Israeli officials say there was no evidence that Iranian operatives working in Lebanon launched the missile themselves. That made the incident even more curious, observes Schenker.

"It was assumed broadly that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corp personnel stationed in Lebanon would assist Hezbollah in the technical operation of this equipment," says Schenker. "That would not have been a surprise. What was a surprise is that according to Israelis, a Lebanese Armed Forces naval radar station was used and it was used to lock on the ship."

It meant the land-based radar post communicated with the missile, which allowed the incoming missile to avoid detection.

"This enhanced capability is why the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) destroyed the Lebanese Armed Forces radar station," says Schenker, referring to an IDF strike north of Beirut a few days later.

The incident points to the many sympathies within the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Government to Hezbollah and why the present conflict is so precarious and raising concerns of another civil war in Lebanon.

cont'd next post

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has played a delicate act in avoiding the use of the word "militia", which is the definition in UN resolution 1559 that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah. In fact just as news of that intercepted convoy of arms was breaking in Lebanon, Siniora told Beirut parliament on February 6: "We have never called, and will never call, the resistance by any name other than resistance."

That's an affront to the US because prior to the al-Qa'ida September 11 attacks, Hezbollah - or Party of God - had the ignominious boast that it had killed more Americans than any other terror group.

Hezbollah was formed in 1982 in the ashes of Lebanon's civil war, a fully paid-up subsidiary of Ayatollah Khomeini's Iranian revolution and its vision of Islamic Shia fundamentalism.

US officials believe Iran finances Hezbollah to the tune of $US100 million ($132million) a year, while the Iran Revolutionary Guard trains its fighters.

Hezbollah's terrorist attacks over the year include suicide bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, the hijacking of TWA flight 847 and bombings of the Israeli embassy in Argentina and US military housing at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

And it has grown into a potent political force, with two of its members in the Lebanese cabinet and, until Israel's bombing campaign, a well developed network of social services, media outlets and businesses.

As the war drags on, Hezbollah is being severely degraded militarily, according to the IDF, but its political credentials in Lebanon have been enhanced and become "stronger than before in terms of the eyes of the Lebanese people", says Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel.

Hisham Milhem, Washington correspondent for liberal Arabic newspaper Al-Nahar, says Hezbollah is projecting itself in Lebanon as the protector of the homeland.

"Hezbollah is riding high, not only in Lebanon but throughout the Arab world. (Hezbollah leader) Hassan Nasrallah is lionised. Nasrallah now, from where he is sitting in some bunker in Beirut or in the Bekaa Valley - I don't know where - can claim with a great deal of credence that Hezbollah managed to create a hole in Israel's strategic deterrence.

"He delivered ... not necessarily in a very effective military way, but definitely politically in terms of perception. Hezbollah is standing up to the Israelis and doing relatively well."

Clearly, Israel is attempting to deal Hezbollah a crippling blow by bombing the highways to Syria, and any convoys on it, to shut down Hezbollah's supply routes. But military strategists acknowledge that its air campaign targeting mobile rocket launch sites is counter-productive, particularly when the guerilla forces are hiding among civilians. Israel suffered a significant propaganda defeat and widespread condemnation following the strike in Qana which claimed the lives of 28, including 16 children. It's why Israel has committed more ground forces to try to rout the rocket launchers.

There is also concern the present conflict is a proxy battle in which Iran is observing Israel's military tactics.

"Iran is bringing in to Lebanon sophisticated weaponry," says Lebanon's Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt. "The Iranians are actually experimenting with different kinds of missiles in Lebanon by shooting them at the Israelis. Iran is using this violence to test certain of Israel's abilities," he adds. Jumblatt heads Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is regarded as the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician.

And he adds of Syria's role: "Syria will likely try to tell the world, 'Look, see, since we left Lebanon, the Cedar Revolution and the forces in Lebanon that got our military out through popular support, those forces are not able to control Lebanon. While we were in control, Lebanon was a safe place. Now it's not. We need to come back in," he predicts.

"I would not be surprised if they even try to wiggle their way into a deal by convincing the Americans that Syrian influence in Lebanon will stabilise the region."

Syria originally sent forces into Lebanon in 1976 during the Lebanese civil war and its military occupied the country until last year when suddenly its troops withdrew after an international outcry over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, for which Damascus was blamed.

David Makovsky, also a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, wrote that last month's attack from Hezbollah demonstrated the first time the group felt "self-confident enough to claim responsibility for a strike across the internationally recognised border. These events suggest that Iran was pressing for Hezbollah's initiation of the crisis."

And on the day of the Hezbollah attack against Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared: "If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response. The stakes for the international community go beyond Israel itself."

Makovsky notes, as Iran pushes the world on its plans for a nuclear program, "Iran sees itself as being on the march".

"This point is not lost on countries such as the US and European and Arab states, which do not want this crisis to end with Iran and Hezbollah feeling emboldened."

Iran's rocket route to Israel (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20074368-31477,00.html)

Worldwide, Islamic Fundamentalists Join the Fray
21:54 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Energized by the ongoing war between Israel and Hizbullah-controlled Lebanon, some Islamic fundamentalist groups claim to dispatch terrorists to Lebanon and to target Jews worldwide.

An Indonesian Muslim group announced Tuesday that it had sent 20 of its members to Lebanon in order to join the Jihad against the Jewish state. The claim, made by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), was reported by the Associated Press, which warned that it had not been verified.

FPI spokesman Soleh Mahmoud said the 20 men left Indonesia five days ago and are now undergoing training in Lebanon under the supervision of Hizbullah. "They are ready to die to defend Muslims," Mahmoud said.

On Friday, before the FPI announced that it had already sent Muslim fighters to Lebanon, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said, "The government understands what they are feeling... anger, disappointment and frustration with Israeli troops acting inhumanly and brutally." He said that while the government could not stop people from joining the war in Lebanon, the seriousness of threats to do so is questionable: "If you want to do something, you want to travel, you do not need to declare it publicly, just say, 'In the name of God' and then go."

Last week, the Australian government announced that it was investigating a claim by another Indonesia-based Islamist group, the Asian Muslim Youth Movement (AMYM), that it had dispatched hundreds of Southeast Asian terrorist bombers to strike Jewish or infrastructure targets in countries such as Israel, the United States, Britain and Australia. A leader of the AMYM, Suaib Bidu, told The Australian newspaper that 217 suicide bombers - financed by wealthy Australian-Indonesian businessmen - had already been dispatched to their target countries, with thousands more prepared to set out. According to the report, more than 3,000 terrorists were to have been inducted on Saturday in the Indonesian city of Pontianak on Kalimantan island.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (known as Ikhwaan in Arabic) has also claimed to have 10,000 volunteers ready to travel to Lebanon to fight the Israelis. Speaking to a conference organized by the Egyptian Scientists Association on August 2, Brotherhood leader Mohammad Mahdi Akef called on his co-religionists to "help the resistance in all its forms" in Lebanon and in the Palestinian Authority.

Similarly, Yemen's President Ali Abdallah Saleh told an Al-Jazeera interviewer on August 1, 2006: "I hope that all the countries bordering Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war. I mean the countries bordering with Israel. We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. ...This war has become a duty incumbent upon us. Every Muslim has the individual duty to fight on this front." (English transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI].)

Also speaking from Yemen, on an official visit to the country, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) praised Hizbullah terrorists shortly after a lethal Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel that killed 11 people. Abbas told reporters that the Hizbullah war has reawakened the Arab world's honor and is an example for others to follow.

As reported in late July, Al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, announced in a videotaped message that Al-Qaeda will make the nations supporting Israel "pay the price." His statement indicated unity of purpose among all sects of Muslim fundamentalists, reiterated by Shi'ite leaders in Iran and elsewhere, when it comes to jihad against Israel. However, a former teacher of Osama Bin-Laden, Saudi sheikh Safar Al-Hawali, called the Hizbullah ("party of Allah" in Arabic) the "party of Satan" and issued a fatwa (religious ruling) forbidding any support or prayers for the group, due to its Shi'a religious orientation, which Sunni Salafi groups such as those ruling Saudi Arabia generally consider to be apostasy.

Worldwide, Islamic Fundamentalists Join the Fray (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=109525)

Gaza-Egypt Border Reopens After Weeks
August 10th, 2006 @ 6:14am

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The Gaza-Egypt border was partially reopened Thursday, allowing hundreds of people stuck in Gaza to leave after weeks of closure during Israel's military offensive in the coastal strip, a spokeswoman for European border monitors said.

The crossing is to be open for two days to allow students, business people and those requiring medical treatment to travel to Egypt, said the spokeswoman, Maria Telleria. About 500 sick people, many of them cancer patients, were given permission to cross the border, said Dr. Omar Shehada, head of overseas medical treatment at the Palestinian Authority.

People would not be allowed to cross from Egypt into Gaza.

The Rafah crossing was closed after Hamas-allied militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, during a cross-border raid on June 25. The seizure triggered an Israeli offensive in Gaza aimed at freeing him and stopping rocket attacks on Israeli border towns.

Israel had feared the militants would try to smuggle Shalit out of Gaza if the border was open. It was only opened briefly once since the raid to allow Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return to Gaza.

"Since the border closed on June 25, we've been trying to open it," said Telleria. "This is the longest period the border has been closed since the Europeans began" monitoring, she said.

The Palestinians, backed by EU monitors, took control of the Gaza-Egypt border after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip last summer.

By midday, hundreds of Palestinians waited on the Egyptian side near the crossing, apparently hoping their presence would pressure authorities to let them enter the coastal strip.

"I came to this crossing more than 10 times _ whenever I heard rumors that it would open," said Abdullah Abdel Rahman Belbasi, a 30-year-old Palestinian worker who entered Egypt a month ago for surgery to his arm after being shot.

Also Thursday, doctors said a 5-year-old Palestinian girl initially believed to have been killed by a military strike by Israel on Wednesday apparently died after sustaining head injuries during a fall from a swing. The girl suffered a fractured skull and there were no signs of shrapnel, said Kazim Abu Libda, a doctor at Gaza's Shifa hospital.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops surrounded a five-story building in the West Bank city of Ramallah before dawn, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen inside, Palestinian security officials said.

After a standoff of several hours, six militants surrendered to the troops. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The army had no comment on the raid.

Gaza-Egypt Border Reopens After Weeks (http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=46&sid=86323)

How Israel fights

By Jonathan Kay

What the media does not report

Late on Saturday night, an Israeli commando unit landed by helicopter on a beach near the Lebanese city of Tyre. None of the soldiers wore military markings. All had grown beards, so observers would think they were just another group of Hezbollah jihadis.

After landing, the soldiers made their way to a building that housed a three-man Hezbollah rocket-launcher crew. From intelligence reports, the commandos knew the trio was holed up in a second-floor apartment.

The Israeli commander was the first through the door, and promptly took a bullet through a lung. The Israelis fired back. When the smoke cleared, all three Hezbollah members were dead. The Israeli commander was still breathing — but only barely. Another commando was also seriously wounded.

As the commandos left — their two wounded on stretchers — they were attacked by Hezbollah gunmen spilling out of nearby buildings. Israeli helicopter gunships hovering nearby laid down a covering fire, allowing the commandos to retreat to their original landing area. After a military doctor performed emergency surgery that saved the commander's life, the whole team flew back to Israel.

These mission details sound like something out of a Hollywood film. But the truly amazing part of it is that the mission happened at all. Instead of risking the lives of its most elite soldiers, Israel easily could have dropped a bomb on the building and taken out their targets while they slept.

Why didn't Israel do just that? Because as well as serving as a barracks for Hezbollah, the building also contained civilians. And Israel didn't want to spill their blood. Hezbollah may wage war while hiding behind women's skirts and baby rattles. But Israel stubbornly adheres to a more humane creed.

This is not a new policy that Israel adopted in response to the July 30 Qana bombing. Israeli soldiers employed the same humane methods in one of the first major engagements of this war.

On June 26, Israeli infantrymen assaulted the outskirts of Bint Jbail, a major Hezbollah hub near the border. Israel could have flattened the town easily prior to its soldiers' advance — it lies well within range of its army's artillery, not to mention the Israeli air force. But according to a high-ranking Israeli officer, the carpet-bombing option was ruled out because several hundred Bint Jbail civilian residents had ignored Israel's warning to flee. As in Tyre, Hezbollah was using them as human shields.

The result? Battalion 51 of Israel's Golani Brigade was ambushed by dozens of Hezbollah gunmen wielding anti-tank missiles. In the hellish close combat that followed, eight Israeli soldiers died. Like the 23 Israeli soldiers who lost their lives in the warrens of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002, the men of Battalion 51 died so that Arab civilians could live. Not one of Israel's enemies would have taken the same risks under similar circumstances.

Nor is Israel simply following the letter of international law. A Hezbollah rocket crew can kills dozens, or even hundreds, of Israelis with a single volley. Demolishing that apartment building in Tyre arguably would have been a proportionate, and entirely legal, Israeli response to the threat posed by its occupants.

Moreover, Israel had warned the residents of Tyre to evacuate many times. Most of those who remain in the city are Hezbollah supporters. Last week, Haidar Fayadh, a Tyre cafe owner, told The New York Times: "Everyone has a weapon in his house. There are doctors, teachers and farmers. Hezbollah is people. People are Hezbollah." Luckily for Fayadh, Israel doesn't take him at his word, or he'd be dead and all of Tyre would be a smoking ruin.

By this point in the war, some readers will have heard enough about media bias. Still, I can't help but marvel at the other-worldly impression people are getting. The Israeli air force has flown 9,000 sorties during this war. The handful of tragic instances in which Israel has mistakenly attacked civilian targets are treated as war crimes. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has launched more than 2,000 missiles at Israel, every one of them deliberately targeting Israeli civilians. (The group's Syrian-made 302mm rockets are packed with tens of thousands of ball-bearings, the objective being to disfigure those who aren't killed.) But the only time this is reported is when the rockets actually hit someone — in which case the fact is cited not as an indictment of Hezbollah's barbarism, but as testament to its strength and the purported futility of Israeli strategy.

This appalling double-standard goes beyond media bias. It reflects a deeper sense that pervades our entire society. After watching Arab terrorists kill innocent Jews for two generations, we have become inured to their methods. It is simply taken for granted that anti-Israel "resistance" movements will sink to the lowest possible level as soon as the shooting starts. Killing civilians. Hiding rocket launchers in homes. Shooting from mosques. All of this is unsurprising — expected even — so none of it makes the news. Let Israel mistakenly kill civilians while fighting back, on the other hand, and it's time to stop the presses.

It's unclear which side will be seen as the victor in the current war. But even before the shooting began, Arab militants could claim a perverse sort of triumph: liberation from the humane standards the world normally applies to the armies that fight wars. It is a triumph that Israel, and all civilized nations, can be proud of having forsaken.

How Israel fights (http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0806/kay081006.php3?printer_friendly)

Wrong Qana Death Toll Still Being Reported
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
August 10, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - A full week since the death toll in the Israeli air strike on the Lebanese town of Qana was revised -- reduced by one-half -- a number of news organizations are still reporting the original, inaccurate figure as fact.

Most glaring is the case of Reuters, whose "chronology" of the conflict was updated on July 30 to include the entry: "Lebanon says at least 54 civilians killed by air strike in the village of Qana. Lebanon cancels Rice visit." Reuters has sent out updated versions of the chronology at least seven times since then, but not one makes any reference to the subsequently revised death toll.

Early reports based on figures provided by Lebanese government officials said between 54 and 57 civilians, many of them children, were killed in the attack. In a statement to the Security Council that same day, U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan said "preliminary reports say that at least 54 people have been killed, among them at least 37 children."

Three days later -- on Wednesday, August 3, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying 28 people had been killed, based on figures provided by the Lebanese Red Cross and a government hospital in Tyre.

But the inaccurate figure of 54 or more continues to appear in news reports, with no reference to the later revision.

On Friday, two days after the revised figure was published, the Guardian referred to "the air raid that killed up to 54 civilians in the village of Qana on Sunday," while the Kuwait Times said the attack "killed up to 54 civilians, Lebanese officials say."

On Sunday, Scotland's Sunday Herald repeated the figure of "at least 54 civilians."

On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Reuters described it as "the bombing that Lebanese reports said killed at least 54 people," and a report on the Canadian website Macleans.ca included the line "... last week, after Israeli bombs killed at least 54 civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana." The Turkish online newspaper Zaman also repeated the figure of 54.

On Wednesday, al-Jazeera's website carried a column by U.S. author Ramzy Baroud, who wrote that the air strike on Qana "killed scores, mostly children." (A "score" is 20.)

Also Wednesday, the Italian news site Ansa reported on papal calls for peace, and said Pope Benedict XVI "specifically referred to an Israeli air strike against the Lebanese town of Qana on July 30 which killed at least 54 civilians including 37 children."

News organizations were not alone in failing to report the new death toll days after the revision. On Tuesday, the Organization of the Islamic Conference released a statement saying OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu "condemned the carnage [at Qana] which had left some 60 people dead from amongst Lebanese civilians, including women and children."

Annan this week released a report to the Security Council on the Qana tragedy, saying that what occurred there may be part of a larger pattern of violations of international law during the conflict.

His report included letters from the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Israel said Hizballah used Qana as a regional headquarters. "It contains extensive weapons stockpiles, serves as a haven for fleeing terrorists, and is the source of over 150 missiles launched into northern Israel."

The Lebanese government said civilians had been unable to flee because of ongoing Israeli attacks and destroyed roads.

"None of the bodies recovered showed that there were militants mingled among the civilians, and the rescuers found no weapons in the building that was struck," it said.

Wrong Qana Death Toll Still Being Reported (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200608/INT20060810a.html)

Syrian Ambassador Denies Reports Hezbollah Using Russian Weapons

Created: 10.08.2006 17:35 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:35 MSK, 3 hours 9 minutes ago

MosNews
Syria’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Hassan Rishah refuted allegations at a news conference in Moscow that Hezbollah was using Russian equipment supplied to Syria, RBC reports.

He added that with the globalization and free trade, Hezbollah was able to purchase any armament as well as any other organization. He stressed that Syria abode by all international treaties. He also claimed that Syria was not patronizing Hezbollah or any other such organization.

Interfax reported, citing Mr. Rishah, that Syria will be ready to defend its borders and integrity if attacked by Israel.

“Syria has said it is ready to defend its borders in the event of an actual attack. It will defend its integrity and sovereignty if aggression is displayed towards it,” the ambassador told a Moscow news conference on Thursday.

“Israel is in fact trying to provoke Syria and draw it into war, widening the conflict zone in order to extend it throughout the whole region and achieve its covert aims,” the ambassador believes. He said one of those aims was to capture sources of energy in the Middle East.

“Syria will not yield to this provocation and has stated that it advocates peaceful settlement and the continuation of talks,” the ambassador stressed. Hassan Rishah stressed that Israel’s war in Lebanon is “state terrorism.”

“Under false pretexts and against all humanitarian laws Israel is carrying out state terrorism with the support of one power, the unipolar world, a power which is wholly and entirely on Israel’s side, supplying it with weapons and resorting to the veto when decisions look to be in the offing,” the ambassador said.

“Israel is committing major, appalling crimes, murdering women and children, civilians, destroying the infrastructure of Lebanon,” the ambassador said.

He rejected allegations that Damascus was inciting Hezbollah. “Syria is being falsely accused — people say that Syria is inciting Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a Lebanese organization subordinate to nobody,” Rishah said.

According to the ambassador, Israel, with the U.S.A. alongside it, “would have found another pretext for unleashing the attack even if the two (Israeli) soldiers had not been captured.” The Syrian ambassador commented on the suggestion that Hezbollah was using defense and military equipment earlier supplied by Russia to Syria.

“We know that in the days of globalism all markets are open, and Hezbollah, like any organization in the world, is able to purchase any weapon. Syria does observe all international accords and I therefore do not believe this to be true,” the ambassador said.

He stressed that Syria takes particular care to ensure that international weapons accords are observed.

The ambassador stressed that Syria is one of the main players in the situation which has developed in the Middle East, but is not able to exert pressure on Hezbollah. He also recalled the occupation of part of Syria and Israel’s non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.

The ambassador said Israel could not destroy Hezbollah, RIA Novosti news agency reported, quoting him saying: “Israel says that its aim is to destroy the terrorist organization Hezbollah. But after a month of attacks we can see that this aim is not achievable, because Hezbollah is a political organization representing the majority of the Lebanese people\ [ellipsis as published] I believe they have a different strategic aim — to destroy the infrastructure of Lebanon and kill civilians,” adding that “in this Israel has indeed achieved some success.”

The ambassador said Damascus “supports Moscow’s position and believes that all the problems of the Middle East region must be resolved as a whole,” ITAR-TASS news agency said. “We welcome Russia’s advocacy of including the Lebanese government’s plan for settling the conflict in the UN Security Council resolution,” the ambassador said.

Syrian Ambassador Denies Reports Hezbollah Using Russian Weapons (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/10/syria.shtml)

Muslim countries must be armed to match Israel's war machine
Wed, 9 Aug 2006, 11:06:00

The Muslim countries of the Middle East must not remain helplessly at the receiving end of the brutalities of Israel's war machine. Admittedly, the US government has a larger plan of its own for implementation in Middle East. The devastating war machine of Israel is being maintained for attaining this objective. The Muslim countries' eagerness to maintain friendly relations with the USA is of no consideration in the mind of the present US administration. The reality is that the US administration considers Muslim power as a threat to US's hegemonistic design of an unipolar world. Assisting Hezbollah or sending peace keeping forces is not enough.

The United States blocked a quick cease-fire only to allow Israel to destroy Lebanon and kill Lebanese men, women and children in huge numbers.

Many Western observers find it difficult to reconcile bombing of Beirut's international airport, petroleum supplies, power plants and fishing fleets with combating Hezbollah guerrillas. The attacks on Lebanon's military is specially odd when Israel wants Lebanese government to rein in Hezbollah.

Fierce battles between Israeli army and Hezbollah resistance forces raged Tuesday across southern Lebanon as diplomats at the United Nations were struggling to keep a peace plan from collapsing. Arab countries including Lebanon are insisting that the peace plan must include provision for withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon. It is common sense that there cannot be any peace when parts of Lebanon remain under Israeli occupation. It is the occupation by Israel of parts of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine that is at the heart of the guerrilla resistance against Israel.

It is a gigantic lie that Muslim countries of the Middle East do not accept Israel state. Expressions of anger and terrorism are directed to restrain Israel occupying the Muslim countries.

After causing immense death and destruction in Lebanon, the military planners of Israel say that they will push even deeper into Lebanon to root out the rocket sites of Hezbollah. In short, Israel is justifying its further occupation of Lebanon.

The Prime Minister of Lebanon has rightly termed the acts of Israel as state terrorism. The problem with the Bush administration is that it supports Israel's state terrorism against Muslims but the Muslims are condemned as terrorists when they fight state terrorism of Israel to protect their territories and lives.

All sensible people agree that foreign occupations spawn militants to resist such occupations. In modern days there is no imperialism so blatant than Israeli imperialism. Even the USA is thinking how soon to leave Iraq and Afghanistan. But Israel backed by US might and money has made it a normal business to occupy and keep the territories of neighbouring Muslim countries.

The Muslim countries of the Middle East must wake up to the reality of Israeli imperialism and prepare themselves militarily. No resistance group, however powerful and well-organised, can face a state bent on taking advantage of lack of military preparedness and occupying another country's territory to show off its superior military power.

The Muslim countries must arm themselves for their own survival as long as the US goes on arming Israel against them.

A western columnist HDS Greenway in an article published in the International Herald Tribune, found it most disturbing the images coming out of the conflict in Lebanon that Israeli soldiers on their tanks displaying captured as war trophies not just the yellow banner of Hezbollah but the cedar-tree flag of Lebanon.

The US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice talked about the present crisis in Lebanon being "the birth pangs of a new Middle East". In reacting to this assessment King Abdullah of Jordan said he saw only death.

In the words of the columnist Greenway: As in Iraq Rice's new Middle East policy will almost certainly be more dangerous and destructive to America's interest than the old Middle East.

Muslim countries must be armed to match Israel's war machine (http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/printer_29833.shtml)

Lebanon refusing to allow French to enforce mandate
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 10, 2006

A new obstacle was raised in the approval of the proposed cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday night, when the latter was refusing to allow French forces to enforce its mandate by force, if necessary, as allowed by the UN's chapter VII regulations.

Israel Radio reported that attempts were being made to convince Lebanon to agree to the proposal.

If both Lebanon and Israel agree to the proposal, it is expected to brought before the UN Security Council for ratification within 24 hours.

US State Department envoy David Welch held meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Thursday night to coordinate positions on a new cease-fire proposal to be brought to the UN Security Council, perhaps as early as Friday.

Welch arrived in Jerusalem from Beirut, where he held talks with Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said that the US, which was working furiously with the French in New York to come to an understanding on a draft resolution, would press forward with their own proposal if agreement could not be reached with the French on the language of the document.

US Ambassador John Bolton said there could be a vote Friday on the resolution.

"We're making progress, and it's entirely possible we could have a vote tomorrow," Bolton said after a meeting with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere. "We've closed some of the areas of disagreement with the French."

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy confirmed there was progress, but also held out the possibility that if no agreement was forthcoming, France might present "a text on its own."

Livni spoke Thursday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and stressed the importance of including in the resolution an arms embargo to Hizbullah, as well as Israel's key demand that the Lebanese army must be supported by an international force with "operational capabilities."

Among the ideas being discussed was a "substantially beefed up UNIFIL" force to be made up of German, Italian, Spanish and Australian troops that would move south to the border with the Lebanese Army and deploy where the IDF moves out. Another idea was for a French force to accompany the Lebanese Army.

Senior sources in Jerusalem said, however, that there has been a major shift in the French position over the last week, with French President Jacques Chirac hesitant about committing French troops after seeing the difficulty Israel has had with Hizbullah over the last month. France was initially the major force working for deployment of an international force.

Israel has made clear in recent days that the resolution must include the unconditional release of the kidnapped IDF soldiers, the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the dismantling of Hizbullah, and that there be no call for Israel to cede control over Mt. Dov (Shaba Farms) as part of this arrangement.

While Prime Minster Ehud Olmert indicated before the war that he would be willing to come to an agreement about this issue, he has made clear that the Shaba Farms could not be included in any deal being drawn up now so as not to be perceived as a prize for Hizbullah.

Giving the US the ability to "work the issue" and put the proposal together was apparently behind American pressure on Israel to delay Wednesday's security cabinet decision to push forward toward the Litani River. That decision gave Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz authority to decide when to embark on the campaign.

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller met Olmert Thursday and quoted him as saying that "a new proposal is being drafted, which has positive significance that may bring the war to an end. But if the draft is not accepted, there is the Cabinet decision."

Peretz said Thursday that Israel would see the diplomatic process through before giving the final okay for an expanded IDF operation.

"We are responsible for considering all options," he said. "The minute troops set out to accomplish a mission, we must look in the eyes of every mother, every father, and every child and say: We exhausted all other options," Peretz said.

Peretz made his comments during a visit to the Lebanese border with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen Udi Adam.

If diplomacy fails, Peretz said, Israel would "use all of the tools" to dismantle Hizbullah.

US officials stressed Wednesday and Thursday that while they support Israel's right to defend itself and to choose how to do so, Washington did directly call on the Israeli government to hold off the expansion of the military operation until the diplomatic efforts were exhausted.

The security cabinet's decision to widen the operation Wednesday, dependent on a final okay from Olmert and Peretz, led the US to publicly disagree with Israel for the first time since the war broke out.

Following the decision, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that moving deeper into Lebanon did not correspond with American policy.

"We want an end to violence and we do not want escalations," Snow told reports at President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

According to diplomatic officials in Israel and in Washington, the US was concerned that a widespread military offensive on behalf of Israel could undermine attempts to reach a new agreement between the US and France over a UN resolution.

In New York, meanwhile, The US and French ambassadors met with their Russian, Chinese and British counterparts Thursday to discuss the latest cease-fire draft.

France backed Lebanon's call for IDF troops to start pulling out once hostilities end and Lebanon deploys 15,000 troops of its own in the south. The United States, however, supported Israel's insistence on staying in southern Lebanon until a robust international force was deployed, which could take weeks or months.

Lebanon refusing to allow French to enforce mandate (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525849052&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here they are crying about a cease fire, but don't allow it to happen. :-\

The Pentagon is worried by Syria's 'rising self-confidence'
By Shmuel Rosner

WASHINGTON - The U.S. administration is troubled by what a senior Defense Department official termed "a rise in Syria's self-confidence."

The official, who spoke with Haaretz Thursday, expressed frustration over the fact that the United States, Israel and the international community have been unable until now to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to change his behavior. He attributed this failure to the fact that "thus far, no real pressure has been applied to Syria by any of the parties."

The official, who termed Syria's rising self-confidence "a problem for everyone," said that there had been chances to influence Syria, "but they were missed."

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Regarding Israel's decision to leave Syria out of the current fighting in Lebanon, he said: "I don't want to say what my opinion of this decision is."

The Pentagon believes that Syria's influence over events in Lebanon has increased in recent weeks, and the Bush administration is very worried by this, since it viewed Syria's ouster from Lebanon last year as a significant achievement.

The U.S. views Syria as a destabilizing force in the region on three counts: It has not prevented terrorists from entering Iraq via Syria; it has not closed down the Damascus offices of Palestinian rejectionist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad; and it continues to intervene in Lebanon's internal affairs.

In recent weeks, the Bush administration has come under pressure from former senior officials, media pundits and allied diplomats to reopen its dialogue with Syria. Six months ago, the U.S. recalled its ambassador from Damascus and has not yet returned him. But Washington does not want to involve Syria in the current Lebanese crisis without a significant change in its behavior, since, in the words of a senior administration official, "that would be an open invitation to the Syrians to resume interfering in events in Lebanon."

The Pentagon is worried by Syria's 'rising self-confidence' (http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749477.html)

Tehrani worshipers rally in support of Hizbollah

Saturday, August 12, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com

A large group of Tehrani Friday prayers worshipers staged rallies in support of the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon and Palestinian Intifadha, IRNA reported.

LONDON, August 12 (IranMania) - A large group of Tehrani Friday prayers worshipers staged rallies in support of the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon and Palestinian Intifadha, IRNA reported.

The demonstrators in the rallies, held immediately after weekly Friday prayers congregation, called on Muslim states to block oil exports to Israel and its allies.

Holding flags of Lebanese Hizbollah and Palestine, the people chanted such slogans as `Support for Hizbollah is a duty,' `Death to the US,' `Death to Israel' and `Death to Britain.'

They condemned the UN and the international judicial centers' silence against Israel's brutal acts in Lebanon and Palestine, calling the crimes in violation of the human rights regulations.

Also carrying placards of the Lebanese Hizbollah leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the ralliers denounced the unsparing support of the US and Britain for the impudent crimes of the 'Zionist'regime in attacking Lebanon and massacring the defenseless people there. They said London and Washington are accomplices in 'Zionists' crimes.

They also blasted the UN Security Council for its humiliating silence against 'Zionists' crimes and aggressions, calling on the Council to issue a resolution in condemnation of the 'Zionist'regime which is openly jeopardizing global peace and security by owning nuclear warheads.

The demonstrators also urged the world Muslim nations, especially those whose governments are in the 'Zionist'camp, to rise up to support and save the oppressed Palestinian nation and not to spare any help to the Palestinians.

Tehrani worshipers rally in support of Hizbollah (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44983&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

US calls on Syria, Iran to honour UN resolution on Lebanon
(AFP)

12 August 2006

UNITED NATIONS - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Iran and Syria to respect the terms of a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on Friday in a bid to end a month of fighting between their ally, Hezbollah, and Israel.

“We call upon every state, especially Iran and Syria, to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community,” she said in an address to the Security Council.

She also said, “Hezbollah now faces a clear choice between war and peace” in light of the resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the 15-member council.

The resolution, drafted by France and the United States, calls on Israel and Hezbollah to immediately cease hostilities following a month of fighting that has left more than 1,000 Lebanese and over 120 Israelis dead.

It also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from positions they have occupied in southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese army units and a robust international military force in the region to prevent future Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

If implemented fully by Lebanon, the resolution will end Hezbollah’s existence as a militia armed and supported by Iran and Syria.

The US administration was frequently criticised in recent weeks for refusing to deal directly with either Syria or Iran in its efforts to end the fighting in Lebanon.

Critics argued that the two states, as the primary providers of weapons and financial support to Hezbollah, needed to be part of any effective plan to halt Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

Rice and President George W. Bush defended the stance, saying Damascus and Tehran had in the past failed to respond to approaches aimed at easing tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Rice said the UN text should “open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel that will end the suffering and violence of this past month.”

“The people of the Middle East have lived too long at the mercy of extremists,” she said.

“It is time to build a more hopeful future. This resolution shows us the way.”

Immediately before Rice spoke, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lamented that it took the Security Council’s major powers a month to achieve Friday’s ceasefire proposal.

“I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier,” he said.

“All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world’s faith in its authority and integrity,” he said.

“It is absolutely vital that the fighting now stop,” Annan told the gathered council representatives, who in addition to Rice included the foreign ministers of France, Britain and several other countries.

US calls on Syria, Iran to honour UN resolution on Lebanon (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/August/middleeast_August310.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office
By Ari Shavit

Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and unconditional surrender to Hezbollah. That is his privilege. Olmert is a prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose rule journalists preserved. Now the journalists are saying run away. That's legitimate. Unwise, but legitimate.

However, one thing should be clear: If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day. Chutzpah has its limits. You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power. You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close, and then say - oops, I made a mistake. That was not the intention. Pass me a cigar, please.

There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions. He mistakenly gambled on air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to implement the army's original plan, much more daring and sophisticated than that which was implemented. And after arrogantly and hastily bursting into war, Olmert managed it hesitantly, unfocused and limp. He neglected the home front and abandoned the residents of the north. He also failed shamefully on the diplomatic front.

Still, if Olmert had come to his senses as Golda Meir did during the Yom Kippur War, if he had become a leader, established a war cabinet and called the nation to a supreme effort that would change the face of the battle, a penetrating discussion of his failures could be postponed. But in blinking first over the past 24 hours, he has become an incorrigible political personality. Therefore, the day Nasrallah comes out of his bunker and declares victory to the whole world, Olmert must not be in the prime minister's office. Post-war battered and bleeding Israel needs a new start and a new leader. It needs a real prime minister.

Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749484.html)

UN Security Council endorses Lebanon resolution
8/12/2006 1:00:00 AM GMT

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling for ending the four-week long fighting between the Israeli occupation army and Hezbollah resistance fighters, as Israel began "broadening" its ground offensive in Lebanon.

Resolution 1701, originally submitted by the United States and France, calls for "a full cessation of hostilities", and the deployment of up to 15,000 UN troops to monitor a withdrawal of Israeli occupation troops from southern Lebanon to help the Lebanese army enforce a ceasefire.

* Israeli strikes continue

Despite the agreement, described by the U.S. Secretary of State as a step expected to "open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel", Israel continued its brutal and relentless strikes on Saturday, killing and wounding many in South Lebanon.

Israel’s military announced Saturday, hours after the UN Security Council adopted the resolution aimed at ending the fighting in the country; that it had started broadening its ground offensive in south Lebanon, with its troops reportedly heading towards the Litani River.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz gave orders to broaden the offensive in the country, officials said.

Early Saturday, Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, already devastated by previous Israeli attacks, left many killed and wounded.

Also reports said that power station in the city of Sidon, north of the Litani River, was also hit by new Israeli strikes.

* Israeli losses

Hezbollah has dealt Israel its heaviest losses in the recent conflict that broke out in Lebanon following the capture of two of its soldiers in an attempt by the Lebanese resistance movement to pressure the Jewish state release all Lebanese detainees held in Israeli jails.

Israel failed to carry out its threat to damage Hezbollah and its weapons arsenal and establish a "security zone" free of resistance fighters, planned to extend two kilometers into Lebanon from the Israeli border.

Israel's offensive, which as entered its fifth week, has so far failed to hinder Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.

* Lebanon accepts resolution

The Lebanese government accepted the resolution and would issue a formal acceptance to the Council on Saturday, an official source said.

But an adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave the resolution a cautious welcome.

There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.

Olmert told U.S. President George W. Bush he backed the resolution, according to an Israeli government official.

“The prime minister spoke with President Bush and thanked him for his assistance in keeping Israeli interests in mind at the Security Council,” the official said.

Israeli attacks killed 26 people on Friday, including seven who died when an Israeli drone fired rockets at a convoy of hundreds of cars fleeing south Lebanon.

Hezbollah rockets wounded seven people in Israel.

Also an Israeli soldier was reportedly killed in fighting.

More than 1,041 people had been killed in Lebanon in the month-old fighting.

After ceasefire, according to the text, the Israeli army must withdraw from southern Lebanon at the earliest opportunity, and Lebanon will deploy its forces.

* Blair welcomes the resolution

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the adopted resolution.
He unveiled plans to visit the Middle East soon, claiming it will be aimed at reaching ways to install peace in the region, especially between Israelis and Palestinians.

“We must work to address the underlying root causes of this conflict,” Blair claimed in a statement.

“We must never lose sight of the fact that the conflict in Lebanon arose out of the desire to exploit the continuing impasse in Palestine.”

• Israel warns of a “greater tragedy”

Meanwhile Israel warned of an even “greater tragedy” in the Middle East if the UN Lebanon resolution did not produce “change” in the country.

“A resolution alone will do nothing,” Israel’s UN ambassador Dan Gillerman told the Security Council of the UN statement, repeating calls for the disarmament of the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah.

He also called for establishing what the Israel army calls “arms free zone” in southern Lebanon.

“Unless the tools set out in this resolution are used, with resolve and decisiveness, we will be back at this table -- if not in a week then in a month or a year, facing an even greater tragedy.

The Israeli diplomat threw the blame for the current bloodshed on Lebanon, accusing the government of failing to control Hezbollah and claim its authority over the country.

“Israel, like any state, has the right and duty to 'defend' its citizens from Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks,” claimed Gillerman.

“However it is ready to respond to the calls of this Council and to give another chance to the government of Lebanon and the international community to create a new reality on the ground.”

Gillerman used the alleged airline-bombing plot that has been foiled by Britain this week to stress the Jewish State’s claim that “terrorism” has become a mark of the Middle East, which he claimed, poses a real threat to the whole world, arguing that “the tragedy we have seen in our region over the past weeks ... is but a preview of a coming attraction, produced by Iran, directed by Syria, acted by terrorist groups, soon to be seen in a theatre near you.”

• U.S. asks Iran, Syria endorse UN resolution

In an address to the Security Council, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Iran and Syria to accept the UN resolution.

“We call upon every state, especially Iran and Syria, to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community,” she said, adding;
“Hezbollah now faces a clear choice between war and peace.”

Israel’s relentless attacks and indiscriminate bombardment of Lebanese towns and villages over the month-long conflict have left more than 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, dead.

120 Israelis have died since the fighting broke out last month.

The U.S. Secretary of State, moreover, stated that the UN resolution should “open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel that will end the suffering and violence of this past month.”

“It is time to build a more hopeful future. This resolution shows us the way.”

* “War is not politics by other means”

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed disappointment that the Security Council's major powers couldn’t reach a resolution to end the fighting sooner, before civilians on both sides “have suffered such terrible, unnecessary pain and loss”.

“I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier,” he said.

“All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world’s faith in its authority and integrity,” he said.

“It is absolutely vital that the fighting now stop,” Annan said.

“War is not politics by other means.”

The Security Council's session in which the UN text was endorsed included, other than Rice and the Israeli ambassador to the UN, foreign ministers of France, Britain and several other countries.

UN Security Council endorses Lebanon resolution (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=12213)

Iran presses Shi'ites to step up Iraq attacks - Times
Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:57 AM BST253

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iran is pressing Shi'ite militias to step up attacks against the U.S.-led forces in Iraq in retaliation for the Israeli assault on Lebanon, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq told The New York Times in an interview.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also told the Times in Baghdad on Friday Iran may foment even more violence as it faces off with the United States and United Nations over its nuclear program in coming weeks. The newspaper reported on the interview in Saturday editions.

The remarks were the first public statements by a senior Bush administration official directly linking violence in Iraq to Washington's support of Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, and to growing pressure by the United States over Iran's nuclear program, the Times said.

Khalilzad said the Iranian incitement had already led to a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone, now the seat of the Iraqi government and the American Embassy.

Western security advisers confirmed Friday there had been a recent spate of mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone, the Times said, but it was unclear whether anyone was wounded or killed and a spokesman for the American military, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, declined to provide details.

According to the ambassador, the Shi'ite guerrillas behind the recent attacks are members of splinter groups of the Mahdi Army, a militia created by the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. Those groups are tied to Iran as well as Hizbollah, he told the Times.

Khalilzad said that while there was no proof Iran was behind any particular militia operations in Iraq, there was evidence Iran is pushing for more attacks, although he offered no specifics, the Times said.

"Iran is seeking to ... encourage more pressure on the coalition from the forces that they are allied with here, and the same is maybe true of Hizbollah," he was quoted as saying.

Khalilzad insisted, however, that the most powerful Shi'ite leaders in Iraq had not yet pushed for more violence against U.S. troops, despite Iran's desire for them to do so.

"Generally the Shia leadership here have behaved more as Iraqi patriots and have not reacted in the way that perhaps the Iranians and Hizbollah might want them to," Khalilzad said.

In the interview at his home in the Green Zone, Khalilzad said Iran could stoke more violence among Shi'ite militias as the end of the month approaches. A UN Security Council resolution gives Iran until August 31 to suspend its uranium enrichment activities or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

"The concern that we have is that Iran and Hizbollah would use those contacts that they have with groups and ... use those to cause more difficulties or cause difficulties for the coalition," he told the newspaper.

Iran presses Shi'ites to step up Iraq attacks (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-08-12T045657Z_01_N12291036_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-IRAN.xml&src=rss)

Muslim leader calls for vigilance against fanatics

Updated Fri. Aug. 11 2006 11:36 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

One of Canada's leading Imams has said Muslims must be wary of Islamic fundamentalism, and fight radicalism in mosques head on.

Imam Syed Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and the founder of Muslims Against Terrorism, told CTV News that fanatics are a danger to everyone.

"I'm concerned about not only my family but all Canadians," he said. "What's going on? God forbid if this increases, and something happens in Canada, the entire Muslim community in Canada will be in big trouble."

On Thursday, British authorities announced the arrest of 24 people suspected of plotting an elaborate attack on several trans-Atlantic aircraft. It was a chilling reminder of the 17 terror suspects arrested in Toronto on June 2.

Those 17 suspects are alleged to have planned attacks on Canadian soil. An 18th suspect was arrested just last week.

Shaheed Sonier, a Canadian Muslim convert, knew some of those arrested. He claimed they were partly influenced by the 9/11 hijackers, who they considered as martyrs.

"They obviously felt that there was nothing wrong with that act," he said.

Soharwardy said some of the seeds of their alleged beliefs may have come from within Canada's borders.

"That brainwash is coming from the Internet and from some leaders in our community," he said.

In a press conference in Calgary on Friday, Soharwardy warned Canadian Muslims to be vigilant against fanatical Imams.

"We are not doing enough to counter this terrorism within our community, to counter extremism, to counter fanaticism," he said.

"And that's what I'm asking the entire Muslim community -- not only Imams, not only leaders of Muslim organizations but every individual Muslim."

Sohardy added that terrorism goes against the teachings of Islam, and Muslims should report anyone who acts suspicious.

"Based on their Islamic requirements, if they see a person who may be thinking or who may have extreme thinking about the West or Canada, then they must report this to law enforcement agencies," said Soharwardy.

"It is their obligation, otherwise they will not be practising Islam because Islam says you must be faithful to the country where you live."

But he stressed that terrorists, such as those responsible for 9/11, should not be called Muslim terrorists, nor should they be defined by their religion.

He singled out U.S. President George Bush's recent comment that America "is at war with Islamic Facists."

"The approach toward countering terrorism is absolutely producing more terrorists," said Soharwardy.

"It is helping people to become fanatics, it is helping people to take an extreme path. It's not working and that has to change."

Muslim leader calls for vigilance against fanatics (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060811/fanaticism_reaction_060811/20060811?hub=Canada)

Why jihad is picking up steam now and fanatical Muslims are on the march

By Caroline B. Glick

The truth may hurt

As the Israeli people waited Thursday for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to implement his cabinet's decision to widen the ground offensive in Lebanon, Britain found itself under siege. British security officials announced that the entire country was on a red alert for a terror attack. The night before, British security forces foiled a terrorist conspiracy to explode some ten US bound passenger jets.

As London's deputy police commissioner Paul Stephenson told reporters, ''This was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale." By Thursday morning security forces had arrested some 21 suspects. All are British citizens. All are Muslims.

It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that these British Muslims are jihadists. Indeed, it can probably be assumed that like their predecessors last July 7, they made their decision to commit an unspeakable atrocity against their countrymen to advance Islam's takeover of Britain.

The path of jihad is the path of terror. Using terror, the jihadists believe that they can destroy the confidence of citizens of free societies and so coerce them to bend to their will.

In his letter to US President George W. Bush last May, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enunciated the coercive goal of jihad when he threatened the US with war unless Bush converts to Islam. Iran, which today leads the global jihad, has managed to make the language of jihad the lingua franca of the Muslim world.

Many have noted that Hizbullah's initial attack against Israel on July 12 was highly convenient for Teheran. Distracted by the war in Israel and Lebanon, the G-8 and the UN Security Council put off their discussions of Iran's nuclear weapons program, which were scheduled to take place that week.

While the actual date of the attack is easily explained, the question still arises, why is the jihad picking up steam now? Why are fanatical Muslims on the march this summer?

It would seem that the answer to this question is found in the increased cultural weakness of the two states leading the war against radical Islam: the US and Britain. In both countries, for the past two years the forces of leftist radicalism and appeasement have been on the rise. Both countries' leaders are hated by ever larger swathes of their countrymen for their stand on the war against jihad. And so they waver.

On Tuesday, Britain's Home Secretary John Reid discussed the twin dangers of jihad and Western cultural weakness. Reid argued that Islamic terrorism has placed Britain in its greatest peril since the end of World War II. Reid proceeded to utter a stinging indictment of the British judiciary for preferring the "human rights" of terror suspects to the right of British citizens to security. Just last week, the British High Court ruled that security forces had to loosen restrictions they had placed on six Iraqis suspected of links of terrorism.

Tuesday also saw the defeat of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman in the primary elections for the Democratic nomination to the Senate. He was beaten by wealthy businessman Ned Lamont who based his entire campaign on attacking Lieberman for his support for the war in Iraq. The months long primary campaign against Lieberman was replete with venomous anti-Semitic attacks against Lieberman, his family, American Jews and Israel by Lamont supporters.

Lieberman's defeat by an "anti-war" candidate is a clear sign that the Democratic Party is morphing into a radical leftist party. If this trend is not reversed, America's political climate will likely become much less sympathetic and supportive of Israel and much more supportive of countries like France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. A deterioration of the position of American Jews is also liable to ensue.

Under attack domestically, both Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have less time and ability to rally their nations to fight against the forces of global jihad. Moreover, as a result of its own culture wars, Israel today finds itself led by the weakest government it has ever had. The weakness of all three governments presented Iran with an unmistakable opportunity to strike.

While Bush and Blair's weakness is the result of political forces, Olmert's weakness is inherent. He is a dilettante and a dandy, not a leader. Yet, today, the ability of both Blair and Bush to convince their nations to support their war efforts against forces committed to the destruction of their nations' ways of life is dependent on Olmert's ability to lead Israel to victory in the war against Hizbullah.

With a quarter of our population under attack, our cities and forest in flames and our economy surging towards recession and debt, most Israelis agree that the war we face is a war for our national survival. In that sense, it is not all that different from previous wars.

Yet there is a qualitative difference between the current war and wars of previous generations. In the past, our enemies were states. They wished to conquer Israel and take our land for themselves. Today our enemies do not wish to conquer Israel. They wish to destroy Israel as a stepping stone on their path towards global domination. An Israeli victory or defeat in the current war will influence not only Israel's future. It will influence the future of the free world as a whole. If Israel is defeated, if we do not fight to victory over Hizbullah, the march of jihad will move forward with unprecedented force.

cont'd next post

Not surprisingly, Olmert hesitates as he faces this challenge. His nation tells him to choose victory. His instincts tell him to seek the path of least resistance.

If Olmert allows the IDF to fight, if he orders the implementation of the security cabinet's decision to widen the ground offensive to the Litani River and so enable us to vanquish Hizbullah, we will be able to change the face of the region and of the world as a whole.

A clear Israel victory against Hizbullah that destroys Hizbullah as a fighting force would enable leaders like Bush and Blair to defend their decision to wage war against jihad. Quite simply, an Israeli victory will help them inspire their nations to believe that they can win this war as well.

Since his ascension to power last year, Ahmadinejad has been on one long winning streak. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's success in convincing Bush to open direct negotiations with Teheran regarding its nuclear weapons program was a huge victory for Ahmadinejad. And nothing breeds success like success. Because he has yet to fail, the Iranian leader enjoys an aura of invincibility that deters other leaders from challenging his power. An Israeli victory against the Iranian military's advance guard would shatter that aura and facilitate a much more robust Anglo-American stand against Teheran and its client Syria.

As well, events in Iraq will be critically influenced by how Israel comes out of this war. On the one hand, an Israeli defeat is liable to foment a violent Shiite revolt led by Nasrallah's underling Muqtada al Sadr and his terror squads. On the other hand, an Israeli victory will galvanize the moderate Shiite forces in Iraq that are working to stabilize their country.

Finally, an Israeli victory will put paid the fiction which claims that Israel is a strategic liability for to West. The forces who call for Israel's abandonment and a US "engagement" of the Syrians and Iranians will be exposed as fools.

But the option of defeat has an allure of its own. Defeat, or as Olmert might put it, "bowing to international pressure" has the advantage of being the path of least resistance. Unfortunately for Israel, if Olmert surrenders to his nature and opts for capitulation, the result will be catastrophic.

If, as Rice, Shimon Peres (and Olmert himself) recommend, Israel holds its fire and waits for a multinational force to deploy along the border, Israel will lose its right to self-defense. The laws of political gravity dictate that a relinquishment of the right to self defense is tantamount to a surrender of sovereignty. If Olmert decides that he would rather have foreigners patrol our borders than the IDF, his message to the world will be clear: As far as he is concerned, Israel does not value its liberty because it is unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to defend it.

If Olmert truly wants for foreign forces to be stationed in south Lebanon, he can do us all a favor and agree to Hizbullah's demand to keep UNIFIL in place. At least UNIFIL, for all its fecklessness, is more or less harmless. It is not empowered to limit Israel's right to defend itself.

If Olmert decides to surrender to outside pressures, he will be serving the interests of the forces in Washington who claim that Israel is not worthy of America's support. An Israel that is unwilling to contend with Hizbullah is an Israel that cannot be trusted as an ally. That is, if he goes along with Rice and her colleagues at the UN and agrees not to fight to win, Olmert will be paving the way for the defeat of pro-Israel forces in US policymaking circles and politics.

The fact of the matter is that those who push for Israel's abandonment are the same people who push for a US-British retreat from Iraq and an end to their war against radical Islam. If Israel capitulates and so strengthens the powers who oppose it in the US and throughout the West, it will similarly contribute to the political defeat of the political forces that call for the jihad to be defeated. So in a very profound sense, as goes Kiryat Shemona, so go Washington and London.

Today Israel is gripped by dread. There is not a household in the country that is not directly impacted by this war. All of us have family and friends in the North and in the IDF. All of us are concerned about the future of our country.

It would be nice to think that there is some shortcut that we could take to secure our country and our freedom on the cheap. It is the natural tendency of men like Olmert to look for such a shortcut.

But there are no shortcuts in this war, this existential war that in many respects we brought on ourselves by attempting to disengage from the reality of our surroundings.

At the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Olmert demanded that his ministers behave like grown-ups because "the whole nation is watching us now." This is true. We are watching. And at this time, it is up to our nation to force our leaders to lead us to victory.

Why jihad is picking up steam now and fanatical Muslims are on the march (http://jewishworldreview.com/0806/glick081106.php3)

EU will help make Lebanon force 'robust', says Solana

14.08.2006 - 09:57 CET | By Honor Mahony

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has said that he expects a quick deployment of troops to southern Lebanon and that troops from Europe will make the force "robust".

"I've been speaking to several countries during the day and night and I think we will be able to guarantee that the force, as far as the Europeans are concerned, will be robust," Mr Solana said on Sunday (13 August) while in Jerusalem.

Mr Solana, who was in Lebanon on Saturday before travelling to meet Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert indicated Canada, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia may be non-EU countries prepared to take part in the international force.

He went on to say that "in a very, very short time" at least 4,000 soldiers would be prepared to move into southern Lebanon.

Later on Sunday, Mr Solana told Reuters news agency that deployment could start this week.

"I would like to see people beginning to deploy by the end of the week, early next week - elements of the force, the headquarters", he said.

France is expected to lead the force with Italy, Spain, Portugal and Finland all considering sending troops.

On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved a UN resolution, passed unanimously in the UN on Friday, calling for an end to hostilities between the two sides with foreign minister Tzipi Livni calling it the "the best that could be extracted from the Security Council."

The ceasefire resolution went into force at 8am local time this morning (14 August) and calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops after UN and Lebanese forces move into southern Lebanon.

Mr Solana said he hoped the past month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would never be repeated.

"It's important for the Israelis . . . to make a reflection about the significance of what has happened this month. It is a month that we must do the utmost never to repeat," he said.

The fighting was sparked off by Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on 12 July and seen over 1000 people killed – mainly civilians.

US knew of Israel plans to strike Hezbollah, says report
According to leading US investigate journalist Seymour Hersh, Washington knew and gave the green light to Israel's strikes against Hezbollah some two months before they began.

Writing in the current edition of the New Yorker and quoting a US government consultant, Mr Hersh said: "Earlier this summer ... several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, 'to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear'."

"A successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign ... could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations", sources told the veteran journalist.

The US government has denied the allegations calling them "flat wrong."

EU will help make Lebanon force 'robust', says Solana (http://euobserver.com/9/22228)

Abducted IDF Soldiers in Exchange for 13 Hizbullah Terrorists?
17:16 Aug 14, '06 / 20 Av 5766
by Hillel Fendel

The ceasefire agreement now in effect contains no operative clause for the return of the 2 Hizbullah-kidnapped IDF soldiers - but PM Olmert says the 13 terrorists in Israel's hands may be the bait.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with the parents of Ehud (ben Malkah) Goldwasser and Eldad (ben Tova) Regev early Sunday morning, before the Cabinet approved the ceasefire. He acknowledged that the agreement does not provide complete answers regarding the captives, but noted that Israel captured 13 Hizbullah terrorists during the warfare. Olmert said that Israel would offer their return in exchange for the return of the two abducted Israelis.

At least one of the Hizbullah terrorists in Israeli hands was wounded and treated in an Israeli hospital, and another one took part in the actual kidnapping attack.

Olmert announced today that he had appointed Ofer Dekel, former Deputy Head of the General Security Service, to head the task force dealing only with the captives' return.

At yesterday's Cabinet meeting, several ministers brought up the issue of the captives, but Olmert told them it had not been possible to make the ceasefire agreement contingent upon the soldiers' return.

Many critics of the agreement note that both Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz said repeatedly during the course of the war that its goals were to return the captives and neutralize the Hizbullah threat upon Israel. In the event, however, the agreement states only that the UN will "act for the return of the captives" and will present a periodic report on progress to this end.

A UN representative, questioned about why the agreement does not obligate Hizbullah to return the captives, said, "We prefer to work by way of persuasion."

Regev and Goldwasser are not the only Israeli security and military personnel being held by enemy or foreign entities. The soldier Gilad (ben Aviva) Shalit, of Mitzpeh Hila in the Galilee, was kidnapped from his tank just outside Gaza seven weeks ago and is being held in Gaza by the Hamas Authority. In addition:

* Guy (ben Rina) Hever disappeared near the Syrian-Israeli border in the Golan Heights in August 1997;
* Ron (ben Batya) Arad was captured when his plane was downed over Lebanon in Oct. 1986;
* Yehonatan (ben Malkah) Pollard is nearing the end of his 21st year of a life sentence in the U.S. for having passed information to Israel;
* Tzvi (ben Pninah) Feldman, Yehuda (Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sarah) Katz, and Zecharia (Shlomo ben Miriam) Baumel were all captured at the Sultan Yaaqub battle in Lebanon on June 11, 1982.

Abducted IDF Soldiers in Exchange for 13 Hizbullah Terrorists? (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109999)

Egyptian FM Reprimands Both Israel and Hizbullah
17:02 Aug 14, '06 / 20 Av 5766
by Hana Levi Julian

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had criticism for both Israel and Hizbullah in a “Monday morning quarterback” analysis of the Re-engagement War. He said terrorism is not the problem.

The foreign minister’s remarks echoed comments made by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the beginning of the war, in which he warned terrorist groups in Gaza and Lebanon to consider the cost-benefit ratio of entering into a conflict with Israel.

On Monday, Aboul Gheit reiterated the president’s words, chiding Hizbullah for moving ahead with a plan that did not take into account the price its people would pay. Although he acknowledged that Hizbullah is very popular in the Muslim world, Aboul Gheit said nonetheless that it is his job to ensure peace and stability in the region.

“How about the hundreds and hundreds of Lebanese children who have been lost?” he said. “There is a feeling of deep anger that the West jumps and attacks this part of the world.”

Echoing Mubarak's statements that the terror organization should have known that Israel would respond to the attacks on its people, he said, “Hizbullah should have been careful.” He added that Israel used the rocket attacks as a pretext to strike.

Aboul Gheit reprimanded both sides for having entered into a war which created hardship for everyone in the region. In an interview with Reuters, Egypt’s foreign minister was careful to be even-handed in his remarks.

The Israeli foray, he said, “led to the difficulties that everybody is facing,” blaming the Jewish state for starting the war. As for Hizbullah, Aboul Gheit praised the terror organization’s fighting ability and endurance – “they fought with honor,” he said - but “the result, after all, is a disaster for Lebanon.”

Ultimately, said Aboul Gheit, the real cause of the conflict is the “Palestinian problem,” noting that other Arab governments friendly with the United States hold the same view. The problem, he said, was not terrorism. “Terrorism is a reflection of the malaise that we are all suffering.”

Egyptian FM Reprimands Both Israel and Hizbullah (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=110029)

Prepare for negotiations with Syria

Defense minister says that 'every war creates opportunities for wide-scale diplomatic process'; calls on Israel to renew talks with Palestinians, prepare for contacts with Damascus
Vered Luvitch

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that "every war creates opportunities for an extensive diplomatic process," and that "we need to hold negotiations with Lebanon and lay the groundwork for negotiations with Syria."

Peretz made the statements during a Bar Mitzvah party for 65 IDF orphans that was held in Tel Aviv.

Peretz said: "I'm certain that our enemies understand they cannot defeat us. I plan to do whatever I can to restore the diplomatic support for Israel. We need to resume negotiations with the Palestinians." Peretz added that the State of Israel never intended to get dragged into the "Lebanese mud," and that it does not plan to do so now.

He stressed that IDF forces were deployed across southern Lebanon, and that they will respond to any attempt to strike them.

"We will act with all our might if there's an attempt to hurt soldiers on the ground. Up until now the ceasefire has been stable, and we insist that the UNIFIL troops will be able to enforce order in south Lebanon. In the coming days a deployment will be carried out that would allow for the return of the reserve soldiers to Israel," Peretz stated.

Israel Our Home Chairman, MK Avigdor Lieberman, slammed Peretz's call to prepare for the renewal of diplomatic contacts with Syria.

"This is precisely the attitude of not recognizing reality that brought Israel to the current conflict," Lieberman said. "After Assad's declarations that the Golan Heights will be liberated by Syrian soldiers and that Hizbullah won the war, Peretz's call to prepare conditions for negotiations with Syria will be perceived as weakness and an invitation for the next assault."

"It's preferable that the defense minister focus at this time on preparing the army for the next confrontation, which is unavoidable, and not on unrealistic wishes," the Israel Our Home chairman concluded.

'Thank you isn't enough'

Peretz expressed his appreciation for the residents of the north, but said that a "thank you" was not sufficient and that it did not constitute a substitution for the state's commitment to northerners, that should be expressed through setting up an economic-social body that would rehabilitate Israel's north and make the families of the region feel as if the entire country was hugging them.

At the conclusion of his speech, Peretz told the orphans that he knew each and every one of them was missing the father that should have been there for them on the day of their Bar Mitzvah. He said that the loss of their fathers was the common ground on which the IDF was founded and on which the State of Israel will march on.

"You don't need to tell you, the orphans, the brothers and sisters and members of the family of the bereaved, how deep the pain and sorrow is over the loss," Peretz said. "Sadly, we lost brave fighters, among the best sons of the State of Israel. The proved they can meet any mission, and thanks to them there's a diplomatic agreement and a new situation in southern Lebanon."

"Thanks to them, Hizbullah knows it will pay a very heavy price. This is what the fighters give the State of Israel," the defense minister added. "The IDF's job is to make sure Israeli citizens can continue with their routine. The use of force improved the diplomatic agreement. There's no doubt that without the military efforts we wouldn't have been able to obtain any kind of diplomatic agreement."

Peretz: Prepare for negotiations with Syria (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3291636,00.html)

Assad: Hizbullah won, Israel is the enemy

Syrian president speaks before press association for first time since ceasefire. He declares Hibzullah's victory in conflict, says American plans regarding better future for Middle East are 'illusion'; 'resistance is the only way,' he adds
Roee Nahmias

Assad abandoning negotiation path? Syrian President Bashar Assad gave a speech Tuesday for the first time since a ceasefire was declared between Israel and Hizbullah .

In a special political speech to the press association, he declared that Hibzullah had won the current conflict with Israel, as the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah did on Monday.

Assad said that the Middle East had changed following the resistance and that "the American plan to create a new Middle East turned into an illusion the moment Hibzullah won in Lebanon."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in response to his remarks that "Syria will have to decide where it is. Lebanon is meant to take off to a different direction without them. They cannot continue influencing and leading an open front with Hizbullah."

According to Assad, Israel had anyway planned to attack Lebanon and would have done so even without the soldiers' kidnapping .

"The war in Lebanon was prepared in advance and the soldiers' abduction was only an excuse, and the world accepted this excuse. They planned to attack in the winter so as not to ruin the tourism season of their accomplices in Lebanon. The current battles proved that we were right and that resistance is the only way," he said.

Assad made it clear that the resistance was justified due to Israel's actions: "Resistance is necessary, required and legitimate." Its legitimacy is based on Israel's actions in the past five years, including the Air Force sorties over Syria ."

He noted bitterly: "Israel is trying to be part of this region through the 'big Middle East plan'. There are those who think time is on their side and every generation in the Arab world accepts them more, but I am a representative of the third generation and I you see that I hate it (Israel) more. We don't like to use the word hatred but Israel has left to option for itself but to be hated."

He addressed Israelis, saying: "I tell you: You tasted the latest war in Lebanon. Your weapons, including nuclear weapons, won't succeed in protecting you. Generations are developing and they will manage to defeat you. The Israeli leadership needs to save itself from its own stupidity and to decide from the corner in which it has been places whether to go for peace and return the rights or head for instability."

'Peace? We did not give up any option'

Assad spoke about the peace process and said it did not prove itself.

"Arabs gave everything and got nothing. And therefore Syria refused to give up its rights. When we say we chose peace as a strategic option, this doesn't mean we gave up other options – but quiet the opposite," he said.

Referring to other things Assad said: "Israeli is the enemy. It doesn't want peace. It was built on aggression and expansion."

Assad's speech was interrupted by Syrian supporters waving posters of Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and urging Assad to choose the "resistance path."

"We look proudly at a strong Lebanon, that chose resistance and smashed the legend of the undefeatable army," shouted a woman in the crowd, drawing a loud round of applause.

"We are convinced that the real path to peace is through negotiations but if this path is impossible – resistance is the only path. Not necessarily armed resistance, but cultural and political resistance. The aim of the resistance is peace and not war. Therefore it doesn't undermine peace," Assad said.

US President George W. Bush said on Monday that Iran and Syria were the primary sponsors of Hizbullah guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers, igniting the battle with Israel.

'We’ll liberate Golan Heights'

In a special interview with Egyptian newspaper Al-Osboa, Assad said his country is prepared for any war that may break out with Israel , adding that he is convinced that the chances for peace have decreased and that “the Golan Heights will be liberated by Syria.”

“If Israel launches a war against Syria, it will pay a heavy price,” he added.

He said Syria has been following Israel closely, particularly after former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to power.

“The fact that he was elected by such a large majority attests to the fact that the Israeli nation does not want peace,” Assad said.

“Syria and the resistance (referring to Hizbullah ) read the situation correctly in that we predicted the confrontation. There have been extensive preparations for the current battle. Our disagreement focused on the nature of the resistance. There were those who thought the resistance didn’t stand a chance in a time when satellites reveal everything, track everything down and can direct severe blows at the resistance, but the reality proved otherwise.

“In Lebanon they (Israel) destroyed everything, but they were unable to achieve their true military objectives on the ground; the resistance has won the war, and now we must win the diplomatic battle as well.”

Assad: Hizbullah won, Israel is the enemy (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3291525,00.html)

Hello Dreamweaver,

Brother, I got sick listening to much of the news media coverage about this war. It seems that nearly everything is in favor of terrorists and Israel is demonized. This evil world of ours is turning inside out.

We both already know that much worse is yet to come, but the Holy Bible has already declared the winner, and nothing the news media says will mean anything. Much of the world doesn't know or believe that JESUS CHRIST is coming again. HE will come in GREAT POWER AND WRATH, and JESUS CHRIST will be the uncontested winner. We also both know that the entire world can't destroy Israel, regardless of how hard they try. We know that because the Holy Bible tells us so. Israel will be restored and JESUS CHRIST Himself will claim the Throne of David in Jerusalem and rule and reign over the earth for 1,000 years.

GOD has promises that HE will fulfill to Israel, and they will be perfectly fulfilled at HIS appointed time. There will be ONLY one super power on earth, and HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST. HE is the anointed KING of Israel, and HE will most definitely claim HIS CROWN. This might sound ironic to some because we already know that JESUS CHRIST is the KING OF KINGS of HIS Heavenly Kingdom.

BUT, there is more in the Holy Bible. We should all know that JESUS CHRIST has not yet forced all things to come under subjection to HIM, but the Holy Bible promises that HE Will. We should also know that the devil and forces of evil are running loose, getting worse and worse by the minute. The Holy Bible promises that JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF will crush the forces of evil and lock the devil away for 1,000 years. This hasn't happened yet, but it will. IT'S A PROMISE OF GOD, and it MUST come to pass.

So, the forces of evil can brag all they want in this day and time, but their future is in the fires of hell.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 11:1-3 NASB Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Syria President Assad Threatens War
Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 10:26 a.m. EDT

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad says his country is prepared for war with Israel and warned that the Golan Heights would be seized "by Syrian hands.”

In an interview with the Egyptian publication Al-Usbu after the ceasefire in Lebanon went into effect, Assad declared: "Syria has been prepared and ready since the first day of the war . . .

"We and the resistance (Hezbollah) read clearly that the day of confrontation was definitely approaching. The current war is five years old, and there were widespread preparations for this day.”

Assad said he is convinced that steps toward peace "have fallen off, and that the Golan will be liberated by Syrian hands.”

Asked what the expected results would be if Israel launched an attack against Syria, Assad said: "If Israel acts with adventurism and enters into a war with Syria, this will be the beginning of a heavy price that it will pay.”

Assad said Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel marks "a new stage in the history of [the Arab] nation, and he remarked ominously: "To this day no one in American intelligence or Israeli intelligence knows what the true capabilities of the resistance are.”

The Syrian government daily Al-Thawra claimed Hezbollah had achieved a military victory over Israel, which "forced the Americans to make huge diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing [the victory] from being translated into a new political reality.”

On Tuesday, Germany’s foreign minister abruptly canceled a planned visit to Syria after Assad gave a speech ridiculing Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon and warning against disarming Hezbollah.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already boarded a plane in Jordan for the flight to Syria when he canceled the trip, saying Assad’s speech was "going in completely the wrong direction” on the need for peace in the region.

Syria President Assad Threatens War (http://www.newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/8/16/102740.shtml?s=ic)

Quote from: blackeyedpeas on August 15, 2006, 11:25:59 PM

Amen!

oh and........

RIGHT ON!! ;D

Russia Tries to Draw Ex-Soviet States Closer
By Sergei Blagov
CNSNews.com Correspondent
August 17, 2006

Moscow (CNSNews.com) - At a summit of former Soviet states, Russia has agreed to settle a dispute with neighboring Ukraine over natural gas prices, which contributed to a split between the two former allies.

Moscow also used the event to further strengthen its economic relations with countries in its neighborhood, where some ex-Soviet states have moved away from its influence and towards the West.

A damaging disagreement over prices for gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine early this year saw Russia cut off gas, a move that also had a ripple effect on European countries whose gas supplies from Russia travel across Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine's new, pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich told journalists Wednesday that the two countries had now agreed on prices for Russian gas until the beginning of 2007.

Agreement came during talks between Yanukovich and his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Fradkov, who said Russia would pump 24.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas into Ukraine's storage facilities by the end of the year.

Many observers saw the dispute as part of an attempt by Russia to punish its neighbor for drifting out of its orbit and towards the West under President Viktor Yushchenko.

The president was forced recently to offer the premiership to his rival, Yanukovich, to end a long-running political crisis in Ukraine.

Yanukovich met with Fradkov at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC), an organization formed in 2001 whose aim is to boost economic cooperation between Russia and its neighbors that was lost when the Soviet Union disintegrated.

It comprises Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova attended are currently observers.

President Vladimir Putin and other leaders discussed plans to create a customs union that would unite all of the EEC states.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev told a news conference that by October or November, a fledgling customs union would be in place, comprising a core of three nations - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Others are expected to follow later.

Moscow wants to see the EEC continue to expand. Last January it gained its sixth full member, Uzbekistan, the most populous of the four Central Asian republics.

As with other post-Soviet blocs, Russia dominates the EEC. It has a 40 percent vote in the grouping, and also funds 40 percent of its budget.

In another important development Wednesday, Uzbekistan confirmed its return to another post-Soviet grouping, the Collective Security Treaty. Uzbekistan was a member of the CST, but withdrew in 1999 when its relations with the West were improving.

After strong U.S. and European criticism of a 2005 clampdown in the city of Andijan, President Islam Karimov ended his short-lived dalliance with the West and moved back towards Moscow.

The CST links Russia with the Central Asian "stans" as well as Belarus and Armenia.

Russia Tries to Draw Ex-Soviet States Closer (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200608/INT20060817b.html)

Lebanese Army Begins Deployment in Southern Lebanon
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
August 17, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The Lebanese army crossed the Litani River and began deploying its forces in southern Lebanon on Thursday, but in a development that may rupture the ceasefire, Hizballah is refusing to give up its weapons.

According to U.N. resolution 1701, which has halted fighting between Israel and Hizballah -- at least for the time being -- the Lebanese government has committed itself to deploy its army in southern Lebanon with the help of an international force.

The resolution also prohibits any weapons in southern Lebanon except for those held by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL.

Lebanese trucks and tanks were seen heading south on Thursday, and one force reached the town of Marjayoun, less than five miles from the Israeli border.

Lebanese General Charles Shikhani, head of the forces in the Marjayoun area, said the army should be deployed along the Israeli-Lebanese border within 24 hours.

The Israeli army confirmed on Thursday that it had indeed begun the process of handing over the area to UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.

"The process will be carried out in stages and is conditional on the reinforcement of UNIFIL forces and the ability of the Lebanese army to take effective control of the area," the army said.

"The deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon is one of Israel's diplomatic aims and one of the goals of the IDF operation in southern Lebanon," the army said.

According to a statement, Israel will continue to defend its forces in southern Lebanon until the responsibility if fully in Lebanese and UNIFIL hands. Afterwards, Israel will deploy on the Israeli side of the internationally recognized border, it said.

But already there are violations of the U.N. resolution, Israel said.

The Lebanese cabinet has decided that Hizballah will not be disarmed in southern Lebanon. Instead, it will refrain from openly carrying its weapons.

"The weapons of the resistance [Hizballah] are the only ones, of all Arabs, that succeeded in standing up to Israel and defeating it. No one can take away the weapons of the resistance, certainly not by force," pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said.

His comments are almost identical to those made by Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah earlier this week.

Lahoud, who headed the cabinet meeting, said that the army would "be for all the Lebanese.""

But that's not the only violation, Israel said. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on Wednesday and told him that Israel is expecting the release of its two soldiers, who were abducted by Hizballah on July 12 in a cross-border attack, triggering the 34-day war.

"The fact that the kidnapped soldiers have not yet been released by Hizballah constitutes a clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, and I expect that the international community [will] continue to work for their immediate release," Livni told Annan according to a statement released by her office.

Annan also agreed to Livni's request to meet with the families of the kidnapped soldiers, the statement said.

Lebanese Army Begins Deployment in Southern Lebanon (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200608/INT20060817c.html)

Invoking Hizballah, Sudan's Leader Vows to Defeat Any UN Force
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
August 16, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Amid calls for the U.N. to deploy peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region by October 1, the country's Islamist leader has vowed to emulate Hizballah in Lebanon and rout any incoming force.

"We oppose the deployment of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council," Sudan's state news agency quoted President Omar al-Bashir as saying in an address to the North African country's armed forces.

"We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hizballah has defeated the Israeli forces," he said, echoing the view expressed by Syria, Iran and Hizballah itself that the recent conflict in Lebanon had ended in victory for the terrorist group.

The Sudan Tribune said Bashir also has reaffirmed Sudanese "solidarity" with the Lebanese and Palestinians.

The U.N. estimates that more than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since fighting erupted between the government and several rebel groups in 2003. Two million more have been displaced, and both rebels and notorious government-sponsored militias have been accused of abuses against civilians.

The government and one rebel faction signed a peace agreement last May, but the violence has continued - and in some ways has worsened, with rebel groups fracturing and turning on each other as well, leading to a worsening humanitarian situation, according to aid groups.

A small, underfunded African Union (A.U.) force has been monitoring the agreement, but the organization wants to hand over to a U.N. force by October.

Last week, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reaffirmed that the U.S. backed the A.U. position and was "pushing hard at the U.N. and elsewhere to try to make that happen."

The force envisaged by U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan will largely come from African and Asian nations, with support from developed countries.

Annan said in a report to the Security Council that a U.N. mission would need between 15,300 and 18,600 troops, depending on the required deployment speed and levels of troop density.

He said the force would focus primarily on protecting civilians, including the large number of internally-displaced people currently living in camps.

Pointing to the need to get Sudan's consent, Annan said "the United Nations has no
hidden agenda ... beyond the urgent need to help the population and prevent the crisis from spreading further."

It would be deployed to help the parties to implement the peace agreement, "not to occupy the country."

He urged Khartoum not to misrepresent the aims of the U.N. for political ends.

New York-based non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch says the Security Council should impose sanctions on senior Sudanese officials.

"The council should impose personal, targeted sanctions on top Sudanese officials responsible for preventing U.N. troops from being sent to Darfur," said the group's Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, in a statement Monday.

The statement suggested strongly that Bashir should be among those targeted, calling him "the most powerful actor" in a government that had "defied the Security Council for two years."

Currently only four individuals have been subjected to sanctions over Darfur. A travel ban and assets freeze were imposed last April against a Sudanese military officer, the leader of a pro-government militia, and two rebel commanders.

Invoking Hizballah, Sudan's Leader Vows to Defeat Any UN Force (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200608/INT20060816b.html)

West Bank pullout may be next casualty

Julian Borger in Jerusalem
Wednesday August 16, 2006
The Guardian

One of the many casualties of the war in Lebanon will almost certainly be the Israeli government's plans to withdraw unilaterally from the West Bank.

Ehud Olmert's government has been weakened by intense criticism of its handling of the war and is in no position to force through its controversial "realignment policy" of unilateral withdrawal from Palestinian territory.

Hizbullah's unleashing of thousands of rockets from a border strip in Lebanon vacated six years ago by Israeli forces, coming soon after Hamas's use of rockets from the Gaza Strip, has created a political backlash against withdrawal.

Mr Olmert's hopes of pursuing his realignment policy appeared to have been delivered a fatal blow yesterday, with the leak of a government-appointed panel's report on its consequences. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, the committee found that a withdrawal would leave cities such as Tel Aviv vulnerable to rocket attacks from the West Bank.

"It is well known that as far as public opinion is concerned, unilateral steps are over already," said Avshalom Vilan, a Knesset member from the leftwing Meretz party. "They will not work. There is no majority for them in the Knesset at the moment or in the future."

He added that Palestinian militants might draw inspiration from Hizbullah and rely more heavily on rocket attacks against Israel.

Ghassan Khatib, the labour minister in the Palestinian Authority, confirmed that Hizbullah's perceived ability to survive an Israeli offensive for more than a month had strengthened Palestinian militancy.

"In public opinion, there is an increase in support for military solutions and resistance as a strategy rather than negotiations," Mr Khatib said.

Former prime minister Ariel Sharon founded the Kadima party specifically to carry out unilateral withdrawals from occupied territories and he led the pull-out from Gaza almost exactly a year ago. When Mr Sharon had a stroke in January and the Kadima leadership passed to Mr Olmert, he won an election on the pledge to do the same on the West Bank - a far more difficult task because of the much higher number of Jewish settlers and Israeli ambitions to hold on to a significant amount of the territory.

Yossi Alpher, an adviser to former prime minister Ehud Barak at the 2000 Camp David peace talks, said: "We have already been attacked across two internationally recognised borders, across which we withdrew unilaterally, and the West Bank won't even be an internationally negotiated border."

If the realignment policy has reached a dead end, it represents a serious threat to Kadima, which has largely been a single-issue party, and its coalition. If rightwing Kadima members start to defect to Likud, the government could fall apart.

While there is widespread agreement that realignment has hit a brick wall, it is far from clear what the government will do next. Mr Vilan said he hoped the impasse would lead to a resumption of dialogue with the Palestinian Authority over a negotiated withdrawal.

"Maybe it will accelerate negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians on the understanding that without it there can be no solution in Gaza or the West Bank," he said. "And also, because without doing so they will come to a dead end on their main policy, and I don't see how Kadima will survive without that political momentum."

Mr Khatib said there were growing fears among Palestinians that Mr Olmert and the Israeli army might try to rescue their reputations with a broad offensive against Hamas in Gaza. "People are worried because Israel might try to create victories on the Palestinian front after its difficulties on the Lebanese front," he said.

West Bank pullout may be next casualty (http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1851065,00.html)

Hariri accuses Assad of trying to sow strife

BEIRUT (AP) — The head of Lebanon's largest parliamentary block blasted both Israel and Syria in a fiery nationalistic speech Thursday to hundreds of supporters.

“The history of Israel is a black history, a hateful one, of destruction,” said Saad Hariri, in a speech praising the Lebanese army for moving into south Lebanon.

“Israeli attacks can destroy Lebanon [physically] but will not touch Lebanese unity,” Hariri said.

The son of slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a top US ally, said Israel had a history of “living off the blood” of Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab people.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev, when asked about the Hariri speech, said: “Too often in the Arab world, people think that political legitimacy is attained by bashing Israel.” Regev had not heard the speech but was responding to a news account of the address that was read to him.

He also accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of trying to sow strife in the neighbouring country where it kept an occupation force for 29 years.

Hariri was responding to a speech Tuesday by the Syrian leader in which he accused Lebanon's anti-Syrian groups of allying themselves with Israel, which bombarded Lebanon for 34 days.

“The speech was an incitement for sedition in Lebanon.

“The Syrian president has hurt his position, Syria's and Lebanon's,” he said in a speech to supporters.

The United States has accused Syria of meddling in Lebanese affairs, and the UN Security Council has demanded Syria stop interfering.

In his speech, Assad attacked Israel and its prime supporter, the United States, and said US plans for a new Middle East have become an illusion following what he described as a victory by the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizbollah against Israel in the July 12-Aug. 14 fighting.

Hariri, a strong backer of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government, called on Lebanese to rally behind the government of Lebanon.

He went on to attack Syria's domestic and regional policies.

“The Syrian regime is exploiting the blood of Qana and Gaza and Baghdad to bring sedition to Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq so that the Muhajereen palace now deserves to be called the 'Mutajereen' palace,” he said playing on words.

Muhajereen is the presidential palace in Damascus, while Mutajereen means exploiters.

That was a reference to Qana, where dozens of Lebanese civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike on July 30. Syria also was accused stirring up trouble in Iraq.

Hariri and his supporters have accused Syria's leadership of involvement in the late Hariri's assassination in 2005, an event that sparked mass protests in Lebanon and intensified international pressure that led Syria to withdraw its army from the country. Syria denied involvement although a UN investigation has implicated Syrian intelligence officials in the bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others.

Relations between Lebanon and Syria have plummeted since the Syrian troop withdrawal last year, with politicians in both countries leveling insults and accusations against each other.

However, that tension eased during the Israel-Hizbollah fighting as Syria hosted tens of thousands of Lebanese refugees, until Assad fired the new salvo in his Tuesday speech, drawing sharp condemnation from opponents in Lebanon.

Lebanese lawmaker and Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt, a staunch critic of the Syrian regime and an ally of the United States, said, nevertheless that he believed the US interest was primarily Israel's security.

“We don't want Lebanon — or south Lebanon specifically — to be a testing ground of preemptive wars by America and Israel against Iran and Syria or the otherway around,” he said at a news conference.

Jumblatt, a harsh critic of Hizbollah's alliance with Iran and Syria, said the Iranians were trying to improve their negotiating position over their nuclear programme “on the rubble of the [Lebanese] people”. Assad, he said, wanted “to avoid accountability through an international tribunal” in the Hariri assassination.

“This is the objective convergence between Ahmadinejad and Bashar Assad,” he said.

Hariri accuses Assad of trying to sow strife (http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news6.htm)

Al-Aqsa: We learned missiles subdue Israel

Abu Nasser, commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Nablus, encouraged by war results. 'Our brothers demonstrated what we have felt in recent years: Israel falling apart. Next time Iran will be in picture with missiles on Tel Aviv and it will be easier'
Ali Waked

The Palestinian terror organizations are looking north and are filled with satisfaction and hope for the next step.

"We learned from Hizbullah that the tools that make a difference are missiles. If achieve expertise in this field, we won't make do with the simple rockets we have. There is no doubt that we can subdue Israel ," Abu Nasser, a commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Fatah's military wing, told Ynet.

"Since the Gulf War, missiles were what brought Israel to the negotiation table. The withdrawal from Gaza was also a result of missiles. If we use them correctly in the West Bank, we will get rid of the IDF here too," Abu Nasser explained.

According to him, his organization wasn't surprised by what he defines "the defeat Hizbullah handed to Israel."

He continued on to say that "Hizbullah has been impenetrable in recent years, working quietly and successfully putting the IDF to sleep. If we adopt these operational patterns, there is no doubt that our turn will come. We learned that with faith and good preparation, you can defeat the Israeli military."

Abu Nasser is not ruffled by the IDF's threats to West Bank towns if they use missiles against Israeli cities. "They threatened to demolish Gaza and Lebanon and we saw that wasn't so terrible. The question is if we, the Palestinian organizations, can withstand the initial fire of Israel. If we succeed in prevent collapsing after the first hit – there is a chance we will win."

According to him, the inability to withstand the initial blow is what defeated the Palestinians in Defensive Shield.

"The operation in Lebanon is similar in scope in terms of the Israeli forces that participated to Operation Defensive Shield. There, except for the refugee camps Balata and Jenin, everything happened immediately. From Hizbullah we learned that if we build a proper defense system in bunkers, we will be able to sustain the fire in the initial days. There is no doubt that we too will succeed."

'Hizbullah showed Israel what an army is' The success of the Israeli security forces to penetrate the terror organizations, which enables the thwarting of terror attacks in their planning stages, is in Abu Nasser's opinion another weak point of the Palestinian organizations in contrast with Hizbullah. "There is no doubt that we need to work on this issue because it explains, in my opinion, 90 percent of their success," he explained.

Abu Nasser claims that they can succeed if they mortally strike down the "army of collaborators" with Israel, just as Hizbullah hit the Southern Lebanese Army. "We need to dedicate a certain time period to cleansing our forces of collaborators. Then there won't be any force that can stand before us, although I won't say it's simple."

The Palestinian organizations conclude after the war in Lebanon that "it is possible to beat and even defeat the Israeli military," according to Abu Nasser.

"Hizbullah proved what we have already known and felt here in a number of opportunities. The Israelis are lying when they paint their military as unbeatable. A few hundred Hizbullah fighters showed them what an army is, and how to conduct a battle."

According to Abu Nasser, Nasrallah's organization still hasn't had its last word.

"From our acquaintance with them, there is no way they are going to disarm. The organization has strategic objectives and the current battle proves that if it will decide to initiate another battle – the road is paved. The next time Iran will be in the picture and missiles on Tel Aviv will be part of the game. When this happens, it will be a lot easier for us. We are proud of our brothers, the Hizbullah fighters. They are inspirational teachers that demonstrated everything we have been feeling in recent years – Israel is falling apart," he said.

Al-Aqsa: We learned missiles subdue Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3292723,00.html)

'Israel can only lose once'
by Hal Lindsey
Posted: August 18, 2006
Worldnetdaily © 2006

During one of Israel's many wars, Golda Meir offered this famous – and tragic – observation: "The Arabs can fight, and lose, and return to fight another day. Israel can only lose once." Golda's assessment became a truism of the Middle East up until now. And the jury is still out as to whether her assessment remains true to this day.

In the strange and surreal world that is the Middle East, Israel lost its war with Hezbollah. And while it remains intact at the moment, her enemies no longer view the Jewish state as invincible. History tells us that means the current cease-fire is a temporary condition at best, and that next time, Israel will be facing a lot more than an outlaw terrorist organization like Hezbollah.

On second thought, strike that. Hezbollah is only an outlaw terrorist organization in the eyes of the United States. Europe sees Hezbollah as a radical but legitimate political party that constitutes part of Lebanon's legally elected government. The United Nations has yet, in its long history, to come up with a definition of "terrorist," let alone outlaw one.

So let's rephrase it to say that Israel will likely face a lot more formidable enemy that just Hezbollah next time. And make no mistake – there will be a "next time." Israel, for the first time in its history, failed to meet a single one of its war objectives. It meekly accepted a substandard, U.N.-imposed cease-fire, leaving Hezbollah largely intact, Hassan Nasrallah unscathed; it failed to eliminate Hezbollah's arsenal of rockets; and, worst of all, it came home without the two hostages kidnapped by Hezbollah that prompted the war in the first place.

Until now, it had been an unshakeable article of faith that Israel was capable of imposing whatever outcome it deemed necessary against any Arab force. And, until now, Israel continued to press its military advantage until it had attained its stated goals.

That is no longer the case. After a month-long war, Israeli forces limped home as Hezbollah, Syria and Iran all claimed victory against the Jewish state. It was defeated by a newly invented international "law of proportionality" that dictates Israel cannot achieve a greater victory against its enemies than its enemies are capable of inflicting upon them.

Of course, such a ridiculous law could only be imposed against Israel. The United States did not use "proportional" force against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan in 2002. Osama bin Laden used three commercial airplanes against the United States. The United States used every weapon in its formidable arsenal, with the exception of nuclear weapons, to bomb Afghanistan further into the Stone Age than it had already been.

Were the United States to subject itself to the law of proportionality, we would have sent 19 guys with armed with box knives to exact revenge for Sept. 11. Of course, it's stupid. But it evidently didn't sound as stupid when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed on to the idea and joined the U.N. in demanding a cease-fire that left Hezbollah armed, in place and able to re-arm, regroup and try again. Oh, Secretary Rice spoke great, swelling words about not maintaining the status quo, but when it got down to it, she folded up like a cheap lawn chair.

The "status quo" before Israel attacked Hezbollah had the armed terror group ensconced along Israel's borders, raiding Israeli territory at will, and killing and kidnapping any Israeli soldier within reach of its infiltrating forces, without fear of interference from the incompetent and unsympathetic UNIFIL forces ostensibly stationed there to ensure Israel's border security.

Following Israel's month-long war, Hezbollah remains intact, armed with long-range rockets, capable of attacking Israel at will without fear of interference from the UNIFIL forces still stationed there. The only difference is that Lebanon is dispatching a military force that it openly admits has no intention of either disarming Hezbollah or engaging it militarily if it decides to resume its previous infiltration or kidnapping tactics.

The U.N. has yet to put together a credible military deterrent, and so far, the only nations willing to contribute troops are overwhelmingly sympathetic to Hezbollah and Lebanon. The biggest contributor so far is France. Lebanon is a former French colony. And it is hard to imagine Paris engaging its ally to defend the Jews. France is among the most openly anti-Semitic nations in Europe.

Hezbollah acquired anti-tank weapons from Syria and Iran that decimated Israeli armor. Syria and Iran have both since claimed joint victory against Israel, along with Hezbollah, and have pledged to continue the conflict until Israel has been wiped from the map.

Hezbollah has demonstrated that total Arab defeat is not inevitable – and with this demonstration, Israel has lost its tremendous psychological advantage. If Hezbollah could hold the mighty Israeli juggernaut at bay, then the possibility that Israel could finally and decisively be wiped from the map of the Middle East by another pan-Arab army is once again feasible.

Hezbollah has emerged as a massive political force. Syria, marginalized in recent years, has re-emerged as a regional player as Hezbollah's patron. Hezbollah's victory represents a victory for Iran and the Shia. Hezbollah, a Shiite force, has done what others could not do.

This will certainly result in both Jordan and Egypt rethinking their own assumptions about the viability of another war of annihilation against Israel. In a sense, the Arabs have little to lose by taking the risk. If they win, they will have succeeded in reclaiming their lost honor in previous conflicts, with the added bonus of having rid the world of the Jewish cancer in its midst. And if they lose, they can once again count on the U.N. imposing a cease-fire in time for them to remain intact and viable.

One doesn't need a crystal ball to know that Syria and Iran will move quickly to exploit the advantage Israel's defeat at the hands of Hezbollah has given them.

This is exactly the outcome that both Damascus and Tehran had been hoping for, although they certainly didn't expect it. But now that it is a reality, Golda's words echo with haunting clarity. "The Arabs can fight, and lose, and return to fight another day. Israel can only lose once."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just like President Bush has said, the terrorist can losee a bunch of times. America can only lose once. I have to agree with Hal on this one.

Olmert nixes talks with Syria
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 21, 2006

The easiest part of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to Katyusha-traumatized Kiryat Shmona on Monday was ruling out negotiations with Syria, an idea backed earlier in the day by Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter.

The most difficult part was hearing complaints about how his government managed the war by residents embittered by the month-long ordeal.

"I am the last person who will say I want to negotiate with Syria," Olmert said in a meeting with Kiryat Shmona city councilmen, in response to Dichter's comments on Army Radio Monday morning. Dichter said he would be willing to withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for real peace with Syria.

Olmert said Syria "is the single most aggressive member of the axis of evil," adding that the rockets that hit Kiryat Shmona over the past month came from Syria.

"When Syria stops supporting terrorism, when it stops giving missiles to terror organizations, then we will be happy to negotiate with them," he said.

Israel is, however, sending signals to the Lebanese government via intermediaries that it is interested in opening peace talks, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Dichter, the former head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), said, "Any diplomatic initiative is preferred over war, whether in Syria or Lebanon."

"With regard to Lebanon, conditions are even more welcoming than they are with Syria," he said. "Lebanon can today begin talks with Israel without the Syrians."

Dichter said negotiations with Syria were "legitimate," adding: "If there is someone to talk to on the other side, we should talk. Israel can initiate this or turn to a third party."

"We have paid similar territorial concessions in the past when we signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt," he said.

Olmert, who only Sunday asked his cabinet ministers to refrain from talking about either war or peace with Syria because the comments might be misunderstood by the other side, said, "I recommend not getting carried away with any false hopes. We are not going into any adventure when the other side sponsors terror."

Olmert said Israel would not enter talks with Syria "until basic steps are taken which can be the basis for any negotiations."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also dismissed the idea of negotiations with Syria during talks she held with visiting UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen. According to her office, Livni told Roed-Larsen that she feared the Syrians might misinterpret statements like Diskin's as a sign of weakness instead of strength.

The Syrians, she said, needed to comply with the decisions of the international community, and the international community needed to continue demanding that Damascus stop supporting terrorism. She conveyed a similar message to visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Rudolf Bot.

But it was less Syria, and more the way the war was handled, that was on the minds of the Kiryat Shmona Municipal Council members who met with Olmert.

"It is an understatement to say the residents here are very angry," said Yigal Buzaglo, a councilman. "People here were abandoned. I ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, where were you? Why didn't you worry about us?"

Another councilman, Yona Fartok, said he had never witnessed such poverty and humiliation.

"It looked just like New Orleans," he said. "Suddenly you see how weak the city is. Stop showing us disrespect. Why are army bases moving to the South and not to the North? Where are you leading us?"

Michel Ben-Shimon said it was "inconceivable that people were not evacuated during the whole war because there wasn't money."

The councilmen demanded the establishment of a state commission of inquiry.

Hermon Regional Council head Benny Ben-Muvhar said that if it were not for the external help he received, the situation in his regional council would have been much worse.

"The fire fighting unit in our council was active only because of donations we received," he said.

Olmert listened and then defended his government, saying it had only been in power for two months when the war broke out. The fighting "was a wake-up call that allows us to defend ourselves better," he said.

Regarding calls for a commission of inquiry, Olmert said Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz would soon recommend the nature of the committee to be established.

"I would rather focus on the future than the past," he said. "This is why I came here today. I promise you that a commission will be established and we will know how to learn the necessary lessons."

Olmert said he would not take part in a ritual of "self-flagellation or turning the IDF into a punching bag."

"Who is the IDF?" he asked. "They are our children and our people. Who are the officers if not our best sons, headed by the chief of General Staff. What shall we do with them, put them in a line and slap them so they can't prepare for the future, but so we can come to them again in the future with complaints?"

Olmert pinned some of the blame for Israel's war with Hizbullah on his predecessors, saying they had not responded in time to the dangers Hizbullah posed.

"We knew for years that there was a great danger, but for some reason we didn't translate that understanding into action, like we just did," he said. "We knew what Iran was doing, what Syria was doing, in arming Hizbullah, but we acted as if we didn't know."

Olmert nixes talks with Syria (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525914354&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Italy says ready to command UN force in south Lebanon
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Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Monday that Italy was ready to assume command of an expanded UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon to help secure a week-long fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"I confirmed that Italy was available to command the UN mission" in a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Prodi told reporters in the central Italian city of Grosseto.

He said Annan will make a final decision on the command of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) this weekend following "a very broad consultation."

The prime minister urged the international community to specify the task, regulations, command and deployment of the peacekeeping force so that UN Security Council Resolution 1701 will be better implemented.

Before Italy made the commitment, both Israel and Lebanon explicitly expressed the hope that Italy would play a crucial role in the UN force.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, unanimously adopted last week, authorizes an expansion of UNIFIL from its current 1,990-strong force to 15,000 troops in order to police the shaky truce between the Shiite militia Hezbollah and Israel following their month-long fighting.

The United Nations has pledged to move 3,500 extra troops into south Lebanon by Sept. 2 but has received few firm troops offers.

France had been expected to lead the mission but dismayed the United Nations by offering only 200 troops to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, a former French colony.

Italy offered 2,000 troops, the biggest commitment any country has made so far. On Friday, both the Italian parliament and Prodi's cabinet approved the decision to send soldiers.

Israeli soldiers are manning strategic posts in south Lebanon and are expected to pull out only when extra UN troops arrive.

The 34-day fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerillas killed nearly 1,300 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and killed 160 people in Israel, mostly soldiers.

Italy says ready to command UN force in south Lebanon (http://english.people.com.cn/200608/22/eng20060822_295616.html)

Why Assad, why now?

Government officials say it is better to have Bashar Assad on Israel’s side than to continue current diplomatic stalemate and allow him to arm himself for possible war in future. ‘Assad may be a bastard, but it is entirely possible that it would be better to have him in our camp,’ one official says

Roee Nahmias
Published: 08.21.06, 14:01

Government officials told Ynet that it is better to have Syrian President Bashar Assad on Israel’s side than continue the current diplomatic stalemate and allow him to arm himself for a possible war in the future.

“Assad may be a bastard, but it is entirely possible that it would be better to have him in our camp,” one official said in response to Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter’s statement that “In exchange for peace with Syria, Israel can leave the Golan Heights.”

“We should at least consider this option, and we are already hearing similar opinions from the US State Department,” the official said, adding that “We must also take into account what can happen in case a war with Syria breaks out – either we will get a slap in the face or we will respond with a stronger blow that will topple Assad. And then what will we have in the northern border? The Muslim Brotherhood at best, or an extreme model of Iraq or even Somalia at worst.”

Syria, for its part, is not oblivious to the statements emanating from Jerusalem: Arab media outlets Al-Jazeera and London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat featured Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s appointment of a project manager to map out the different issues between Syria and Israel as their top story.

However, Israeli government officials said Livni’s move was blown way out of proportion and the State Department said that in no way does the appointment point to Israel’s intentions regarding Syria.

Syrian parliament member Faisal Kulthum said in response to Livni’s appointment “After what happened during the sixth war waged by Israel against Lebanon – the rules of the game have changed.”

“Israel must understand that it cannot continue to forcefully conquer territories,” he said.

In Syria, they were glad to hear Dichter's comments. As a rule, since the enthusiastic speech of Syrian president Basher Assad last week, when he said that "Syria has another possibility other than peace – resistance," Syrian sensitivity became sharper to the Syrian-Israel axis, as seen by intensive monitoring of all diplomatic developments.

Assad's speech - war or peace?

Many in Israel were not impressed by Assad's speech, as it focused on war. The opposite is true. Assad declared that peace is a strategic choice for Syria, but at he same he said that if this does not materialize, there will from now on be another opportunity – "resistance" – a Hizbullah term.

Various sources said Israel did not internalize the content of Assad's speech and were galloping ahead with closed eyes to a terrible clash. "The window of opportunity against Assad will remain open for another two or three years," one source said. "In Israel there is a feeling that if there was calm for 32 years in the Golan, maybe there will be calm for another 32 years, and this is now how things are."

As if to prove the sources right, reports from recent days and Monday morning are hinting at another possibility – weapons, in large amounts, are making their way from Iran to Syria and from there they are supposed to be given to Hizbullah. The direction is clear – Iranian coverage for the possible war with a much higher intensity than what we have seen. "This can be a terrible war. A sea of missiles of different types will be directed at Israel," said the source. "We must consider this before galloping forward with closed eyes."

Therefore, the source said, it may be better to consider speaking with Assad and to take him away from the Iranian grasp, in which it is not at all clear that he wants to be part of, thereby dealing with one source – Iran, instead of a multi-dimensional force.

"It's certainly possible that if Assad feels the matter is serious – he would be willing to pay in hard currency in Lebanon. If he feels he is being buttered up – we won't see results. In any case, this is a matter that decision makers will have to decide," the source said.

Why Assad, why now? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3293896,00.html)

Olmert Slammed For Being ´Tired of Winning´
11:23 Aug 22, '06 / 28 Av 5766
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Critics of Olmert complain he lived up to his word when he said "we are tired of winning." The government is weakened by scandals and attacks on several fronts, but there are no signs it will fall.

Reservists have complained that the government and military establishment prevented a solid victory against Hizbullah terrorists by blunders in carrying out the war. The results were in keeping with a speech by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in June 2005, when he was Vice Prime Minister to Ariel Sharon.

He told the Israel Policy Forum in June 2005, "We are tired of fighting; we are tired of being courageous; we are tired of winning; we are tired of defeating our enemies."

His words have come back to haunt him amid mounting attacks from several fronts on the government, including complaints by soldiers and even senior commanders, bitterness by northern residents who charge they were abandoned, and scandals in the government. The Olmert administration's handling of the war up north orchestrated a clear failure, in that Olmert promised there would be no ceasefire without the unconditional return of the captive IDF soldiers, but then Israel agreed to the current uncertain ceasefire, without even an operative clause mentioning their return.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon was forced to resign because of charges of sexual misconduct. Minister Tzachi HaNegbi had to resign following an announcement that he will be indicted on charges of making political appointments when he was Environment Minister. The investigation was known when he switched from the Likud party to join former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new Kadima party, in which Olmert was the number two man.

Journalist Yoav Yitzchak has been publicizing for several months documents that suggest the Prime Minister received financial favors in a property deal.

Another scandal likely to damage the reputation of the government involves President Moshe Katzav, who is to be questioned by police on charges by 20 workers that he is guilty of sexual misbehavior. Two women have charged he slept with them, and Channel 2 television reported Monday night that the President will be forced to resign to avoid embarrassment. President Katzav's office called the report a lie.

The harsh condemnation of the government weakens its ability to take leadership but the government is not likely to fall unless enough Kadima Knesset Members, most of whom jumped ship from the Labor and Likud parties, switch again.

"I think Olmert will simply allow the anger to pass and get on with his business," Gadi Wolfsfeld, a professor of political science at Hebrew University, told the The Associated Press.

Olmert has found himself trying to snuff out one brush fire after another, but the multi-prong attacks have been increasing more rapidly than his responses.

He weathered the crisis of IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz's selling stocks three hours after Hizbullah terrorists kidnapped two IDF soldiers, by saying that he had complete faith in the Lt. General.

However, several days later top commanders and more than a thousand soldiers came forward with evidence of army mismanagement, irresponsibility and failure to provide troops with basic needs.

The Prime Minister tried to answer the criticism by letting Defense Minister Amir Peretz set up an investigative committee, despite public questioning of how his own appointees could fairly question the minister and the government. The Defense Minister appointed his closest war advisor, former Lt. General Amnon Lipnik-Shahak, to head the panel.

Less than 48 hours later, Prime Minister Olmert ordered the committee to halt its work after the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee almost unanimously said it wants a Knesset committee to conduct the investigation. The only voices of dissent came from three Kadima party members.

Kadima leaders were able to stymie a committee decision by pointing out a technicality that the 11-3 vote was not valid because the issue was not on the agenda.

Other voices are demanding a national inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge who would have power to summon witnesses and bring charges against them if officials are found to have violated their responsibility.

Prime Minister Olmert rejected the need for an inquiry, saying, "I won't play this game, the game of beating ourselves up." But no sooner had he blamed his predecessors for being lax and said that energies must be focused on supporting the army, than former Chief of Staff Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon stated, "Whoever is responsible should take responsibility and not try to throw it on others."

Outgoing infantry and paratrooper commander Brigadier General Yossi Heiman said this week that the reservists were not trained properly and that senior IDF commanders are "guilty of arrogance."

On the diplomatic front, Prime Minister Olmert is saddled by a United Nations Security Council ceasefire that has become weaker in reality than in writing. Instead of 15,000 troops slated to join the international UNIFIL force in Lebanon, the U.N. is having trouble coming up with 3,500 it vowed will be deployed by the end of the month.

The northern border remains tense and Galilee residents are uncertain about their safety despite the Prime Minister's promise in his 2005 speech that the future is "more security [and] greater safety." Olmert said the destruction of Jewish communities in the Gaza and northern Samaria areas, which he and Ariel Sharon called "disengagement," would be followed by "a lot of joy for all the people that live in the Middle East.

"We are confident that this 'disengagement' will be successful and that it will then lead to the beginning of a new pattern of relations between us and the Palestinian Authority," he said.

Olmert Slammed For Being ´Tired of Winning´ (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=110547)

Israel buys 2 German subs
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 22, 2006

In the face of Iran's race to obtain nuclear power, Israel signed a contract with Germany last month to buy two Dolphin-class submarines that will, according to foreign reports, provide superior second-strike nuclear capabilities, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The submarines will be assembled in Germany and provided with a propulsion system allowing them to remain underwater for far longer than the submarines currently in the Israel Navy's fleet.

According to sources close to the deal, the submarines will be operational in the near future.

The Post has also learned that the navy is considering installing a Fixed Underwater Sonar System (FUSS) off the coast to detect foreign submarines.

In 1993, Iran bought two Russian Kilo-class submarines and eight mini-submarines from North Korea, although officials said this was not the only reason the system was being considered. In 2005, Israel spotted a Western submarine snooping off its shore.

The contract signing was said to have come after a long dispute over the price and financing of the submarines. According to the details obtained by the Post, Israel will purchase the two Dolphins, manufactured by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, for $1.27 billion, a third of which will be financed by the German government.

The navy already has three Dolphin-class submarines. They are the most expensive weapon platforms in the IDF's arsenal. Germany donated the first two submarines after the first Gulf War and split the cost of the third with Israel. The three submarines currently in the navy's possession employ a diesel-electric propulsion system, which requires them to resurface frequently to recharge their batteries.

The new submarines - called the U212 - will be fitted with a new German technology in which the propulsion system combines a conventional diesel lead-acid battery system and an air-independent propulsion system used for slow, silent cruising, with a fuel cell equipped with oxygen and hydrogen storage.

The submarines will also incorporate specifications gleaned from Israeli experience. The Dolphins currently in the navy's fleet were tailor-made for Israel's needs and reportedly have considerable operational capability. They are designed for a crew of 35 and can support 10 passengers. They have a maximum speed of 20 knots, a range of 4,500 kilometers and, according to Jane's Defense Weekly, the capability to launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads.

"With the new German technology," an official close to the deal said, "the new submarines will be able to remain submerged for much, much longer than the older Dolphin models."

News of the impending deal first emerged in November after Der Spiegel reported that chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's outgoing government had agreed to sell Israel two submarines at a heavily discounted price.

Prior to then, the German government had repeatedly turned down the request, supposedly because of reports the navy had outfitted the older submarines with Israeli-made, sea-launched cruise missiles.

Sensitive armament sales need approval from Berlin's Security Council. Several months ago, however, the German government, now headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, approved the deal after, sources told the Post, no significant public opposition was voiced.

Closure of the deal followed on the heels of a warming in German-Israel ties. In 2005, the countries agreed for the first time to hold joint ground maneuvers. In June, the INS Eilat missile ship participated for the first time in a NATO exercise in the Black Sea, together with German Navy.

Israel buys 2 German subs (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525926927&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Syrian President Al-Assad on Deploying UNIFIL at Lebanese-Syrian Border: 'If [Lebanon] Wants to Destroy Relations Between Syria and Lebanon, It is Free to Do So – and to Bear the Responsibility'

The following are excerpts from an interview with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, which aired on Dubai TV on August 23, 2006.

"This [Lebanese] Movement Consists of Some Figures who are Known Historically for Their Relations with Israel"

Bashar Al-Assad: "This [Lebanese] movement consists of some figures who are known historically for their relations with Israel, since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Others have begun collaborating with the Israeli position - not necessarily with Israel itself, but we do not necessarily have all the information. They did this through Resolution 1559. The Israeli officials said that they themselves had worked hard to bring about this resolution. Yet [these Lebanese figures] supported this resolution. Resolution 1680, which deals a blow to Syrian-Lebanese relations... For whose sake was this resolution adopted? For Syria? For Lebanon? It was for the sake of Israel. The recent war has exposed these positions."

[...]

"As is well known, they accepted the first Franco-American draft, and if the situation on the ground had not changed, this draft would have become Resolution 1701. These forces have carried out all these plots against the resistance. With regard to the resistance that concerns us as Arabs - and I'm not talking about resistance as an internal Lebanese issue, but as an issue that now concerns any Arab citizen, and you can see Hizbullah flags everywhere... They conspired with Israel in both directions."

[...]

"Loyalty to One's Country Means Rejecting Foreign Interference, Through Any Embassy"

Bashar Al-Assad: "Loyalty to one's country does not just mean [not] being a known agent of another country. Loyalty to one's country means rejecting foreign interference, through any embassy - and I am always clear on this - and through any foreign government that tries to interfere directly. I have said this very clearly to the Europeans several times. I said to them: Any person on whose behalf you interfere - we will consider him to be unpatriotic. You must stop interfering and sending messages. This matter is closed, as far as we are concerned. We are very sensitive when it comes to foreign interference. Apart from this, everybody is here. If we wanted to prevent them from talking, as some claim, they would all be in prison. This is not the case. We have taken a few steps, and we are not claiming we have achieved a lot. We have taken some steps that are reasonable, given our circumstances. Some think these steps are less than they should be, and others think they are more than they should be. Let us stay in the middle. We must act with caution. We are not operating in a normal climate. No one, Syrians or others, should doubt that there are daily attempts to interfere in Syria's domestic affairs. We cannot be naive and say: Everything is fine, everybody is patriotic. This is not a matter of good intentions."

[...]

Deploying UNIFIL "Would Violate Lebanon's Sovereignty"

Interviewer: "How do you view the deployment of UNIFIL on your border with Lebanon?"

Bashar Al-Assad: "This would mean creating hostility between Syria and Lebanon. First of all, this would violate Lebanon's sovereignty. No country in the world would accept the deployment of soldiers of other nationalities at its border passes, unless it is at war with another country, like in the Golan or South Lebanon. This is normal. First of all, this would mean taking away Lebanese sovereignty - and they are constantly talking about Lebanese sovereignty - and giving it to others. The other issue is that this would be hostile to Syria. Naturally, this would create problems between Syria and Lebanon."

Interviewer: "But Mr. President, they fear that Syria would be used as a conduit for weapons that would reach elements that they don't want these weapons to reach. People might infiltrate through this border, and help one group of Lebanese against another. This may justify their apprehensions and the presence of such a force."

Bashar Al-Assad: "If there is a Lebanese army, it should be responsible for that. Why should the Lebanese army be responsible for protecting Israel?"

If [Lebanon] Wants To Destroy Relations between Syria and Lebanon, It is Free to Do So - and to Bear the Responsibility

Interviewer: "Mr. President, are you calling upon the Lebanese government to reject the deployment of an international force along the border between Lebanon and Syria?"

Bashar Al-Assad: "I am calling upon it to bear the responsibility like any other country. It will bear the responsibility. If it wants to destroy the relations between Syria and Lebanon, it is free to do so, and to bear the responsibility. There are elements within the Lebanese government and among the majority who strive towards this."

[...]

Interviewer: "Is it possible that we will see armed resistance in the Golan?"

Bashar Al-Assad: "Like I said... Same answer... The people will decide. I reiterate: If peace does not restore the rights, this will be the natural and obvious option. Things will take this course, whether we like it or not."

Interviewer: "Mr. President, you say that the people will decide. Is the people ready... I am sure you can sense the sentiments of the people. Is the people ready now for armed resistance in the Golan?"

Bashar Al-Assad: "There are always different currents and opinions. Some people talk enthusiastically about getting into this today, while others say we must prepare ourselves. However, this war has emphasized that option."

Syrian President Al-Assad on Deploying UNIFIL at Lebanese-Syrian Border: 'If [Lebanon] Wants to Destroy Relations Between Syria and Lebanon, It is Free to Do So – and to Bear the Responsibility (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD126506)

Iran leadership poses threat
David Horovitz, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 24, 2006

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, if he ever became the supreme decision maker in his country, would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel," Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

At present, Eiland stressed, the ultimate decision maker in Iran was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 67, whom he said was "more reasonable." But, Eiland went on, "if Ahmadinejad were to succeed him - and he has a reasonable chance of doing so - then we'd be in a highly dangerous situation."

The 49-year-old Iranian president, he said, "has a religious conviction that Israel's demise is essential to the restoration of Muslim glory, that the Zionist thorn in the heart of the Islamic nations must be removed. And he will pay almost any price to right the perceived historic wrong. If he becomes the supreme leader and has a nuclear capability, that's a real threat."

In facing up to Iran's nuclear ambitions, Eiland said the United States had three possible courses of action, "all of them bad," and that a decision could not be postponed for too long, "since delay, too, is a decision of sorts."

The first option was "to give up" - to accept that Iran was going nuclear and try to make the best of it. By "making the best of it," Eiland said, he meant "isolating Iran economically, politically and internationally in the hope that this will eventually prompt an internal push for regime change."

This might also give other nations the sense that the political price of going nuclear was too high for them to contemplate, and might thus deter nations such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and others from seeking to emulate Iran and spelling the full collapse of the nuclear nonproliferation era.

Washington's second option was to launch a last-ditch effort at diplomatic action, he said. At this stage, a mixture of sanctions and bonuses would not be sufficient to deter Iran altogether, but it might seek to persuade Teheran to suspend progress for two or three years.

"In return, the US would have to open direct engagement with Teheran, with full recognition of the regime. This would boost the regime's credibility and standing at home and allow it to say it was voluntarily suspending the program for a while," he said.

The advantage for the Bush administration was that "Bush could then say, 'They didn't go nuclear on my watch, and it's up to my successors to keep things that way.'"

The third option, said Eiland, was a military operation - born of the sense that the diplomatic process would not work and that there could be no compromise with an axis-of-evil power. However, internal political realities and public opinion in the US were not conducive to this, he said, nor was international support readily available. Furthermore, said Eiland, "this would be action that would have to be taken within months.

If not, and if Iran continues enrichment, it will complete the research and development stage and have a proven ability which it can then duplicate at numerous sites. And at that point it could not be stopped by military action. Six months or 12 months from now would be too late, he said.

Tellingly, Eiland noted, it seemed to him that the difficulties facing the administration over that third course were growing.

As the crisis with Iran deepens, meanwhile, some Israeli sources believe the US has acted foolishly in spurning opportunities for international diplomatic cooperation against Iran in recent years, and that Israel mistakenly encouraged this course of action.

The US might have had more success isolating Iran two years ago, when Bush and French President Jacques Chirac were stronger, Iran was weaker and the situation in Iraq looked better, said the sources.

As recently as a few months ago, on a trip to Ukraine, which is a vital Russian sphere of influence, US Vice President Richard Cheney criticized the Putin regime's record on democracy, the sources pointed out. Against that kind of background, the US should not be surprised now, therefore, to find Russia less than willing to fully cooperate on its Iran strategy.

Israel, these sources went on, realized early the danger posed by Iran's nuclear drive but erred in supporting the US in hanging tough rather than pushing it toward cooperation.

As for Israel's military options, these sources spoke of an immense dilemma for the government. Declining to go into detail, they noted only that Israel was not as potent militarily as the US and mused about what might happen if a military action proved unsuccessful in thwarting the nuclear program. Iran might then complete its nuclear drive and, branding Israel a preemptive aggressor, claim legitimacy for a strike of its own at Israel.

Iran leadership poses threat (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525940677&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hezbollah Head Says He Didn't Expect War

Aug 27, 9:40 PM (ET)

By ZEINA KARAM

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview aired Sunday that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.

Guerrillas from the Islamic militant group killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two more in a cross-border raid July 12, which sparked 34 days of fighting that ended with a cease-fire on Aug. 14.

"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not," he said in an interview with Lebanon's New TV station.

He also said Italy and the United Nations had made contacts to help mediate a prisoner swap with Israel, but did not specify whether they had contacted Hezbollah directly. He did not say in what capacity Italy had expressed interest - on its own or on Israel's behalf.

Nasrallah said Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was in charge of the negotiations and the subject would be discussed during U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit to Beirut on Monday.

There had been "some contacts" to arrange a meeting between him and Annan, he said, but that was unlikely for security reasons.

"The Italians seem to be getting close and are trying to get into the subject. The United Nations is interested," Nasrallah said. "The Israelis have acknowledged that this (issue) is headed for negotiations and a (prisoners) exchange."

A senior Israeli government official declined to comment on such contacts, saying only that Israel "does not negotiate with terrorists" and continues to demand the unconditional release of the two soldiers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said no negotiations were being held on a prisoner release.

"Right now no, but I expect that concerning the prisoners in the north, we shall have to wait until the Lebanese government will take charge completely over its land in accordance with the U.N. resolution," he said.

Israeli military officials said earlier this month that Israel is holding 13 Hezbollah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas that it could swap for the two captive soldiers, but would not include any Palestinian prisoners in such a deal.

Also Sunday, 245 French soldiers arrived at Beirut's airport to help the Lebanese army rebuild bridges destroyed or damaged by Israeli air strikes.

The troops were separate from a French contribution of 2,000 soldiers to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, which was being expanded to 15,000 members under the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"Our job is to work jointly with the Lebanese army in rebuilding bridges. The French troops will be here for about one and a half months at least," said Lt. Philip Toroller, an officer of the French military mission based at the French Embassy in Beirut. He said the troops would go first to Damour, a coastal town south of Beirut, where they would begin work before moving to other areas in south Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had received assurances from Annan that new peacekeepers would be on the ground in Lebanon within a week, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The UNIFIL force is paid for out of the budget of the United Nations, which is made up of member states' annual contributions, and the new expansion of the force will come out of the same budget, said Timur Goksel, a former head of UNIFIL.

American civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he raised the issue of a prisoner swap in talks with President Bashar Assad during a visit, but he did not elaborate on the Syrian leader's response.

Jackson was in Damascus on the first leg of a tour that also included stops in Lebanon and Israel. He said he was there to gauge the "views" of Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli officials, and to appeal to them to stick to the U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

Nasrallah, whose whereabouts are unknown as he went into hiding on the first day of the war, also said he did not believe a second bout of fighting would break out with Israel, even though he said more than half his group's rocket arsenal was still left.

"The current Israeli situation, and the available information tells us that we are not heading to another round," he said.

However, he called any possible attacks on Israeli troops "legitimate" as long as even one Israeli soldier remained in Lebanon.

Lebanese officials have said continuing Israeli overflights violate the 2-week-old cease-fire, and Annan proclaimed an Israeli commando raid one week into the truce a violation. Hezbollah has not retaliated, but Nasrallah said the group would "choose the time and place" to strike back.

"If we have been patient until now, it does not mean we will be patient forever, but we are not obliged to reveal the limits of our patience," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia urged the United Nations to let its soldiers join the peacekeeping force despite Israel's opposition to troops from predominantly Muslim nations without diplomatic ties to the Jewish state.

Malaysian troops "will not take sides and will do the job according to the U.N. mandate," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said, according to the state Bernama news agency.

"Our record (in peacekeeping missions) is good," he said. "But, if the U.N. wants to heed to the wishes of Israel, what can we do?"

Hezbollah Head Says He Didn't Expect War (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060828/D8JP4J9O0.html)

U.S. warns Syria to observe arms embargo

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer Thu Aug 24, 9:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The U.S. warned Syria on Thursday to abide by a United Nations arms embargo meant to stop Hezbollah from resupplying after its monthlong war with Israel. It dismissed Syrian objections to international peacekeepers as preposterous.

"All countries must obey the arms embargo" under the U.N. Security Council resolution that set a cease-fire this month, said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. "It is a singular duty for Syria, as the one country apart from Israel that borders Lebanon, to do so."

President Bush welcomed an announcement from France that it will send 2,000 soldiers for an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon and spoke by phone Thursday to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi as the Italians prepare to lead the international force.

Syria is a Hezbollah benefactor that was largely left out of diplomacy during the 34-day war. On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad called any deployment of multinational troops along his border a "hostile" affront to Syria.

"First, this means creating hostile conditions between Syria and Lebanon," Assad told Dubai Television in an interview aired Wednesday. "Second, it is a hostile move toward Syria and naturally it will create problems."

The notion that the troops are a threat to Syria "is preposterous," the State Department's Gallegos said in Washington. "We call on the Syrian regime to fulfill its international obligations."

Hezbollah is an Islamic militia and political organization rooted in southern Lebanon, where its power eclipsed that of the central government in Beirut before the cross-border war. Hezbollah's political and organizational prowess is again on display as Lebanese begin to rebuild shattered towns, but its military capability and future is unclear.

Syria has also indicated it might impose a punitive blockade of Lebanon.

"They will close their borders for all traffic in the event that U.N. troops are deployed along the Lebanon-Syria border," Finland Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said after meeting his Syrian counterpart, Walid Moallem, in Helsinki. Finland holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

The Bush administration refused to talk to Syria directly during the negotiations to end the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting. In the complex diplomacy now under way to seal and strengthen the fragile U.N.-brokered cease-fire, the administration is wary of new Syrian efforts to assert control in Lebanon.

The United States pulled its ambassador out of Syria last year after the assassination of a Lebanese politician who had sought to steer his nation away from three decades of effective control by Syria.

"We are working with the United Nations and our partners to ensure the rapid deployment of this force to help Lebanon's legitimate armed forces restore the sovereignty of its democratic government throughout the country and stop Hezbollah from acting as a state within a state," Bush said Thursday.

France, along with the United States, helped draft the cease-fire deal allowing for expansion of an existing U.N. force from 2,000 troops to up to 15,000. France's commitment of troops to establish a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas has been closely watched in other countries.

U.S. warns Syria to observe arms embargo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060825/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_mideast)

'Gaza caught in anarchy and thuggery'
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 28, 2006

"When you walk in the streets of Gaza City, you cannot but close your eyes because of what you see there: unimaginable chaos, careless policemen, young men carrying guns and strutting with pride and families receiving condolences for their dead in the middle of the street."

This is how Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority government and a former newspaper editor, described the situation in the Gaza Strip in an article he published on Sunday on some Palestinian news Web sites.

The article, the first of its kind by a senior Hamas official, also questioned the effectiveness of the Kassam rocket attacks and noted that since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, the situation there has deteriorated on all levels. It holds the armed groups responsible for the crisis and calls on them to reconsider their tactics and to stop blaming Israel for their mistakes.

"Gaza is suffering under the yoke of anarchy and the swords of thugs," Hamad wrote. "I remember the day when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and closed the gates behind. Then, Palestinians across the political spectrum took to the streets to celebrate what many of us regarded as the Israeli defeat or retreat. We heard a lot about a promising future in the Gaza Strip and about turning the area into a trade and industrial zone."

Hamad said the "culture of life" that prevailed in the Strip has since been replaced with a nightmare. "Life became a nightmare and an intolerable burden," he said. "Today I ask myself a daring and frightening question: 'Why did the occupation return to Gaza?' The normal reply: 'The occupation is the reason.'"

Dismissing Israel's responsibility for the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, Hamad said it was time for the Palestinians to embark on a soul-searching process to see where they erred.

"We're always afraid to talk about our mistakes," he added. "We're used to blaming our mistakes on others. What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, transgression on public lands and unorganized traffic and the occupation? We are still trapped by the mentality of conspiracy theories - one that has limited our capability to think."

Hamad admitted that the Palestinians have failed in developing the Gaza Strip following the Israeli withdrawal and in imposing law and order. He said about 500 Palestinians have been killed and 3,000 wounded since the Israeli pullout, in addition to the destruction of much of the infrastructure in the area.

By comparison, he said, only three or four Israelis have been killed by the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip over the same period.

"Some will argue that it's not a matter of profit or loss, but that this has an accumulating effect" he said. "This may be true. But isn't there a possibility of decreasing the number of casualties and increasing our gains by using our brains and making the proper calculations away from demagogic statements?"

The Hamas official said that while his government was unable to change the situation, the opposition was sitting on the side and watching and PA President Mahmoud Abbas was as weak as ever.

"We have all been attacked by the bacteria of stupidity," he remarked. "We have lost our sense of direction and we don't know where we're headed."

Addressing the various armed groups in the Gaza Strip, Hamad concluded: "Please have mercy on Gaza. Have mercy on us from your demagogy, chaos, guns, thugs, infighting. Let Gaza breathe a bit. Let it live."

'Gaza caught in anarchy and thuggery' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525954624&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

What are Hezbollah’s Long-Term Goals?
By Paul Strand
CBN News

CBNNews.com – WASHINGTON - For now, the Middle East cease-fire agreement brokered by the U.N. seems to be holding up.

But can Israel ever live in peace next to a group like Hezbollah? Because Hezbollah is nothing more than a terrorist group driven by one dark goal.

As all the rest of the world begins to push Israel towards a cease-fire with Hezbollah, it's a good time to consider if there can ever truly be peace with such a terrorist group.

Many people assume since Hezbollah has representatives in Lebanon's parliament, it must be more like a political party than the average bunch of terrorists. But is it?

Cliff May is a former New York Times foreign correspondent who's been keeping a close eye on this current Israeli conflict with Hezbollah.

He says it’s important to study Hezbollah's long-term goals.

May said, "There's no puzzle about that. They have said it is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Their long-term goals are nothing short of ethnic cleansing and genocide. That's very clear."

Many people assume that Hezbollah can be dealt with just like any other combatant in all the wars of the past it would prefer peace at almost any price to war. May says, think again.

"Look, most people understand that in a militant Islamist society, Saudi Arabia among them, if a Muslim converts to another religion, that is a crime punishable by death,” May explained. “They hold the same view about land. Once a land is conquered by Muslims, it can never go back to being ruled by infidels.

They believe it is an endowment from Allah to the Muslims. They can either fight for it or not do their religious duty. That is why they believe that Israel, which was once conquered by Muslims, must once again be run by Muslims."

An important factor in future days will be how the major media portray this war and the thinking processes of those fighting it, as well as their willingness to cease fighting.

But can those reporters really understand the mindset of terrorists, especially ones who base their terror attacks on their extreme religious beliefs?

"I think they don't often understand how much Hamas and Hezbollah mean what they say,” May said. “The reporters do what you call 'mirror imaging.' They think, 'If I said that, I wouldn't mean it, so they say that, they can't mean it.'They think, 'This is a political group. That's maybe their negotiating posture, but surely they're willing to back off.'

He said, "They don't understand what we've just discussed. It's not a negotiating posture. It is a religious conviction. And because it's a religious conviction, it's very hard for them to back off from it."

What are Hezbollah’s Long-Term Goals? (http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/060818a.aspx)

Prince Hassan: Arab leaders stole billions from their people

Jordanian Prince Hassan Bin Talal levels scathing criticism at Arab leaders during speech delivered in Kyoto conference: 'Arab leaders stole billions of dollars from the Arab people in order to spend them on weapons to fight Israel, which they can never defeat.' Prince warns against Iranian nuclear armament project

Roee Nahmias
Published: 08.28.06, 22:27

Jordanian Prince Hassan Bin Talal, who was the Jordanian heir apparent until Abdullah was crowned as king, launched a sharp verbal attack against the leaders of Arab countries during a Kyoto conference.

"The Arab leaders stole billions of dollars from the Arab people and spent it on weapons to fight Israel, which they will never defeat, instead of using the money for health and education purposes to aid their people," he stated.

Speaking at the world conference of the interfaith group "Religions for Peace", Prince Hassan also attacked the Iranian nuclear development program. Hassan spoke against nuclear armament, especially on Iran's part, and said that it needs to be made sure that the nuclear project in Iran does not reach the stage of nuclear weapons. Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was present at the conference.

Prince Hassan, like Khatami, arrived together with more than 800 religious leaders to the Kyoto conference. One of the conference's aims this year is to formulate an ethical code that will be implemented in cases of violent conflicts across the globe. Representatives from countries like Israel, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and North Korea are taking part in the event.

One of the Israeli delegates in the conference, Rabbi David Rosen, had met with Khatami during the event. He said that "Former President Khatami was extremely polite, he shook my hand and did not mention Israel in his speech at all."

Several debates between Israeli rabbis and Palestinian clerics are set to take place in coming days in a bid to establish a mechanism that would enable cooperation between religious leaders. The Palestinian delegation is headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' representative and head of the sharia court, Tayer Tamimi, along with Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah.

Prince Hassan: Arab leaders stole billions from their people (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3296917,00.html)

A litte jealous rivalry? Al-Qaeda member: Hizbullah backed by evil

Website quotes al-Qaeda senior figure as saying: 'Hizbullah are infidels, it and Israel are enemies of Allah'

Yaakov Lappin
Published: 08.27.06, 22:22

A speech allegedly made by Sheikh Abu Abdul Rahman has surfaced on a jihadi pro al-Qaeda website in which Rahman is cited as condemning the "infidel Hizbullah" and "the most corrupted regimes of Syria and Iran."

The speech was posted on the Islamist Muntada internet forum, frequently used by British Muslim al-Qaeda sympathizers, and was described as being a "summary of an address by Sheikh Abu Abdul Rahman speaking from Lebanon."

It is unclear whether the speaker identified as Rahman on the forum is a reference to al-Qaeda's second in command in Iraq, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi, and whether the senior al-Qaeda figure actually delivered the message from Lebanon.

The statement does, however, represent the seething resentment of Sunni al-Qaeda, directed at what it sees as an attempted Shiite takeover of the jihad campaign in the Middle East.

In the speech, Rahman espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories inspired by the Russian forgery, the protocols of the elders of Zion: "We know very well from our history that the Jews target to occupy Lebanon, Syria and even the north of the Arabian peninsula even up to Iraq to the river of Furaat (Euphrates)."

However, he then turns his wrath to Hizbullah, Iran, and Syria, calling them "infidel entities," and arguing that they are preventing Sunni jihadis from attacking Israel.

'Hizbullah not fighting for Allah'

"We need to know the reality, and we already know how Hizbullah do not fight for the sake of Allah. They declare themselves that they fight for the sake of Lebanon, are backed by the most corrupted regimes – Syria and Iran – and backed by the most evil people," Abdul Rahman was cited as saying.

"We cannot be fools to die for nationalism and tribalism, if two entities of Kuffar (infidels) fight that does not bother us. What bothers us is if we side with any one of them," he added.

"Hizbullah has been the shield for the northern border of Israel, just like the eastern and southern shield is Jordan and the western shield is Egypt. These shields are all to prevent any Mujahideen (holy warriors) from entering Israel or to attack them," the message said.

Abdul Rahman claimed that Israel was actually focusing on "the Sunni and Palestinian Mujahideen in Lebanon rather than Hizbullah who will escape disarmament by joining the Lebanese army."

"We remember when al-Qaeda launched rockets from southern Lebanon, it was Hizbullah who rose to defend Israel and condemned it and threatened to cut the hand of those responsible if they caught them," the statement said.

Rahman also complained that Muslims were being led to disregard warfronts launched by Sunni jihadis around the world: "The mistake of many Muslims is that because of this one story, they have forgotten about Somalia while the enemy forces are preparing to enter Mogadishu, they forgot about Sudan and Darfur, they forgot about Afghanistan, China, Iraq, Kashmir."

"Lebanon is a battle between two kuffar (infidel) entities but those losing out are the innocent people caught in between who are not part of the conflict. The people should be patient, we do not fight for land or rock; we fight for the word of Allah to be the highest in that land, we fight in the Muslim lands to make the word of Allah the highest, not for the word of the kuffar regimes to be the highest. We need to believe decisively that all of Muslim land is our land: Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine and all others," the message said.

"We should let Israel and Hizbullah weaken each other so that the Muslims can benefit in the long run and will use the opportunity to prepare for the future. The Muslims need to invest this war for the long war to liberate the whole of Palestine and all Muslim lands, and not to let the kuffar choose our battlefield nor let the media set our agenda," the statement concluded.

Al-Qaeda member: Hizbullah backed by evil (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3296432,00.html)

EU to commit biggest force in its history to keep the peace

French-led operation with 7,000 ground troops to begin deploying in days as UN anticipates full-strength mission

Ewen MacAskill and David Gow in Brussels
Saturday August 26, 2006
The Guardian

The European Union is to mount the biggest military operation in its history after agreeing yesterday to commit more than 7,000 ground troops for a United Nations mission policing the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

The EU, at a meeting of its foreign ministers in Brussels, also agreed to send a further 2,000 specialist forces, mainly providing naval and air support.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, in Brussels to cajole hesitant countries, expressed his delight and said that more than half of the proposed 15,000-strong peacekeeping force was now in place.

At a press conference, he said: "Europe is providing the backbone of the force." He added the force would be able to deploy "in days, not weeks".

Its willingness to commit troops demonstrates that the EU is capable of military deployments independent of the US. It also answers criticism from Washington that Europe is happy to engage in diplomacy but unwilling to put boots on the ground. As well as the 2,000 troops promised by the French president, Jacques Chirac, on Thursday, Italy committed 3,000, Spain up to 1,200, including a mechanised battalion, Belgium 400, Poland 500 and Finland 250.

Britain, Germany, Greece and Denmark offered to contribute to the 2,000 specialist forces. Britain, which was represented at the meeting by the Europe minister, Geoff Hoon, will provide six Jaguar aircraft, two AWACS reconnaissance planes and a frigate or destroyer, and offer the use of its air and naval base on Cyprus.

The Irish government said it could not help out with the initial deployment but could provide help later.

The plan confirmed in Brussels is to have 4,000 troops - mainly a mixture of French and Italians - deployed in Lebanon by next week, with the others to follow by November.

Following the Brussels meeting Mr Annan flew to the Middle East to discuss outstanding problems with the Lebanese and Israeli governments, as well as Iran and Syria, ahead of the full deployment.

Two potential flashpoints with Israel immediately arose when Mr Annan made it plain that the UN force, despite Iraeli demands, would not disarm Hizbullah, saying this was a matter for the Lebanese, and would only police the Lebanon border with Syria if asked by the Lebanese government, which he said had made no such request.

The UN security council agreed a ceasefire resolution a fortnight ago for a 15,000-strong detachment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country supported by a 15,000-strong UN force. Mr Annan said that 15,000 remained his goal, even though Mr Chirac had earlier suggested that the figure was "quite excessive".

Outside the EU, Turkey, China, Nepal, New Zealand and other countries are considering offering troops. Israel is opposed to troops pledged by Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, predominantly Muslim countries with which it has no diplomatic ties. The Israeli government argues their refusal to recognise its existence could mean troops would be biased against it, and would also make liaison impossible on issues such as sharing intelligence.

But Mr Annan said yesterday he had received "firm commitments" from these countries.

"It is vital that we deploy strong, credible and robust forces," Mr Annan said. "In today's world there is lots of competition for troops and there's no pool sitting in barracks. They can be deployed in a manner which does not produce tensions among the protogonists or which does not require contact with the Israelis."

The secretary-general joined forces with Javier Solana, the EU's head of foreign and security policy, in demanding that Israel lift its blockade of Lebanese ports and Beirut airport at once to enable the peacekeeping forces to fulfil their mission and to allow the reconstruction of the country to begin and humanitarian aid to flow.

The Europeans are taking a considerable risk, with the ever-present danger of a strike by Israel or confrontation with Hizbullah, and a renewal of fighting with their forces caught in the middle. The EU's previous biggest operation was taking over from Nato in Bosnia in 2004: there is a 6,500-strong EU force in place.

The US is unable to contribute, partly because it is overextended elsewhere but mainly because of an unwillingness to re-engage in a country in which it lost 241 servicemen in 1983, its biggest single military loss in a day since the Second World War.

France and Italy, the two biggest troop contributors, appear to have resolved who will command the force. The UN troops on the ground will continue to be led by a French commander until the end of February when an Italian will take over.

In what was hailed as a breakthrough, the chain of command has been shortened so the UN troops' leadership will be answerable to an Italian general based in a special "cell" at UN headquarters in New York.

EU to commit biggest force in its history to keep the peace (http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1858692,00.html)

Funny, he looked like a Jew............

by Daniel Pipes
August 28, 2006

Front Page Magazine title: "The Terrorist Murder of a Palestinian Apologist"

An Italian named Angelo Frammartino, 25, espoused the typical anti-Israel views of a far-leftist, as he expressed in a letter to a newspaper in 2006:

We must face the fact that a situation of no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we do not seek to avoid legitimate acts of defense. … I never dreamed of condemning resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of the people who were under colonialist occupation or the blood of the young Palestinians from the first intifada.

Angelo Frammartino

Actively to forward his beliefs, Frammartino went to Israel in early August 2006 to serve as a volunteer with ARCI, a far-leftist NGO, working with Palestinian children at the Burj al-Luqluq community center in eastern Jerusalem.

But on August 10, he was stabbed in a terrorist assault at Sultan Suleiman Street, near Herod's Gate in Jerusalem, twice in the back and once in the neck. He died shortly after, only two days before his planned return to Italy. The killer, soon identified as Ashraf Hanaisha, 24, turned out to be a Palestinian affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A resident of the village of Qabatiya in the Jenin area, Hanaisha apparently planned to attack a Jewish Israeli but made a mistake.

Damage control soon followed. The Palestinian Authority's news agency, WAFA, carried a statement by the Burj al Luqluq community center condemning the murder in no uncertain terms: "Nothing could describe our emotions for what happened. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Angelo, they have our deepest sympathy." Several Palestinian NGOs then organized a vigil in Frammartino's memory. For her part, Hanaisha's mother launched an appeal, via the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, for the forgiveness of her son.

In response to this outpouring, Frammartino's parents did forgive Hanaisha. From the family home in Monterotondo, the father, Michelangelo, said that "he welcomes and appreciates, despite the undeletable sorrow, the plea for forgiveness made by the murderer's mother" and he expressed a hope that the parents' gesture "will bring to an end this extremely sad story." The father went further, telling the Corriere della Sera newspaper that he felt no hatred toward his son's murderer:

Angelo was working to promote peace. The message he sought to convey is greater than anything else. … the circumstances confirm that Angelo was a victim of the war, of the injustice in the world. When we are talking about a situation of tension, absence of common sense dominates. I do not feel hatred because Angelo's thought, the principles that always motivated him, were definitely not of hatred or revenge.

Comments:

(1) These signals from Qabatiya to Monterotondo and back amounted to a curious and despicable pas de deux, with each side remorsefully implying things would be just fine if only Hanaisha had killed his intended victim: "Sorry, I thought he was a Jew," reads the headline in La Stampa. The Palestinians conveyed a message of "Excuse us, we did not mean to kill your son," while the family replied with a "Understood, we accept that you made a mistake."

(2) Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Barbara Sofer suggests an excellent way to honor the memory of Angelo Frammartino, by having his family join in solidarity with another high-profile victim of Palestinian violence. She notes that the Koby Mandell Foundation, named for another young man brutally murdered by Palestinian terrorists, "provides therapeutic camping experiences for terror survivors or the families of those murdered by terrorists. … It's non-political, hosts Jews and non-Jews, and works on building character." Sofer suggests that those who want to honor Frammartino's memory "might want to support this camp that works to mitigate the evil brought by those who duped and killed their son."

(3) Even if he was a political extremist, all accounts portray Frammartino as a gentle soul. If so, that only confirms how much out of depth he was in Jerusalem. As Calev Ben-David points out, also in the Jerusalem Post, his death is a reminder "that outsiders who come to this region, even with the best of intentions, should first understand that they, no less than Israelis - or, for that matter, those in the Arab world who truly want peace - can just as easily fall victim to those here who have only the worst of intentions."

(4) Put more cruelly, given Frammartino's idiotic views ("I never dreamed of condemning resistance"), had he survived his knifing, perhaps surviving in a state of total bodily paralysis, would he have seen the attack on him as terrorism? Or would he have learned nothing and still considered it an act of legitimate self-defense?

Funny, he looked like a Jew....... (http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3909)

IDF Officers May Face War Crime Charges in Europe
16:11 Sep 04, '06 / 11 Elul 5766
by Yechiel Spira

IDF officers receiving a classified Foreign Ministry memorandum are warned they may face arrest and charges of war crimes in Europe.

Israel has learned that certain European and international organizations have already begun working towards compiling cases against IDF officers and government officials, planning to file war crimes charges against them for Israel’s actions in Lebanon. Officers are being warned against visiting Europe as a result.

Foreign Ministry legal advisor Ehud Keinan, who distributed the memorandum, warns soldiers of the impending legal threat, one that may result in criminal charges against both senior and junior military officers alike.

Organizations based in Europe are working in earnest to compile evidence against political leaders and senior commanders, seeking to charge the latter with war crimes for complying with orders in the recent war in southern Lebanon.

Ministers cited include Eli Yishai of Shas, who is quoted as saying, “Entire villages must be wiped out,” in reference to IDF activities during the war. Also cited is Haim Ramon, the justice minister who stepped down in light of an ongoing police investigation against him in an unrelated matter. Ramon made similar remarks in statements referring to the village of Bint Jbeil.

Keinan warns officers and cabinet ministers alike to refrain from using terms such as “eradicate” and “crush,” since they provide those seeking to build cases against them with ammunition.

The Foreign Ministry and State Prosecutor’s Office have hired the services of criminal attorneys in Europe, adding that efforts are underway to find a common language with European leaders in the hope of avoiding situations that would prove difficult and embarrassing to Israel and nations like Britain. Government officials in Israel state that British leaders are troubled by the trend as well, but they explain that the law in Europe permits such actions, based on international law.

During the past year, there have been a number of cases in which senior IDF officers were instructed to cancel travel plans to England, and in one case, a senior officer was instructed to remain on board a plane that landed in the UK when embassy officials learned that he would have been placed under arrest upon entering the country. The officer, Doron Almog, returned to Israel on the next flight.

Israel offers protection to officers in such situations, pointing out that despite all efforts at home, European law permits filing charges of war crimes and reality dictates that Israel address the situation with the seriousness it demands.

IDF Officers May Face War Crime Charges in Europe (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=111341)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, this is major. I think the EU is totally against Israel. It is still hard to tell if the US is going to be on Israel's side or try to be neutral. I hope we are on Israel's side.

EU gives Iran two weeks to clarify stance

By Rex Merrifield and Ingrid Melander in Finland

September 02, 2006 09:06pm

EUROPEAN Union foreign ministers agreed today to take two more weeks to try to clarify Iran's stance on halting sensitive nuclear work after Tehran ignored a UN deadline to stop uranium enrichment.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in Europe early next week to clear up ambiguities in Tehran's 21-page reply to a major power offer of cooperation if it stops work that could help build a bomb.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told Reuters after the 25 ministers discussed the issue at a meeting in Finland: "We give Solana two weeks for his clarification talks."

Mr Solana and other ministers insisted there was no deadline, but he said time was short and he would report to ministers at their next regular meeting on September 15.

He said he would be talking with Larijani also on behalf of the six powers which agreed on the package of economic, technological and political incentives - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

An EU official said there could be consultations among United Nations Security Council members before then but the Council would not formally take up the matter.

Iran defied an August 31 UN deadline to halt uranium enrichment and has given no sign it is prepared to meet the international community's key condition for opening negotiations on economic, technological and political co-operation.

Asked when he now expected Tehran to comply with the UN resolution, Mr Solana said: "Yesterday."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remained defiant today as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Tehran for talks on Lebanon and the nuclear dispute.

"Our nation is a supporter of peace but it will not retreat an iota from its right to nuclear technology," the ISNA student news agency quoted him as saying.

EU diplomats said ministers wanted to take a bit more time not so much because they believed Tehran would have a change of heart but more to show public opinion and sceptical Security Council powers Russia and China they had explored every avenue.

"After what happened on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, we really have to convince people that we have gone the extra mile," one said.

Ministers declined to talk publicly about what sanctions they might apply if Tehran did not comply.
However, British Europe Minister Geoff Hoon said Iran had had plenty of time to respond to what he called the perfectly reasonable request and he had called for "robust action".

"Despite our intensive efforts of the last six months, there has up to today unfortunately been no signal of reciprocity from Iran," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters.

But he added: "We in the EU and Germany have no interest in an escalation in the coming days and weeks due to deliberations in the Security Council."

French Europe Minister Catherine Colonna said it was important to continue the dialogue with Tehran while reminding Iran of the international community's conditions.

Asked how long Iran had to comply with the Security Council's demands on its nuclear program, she said: "Rendezvous in a few days."

EU gives Iran two weeks to clarify stance (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20342395-5005962,00.html)

Germany wants to bind Russia to EU
01.09.2006 - 09:41 CET | By Honor Mahony
Germany is considering a revamp of the bloc's policy towards the east with Berlin looking at how Russia can be "irreversibly" bound to the EU.

It wants to push the new policy when it takes over the presidency of the EU in January - the six-month stint at the helm of the bloc allows the country to promote particular themes.

"The goal must be to make the political, economic and cultural ties between the EU and Russia – its anchor in a wider Europe – irreversible", says a foreign ministry paper seen by German daily Handelsblatt.

The ministry paper also refers to the "window of opportunity" brought about by having a Finnish presidency followed by a German presidency as both countries want to foster contacts with Moscow.

"A complete European peace regime and the resolution of important security and political problems from the Balkans to the Middle East can only be attained with Russia and not without it," the paper says.

Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to raise this idea when he meets his counterparts in Finland today for informal discussions.

But Mr Steinmeier already alluded to Berlin's thinking on a eastern Europe policy during a speech before the Heinz Schwarzkopf foundation on Wednesday.

"In the EU we need attractive and credible offers for our neighbours," he said.

He said Romania and Bulgaria - due to join the bloc in January - will certainly not be the last countries to join the EU but that the way for other countries interested in joining the bloc would be "sometimes longer and sometimes stonier."

At the moment the EU has signed a series of neighbourhood agreements with the countries that surround it. A carrot and stick approach, these agreements offer a range of trade-related incentives in return for progress on democracy reform.

The bloc's relations with Russia itself are more complex with Moscow seeing Brussels as interfering in its sphere of influence over former Soviet bloc countries such as Georgia and Ukraine.

In 2003, both sides agreed to set up in the long-term an EU-Russia common space covering the economy, justice and home affairs, external security and research.

However relations are often clouded by geopolitical issues - including energy - which have seen harsh rhetoric traded between Brussels and Moscow in the past year.

Germany wants to bind Russia to EU (http://euobserver.com/9/22312)

Sudan: Groups exaggerate Darfur crisis

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 20, 5:33 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Sudan's president claimed that human rights groups have exaggerated the crisis in Darfur to help their fundraising, and charged that demands for U.N. peacekeepers there are meant to protect Israel, carve up Sudan and get access to its oil reserves.

The United Nations and many rights groups say that fighting between rebels and government-backed militias in the region has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million since 2003.

"The picture that volunteer organizations try to give in order to solicit more assistance and more aid, have given a negative result," Omar al-Bashir told a news conference Tuesday.

An underfunded African Union force in Darfur has been largely unable to stop the violence, leading AU leaders and the U.N. Security Council to demand a takeover by the United Nations, with its deeper pockets and better resources.

Al-Bashir said the United Nations will not be allowed to take control of peacekeepers there under any circumstance, but did say that the African Union, which now runs the peacekeeping mission in Darfur, should be allowed to augment its forces with more logistics, advisers and other support.

Last month, the Security Council passed a resolution that would put the peacekeepers under U.N. control, but required Sudan's consent.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly debate, al-Bashir claimed that Zionist groups wanted to weaken Sudan and that Jewish organizations were behind dozens of recent rallies. He said Israel was spreading a lie that Sudanese Arabs are killing Sudanese Africans.

"We refuse to normalize with Israel, we refuse to deal with Israel," he said.

The fighting in Darfur has largely pitted Muslims against Muslims, though some identify themselves as African and others as Arab. The janjaweed, the Arab tribal militias unleashed by the government, are accused of some of the worst atrocities.

Al-Bashir said the African Union forces should be allowed to remain in Sudan until the region sees peace at last.

"We want the African Union to remain in Darfur until peace is re-established in Sudan," al-Bashir said.

Those comments suggest that the African Union will not face any resistance in renewing the peacekeeping force's mandate, which expires on Sept. 30.

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly earlier Tuesday, President Bush called the Darfur killings a genocide, and said the AU force is "not strong enough" to protect the victims. He called for the force to be strengthened and demanded the U.N. take control.

Bush announced that he was naming Andrew Natsios, the former director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as his special envoy for Sudan.

The United States and its allies are now weighing whether there are other options for confronting al-Bashir's government, including the possibility of military intervention despite his objections.

In her speech to the General Assembly, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the stalemate over whether a U.N. or AU force should be deployed "demonstrates a lack of international will to address the sufferings and yearnings of the citizens and residents of Darfur."

Saying the U.N.'s obligation to protect the helpless and innocent must remain paramount, she called on the Security Council to act under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows military intervention, "to restore peace, security and stability to Darfur."

Sudan: Groups exaggerate Darfur crisis (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_re_af/un_sudan_2)

Other links on this............

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/20/world/main2027126.shtml

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_re_af/un_sudan_1

http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5435536&nav=menu149_2_4

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on July 20, 2006, 11:57:47 AM