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Corporate
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Hackers
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California
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German
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Canada
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Israeli
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Intelligence
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Spying
- "Rupert
Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage."
... "Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage
rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?" ... "This is the
question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit
that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly,
received little notice from U.S. [United States] media." ... "The case
involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence
agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails
and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin [Germany's capital] hacker who had
been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death." ... "On
the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for
pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary
of Murdoch's News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused
of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards
and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further,
it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit
NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free."
... "NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about
$101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct
and unfair competition. The list of witnesses in the case includes EchoStar's
founder and CEO Charlie Ergen; several hackers and pirates; and Reuven
Hazak, an Israeli who heads security for NDS and is a former deputy head
of Shabak, or Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency (the equivalent
of Britain's MI5)." ... "According to court documents, the scheme began
to unravel in 2000 when law-enforcement agents in Texas seized suspicious
packages containing CD and DVD players stuffed with more than $40,000 in
cash. Parcels similar to this were being sent almost daily from Canada,
via Texas, to a hacker in California named Christopher Tarnovsky, who was
working for NDS as an engineer. The money was allegedly part of the conspiracy
between Tarnovsky and NDS Group to sabotage NagraStar's cards." -By
Kim Zetter -Wired
John
Hagee - 
John
McCain - 
Politics
- 2008
Election - Texas
- US
- Israel
- "Jewish
Leader Calls Hagee 'Extremist'." ... "The leader
of the largest branch of American Judaism said Wednesday that synagogues
in the movement shouldn't work with the [Reverend] Rev. John Hagee [who
Republican President Presidential Candidate John McCain sought and accepted
an endorsement from], a Christian Zionist, calling him an "extremist" on
Israeli policy who disparages other faiths." ... "[Rabbi Eric] Yoffie also
condemned Hagee's views on Roman Catholicism and Islam. The San Antonio
[Texas] pastor has suggested that Catholic anti-Semitism shaped Adolf Hitler,
among other comments." -AP
via -SFGate.com
John
McCain
- Intelligence
- 
Military
- 
Terrorism
- Politics
- 
History
- US
- 
Iraq
- 
Iran
- Israel
- 
Arizona
- 2008
Election - "McCain
Repeats Iran-Al Qaeda Gaffe Yet Again." ... "[2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain has done it again." ... "For the third time in two days, the Arizona
Republican has pushed the definitively false statement that the terrorist
group Al-Qaeda was getting assistance from Iran, even though he was publicly
ridiculed for the same false assertion on Tuesday." ... "This time, in
a statement from his campaign honoring the fifth year anniversary of
the war, McCain wrote:" ... ""Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand
on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism.
The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable.
Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such
as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."" ... "On
Tuesday, the senator, appearing in Israel, made a nearly identical
assertion that al-Qaeda was leaving Iraq to retool and regroup in Iran."
-By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
Barack
Obama
- Christian
- American
- Race
- Politics
- History
- 2008
Election - Israel
- Military
- Terrorism
- Economy
- 
Health-Care
- 
Climate
- 
Housing
- Poor
- 
People
- 
Scholarships
- 
Family
- "A
More Perfect Union." ... [Partial text of Barack
Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union". Read full
text of speech or 
Watch
speech.] "[Barack Obama:] I have already condemned, in unequivocal
terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy.
For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally
fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I
ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while
I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political
views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from
your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed." ...
"But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply
controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak
out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted
view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that
elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with
America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily
in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from
the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." ... "As such, Reverend
Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time
when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together
to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a
falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating
climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian,
but rather problems that confront us all." ... "Given my background, my
politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those
for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself
with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another
church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the
snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television
and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures
being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react
in much the same way[.]" ... "But the truth is, that isn't all that I know
of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped
introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations
to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a
man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured
at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who
for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's
work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy,
providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and
reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS." ... "In my first book,
Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at
Trinity:" ... ""People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap
and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the
rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at
the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city,
I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories
of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den,
Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom,
and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our
blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day,
seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations
and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique
and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the
stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need
to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish
- and with which we could start to rebuild."" ... "That has been my experience
at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country,
Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the
welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black
churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes
bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting
that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full
the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance,
the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias
that make up the black experience in America." ... "And this helps explain,
perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be,
he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my
wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him
have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat
whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.
He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the
community that he has served diligently for so many years." -By
BarackObama.com
-read full
text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union" via
HavenWorks.com
John
McCain
- John
Hagee - 
Rod
Parsley - 
Rudy
Giuliani - 
Pat
Robertson
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Military
- Religion
- Race
- Obama
- 2008
Election - Hurricane
Katrina - New
Orleans - 
Louisiana
- 
Oklahoma
- US
- Israel
- "The
difference between Jeremiah Wright and radical, white evangelical ministers."
... "Ross Douthat and Ezra
Klein are arguing about whether Jeremiah Wright's statements are comparable
to those of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee's." ... "The statement
of Wright's which seems to be causing the most upset -- and it's one of
two singled out by Douthat -- is his suggestion that there is a causal
link between (a) America's constant bombings of and other interference
with Middle Eastern countries and (b) the willingness of some Middle Eastern
fanatics to attack the U.S. [United States] Ever since the 9/11 attacks,
we've been told that positing any such causal connection is a sign of vicious
anti-Americanism and that all decent people find such questions despicable.
This week we learned that no respectable person would subject his children
to a pastor who espouses such hateful ideas." ... "But the idea that America
deserves terrorist attacks and other horrendous disasters has long been
a frequently expressed view among the faction of white evangelical ministers
to whom the Republican Party is most inextricably linked. Neither Jerry
Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America
provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God. John Hagee continues
to believe that the City of New Orleans [Louisiana] got what it deserved
when Katrina drowned its residents and devastated the lives of thousands
of Americans. And [Oklahoma Republican Senator] James Inhofe -- who
happens to still be a Republican U.S. Senator -- blamed
America for the 9/11 attacks by arguing in a 2002 Senate floor speech
that "the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States
of America" because we pressured Israel to give away parts of the West
Bank." ... "John Hagee privately
visits with the highest level Middle East officials in the [Republican
President Bush] White House and afterwards pronounces that they're in agreement.
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain shares a
stage with Hagee and lavishes him with praise, as Rudy Giuliani did with
Pat Robertson. James Inhofe remains a member in good standing in the GOP
[GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Senate Caucus. The Republican Party has
tied itself at the hip to a whole slew of "anti-American extremists" --
people who believe that the U.S. provoked the 9/11 attacks because God
wants to punish us for the evil, wicked nation we've become -- and yet
there is virtual silence about these associations." ... "Nor have the views
of televangelist Rod Parsley, one of McCain's self-proclaimed "spiritual
advisers," received a fraction of the attention generated by Wright. As
both David
Corn and Alan
Colmes, among others, have documented, Parsley espouses views at least
as extreme and radical as Wright, including his proclamation that "America
was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion
[Islam] destroyed." Unlike Wright and Obama -- for whom the former's
controversial views are found nowhere near the latter's public or private
conduct -- both George Bush and John McCain's Middle Eastern militarism
are perfectly consonant with the most maniacal and crazed views of Christian
Rapture enthusiasts such as Hagee, Parsley, Inhofe, and Robertson. Yet
the controversy created over their close ties is virtually non-existent."
... "The Republican Party long ago adopted as a central strategy aligning
itself with, and granting great influence to, the most radical, "America-hating"
white evangelical Christian ministers in the country."
-By Glenn Greenwald -Salon
John
McCain
- 
France
- Israel
- Britain
- US
- Arizona
- 2008
Election - Politics
- "McCain
Invites Fundraisers to London." ... "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain
and his staff have been adamant for days that his
upcoming overseas trip to Britain, France and Israel is not political."
... "Apparently, though, there will still be room for fundraising." ...
"McCain's campaign has sent out an invitation for a March 20 luncheon at
Spencer
House -- the neo-classical home built for an ancestor of Diana, the
late Princess of Wales -- "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE
and the [Honorable] Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild."" ... "The price to attend
is $1000 to $2,300. And the dress code for the event? "Lounge suits" --
British for business attire." -By Matthew Mosk
-WashingtonPost
Barack
Obama
- 
Tim
Russert
- John
McCain
- John
Hagee - Religious
- Homosexual
- 
Woman
- Racist
- 
Book
- History
- Media
- Politics
-
- 2008
Election - 
Illinois
- Arizona
- 
Arkansas
- Texas
- US
- Israel
- Germany
- "Will
MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as
it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary:
On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from
the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington
bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise
he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements
Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial
comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen.
John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's
response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them
as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996,
article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News
reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately
at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter
about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News
reported:""To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American."""A December 23, 2007, Reuters news article on former Arkansas [Republican Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) visit to Hagee's church reported that "some Catholics were angry about the visit." The article noted:"
"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""... "Investigative journalist Sara] Posner also noted that in another Hagee text, "Bible Positions on Political Issues," (John Hagee Ministries, 1992) Hagee wrote, "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family."" -MediaMatters.org
Israel
- Electronic
- 
Cars
- Manufacturing
- Transportation
- Technology
- Company
- 
Environmental- Health
- Politics
- California
- US
- 
Japan
- France
- "Israel
Looks to Electric Cars." ... "The Israeli government
announced a major initiative to push the nation's drivers toward electric
cars on Monday, a move meant to both lessen dependence on foreign oil and
address the environmental and health hazards of gas-burning vehicles."
... "It aligns policy makers and a major car company with an outfit prepared
to build hundreds of thousands of electric charging stations across the
country. In an interview with TIME, Israeli President Shimon Peres called
the project, "an experimental lab, a pilot project, before it's applied
to other, bigger industrialized nations."" ... "Automaker Renault-Nissan
will manufacture the cars and Better Place, a California start-up founded
by former SAP executive Shai Agassi, will build the infrastructure, which
may eventually consist of 500,000 charging points and up to 200 battery-exchange
stations." ... "The [Renault-Nissan] Japanese-French auto alliance has
separately said that it will manufacture a hybrid by 2010 and an all-electric
car by 2012." ... "Agassi figures that if he adds electrical outlets to
at least 500,000 of Israel's three to four million parking spots, people
will feel like they can charge their cars whenever they need to." ... "For
longer drives, customers will be able to pull into a battery-swap station
and get a fresh battery." -By Barbara Kiviat with
contributions by Tim McGirk
-TIME.com
Israel
- 
Syria
- US
- "U.S.
Confirms Israeli Strikes Hit Syrian Target Last Week."
... "After days of silence from the Israeli government, American officials
confirmed Tuesday that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes inside Syria
last week, the first such attack since 2003." ... "A Defense Department
official said Israeli jets had struck at least one target in northeastern
Syria last Thursday, but the official said it was still unclear exactly
what the jets hit and the extent of the bombing damage." -By
Mark Mazzetti and Helene Cooper -NYTimes
Australia
- 
India
- 
Fuel
- Money
- 
Pakistan
- Israel
- International
- 
Law
- Politics
- "Report:
Australia OKs Uranium to India." ... "Australia will
not sell uranium to Pakistan even if sales begin to its nuclear-armed rival,
India, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday." ... "Downer declined
to confirm media reports that the Cabinet's National Security Committee
has accepted his proposal to sell uranium to India despite its refusal
to sign an international nonproliferation treaty." ... "But he said it
would not signal that Pakistan and Israel - two other nuclear powers that
have not signed the nonproliferation treaty - would also acquire nuclear
fuel from Australia, which holds 40 percent of the world's known uranium
reserves." -AP
via Forbes
Turkey
- 
European
Union - United
States - Israel
- Religious
- Military
- History
- Human
Rights - Free
Speech - "Turkey's
ruling party wins big in parliamentary elections:
Poll returns fuel fears that the Islamist-rooted AKP will seek to undermine
the nation's secular principles." ... "Voters Sunday handed Turkey's Islamist-influenced
ruling party a decisive victory in parliamentary elections, rewarding it
for stewardship of the country's robust economy but raising the specter
of bitter new quarrels over the feared erosion of Turkey's secular traditions."
... "The vote could have far-reaching consequences for Turkey's engagement
with the West, including its drive to become the first Muslim-dominated
country to join the European Union. Though secularist parties have been
cool to that idea, the AKP has vowed to press ahead with the bid despite
early rebuffs." ... "The moderate and officially secular country, which
is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is viewed as a strategic
bridge to a Muslim world increasingly mistrustful of the West, particularly
the United States. Successive Turkish governments have maintained close
ties with Muslim neighbors even while pursuing divergent policies, such
as a cordial relationship with Israel." ... "The AKP's resounding victory
could fuel tensions with Turkey's powerful military, which considers itself
the guardian of the secular system put in place 84 years ago by the country's
founder, Kemal Ataturk." ... "Turkey's EU membership bid has not been enthusiastically
received in Europe, in part because of concerns about the country's human
rights record and its curbs on freedom of expression." (1, 2)
-By Laura King -LAtimes
US
- Israel
- Palestine
- Book
- Media
- "Carter
says criticism has led to more attention Israeli policy."
... "Former President Jimmy Carter says the criticism aimed at his latest
book is a sign that its take on Israeli policy is generating more interest
in the plight of the Palestinians." ... "Carter said Monday he expected
the backlash against his top-selling book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.""
... ""The premise of this country concerning what's going on in Palestine
is so deeply ingrained, so deeply rooted that it's not surprising to me
that any contradiction of that has aroused a strong reaction," he told
The Associated Press in a telephone interview." ... "Part of the reason,
he said, is that Americans often see no counterbalance to pro-Israeli viewpoints
in the news media." ... ""All they really read or hear is really one-sided,
where the Israeli point of view is put forward," he said. "Very rarely
do you see any expression or concern of the horrible plight of the Palestinians
in their own land."" -AP
via -IHT.com
George
Allen - Language- History
- US
- 
Virginia
- Indian
- 2008
Election - 2006
Election - Military
- Law
- Israel
- "Guess
Who's Mad At George Allen Now? Confederate Group
Slams Va. Senator For Demeaning Rebel Flag." ... "[Virginia Republican]
Sen. George Allen's use [of] the word "macaca" for a young man of Indian
descent forced him to spend the past six weeks disputing claims that his
past is littered with racist language and a fondness for Confederate symbols."
... "What had been a warm-up race for a 2008 presidential [election] bid
has become the fight of Allen's political life. He had been a strong [2006
election] favorite over Democrat Jim Webb, a decorated combat veteran who
once served as President Reagan's Navy secretary." ... "Stories about how
the Confederate flag he kept in his home and a hangman's noose in his law
office have gained new currency. At a debate, Allen was startled and irritated
by a question about whether his grandfather was Jewish, then confirmed
it a day later." -AP
via -CBSNews
Israel
- 
Lebanon
- France
- 
UN
- Iran
- Syria
- "Israel
mounts fresh Lebanon raid: Israel carried out an
overnight raid inside Lebanon aimed at disrupting an arms transfer, the
Israeli army says." ... "One soldier died and two were injured in the Bekaa
Valley operation, it said. Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency
that three militants also died." ... "The incident came hours after UN
chief Kofi Annan warned of a "fragile" situation on the ground." ... "Meanwhile,
50 French troops arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura, the first soldiers
to bolster the UN force." ... "They are among 200 extra troops promised
by France, as the UN struggles to build its force." ... "The UN wants 3,500
troops on the ground speedily, to be expanded later to 15,000. It says
it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European
nations to offer more help too." ... "Israel's fresh operation inside Lebanon
came five days after a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the month-long conflict."
... "Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the Israeli raid was a
naked violation of the ceasefire." ... "The Israeli army said the raid
was to prevent arms being delivered to Hezbollah by Iran and Syria."
-BBC /News
Israel
- Lebanon
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "Many
Israelis see a strategic defeat: In Israel, critics
condemn strategy behind war." ... "Scathing indictments of the way the
Israeli government and its military have conducted the longest war in the
nation's history filled the country's newspapers and airwaves yesterday,
as Israelis began to feel safe enough to return to their national pastime
of blistering political debate." ... "Israeli analysts across the political
spectrum branded the war against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon ``an embarrassing
defeat" for a ``semi-rookie government" that should have known the goals
it set for itself were ``impossible to achieve."" ... "On the second day
since July 12 without Hezbollah rocket attacks, many Israelis looked around
and declared themselves sorely disappointed with a war that forced a million
people to flee their homes in northern Israel and killed 150 Israelis and
more than 800 Lebanese. The war inflamed anger across the Muslim world
-- without dealing a decisive blow to Hezbollah or bringing home the two
Israeli soldiers whose kidnapping by the Lebanese militant group triggered
the fighting." ... "The outrage came from the left and the right." -By
Anne Barnard and Matthew Kalman
-Boston/Globe
Israel
- Lebanon
- Iran
- United
States - Britain
- Syria
- "Israel
strikes deep into Lebanon: Peres estimates end of
fighting in a matter of weeks." ... "Israeli troops landed Tuesday near
the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbeck, Lebanese security sources said,
and the Israeli military also engaged in fierce fighting with Hezbollah
forces just across the border with Lebanon." ... "Israeli aircraft flew
support missions as troops hit the ground about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)
north of Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, the sources
said." ... "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held the United States
and Britain responsible for the bloodshed in Lebanon, The Associated Press
reported." ... "The United States and Israel accuse Syria and Iran of supporting
Hezbollah, and the Bekaa Valley has long been considered a haven for Hezbollah,
with supply routes from Syria." -Contributed to by
Nada Husseini, John Roberts, John King, Elise Labott, Richard Roth and
Ben Wedeman -CNN
US- Iraq
- Israel
- Military
- Terrorism
- Political
- Intelligence
- Media
- "Competing
realities." ... "Meaningful political debates require
agreement at least as to the basic facts comprising reality. For a substantial
portion of the American population, that agreement is lacking, due to a
desire to believe only those facts which comport with one's beliefs and
the powerful, self-contained ideology-based
media bubble which enables that desire. Those who live in the world
where Iraq helped Al Qaeda plan terrorist attacks, Saddam had WMDs, things
are going well in Iraq, and Hezbollah rather than Israel collapsed the
apartment building in Qana, don't merely have different political views
but really live in a different reality." -By Glenn
Greenwald
US
- Israel
- Lebanon
- Iran
- Syria
- Religion- Military
- Chuck
Hagel - 
Nebraska
- "Key
Republican breaks with Bush on Mideast: Nebraska's
Sen. Hagel calls for immediate cease-fire." ... "Urging President Bush
to turn all U.S. efforts toward "ending this madness," a leading Republican
senator Monday broke with the Bush administration and called for an immediate
cease-fire in the Mideast." ... ""The sickening slaughter on both sides
must end and it must end now," Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel said. "President
Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must stop."" ...
"The Bush administration has refused to call for Israel to halt its attacks
on southern Lebanon, joining Israel in insisting that Hezbollah fighters
must be pushed back from the Israeli-Lebanese border." ... "President Bush
Monday in a speech in Miami Beach, Florida, reiterated his call for a cease-fire
in the Mideast only if it brought a "long-lasting peace" that addressed
Iran and Syria's support for Hezbollah, the Islamic militia that Israel
is targeting. (Full
story)" ... "Hagel said that refusal threatens to isolate the United
States and Israel and harm chances of achieving a long-term peace in the
region." -CNN
Lebanon
- Israel
- UN
- History
- "Dozens
killed in Lebanon air raid: More than 54 civilians,
at least 34 of them children, have been killed in a town in south Lebanon
in the deadliest Israeli strike of the conflict so far." ... "Displaced
families had been sheltering in the basement of a house in Qana, which
was crushed after a direct hit." ... "Lebanon's prime minister denounced
"Israeli war criminals" and cancelled talks with the US secretary of state."
... "Israel said it regretted the incident - but added that civilians had
been warned to flee the village." ... "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
Israel would "continue to act with no hesitation against Hezbollah" which
has been firing rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon." ... "Qana was
the site of an Israeli bombing of a UN base in 1996 that killed more than
100 people sheltering there during Israel's "Grapes of Wrath" offensive,
which was also aimed at destroying Hezbollah."
-BBC /News
Israel
- Lebanon
- UN
- 
Austria
- Canada
- 
China
- "Annan:
Israel bombed UN base for hours." ... "The UN general
secretary, Kofi Annan, today accused the Israeli military of carrying out
a sustained bombing of the UN base on the Lebanon-Israel border that culminated
in the killing of four unarmed monitors." ... ""I spoke to Mr Olmert [Israel's
prime minister] and he definitely believes it was a mistake and has expressed
his deep sorrow," Mr Annan told a press conference in Rome." ... ""But
the shelling started in the morning and went on until after 7pm. You cannot
imagine the anguish of the unarmed men and women peacekeepers who were
there."" ... "According to a detailed timeline of the incident provided
by an unidentified UN officer and reported by CNN, the first bomb exploded
around 200 metres from the post at 1.20pm (11.20am BST) yesterday." ...
"Unifil observers then telephoned their designated contact with the Israeli
military, who assured them the attacks would stop. In the following hours,
nine more bombs fell close to the post, each one followed by a call to
the Israeli military, the UN officer said." ... "The main Unifil base in
the town of Naqoura lost contact with the post at 7.40pm, seemingly the
time when the post received a direct hit." ... "The four monitors came
from Austria, Canada, China and Finland." -Guardian.co.uk
Israel
- Lebanon
- "Israel
Hits Hezbollah District in Beirut." ... "Beirut was
pounded by new airstrikes Tuesday as the two-week-old crisis showed no
signs of letting up, despite frantic diplomatic efforts. At least four
heavy blasts were heard, the first Israeli strikes in the capital in nearly
two days." ... "Outlining the scope of the Israeli campaign for the first
time, a senior army commander said Israel would only encircle Lebanese
towns and villages near the border and did not plan a deeper push into
the country." ... "With the diplomatic threads for a solution still tangled,
the violence looked likely to drag on with a new element after 14 days
of bombardment: tough ground fighting as Israeli forces try to move village
to village near the border, facing well-armed, determined Islamic militant
guerrillas who have been digging in for years." ... "Israel's death toll
in the conflict stands at 42, including 24 soldiers and 18 civilians, most
killed by hundreds of rockets that have been fired by Hezbollah." ... "At
least 391 people have been killed and 1,596 wounded in Lebanon, according
to Lebanese security officials. Among them are 20 Lebanese soldiers and
at least 11 Hezbollah guerrillas." -By Hamza Hendawi
-AP via -SFGate.com
Lebanon
- Israel
- US
- Politics
- "Fierce
Fighting Rages Deeper Into Lebanon: Israel Pushes
Deeper Into Lebanon As Aid Convoys Head for the South; Rice Concludes Beirut
Visit." ... "Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Lebanon on Monday
in heavy fighting and captured two Hezbollah guerrillas, while two aid
convoys carrying food, generators and other badly needed supplies left
Beirut for two southern cities." ... "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
made a surprise visit to Beirut to launch diplomatic efforts aimed at ending
13 days of warfare. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told her his government
is hoping to "put an end to the war being inflicted on Lebanon." He told
Rice that Israel's bombardment was taking his country "backward 50 years.""
... "An official close to parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah
ally, said his talks with Rice failed to "reach an agreement because Rice
insisted on one full package to end the fighting." The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because the talks were private." ... "Israel has
not bombed Beirut since Sunday afternoon and appeared to have stopped all
airstrikes on the city in deference to Rice's visit. Rice later flew to
Jerusalem." ... "Sunday was one of the heaviest days of Israeli bombardment,
with 270 targets, compared with 120 the day before, according to the military."
(1, 2,
3,) -By Kathy Gannon with contributions by Katherine
Shrader, Benjamin Harvey, Jill Lawless, Brian Murphy, Joseph Panossian,
and Lauren Frayer -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
US
- Israel
- Lebanon
- Business
- Politics
- "U.S.
Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis." ... "The
Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to
Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning
its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials
said Friday." ... "The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was
made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the
officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and
others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding
the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s
efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah." ... "The munitions that the United
States is sending to Israel are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale
package approved last year that Israel is able to draw on as needed, the
officials said. But Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite
and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers,
and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon
to strike." ... "Pentagon and military officials declined to describe in
detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, and they would
not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft or some
other means. But an arms-sale package approved last year provides authority
for Israel to purchase from the United States as many as 100 GBU-28’s,
which are 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs intended to destroy concrete bunkers.
The package also provides for selling satellite-guided munitions." (1,
2)
-By David S. Cloud and Helene Cooper with contributions
by Thom Shanker -NYTimes
Israel- Lebanon
- US
- "Israel
set war plan more than a year ago: Strategy was put
in motion as Hezbollah began gaining military strength in Lebanon." ...
"Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered
a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to
a plan finalized more than a year ago." ... "In the six years since Israel
ended its military occupation of southern Lebanon, it watched warily as
Hezbollah built up its military presence in the region. When Hezbollah
militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers last week, the Israeli military
was ready to react almost instantly." ... "More than a year ago, a senior
Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record
basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting
out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. Under the ground
rules of the briefings, the officer could not be identified." ... "In his
talks, the officer described a three-week campaign: The first week concentrated
on destroying Hezbollah's heavier long-range missiles, bombing its command-and-control
centers, and disrupting transportation and communication arteries. In the
second
week, the focus shifted to attacks on individual sites of rocket launchers
or weapons stores. In the third week, ground forces in large numbers would
be introduced, but only in order to knock out targets discovered during
reconnaissance missions as the campaign unfolded. There was no plan, according
to this scenario, to reoccupy southern Lebanon on a long-term basis." -By
Matthew Kalman -SFGate.com
Lebanon
- Israel
- UN
- "Fighting
inside Lebanese border: Israeli soldiers are fighting
Hezbollah militants inside the Lebanese border, Israeli military officials
say." ... "The clashes come as Israel keeps up its bombing of Lebanon,
carrying out 80 air strikes early on Thursday." ... "Lebanon's president
has called for an immediate ceasefire, calling Israel's offensive - which
has killed 300 people and displaced 500,000 - a "massacre"." ... "Bombed
roads are hampering aid efforts, with the UN warning the humanitarian crisis
is worsening by the hour." ... "The nine days of fighting - triggered by
the capture of two Israeli soldiers by the militant Hezbollah group in
a cross-border raid - have left 29 Israelis dead, including 15 civilians
killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel." ... "The United Nations'
emergency relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, said that without a truce allowing
aid agencies to begin the relief effort there would be a "catastrophe"."
... "Mr Egeland said that neither Hezbollah nor the Israelis seemed to
care about civilian suffering, adding that nearly a third of the dead or
wounded were children and the wounded could not be helped because roads
and bridges had been cut by Israeli air strikes."
-BBC /News
US
- Lebanon
- Israel
- Terrorism
- History
- "U.S.
Marines land in Lebanon to aid evacuations: Return
for first time since 1984." ... "U.S. Marines touched Lebanese soil for
the first time in more than 22 years Thursday and began evacuating American
citizens from the war-torn country." ... "The 40 Marines were using landing
craft to ferry the evacuees to the USS Nashville just off the Lebanese
coast." ... "The ship, once loaded, will return to Cyprus late Thursday."
... "Other Western countries also are rushing to evacuate their citizens
from the fighting that is raging between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
(Full
story)" ... "That fighting entered a ninth day Thursday. (Full
story)" ... "U.S. officials said the Marines are in Beirut only to
help Americans and to engage in a humanitarian mission. They will leave
as soon as the evacuees are on board." ... "Hezbollah, currently locked
in battle with Israel, is a Lebanon-based group linked to the 1983 bombing
of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 servicemen. Hezbollah
is designated a terrorist organization by the United States." ... "The
Marines pulled out of Lebanon in February 1984, just months after the bombing."
-CNN
US
- Israel
- Lebanon
- Iran
- Syria
- Intelligence
- "Arming
of Hezbollah Reveals U.S. and Israeli Blind Spots."
... "The power and sophistication of the missile and rocket arsenal that
Hezbollah has used in recent days has caught the United States and Israel
off guard, and officials in both countries are just now learning the extent
to which the militant group has succeeded in getting weapons from Iran
and Syria." ... "While the Bush administration has stated that cracking
down on weapons proliferation is one of its top priorities, the arming
of Hezbollah shows the blind spots of American and other Western intelligence
services in assessing the threat, officials from across those governments
said." ... "American and Israeli officials said the successful attack last
Friday on an Israeli naval vessel was the strongest evidence to date of
direct support by Iran to Hezbollah. The attack was carried out with a
sophisticated antiship cruise missile, the C-802, an Iranian-made variant
of the Chinese Silkworm, an American intelligence official said." ... "At
the same time, American and Israeli officials cautioned that they had found
no evidence that Iranian operatives working in Lebanon launched the antiship
missile themselves." -By Mark Mazzetti and Thom Shanker
-NYTimes
Lebanon
- Israel
- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- US
- "Desperate
choices inside Lebanon: Many are trapped amid Israeli
siege." ... "After days of bombardment and blockade by Israel, many Lebanese
and visitors faced a tough choice: to leave through the last remaining
exit routes or hunker down with extra candles, water, and powdered milk."
... "Tens of thousands have fled this tiny country since Thursday, after
Israel began bombing targets in southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut in
retaliation for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah. But
most of Lebanon's 4 million residents remain, unfazed by the familiar sounds
of war around them." ... "Israeli officials said they feared that Hezbollah,
a popular political party here that is considered a terrorist group in
the United States, would transport the soldiers out of the country, so
they laid siege to Lebanon, closing its ports and bombing the only airport
and major highways to the outside world." ... "The blockade trapped many
of the estimated 25,000 visiting Americans, among them Melani Cammett ,
a Harvard-affiliated professor living in the Back Bay, her husband, and
their two children, ages 3 and 5." -By Farah Stockman
and Andrew Lee Butters with contribution by Rana Fil
-Boston/Globe
Israel- Iran
- Lebanon
- Tech
- Military
- Terrorism
- History
- "Israel:
Iran Aided Hezbollah Ship Attack: Israeli intelligence
says Iranian troops helped Hezbollah attack warship; Iran denies charge."
... "Elite Iranian troops helped Hezbollah fire a sophisticated radar-guided
missile at an Israeli warship, Israeli officials said Saturday, describing
an apparent surprise blow by militants who had been using only low-tech
weapons." ... "Iran denied that it had any troops in Lebanon." ... "Israel
initially believed that an aerial drone armed with explosives hit the warship,
but it became clear that Hezbollah had used an Iranian-made C-802 missile
to strike the vessel late Friday, an Israeli intelligence official said
on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information."
... "Hezbollah is widely believed to have been trained, funded and guided
by the Revolutionary Guard since the militant group was founded during
Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The Islamic republic's elite corps of
more than 200,000 fighters is independent of the regular armed forces and
directly controlled by Iran's supreme leader." -By
Ramit Plushnick-Masti -AP
via -CBSNews
Lebanon
- Israel
- "South
Lebanon feels brunt of Israeli attacks: Airstrikes
Thursday destroyed roads and bridges and killed at least 52 civilians."
... "Mohammed Akkash's voice cracked as he listed the names of his 10 grandchildren
who were killed just hours earlier in an Israeli air raid on his son's
home." ... ""The youngest one, Safat, was just 6 months old. Is a 6-month-old
baby a resistance fighter? What happened is a crime," he says, as other
mourners sitting on plastic seats outside his home nodded quietly in agreement."
... "Throughout the dusty hill villages and deep valleys of south Lebanon,
similar displays of grief and anger were evident Thursday as the district
reeled beneath the most intensive series of Israeli airstrikes mounted
in 10 years. Roads and bridges here were systematically blown up, part
of Israel's strategy of targeting the militant group Hizbullah's infrastructure
that has effectively cut off south Lebanon from the rest of the country."
... "Sayyed Adil Akkash, a Shiite Muslim cleric allegedly connected to
Lebanon's Hizbullah party, was killed along with his wife and 10 children
in a predawn air raid in which up to 40 missiles struck his three-story
home on a stony hillside outside this village. The missiles leveled the
building, leaving a pile of rubble and coating a field of green tobacco
plants in a thick layer of dark gray dust." -By Nicholas
Blanford -CSMonitor
Israel
- Palestine
- 
Egypt
- Politics
- "Israeli
Troops Move Into Gaza: Captured Soldier Sought; Palestinians
Reach Political Pact." ... "Israeli ground troops pushed into the Gaza
Strip early Wednesday in a military operation aimed at freeing a captured
soldier whose fate has transfixed much of the country. The incursion was
the military's first major move into Gaza since the Israeli government
withdrew all troops and settlers from the enclave nine months ago." ...
"An undisclosed number of troops reportedly entered the strip at its southern
end, near the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border. Hours earlier, Israeli
military officials said, military aircraft bombed two bridges in central
Gaza to prevent the gunmen who abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, during a
Sunday attack on an army post at the strip's southeastern edge from moving
him around Gaza or into Egypt." ... "The violence overshadowed an agreement
earlier in the day by leaders of Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that
controls the Palestinian government, on a unified political agenda advocated
by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to ease the economic sanctions
against the government." ... "According to Palestinian negotiators here,
Hamas agreed to establish a national-unity government as part of an accord
signed by the largest Palestinian political factions. If formally signed
Wednesday as scheduled, the agreement would signal a major shift by Hamas's
political leaders, who for the first time would effectively endorse a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (1, 2)
-By Scott Wilson with contributions by Bradley Graham
Samuel Sockol -WashingtonPost
Israel
- Palestine
- "Israelis
Warn of Military Response to Gaza Attack." ... "Capping
several weeks of deteriorating relations, Israel threatened strong military
action on Sunday after Palestinian militants, including those belonging
to the governing faction Hamas, emerged from a tunnel dug 300 yards into
Israel, killed two soldiers, wounded three and kidnapped another soldier
at an Israeli outpost near the Egyptian border." ... "Two of the eight
Palestinians were killed, but the rest escaped back into Gaza with the
Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who is believed to have been wounded.
The Palestinians may want to offer him in exchange for jailed militants.
He was the first Israeli soldier kidnapped in more than a decade." ...
"Israeli tanks moved a short distance into Gaza on Sunday, the first tank
incursion since Israel pulled its settlers and soldiers from the territory
last summer. Israeli officials talked of a harsh response to the raid,
which was weeks in the planning and for which the military wing of Hamas
took partial responsibility, along with other militant groups like the
Popular Resistance Committees and a new formation called the Army of Islam."
... "For weeks, there has been a rising cycle of violence and reprisal
as Palestinian guerrillas have fired inaccurate Qassam rockets into Israel
to retaliate for Israeli attacks on militants, who Israel has said were
firing rockets or planning attacks." -By Steven Erlanger
-NYTimes
Iran
- Canada
- Israel
- Religious
- 
Clothing
- Law
- Politics
- "Newspaper
apologizes for anti-Iran report." ... "A Canadian
newspaper apologized Wednesday for an article that said Iran planned to
force Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive clothing
to distinguish themselves from Muslims." ... "But the National Post, a
longtime supporter of Israel and critic of Tehran, admitted Wednesday it
had not checked the piece thoroughly enough before running it." ... ""It
is now clear the story is not true," Douglas Kelly, the National Post's
editor in chief, wrote in a long editorial on Page 2. "We apologize for
the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post
readers, but the broader public who read the story."" ... "The article
was based on a column by Iranian expatriate writer Amir Taheri, who said
a law being debated by Iran's parliament would force Jews to sew a yellow
strip of cloth to their clothes." -Reuters
via -CNN
US
- Israel
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Lawyer:
Rice Allegedly Leaked Defense Info." ... "Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice leaked national defense information to a pro-Israel
lobbyist in the same manner that landed a lower-level Pentagon official
a 12-year prison sentence, the lobbyist's lawyer said Friday." ... "Prosecutors
disputed the claim." ... "The allegations against Rice came as a federal
judge granted a defense request to issue subpoenas sought by the defense
for Rice and three other government officials in the trial of Steven Rosen
and Keith Weissman. The two are former lobbyists with the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee who are charged with receiving and disclosing
national defense information." ... "Rosen's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the
testimony of Rice and others is needed to show that some of the top officials
in U.S. government approved of disclosing sensitive information to the
defendants and that the leaks may have been authorized." -By
Matthew Barakat -AP
via -WashingtonPost
United
Arab Emirates - US
- Iran
- Iraq
- 
Kuwait
- Israel
- Global
- Politics
- History
- "Emirate
Wakes Up Famous. Thank You, America." ... "In the
1980's it [Dubai] built strong relations with Iran by serving as a waypoint
to the rest of the world and offering a lifeline during the Iran-Iraq war.
In 1991, it became a haven for Kuwaitis who escaped Saddam Hussein's invading
armies, then in 2003 it became a haven for Iraqis escaping the second gulf
war. And in the years since, Dubai has gradually fashioned itself into
a refuge for Iranians, Arabs and others who have eschewed the call to America
or the West in exchange for a lifestyle that comes close, but is in keeping
with Middle Eastern values." ... "With 85 percent of the population made
up of foreigners, many of them second and third generation, the city faces
a simmering demographic and identity crisis." ... "Dubai is likely to confront
numerous other questions as a 45-day investigation of its [United States]
port management program gets under way, possibly illuminating the emirate's
struggles with money laundering and other illicit activities. A spotty
human rights record regarding foreign workers could also be a sticking
point, along with its participation in a continuing Arab boycott of trade
with Israel." -By Hassan M. Fattah with contributions
by Mohammed Fadel Fahmy -NYTimes
US
- United
Arab Emirates - Israel
- Business
- "Senators
Have New Ports Deal Objection: The United Arab Emirates
participates in a boycott of products made in Israel." ... "Senate Democrats
opened a new line of attack Tuesday against the controversial Dubai ports
deal, challenging the head of the United Arab Emirates company to explain
the nation's support of a boycott against Israel." ... "But President Bush
showed no signs of backing down, voicing renewed support for the deal even
as a new poll showed 7 in 10 Americans opposed it. Bush also hit an all-time
low approval rating, with 1 in 3 Americans saying he's doing a good job."
... "At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, the company's chief operating
officer, Edward Bilkey, confirmed that the same UAE-owned holding company
that owns Dubai Ports World also owns a Dubai customs office that enforces
the nation's participation in an Arab League boycott of products made in
Israel." -By Craig Gordon
-Newsday.com via -LAtimes
US
- Israel
- Lawrence
A Franklin - 
Douglas
Feith - Classified
- Military
- Intelligence
- "Pentagon
Analyst Gets 12 Years for Disclosing Data." ... "A
federal judge sentenced a former Defense Department analyst, Lawrence A.
Franklin, to more than 12 years in prison today after Mr. Franklin admitted
passing classified military information to two pro-Israel lobbyists and
an Israeli diplomat." ... "The charges against Mr. Franklin and the two
lobbyists are offenses under the Espionage Act, but none of the men have
been accused of spying." ... "The lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith
Weissman, were senior staff members of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, or Aipac, a pro-Israel lobbying organization with close relationships
to officials in the [Republican President] Bush administration." ... "Mr.
Rosen and Mr. Weissman were charged in an indictment in August 2005 with
conspiring to gather and disclose classified national security information
to journalists and an unnamed foreign power that government officials identified
as Israel." ... "As Aipac's director of foreign policy issues, Mr. Rosen
was a well-known figure in Washington who helped the organization define
its lobbying agenda on the Middle East and forged important relationships
with powerful conservatives in the Bush administration." ... "Mr. Franklin
worked at the Pentagon for a time under Douglas Feith, a former undersecretary
at the agency." -By David Johnston
-NYTimes
Israel
- United
States - Pat
Robertson
- Political
- Terrorism
- Television
- Media
- EU
- UN
- "Robertson
suggests God smote Sharon: Evangelist links Israeli
leader's stroke to 'dividing God's land'." ... "Television evangelist Pat
Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which
Robertson opposed." ... ""He was dividing God's land, and I would say,
'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease
the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America,'"
Robertson told viewers of his long-running television show, "The 700 Club.""
... ""God says, 'This land belongs to me, and you'd better leave it alone,'"
he said." ... "Robertson's show airs on the ABC Family cable network and
claims about 1 million viewers daily." -AP
-CNN
Israel
- Iran
- United
States - Pat
Robertson
- Politics
- "Duo
says Sharon's illness is deserved." ... "The television
evangelist Pat Robertson and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may
not agree on much, but both suggested Thursday that the severe illness
of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was deserved." -By
Alan Cooperman -WashingtonPost
via -SeattleTimes
Palestine
- Israel
- Religion
- 
Christmas
- "Christmas
Spirit Returns to Bethlehem." ... "Holiday spirit
returned to Bethlehem [West Bank] on Saturday for the first time in six
years as hundreds of pilgrims from around the world packed the town of
Jesus' birth for Christmas Eve celebrations." ... "More than 30,000 people
were expected to flock to Bethlehem in what would be the largest turnout
since fighting erupted in September 2000." ... "Israel's summer withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip and a sharp drop in violence this year contributed
to the joyful atmosphere, which buoyed the spirits of Bethlehem residents
and tourists visiting the festively decorated town." (1, 2)
-By Sarah El Deeb -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
Palestine
- Israel
- Religion
- Christmas
- "Isolated
Bethlehem struggles for its survival." ... "In a
street below the Church of the Nativity this week, three Palestinians were
wrestling with a gigantic blow-up Santa Claus as they attempted to add
a touch of seasonal cheer to a town that feels itself increasingly cut
off from the outside world." ... "Since Christmas 2004, Israel has completed
an eight-metre high concrete separation barrier between Bethlehem and neighbouring
Jerusalem and recently opened a $7.5m crossing point that resembles an
international frontier." ... "Most residents of Bethlehem, which is just
inside the West Bank, are no longer allowed to travel to Jerusalem, although
the army is making an exception this Christmas for Christian Palestinians
wishing to visit relatives in Israel." -By Harvey
Morris -FT.com
Iran- Israel
- 
Nuclear
- "Iran's
leader drawing fire: President Ahmadinejad is proving
too radical even for some Iranian conservatives." ... "Courting confrontation
both at home and abroad, Iran's hard-line president is inserting like-minded
ideologues into key positions. He's holding strong to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
And he's inviting ire in the West with more anti-Israel rhetoric." (1,
2)
-By Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Iran
- Israel
- 
Saudi
Arabia - Britain
- Germany
- History
- "Iran's
Ahmadinejad casts doubt on Holocaust." ... "Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday expressed doubt the Holocaust
took place and suggested the Jewish state of Israel be moved to Europe."
... "His comments, reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency from a
news conference he gave in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, follow his
call in October for Israel to be "wiped off the map", which sparked widespread
international outrage." ... "The latest comments also provoked quick condemnation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called them "totally unacceptable" and
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said "I condemn them unreservedly.
They have no place in civilised political debate."" -By
Paul Hughes with contributions by Jeffrey Heller -Reuters.co.uk
Iran
- Israel
- Saudi
Arabia - Palestine
- Germany
- Austria
- Military
- History
- "Update
2: Iranian President: Move Israel to Europe." ...
"Iran's hard-liner president, who has called for Israel's destruction,
said Thursday that the Jewish state should be moved to Europe if the West
wants to make up for the Holocaust." ... "Speaking to reporters at an Islamic
summit in the Muslim holy city of Mecca [Saudi Arabia], Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied that European countries backed the founding
of Israel in the Middle East in 1948 out of guilt over the Holocaust."
... ""Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II,
Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps," Ahmadinejad
said. "Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is taken
to prison or gets condemned."" ... ""Let's give some land to the Zionists
in Europe or in Germany or Austria, so they can have their government there,"
he said. "They faced injustice in Europe, so why do the repercussions fall
on the Palestinians? Offer a piece of land from Europe, and we will back
this decision and will not attack this government.""
-AP via -Forbes
Israel
- World
- Law
- History
- "Crystal
joins Cross and Crescent: A diamond-shaped red crystal
on a white background is to join the Red Cross and the Red Crescent as
an emblem for ambulances and relief workers." ... "Geneva Convention member
states voted by a two-thirds majority for the symbol which ends a decades-old
row and opens the way for Israel to join." ... "Israel had been denied
entry because its Red Shield was not approved." ... "Relief workers and
ambulances bearing the Red Cross or Red Crescent symbols are protected
under international law." ... "The Red Shield of David - or Magen David
Adom - was not recognised by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and Arab states
had blocked attempts to find an alternative symbol."-BBC
/News
World
- Iran
- Israel
- France
- 
Russia
- Palestine
- Nuclear
- Military
- "World
Leaders Condemn Iranian's Call to Wipe Israel 'Off the Map'."
... "In a joint statement, the E.U. leaders "condemned in the strongest
terms" the Iranian president's call, saying it "will cause concern about
Iran's role in the region and its future intentions." President Jacques
Chirac of France told reporters that Ahmadinejad risked Iran "being left
on the outside of other nations."" ... "Russia's foreign minister, Sergei
Lavrov, in Israel, called the Iranian president's statement "unacceptable.""
... "The statement was widely reported in the Arab world; leaders there
reacted for the most part with silence. Most Arab countries have no diplomatic
relations with Israel. But the Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said,
according to the Associated Press: "We have recognized the state of Israel
and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and . . . we do not accept
the statements of the president of Iran. This is unacceptable."" ... "U.S.
and European leaders have grown increasingly worried about the bellicose
attitude of Iran at a time when it is pursuing a nuclear program that they
have said may be intended to produce a nuclear weapon." (1, 2)
-By Mary Jordan and Karl Vick with contributions by
Scott Wilson and Robin Wright-WashingtonPost
Iran
- Israel
- Politics
- "UN's
Annan expresses dismay over Iranian anti-Israel comments."
... "UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed dismay about remarks made
by Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggesting that Israel
should be 'wiped off the map'." ... "'The secretary general has read with
dismay the remarks about Israel attributed to Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,'
a statement released by his spokesman said." ... "Annan reminded all member
states that Israel is a long-standing United Nations member 'with the same
rights and obligations as every other member.'"
-AFXNews via -Forbes
Iran
- Israel
- Religion
- Military
- "Iran's
New President Says Israel 'Must Be Wiped Off the Map'."
... "Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told a group of students
at an anti-Israel event on Wednesday that Israel "must be wiped off the
map" and that attacks by Palestinians would destroy it, the ISNA news agency
reported." ... "He was speaking to about 4,000 students at a program called
"The World Without Zionism," in preparation for an annual anti-Israel demonstration
held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan." ... ""The establishment
of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic
world," the news agency reported him as saying. "The skirmishes in the
occupied land are part of the war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of
years of war will be defined in Palestinian land."" -By
Nazila Fathi with contributions by Greg Myre
-NYTimes
Iran
- Israel
- Nuclear
- Military
- Terrorism
- "Iranian
leader sparks alarm by saying Israel 'must be wiped off the map'."
... "Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's president, yesterday said Israel must
be "wiped off the map", in remarks certain to cause alarm in western capitals
at a time of rising concern over Tehran's nuclear programme." ... "His
comments came as Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group allied to Iran, killed
at least five Israelis with a bombing in the Israeli town of Hedera." ...
"The president told an audience of students there was "no doubt the new
wave [of attacks] in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot
from the face of the Islamic world"." -By Gareth Smyth
-FT.com
Iran
- UK
- Israel
- "Iran
leader's words 'sicken' UK: Britain is to summon
a top Iranian diplomat to protest against his president's comments about
Israel." ... "Hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for
the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map"." ... "The Foreign Office will
call in Iran's London chargé d'affaires on Thursday. It said the
comments were "deeply disturbing and sickening"."-BBC
/News
Canada
- Iran
- Israel
- Nuclear
- "Canada
blasts Iran for seeking Israeli destruction." ...
"Canada strongly condemned Iran's president on Wednesday for urging that
Israel be "wiped off the map," saying the comments were particularly worrying
because of Tehran's nuclear ambitions." -Reuters
Iran
- Israel
- United
States - Nuclear
- Military
- Religion
- "Iran
leader calls for Israel's destruction." ... "President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Wednesday that Israel is a "disgraceful blot"
that should be "wiped off the map" - fiery words that Washington said underscores
its concern over Iran's nuclear program." ... ""The United States said
Ahmadinejad's remarks show that Washington's fears about Iran's nuclear
program are accurate."" ... "Ahmadinejad also condemned Iran's neighbors
which seek to break new ground in their relations with Israel. "Anybody
who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury,"
state-run television quoted him as saying." -By Ali
Akbar Dareini -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Israel
- Palestine
- Military
- "Israeli
court bans human shields." ... "The Israeli Supreme
Court on Thursday outlawed the army's use of Palestinian civilians as human
shields during round-ups of suspects in the occupied territories, ruling
the practice contrary to international law." ... "The judgment by Chief
Justice Aharon Barak was a victory for Israeli and Palestinian human rights
groups, which produced evidence that the tactic had led to the death or
injury of innocent people." -By Harvey Morris
-FT.com
-
- CA
- Sacramento
-
-
-
- Religion
- "Four
indicted in alleged terrorist plot against LA-area targets."
... "The head of a militant Islamic prison gang and three others were indicted
Wednesday on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against National
Guard facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other Los Angeles-area targets."
... "Prosecutors contend the plot was orchestrated by [Levar Haley] Washington,
[Gregory Vernon] Patterson and [Hammad Riaz] Samana at the behest of [Kevin]
James, a California State Prison, Sacramento, inmate who founded the radical
group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS. Washington converted to Islam
while serving three years in the prison for a previous robbery conviction."
-By Jeremiah Marquez -AP
via -MercuryNews
- Palestine
-
- "As
Israel Leaves Gaza, It Strengthens West Bank Presence."
... "Israeli soldiers worked today to wrap up the military portion of the
Gaza Strip withdrawal, and the defense minister said all but a small number
of soldiers could be removed from the territory by mid-September." ...
"At the same time, Israeli officials confirmed that the government had
issued orders to seize West Bank land to build the separation barrier around
the largest Jewish settlement, Maale Adumim, and link it up to nearby Jerusalem."
... "Even the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, has raised concerns
about constructing the barrier inside the West Bank, and the Bush administration
has criticized the Maale Adumim portion of the barrier in particular."
-By Greg Myre -NYTimes
- Palestine
-
-
- "Israelis
remove final protesters: Withdrawal ends with evacuations
in West Bank." ... "The evacuations of Sanur, and another West Bank settlement,
Homesh, ended relatively peacefully, despite predictions from Israeli police
that militant settlers would mar the disengagement process with violence.
Instead, the massive military and police operation demonstrated new will
by the Israeli government to confront the settlers and their political
backers." ... "More than 50,000 army, border police, and police officers
collaborated in the withdrawal as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
plan to ''disengage" from the Palestinians, avoiding bloodshed while withdrawing
9,000 settlers and 6,000 of their supporters in less than a week -- an
operation that was originally planned to last as long as two months." -By
Thanassis Cambanis with contributions by Alon Tuval
-Boston/Globe
- Palestine
-
- Religion
- "Troops
remove Jewish extremists in West Bank." ... "Thousands
of troops overcame the main bastions of resistance to the evacuation of
two settlements Tuesday, clearing out hundreds of extremists who had barricaded
themselves inside houses, synagogues and a fortress to protest Israel's
first dismantling of West Bank outposts." ... "Security forces had feared
the evacuation of Sanur and Homesh would be the most violent phase of the
Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements,
but resistance to the largely unarmed troops was surprisingly mild." ...
"The resisters in Sanur and Homesh consider the pullout a dangerous precedent
that threatens all Jewish settlement in the West Bank, which the devout
see as their God-given right." -AP
via -GlobeAndMail
- Palestine
-
- Religion
- "Israeli
forces storm two die-hard W.Bank settlements." ...
"Israeli forces smashed their way on Tuesday into two West Bank settlements
to oust radical Jews who were dug in for a last stand against evacuation
after failing to foil a pullout from occupied Gaza." ... "Armored bulldozers
burst through makeshift barriers of burning tires and rubbish at the gates
to the neighboring settlements of Sanur and Homesh, heralding a showdown
with hundreds of young Jewish ultra-rightists inside." ... "Palestinians
would like Israel to pull out from all of the West Bank and Gaza but Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon has sworn to keep Israel's biggest West Bank settlements.
Some 230,000 settlers live in the West Bank among 2.4 million Palestinians."
(1, 2)
-By Matt Spetalnick and Dan Williams
-Reuters
- Palestine
- -
- "Israel
Empties Last Gaza Settlement, West Bank Violence Looms."
... "Pullout opponents burnt down a military post in one of the two West
Bank settlements left to empty and punctured tires of army vehicles that
tried to put out the flames, the army said in a statement. In other incidents,
protesters set fire to an army engineer's vehicle and threw a firebomb
that narrowly missed an army patrol." ... "The withdrawal from territory
Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War, and which Palestinians are
seeking to help form their own state, may inflame Israeli politics." -By
Gwen Ackerman -Bloomberg
- Palestine
-
-
- "Israelis
emptying final Gaza settlement: Historic withdrawal
nears completion." ... "Israeli security forces began entering Netzarim
-- the final Jewish settlement left in Gaza -- Monday morning as Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout from the Palestinian territory entered
its final stage, an Israel Defense Forces representative said." ... "Israel
has controlled Gaza, a 140-square-mile piece of coastal land between Israel
and the Mediterranean Sea, since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israeli settlements
in Gaza housed about 8,500 settlers amid a Palestinian population of 1.3
million." -Contributed to by John Vause and Shira
Medding -CNN
- Palestine
-
- "Israel
starts to evacuate Gaza's last settlement." ... "Israeli
troops marched unopposed into the Gaza Strip's last Jewish settlement of
Netzarim on Monday to complete the evacuation of the territory after nearly
four decades of occupation." ... "But in the West Bank, radicals opposed
to ceding settlements on any land that Palestinians seek for a state dug
in for a last stand at two enclaves that are also due to be removed under
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout plan." ... "There was no
sign in Netzarim of the noisy protests or burning barricades that greeted
the evacuation of some of the other 20 settlements in Gaza last week."
(1, 2)
-By Dean Yates -Reuters
-
- "Gaza
pullout nears finish." ... "Fifty Israeli bulldozers
flattened houses in four Gaza settlements Sunday, reducing villages to
garbage dumps and sealing the fate of the settlements." ... "After the
Gaza pullout is complete, the military will turn its full attention to
evacuating settlements in the West Bank. On Sunday, extremists there exchanged
blows with soldiers, and slashed the tires of an army jeep near Sanur -
one of the two settlements scheduled to be dismantled later this week.
The other is Homesh." -CBC.ca
- 
-
-
- "Jordanian
arrests tied to rocket attacks." ... "Jordanian authorities
have arrested several people they think might lead to the attackers who
fired rockets at U.S. warships at the port of Aqaba, a Jordanian official
said Saturday." ... "The arrests were part of an investigation led by Jordanian
authorities, with help from U.S. and Israeli officials."
-CNN
-
-
- 
- "Rocket
Fired at 2 U.S. Navy Ships at Port in Jordan." ...
"A rocket was fired early today at two American naval ships docked in southern
Jordan, killing a Jordanian soldier and marking the first attack on American
military ships in the region in five years, American and Jordanian officials
said." ... "A rocket was fired at the same time from apparently the same
area at an airport in a neighboring Israeli port, hitting a stretch of
road and wounding a taxi driver, news agencies reported, citing Israeli
officials and witnesses. A third projectile was fired at a Jordanian hospital
around the southern port of Aqaba but did no damage." -By
Edward Wong -NYTimes
-
-
- "Israeli
Troops Face Heightened Resistance to Gaza Strip Pullout."
... "Settler resistance to the Gaza Strip pullout grew as the withdrawal
went into its second day, with residents setting fire to their homes and
barricading themselves in synagogues in two settlements." ... "The evacuations
from land captured by Israel almost four decades ago mark a pivotal political
moment in the country's history. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, long a proponent
of the settler movement, undertook the withdrawal after deciding the costs
of retaining Gaza outweighed the advantages of giving it up. Four Jewish
settlements in the West Bank will also be dismantled under the plan." -By
Jonathan Ferziger and Janine Zacharia -Bloomberg
Mauritania
-
-
-
- Religion
- "Coup
may realign Mauritania." ... "Mauritania's army seized
power yesterday in a swift, apparently bloodless coup which could see the
country move away from its alliances with the US and Israel." ... "Mauritania,
an overwhelmingly Muslim country, is one of only three Arab League states
to have diplomatic ties with Israel." -By Andrew Meldrum
-Guardian.co.uk
Mauritania
-
-
-
-
-
- "Troops
block Mauritania streets, president in Niger." ...
"President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who was out of the country after
attending the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd in Riyadh on Tuesday,
arrived in Niger's capital Niamey hours after reports of the troop movements
in Nouakchott emerged." ... "Taya seized power in a 1984 coup. He has angered
many Arabs in the country, which straddles black and Arab Africa, by shifting
support from former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to Israel and Washington
in the 1990s." ... "Mauritania -- which hopes to start pumping oil early
next year -- is one of only three Arab League member states that have established
diplomatic ties with Israel." -By Ibrahima Sylla
-Reuters
-
-
-
-
- -
-
- "Iran:
crisis looming over nuclear plans." ... "Threats
by Iran to re-start the process of enriching uranium could indicate that
it has taken a strategic decision to develop a nuclear fuel production
cycle." ... "If so, it could face UN sanctions in due course and one day
even a military attack on its facilities by Israel or the United States."
... "But nuclear experts and a new assessment by US intelligence say that
Iran is perhaps ten years from being able to make enough fuel for a nuclear
bomb." ... "Neither a diplomatic nor a military crisis has been precipitated
yet." -By Paul Reynolds-BBC
/News
-
-
- "Sharon
orders security crackdown on far-right Jews." ...
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had ordered "every necessary
step" to be taken to prevent Jewish ultranationalists from trying to derail
his Gaza withdrawal plan through violence and road blockades." ... "Sharon
lashed out at far-right Jews in newspaper interviews on Thursday after
a day of clashes between security forces and anti-withdrawal activists
in Gaza and on Israel's highways." ... "It was the worst day of violence
between Israeli police and soldiers and ultranationalists bent on scuttling
Sharon's plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in the occupied Gaza
Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank in August."
-Reuters.co.uk
- Palestine
-
- "Bush
promises Abbas $50m Gaza aid." ... "President George
W. Bush on Thursday welcomed Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president,
to the White House with a promise of $50m in direct aid to develop Gaza
after Israel's planned withdrawal and a renewed US commitment to an independent
Palestinian state." ... "Standing before the cameras in the Rose Garden,
Mr Bush called on Israel to remove unauthorised outposts in the West Bank,
stop settlement expansion and ensure that its security barrier, now being
built through parts of occupied territory, did not become a "political
barrier"." -By Guy Dinmore
-FT.com
Palestine
- "Fatah
leads local Palestinian vote." ... "The Fatah political
movement was the clear winner in municipal elections held in 84 cities
across the West Bank and Gaza, according to preliminary results released
by a Palestinian election official Friday."
-CNN
-
-
-
- Secrets-
"Pentagon
analyst charged with disclosing secrets." ... "A
Defense Department analyst was arrested on Wednesday on charges of disclosing
top-secret information on potential attacks on American forces in Iraq
to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group." ... "Lawrence Franklin
surrendered to the FBI and faces charges of disclosing classified national
defense information in 2003 to two individuals who sources said worked
at the time at the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee
[AIPAC]." (1, 2)
-Reuters
-
-
-
-
- "Putin
Warns Iran Against Atomic Arms: Russian President
Warns Iran Against Seeking Atomic Arms, but Defends Syria Missile Deal."
... "On the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Israel, Russia's Vladimir
Putin soothed his hosts Thursday by aiming sharp words at Iran over its
nuclear program, but he sparred with his Israeli counterpart on a Syrian
missile deal that Israelis see as a threat." ... "Making a trip meant to
cement relations after decades of Soviet-era discord, the Russian president
said his country and Israel are linked by the Holocaust and the deaths
of millions of Soviet citizens in World War II. And he noted Israel's large
population of Russian-speaking immigrants." (1, 2,
3)
-By Steve Gutterman -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
- Animals
- Robots
- "Octopus
Arms May Point Way to New Robot Designs." ... "Octopuses,
those boneless, brainy, denizens of the deep, use their arms for some tasks
in much the same way humans do, according to a new study." ... "Understanding
how the octopus controls eight flexible arms all at once could be the basis
for developing the next generation of flexible robotic arms—long a goal
among robotics engineers." ... ""Our specific aim in this project is to
learn from nature how to build and control a flexible-arm robot," said
Binyamin Hochner, a biologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem [Israel]
and one of the co-authors of the study. "And indeed our studies show how
the octopus simplifies the complex problems associated with controlling
flexible arms that have an infinitely large number of degrees of freedom.
This in turn inspires the development of new strategies for the control
of flexible robotic arms."" -By Hillary Mayell
-NationalGeographic>News
- Palestine
- -
"Israel
formally gives up Jericho: Israel has formally handed
over control of the West Bank town of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority."
... "Its troops began dismantling concrete blocks at the main checkpoint
earlier on Wednesday and the handover was completed after several hours."
... "Palestinian security forces will now patrol the town, but everyone
leaving Jericho will still have to stop at an Israeli checkpoint on the
outskirts." ... "Jericho is the first of five West Bank towns to revert
to Palestinian control. The others are Tulkarm, Ramallah, Qalqilya and
Bethlehem." ... "The full transfer of Jericho and its surrounding area
to the Palestinians is to be completed over the next four weeks."-BBC
/News
-
- Lebanon
-
- "Saudis
lean on Syria to quit Lebanon." ... "Saudi Arabia
is pressuring the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, to set a firm timetable
for withdrawal of his troops from Lebanon, Arab government sources said
yesterday." ... "Although Mr Assad told Time magazine he planned to begin
the pullout within months, he is resisting a timetable. He is set to fly
to Saudi Arabia to try to secure Riyadh's help over a face-saving deal."
... "While it agrees with the US call for an end to Syrian troops in Lebanon,
Riyadh differs over other demands, primarily that Syria should not provide
a haven for the anti-Israeli groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and that it
sever ties with Hizbullah." -By Ewen MacAskill
-Guardian.co.uk
Larry
Franklin - Douglas
Feith - Criminal
Investigation - US
- Israel
- 
Italy
- Iran
- Military
- Intelligence
- History
- "Iran-Contra
II? Fresh scrutiny on a rogue Pentagon operation."
... "On Friday evening, CBS News reported that the FBI [Federal Bureau
of Investigation ] is investigating a suspected mole in the Department
of Defense who allegedly passed to Israel, via a pro-Israeli lobbying organization
[AIPAC], classified American intelligence about Iran. The focus of the
investigation, according to [United States] U.S. government officials,
is Larry Franklin, a veteran Defense Intelligence Agency Iran analyst now
working in the office of the Pentagon's number three civilian official,
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith." ... "The investigation
of Franklin is now shining a bright light on a shadowy struggle within
the [Republican President] Bush administration over the direction of U.S.
policy toward Iran. In particular, the FBI is looking with renewed interest
at an unauthorized back-channel between Iranian dissidents and advisers
in Feith's office, which more-senior administration officials first tried
in vain to shut down and then later attempted to cover up." ... "Franklin,
along with another colleague from Feith's office, a polyglot Middle East
expert named Harold Rhode, were the two officials involved in the back-channel,
which involved on-going meetings and contacts with Iranian arms dealer
Manucher Ghorbanifar and other Iranian exiles, dissidents and government
officials. Ghorbanifar is a storied figure who played a key role in embroiling
the Reagan administration in the Iran-Contra affair. The meetings were
both a conduit for intelligence about Iran and Iraq and part of a bitter
administration power-struggle pitting officials at [the Department of Defense]
DoD who have been pushing for a hard-line policy of "regime change" in
Iran, against other officials at the State Department and the CIA [Central
Intelligence Agency] who have been counseling a more cautious approach."
... "Reports of two of these meetings first surfaced a year ago in Newsday,
and have since been the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence. Whether or how the meetings are connected
to the alleged espionage remains unknown. But the FBI is now closely scrutinizing
them." ... "While the FBI is looking at the meetings as part of its criminal
investigation, to congressional investigators the Ghorbanifar back-channel
typifies the out-of-control bureaucratic turf wars which have characterized
and often hobbled Bush administration policy-making. And an investigation
by The Washington Monthly -- including a rare interview with Ghorbanifar
-- adds weight to those concerns. The meetings turn out to have been far
more extensive and much less under White House control than originally
reported. One of the meetings, which Pentagon officials have long characterized
as merely a "chance encounter" seems in fact to have been planned long
in advance by Rhode and Ghorbanifar. Another has never been reported in
the American press. The administration's reluctance to disclose these details
seems clear: the DoD-Ghorbanifar meetings suggest the possibility that
a rogue faction at the Pentagon was trying to work outside normal US foreign
policy channels to advance a "regime change" agenda not approved by the
president's foreign policy principals or even the president himself." ...
"The Italian Job" ... "The first meeting occurred in Rome [Italy's
capital] in December, 2001. It included Franklin, Rhode, and another American,
the neoconservative writer and operative Michael Ledeen, who organized
the meeting. (According to UPI, Ledeen was then working for Feith as a
consultant.) Also in attendance was Ghorbanifar and a number of other Iranians.
One of the Iranians, according to two sources familiar with the meeting,
was a former senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who claimed
to have information about dissident ranks within the Iranian security services.
The
Washington Monthly has also learned from U.S. government sources that
Nicolo Pollari, the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI,
attended the meetings, as did the Italian Minister of Defense Antonio Martino,
who is well-known in neoconservative circles in Washington." ... "Alarm
bells about the December 2001 meeting began going off in U.S. government
channels only days after it occurred." ... "Since the late 1980s Ghorbanifar
has been the subject of two CIA "burn notices." The Agency believes Ghorbanifar
is a serial "fabricator" and forbids its officers from having anything
to do with him." -By Joshua
Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen,
and Paul Glastris with contributions by Claudio Lavanga
-WashingtonMonthly.com
-
-
- "Israeli
Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu to Go Free." ... "Israeli
nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu goes free on Wednesday after 18
years in jail for spilling secrets that publicly placed the Jewish state
among the world's top atomic powers." ... "But the former nuclear technician
-- whose revelations to a British newspaper led analysts to conclude Israel
had an arsenal of more than 100 nuclear warheads -- will still be subject
to a list of stringent security measures to keep him silent." ... "Vanunu
was jailed in 1986 for treason after disclosing information to Britain's
Sunday Times." (1, 2)
-By Megan Goldin -Reuters
- "Bush
endorses 'courageous' Sharon plan to withdraw from part the West Bank."
... "Breaking with long-standing U.S. policy, President Bush on Wednesday
endorsed Israel's retention of part of the West Bank in any final peace
settlement with the Palestinians. In a show of support for Israel's leader
that brought immediate condemnation from the Palestinians, Bush also ruled
out Palestinian refugees ever returning to Israel." ... "An elated Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his plan would create "a new and better
reality for the state of Israel."" ... "But minutes after Bush spoke, Palestinian
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said in Ramallah that "he is the first president
who has legitimized the (Israeli) settlements in Palestinian territories.""
-Barry Schweid -AP
via -SFGate.com
- "Hamas
uses woman suicide bomber: The Islamic militant group
Hamas has used a female bomber for the first time in a suicide attack which
killed four Israelis on the border with Gaza." ... "Hamas vowed to intensify
attacks against Israel following the bombing at the main Erez crossing."
... "Until now, only secular Palestinian groups have deployed women in
suicide attacks against Israeli targets." ... "Militants identified the
bomber as Hamas member Reem Raiyshi, a mother-of-two in her early 20s,
from Gaza." ... "Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is linked
to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, said the attack in
Erez was a joint operation." -BBC/News
- 
-
-
- "In first
visit by outsiders in a year, U.S. experts tour Korea nuclear site."
... "North Korea declared Saturday that it had shown what it called a "nuclear
deterrent" to the unofficial delegation, but officials familiar with their
visit to the North's main nuclear site said they had seen the facilities
to produce bomb fuel rather than an actual weapon." ... "The members of
the delegation declined to give a description of the facilities they inspected
until they had a chance to brief the Bush administration. But officials
who have received sketchy reports say the tour was clearly intended to
signal to the United States that President George W. Bush's efforts to
dissuade North Korea from moving forward with its nuclear program had failed,
and that officials in Washington should accept that North Korea is an undeclared
nuclear power, much as it accepts that Pakistan and Israel are nuclear-weapons
nations." -AP,
-Reuters, & -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
-
- "Tough
New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns."
... "As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American
soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire." ... "In selective
cases, American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought to be used by
Iraqi attackers. They have begun imprisoning the relatives of suspected
guerrillas, in hopes of pressuring the insurgents to turn themselves in."
... "The Americans embarked on their get-tough strategy in early November,
goaded by what proved to be the deadliest month yet for American forces
in Iraq, with 81 soldiers killed by hostile fire. The response they chose
is beginning to echo the Israeli counterinsurgency campaign in the occupied
territories." (1, 2)
-By Dexter Filkins -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "Trucks
Investigated in Turkey Blasts: At Least 23
Killed, 303 Wounded in Explosions Outside 2 Synagogues." ... "Security
cameras recorded two pickup trucks slowing near separate synagogues before
their drivers detonated up to 800 pounds of explosives camouflaged under
packages of detergent, Turkish officials said Sunday." ... "The nearly
simultanelous blasts during Saturday morning prayer services killed 23
people and injured another 303." -By Molly Moore
-WashingtonPost
Israel
Palestine Roadmap
- "Israel
plans new homes in Jewish settlements." ... "Israel
has issued building tenders for 323 new homes in two Jewish settlements
in the West Bank, defying a construction freeze called for in a U.S.-backed
peace "road map"." ... "The independent Israeli settlement monitoring group
Peace Now said the government had now published 1,627 tenders for new homes
in the settlements since the beginning of the year."-Reuters
-Reuters.co.uk
-
- "Sharon
Threatens to Hit Israel's Enemies Anywhere." ...
"Speaking at a memorial service marking the anniversary of the 1973 Middle
East war, Sharon took a tough line but made no specific threats after Sunday's
strike on what Israel said was a training camp for Palestinian militants."
... "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, breaking his silence on the attack
near Damascus, accused Israel of trying to drag Syria and the rest of the
Middle East into a wider conflict. Syria said Israeli warplanes hit a civilian
site." ... "It was Israel's deepest air raid in Syria in three decades
and followed a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 19 people in a restaurant
in the Israeli port city of Haifa a day earlier." -By
Matt Spetalnick -Reuters
-
-
- "Iran
claims it has missile that can reach Israel." ...
"Iran yesterday claimed to have conducted final tests on a missile capable
of reaching Israel and US forces around the Middle East, and was poised
to deploy the weapon with its armed forces." ... "The claim, confirming
an Israeli allegation last week, is certain to heighten tensions with the
US, amid allegations from Washington that Iran was making rapid progress
in a clandestine programme to build nuclear warheads." ... "An Iranian
foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said the test on the Shahab-3
missile occurred several weeks ago, not in the past few days, as the Israeli
press had reported." -By Julian Borger
-Guardian.co.uk
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