Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

 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

[Shammu]

 Ahmadinejad to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan on Monday
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-Turkmenistan
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to pay an state visit to Turkmenistan on Monday at the official invitation of his Turkmen counterpart, it was announced on Sunday.

According to the Press Bureau and Public Relations Department at the Presidential Office, during the visit, Ahmadinejad is to confer with his Turkmen counterpart Saparmurat Niyazov on issues of mutual interests, hold Iran-Turkmen Joint Economic Commission session and sign MoU's on expansion of mutual cooperation.

The two presidents are scheduled to inaugurate a border terminal in Bajgiran-Houdan region to facilitate exchange of goods between the two countries.

President Ahmadinejad is to wrap up visit to Turkmenistan on Tuesday afternoon and leave for Tajikistan to attend a trilateral conference of the three Persian-speaking countries of Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

President Ahmadinejad is to hold several meetings with Tajik officials and deliver a speech for Tajik intellectuals.

During his stay in Tajikistan, President Ahmadinejad is to attend a trilateral conference of Persian-speaking countries (Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan), inaugurate Anzab tunnel and attend joint conference of Iranian and Tajik businessmen and traders.

The two countries trade exchanges amounted to dlrs 1 billion in 2005.

Iran, which is the second biggest buyer of Turkmen natural gas, electricity, liquefied gas and polypropylene after Russia, is interested in buying more gas from Turkmenistan, which sold 5.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran in 2005.

Iran has plans to buy more than 13 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan.

Ahmadinejad to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan on Monday

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

 President urges Islamic states to adopt anti-Zionist stance
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-President-Israel
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday urged all Islamic states to defend rights of the oppressed Palestinian and Lebanese peoples and adopt a stance vis-a-vis crimes of the Zionist regime.

The president made the remark while addressing the 23rd nationwide meeting of heads of education bureaus.

Pointing to stance adopted by different countries on crimes of the Zionist regime against innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon, he said, "Certain states and the Europeans in particular adopted good stance and condemned the crimes against humanity." "But certain other indifferent states had no good stand and even were happy with the event (Israeli aggressions)."
"The world arrogance set up a base for itself in the region through ignorance of regional nation to threaten and plunder them," he said in reference to establishment of the occupying regime of Israel in the Middle East 50 years ago.

"But today the occupying regime, which exists just for threat, massacre and aggressions on peoples, reaches its end (demolition).

Referring to brave resistance of the Iranian nation against enemies in different fields, he stated that enemies failed to defeat the Iranian nation and their aggression on Lebanon was to hide the failure.

President urges Islamic states to adopt anti-Zionist stance

[Shammu]

 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

[Shammu]

Zionists triggered their extinction by Lebanon attack
Tehran, July 23, IRNA

Iran-President-Israel
The Zionists made their worst decision and triggered their extinction by attacking Lebanon, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Sunday.

The president made the remark while addressing the 23rd nationwide meeting of heads of education bureaus.

"The Zionist regime's attack on Lebanon was a pre-planned scheme to save the regime.

"The usurper Zionists thought attack on Lebanon will create a new atmosphere for them in the region.

"They (the Zionists) made a big mistake," said Ahmadinejad.

Stressing the importance of distinguishing between the corrupt and the pious as among prerequisites of establishment of an ideal society, he said, "It is implausible for criminals of the time to don the justice-seeking and democracy masks and commit crimes behind those masks."
Lashing out at the recent Zionist regime's crimes and massacre of the oppressed and defenseless Palestinian and Lebanese people, he said, "Britain and the United States are accomplices of this regime and are accountable to the world nations."
The president said if the Zionist regime and all its supporters do not give up committing crimes and do not apologize people in the region, people will respond to the 60-year crimes of the Zionist regime."
Ahmadinejad said liberalism and humanism have reached the end line and justice-seeking and God-seeking are mostly demanded by world nations.

The President added, "It is surprising that the Security Council opposes ceasefire."
He recommended the Zionist regime to pack up and leave the region. Otherwise, he said, the flames the regime has fanned in Lebanon will soon engulf it and regional people will topple the tyrants.

President: Zionists triggered their extinction by Lebanon attack

[Shammu]

Sleeper Hizbullah cells activated
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 23, 2006

Hizbullah "sleeper" terror cells set up outside Lebanon with Iranian assistance have been put on standby The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday, and are likely planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets throughout the world.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed to the Post Sunday night that it had instructed embassies, consulates and Jewish institutions it was responsible for abroad to raise their level of awareness in light of the conflict in the North.

The assumption within Military Intelligence is that Hizbullah would only attack targets abroad if it felt pushed into a corner. According to this thinking, the Islamist group hesitates to carry out such attacks because it does not want to be associated with Global Jihad and al-Qaida.

Hizbullah has attacked Jewish and Israeli targets abroad in the past. The organization is believed to have been behind the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 during which a suicide bomber drove a pick-up truck filled with explosives into the building, killing 29 people and wounding 242, following Israel's assassination of the group's leader at the time, Sheikh Abbas Musawi.

Hizbullah is also thought to have been responsible for the attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires in 1994, when an explosives-laden van rammed into the structure and killed 85 people.

Another attack attributed to the group was the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847. One passenger was murdered; the remainder of the hostages were released over a two-week period.

Sleeper Hizbullah cells activated

[Shammu]

IDF: Syria, Iran want to escalate Lebanon crisis
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 23, 2006

The IDF's head of intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, accused Syria and Iran of trying to aggravate the situation in Lebanon.

"Syria and Iran see the fighting on the northern border as an opportunity to advance their interests and agenda," Yadlin said at a press conference on Sunday.

"Iran is facing possible international sanctions over its nuclear program. Syria is worried about the investigation into former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri's assassination and its possible legal consequences. The abduction of the soldiers in the North helped Syria and Iran to divert attention from these issues," Yadlin said.
"Both of them are improving their strategic position at the expense of the Lebanese people."

IDF: Syria, Iran want to escalate Lebanon crisis

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

Israel army to establish civil admin. in Southern Lebanon -- Israeli

official RAMALLAH, July 23 (KUNA) -- Head of Israel's Northern Command, Udi Adam, said Sunday the Israeli military command started preparations to establish a civil administration in Southern Lebanon.

In a press conference, held today in the headquarters of Israel's Northern Command in Safad, Adam said the civil administration would substitute the Israeli army in the Lebanese areas occupied by Israel during the last few days.

Israeli army said earlier today it controlled Maroun Al-Ras area, located in the middle strip of Southern Lebanon, after five days of furious fight with Hezbollah, who confirmed this information.

Adam, however, noted that the Israeli civil administration would not resume its responsibilities before extensive discussions and consultations.

The Israeli civil administration had run the day-to-day affairs of the occupied Southern Lebanon from 1982 until the Israeli unilateral withdrawal in 2000.

The West Bank was also subjected to Israeli civil administration from 1967 until 1994 when the Palestinian Authority took over full responsibilities of Palestinian lands.

Under civil administration, all details of the population affairs, including health and education, are run by military officials, in this case Israeli military officials.

Civil administrations are usually established when an army intends to occupy an area for a long time.

Israel army to establish civil admin. in Southern Lebanon -- Israeli

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

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."

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

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