Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

 Hizbullah Rocket Hits Chinese Peacekeepers
17:58 Aug 06, '06 / 12 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists fired a rocket Sunday that injured three Chinese peacekeepers, according to Chinese media. They did not define the extent of the injuries or the location of the explosion.

Shortly before the attack, China told United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan that more efforts have to be made to protect U.N. forces.

Hizbullah Rocket Hits Chinese Peacekeepers

[Shammu]

 Reuters Drops Photographer Who Faked Israeli Bomb Results
23:25 Aug 06, '06 / 12 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Reuters News Agency has announced it is cutting from its payroll a freelance photographer who altered a photograph that showed that the results of an Israeli bombing were far worse than in reality.

An American news site caught the fake when it noticed that the billows of smoke in the photo showed a repetitious pattern. However, the news agency said that the photographer, gotcha98 ubgone86, said the image was changed after he tried "to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under."

ubgone86 also photographed images of a dead child in the explosion in the village of Kana last week. Several private web sites have questioned the veracity of the pictures.

Reuters Drops Photographer Who Faked Israeli Bomb Results

[Shammu]

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

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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

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Olmert tells Europe to stop preaching to Israel 
 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

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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

[Shammu]

Syria 'ready for possible regional war'
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 6, 2006

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem crossed into Lebanon Sunday for the first visit by a top Syrian official in more than a year, Lebanon's state news agency said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Fawzi Salloukh, Moallem said "Syria is ready for the possibility of a regional war if the Israeli aggression continues."

He added that a US-French draft resolution to end the war "adopted Israel's point of view only." Underlining his support for Hizbullah, Moallem said, "as Syria's foreign minister I hope to be a soldier in the resistance."

Salloukh said that "Israel cannot take in peace what it had failed to take in war."

"If Israel attacks Syria by any mean, on the ground, by air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately," he said after emerging from a meeting with Lebanese President Emil Lahoud.

Israel has issued several pledges not to attack Syria.

According to Moallem, the US-French cease-fire plan was "a recipe for the continuation of the war."

Moallem's visit comes amid strained relations between Lebanon and Syria as a result of the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A UN investigation has implicated several Syrian officials in the murder.

Syria denied any involvement in the Hariri assassination that led to an international isolation of Damascus.

Prompted by the crisis that followed Hariri's assassination, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005, ending a 29-year military presence.

Syria 'ready for possible regional war'

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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."(

cont'd next post

[Shammu]

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.
( 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?

[Shammu]

IDF ditches plans to reach Litani River
YAAKOV KATZ, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 6, 2006

After completing the creation of a security zone in southern Lebanon and with diplomatic pressure mounting, the IDF, senior defense officials revealed Sunday, did not plan to move ground troops northwards towards the Litani River - a line initially named as the IDF's final destination in this current ground incursion.

An incursion up to the Litani - some 30 km from Israel - would require, a high-ranking source in the Northern Command said Sunday, the insertion of an entire new division into Lebanon. The IDF already has eight brigades on the ground in Lebanon made up of 10,000 troops. The source said that it would take several days to reach the Litani.

"This is not a simple mission," the source explained. "We cannot move north until we finish clearing out the area currently in the security zone. That will take us another few days."

IDF ditches plans to reach Litani River

[Shammu]

UN council divisions delay vote on Mideast measure
06 Aug 2006 22:08:55 GMT
Source: Reuters

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - A Lebanese demand for a quick withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon left the U.N. Security Council divided on Sunday, virtually ruling out a Monday vote on a resolution seeking to end more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.

The council's five permanent members -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France -- failed to reach agreement during a 90-minute meeting on whether to add the Lebanese demand as an amendment to a U.S.-French draft resolution aimed at ending the conflict, diplomats said.

That prevented Paris and Washington from putting the draft into final form -- a move that would have cleared the way for a vote on Monday, the diplomats said.

"I think that means a vote on Tuesday is the more likely scenario," said a diplomat from one of the permanent members.

Paris and Washington had hoped their resolution, which calls for "a full cessation of hostilities," could be adopted on Monday or Tuesday, and some diplomats had pushed for a vote as early as Sunday evening.

But the Beirut government's dissatisfaction with the draft put pressure on the council to make it more acceptable to it.

"Our concern was that the Lebanese government seems to be unhappy with the draft resolution," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, adding that the full 15-nation Security Council would meet again on Monday morning for further discussions.

UN council divisions delay vote on Mideast measure

[Shammu]

Sri Lanka aid group says 15 staff executed
06 Aug 2006 15:18:53 GMT
Source: Reuters

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Fifteen local aid staff working on post-tsunami rebuilding have been found executed in northeast Sri Lanka after heavy fighting, the main umbrella body for aid agencies in the country said on Sunday.

There had been reports and rumours that the local aid workers had been killed. The Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) said that one of the relief teams that reached the battered town of Mutur had found the corpses in an aid agency office.

"They found them in the office on the ground, lying face down -- executed," said CHA chief Jeevan Thiagarajah.

He said it was not clear who had killed them. Mutur town has seen days of fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lanka aid group says 15 staff executed

[Shammu]

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

[Shammu]

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

[nChrist]

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

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.