The Authority of Thieves

PA to probe ex-Arafat aide over multi-million dollar Aqaba project

"The Palestinian Authority will probe former Yasser Arafat economic adviser Mohammed Rashid's connection to a multi-million dollar tourism project in a 'neighboring state', public prosecutor Ahmed Al-Maghni said Wednesday.

PA sources told Haaretz that the project was located in the south Jordan port city of Aqaba, and valued at $600 million. Senior PA officials other than Rashid had also been involved, the sources said. According to Al-Maghni, the PA plans to investigate the source of the capital which was invested in the project.

Senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Rouhi Fattouh, was arrested one week ago at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and Israel with between 2,000 and 3,000 mobile telephones valued at $1.5 million......"

عقب فضيحتي فتوح وقريع .. مستشار سابق لعرفات يستثمر بـ 600 مليون دولار!

"رام الله - المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام

قالت مصادر صحفية فلسطينية الأربعاء (26/3)، إن النيابة العامة الفلسطينية تدرس اتخاذ إجراءات قانونية بحق خالد سلام "المستشار الاقتصادي للرئيس الفلسطيني الراحل ياسر عرفات" على خلفية اختلاس أموال.

ونقلت المصادر عن النائب العام في "حكومة" رام الله (غير القانونية)، المستشار أحمد المغني إنه يدرس حالياً إمكانية اتخاذ إجراءات قانونية بحق خالد سلام الملقب بمحمد رشيد بعد نشر أنباء تفيد أن الأخير سيقيم مشروعاً استثمارياً ضخماً بقيمة 600 مليون دولار على شاطئ البحر الجنوبي للعقبة.

وقال المغني إن الإجراءات القانونية التي يتم دارستها الآن تهدف إلى معرفة مصادر هذه الأموال وما إذا كانت من أموال السلطة الفلسطينية أم من عدمها.

وقد أثيرت شبهات حول خالد سلام عقب وفاة الرئيس عرفات باعتباره أحد أبرز المؤتمنين على أموال السلطة ومنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية باعتباره مستشاراً اقتصادياً للرئيس ومشرفاً على العديد من الاستثمارات للسلطة في الخارج.

ويقيم خالد سلام خارج الأراضي الفلسطينية منذ سنوات، وكانت دعوات فلسطينية قد طالبت مراراً بتقديمه للقضاء على خليفة اتهامات عديدة له بالاختلاس.

وتأتي الفضيحة الجديدة للسلطة بعد أيام قليلة من ضبط القيادي في الحركة روحي فتوح وفي سيارته 3 ألاف جهاز هاتف نقال، وفضيحة أخرى لعضو اللجنة المركزية أحمد قريع باختلاس 3 مليون دولار من مخصصات منظمة التحرير وحركة فتح في الخارج. "

Anti-Arab Racism and Incitement in Israel

A Very Good Piece

By Ali Abunimah
Source: Palestine Center Information Brief No. 161

"A prominent strategy of Israeli hasbara, or official propaganda, is to deflect criticism of its actions in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip by stressing that within the country’s 1948 boundaries, it is a model democracy comparable to the societies in Western Europe and North America with which it identifies and on whose diplomatic support it relies to maintain a favorable status quo. In fact, Israeli society is in the grip of a wave of unchecked racism and incitement that seriously threatens Israel’s Palestinian community and the long-term prospects for regional peace. This briefing examines societal and institutional racism and incitement by public figures against Israel’s Arab population and considers some policy implications.

Background and Context....

Unlearned Lessons: The Jabal al-Mukkabir “Pogrom”.....

Racist Statements and Incitement by Religious and Political Leaders.....

Silence is Consent......

A Society in Crisis......

Discrimination against United States Citizens.....

Conclusions and Implications.....

Although most international actors are not yet ready to do so, it is inevitable that the situation inside Israel will eventually have to be internationalized. A good example of the successful internationalization of an “internal” situation is the role external actors played in overseeing the transformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from a uniformed sectarian militia into the present-day Police Service of Northern Ireland and otherwise supporting the Northern Ireland peace process. There must also be external pressure on Israel to curb and punish racist incitement and to launch broad public initiatives, particularly in schools, to combat hateful stereotypes of Arabs.

As Israeli politicians and parties increasingly propose “solutions” that treat all Palestinians, whether citizens or not, as equally inferior, Palestinians in the diaspora, the Occupied Territories and inside Israel must urgently engage with each other to formulate common strategies to protect and advance their human and political rights."

This is Zionism: Hang Their Children From a Tree!

Safed chief rabbi calls on state to exact 'revenge' against Arabs

"The chief rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, is calling on the government to carry out "state-sanctioned revenge" against Arabs in order to, in his words, restore Israel's deterrence......

In a piece penned for this upcoming weekend's edition of the newsletter "Eretz Yisrael Shelanu," Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu wrote: "It's time to call the child by its name: Revenge, revenge, revenge. We mustn't forget. We have to take horrible revenge for the terrorist attack at Mercaz Harav yeshiva," referring to the incident in which eight students were killed earlier this month.

"I'm not talking about individual people in particular, I'm talking about the state," Eliyahu wrote. "[The state] has to pain them to the point where they scream 'Enough,' to the point where they fall flat on their face and scream 'help.' Not for the sake of satisfying the need for revenge but for the purposes of deterrence."

In the newsletter, which was distributed to synagogues around the country, Eliyahu proposes "hanging the children of the terrorist who carried out the attack in the Mercaz Harav yeshiva from a tree."

"Two weeks have passed since the attack and we haven't heard of any retaliatory operations by Israel," the Safed chief rabbi wrote. "Something is amiss among the decision makers at the top. At one time, this was a basic component of Israel's policy. Every operation by the 'fedayeen' - the prior name used to describe terrorists - would bring a painful response. Today, they have forgotten the meaning of 'deterrence force'. The IDF's capacity for deterrence is gone."

The rabbi added that he "already sees all the bleeding hearts clicking their tongues, moving uncomfortably in their chairs, contorting their faces at this display of 'depravity' and beginning to spout their slogans. 'Barbaric.' 'Amoral.' 'Inciter' and the rest of the usual words that are frequently blurted out from their mouths. Don't pay them any mind. With their way of doing things, there won't be a state here in another 30 years. They've already taken the trouble to arrange foreign passports for their children. We'll stay here. We need to live with those who understand very well the language of revenge."......

"This isn't the first time the rabbi from Safed incites against Arabs," a Musawa spokesperson said. "In 2004, Eliyahu gave a radio interview in which he called on homeowners neither to rent out their homes nor sell their homes to Arabs."......"

Arming The Palestinian Quisling Subcontractors

Officials: Israel to supply PA forces with security equipment

"Israeli officials say Defense Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to transfer police cars and ammunition to the Palestinians, and let thousands more West Bank residents work in Israel......

The defense minister announced on Tuesday that he has approved the entry of 600 Palestinian policemen into Jenin, where they will engage in routine law enforcement. The policemen are currently undergoing training in Jordan.

According to Army Radio, Barak is also expected to tell Fayyad that Israel will supply the Palestinian Authority with 300 vehicles for use by senior officials in Ramallah and in the Palestinian security forces......

In addition, the radio reported, Palestinian police will receive Kalashnikov rifles, rubber bullets and night-vision equipment.....

Barak and Fayyad meet regularly to discuss security issues, and their talks are an integral part of U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which the sides hope will produce a final agreement this year......

As part of the peace process, the Palestinians have pledged to crack down on militant groups......"

The Eunuch Pharaoh: Gaza tension brings Iran threat closer

""The situation that has developed in the Gaza Strip in recent months has led to Egypt in practice having a border with Iran," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a senior European diplomat about three weeks ago.

According to Haaretz's source, who requested anonymity, Mubarak told the diplomat he was concerned over Iran's growing influence in the region. He also compared the situation in Lebanon to that in Gaza, saying that "in both places, the problems and the crises stem from the growing influence of Iran."......"

The Shiite - Shiite "Awakenings"...or Chalabi's revenge ?

A Good Piece
By Layla Anwar

".....From what I've heard, seems the campaign of "civil disobedience" led by Mahatma Al Sadr with his olive branch and a copy of the Koran has already led to several corpses lying in the streets of Basrah, Kut, Nasseriyah, Hilla and Baghdad...

Again, innocent Iraqis will be paying the price to the joys of the coffin makers and undertakers.

What is exactly going on ?

Now, the Mahdi army is called an anti-occupation movement and some are calling it the Resistance. Am worried about that. I wish the Real Resistance -- who did not engage in the political process like Sadr did, who did not strike a deal with the Americans like Sadr did (back in 2004 in Nejaf and participated in the elections in 2005) who did not engage in sectarian cleansing like Sadr and AQ did -- to issue a statement and expose this duplicity NOW !

This is not the first time that Al-Sadr has quarrels with both Al Maliki from the Dawa party and the Badr Brigades, armed wing of SCII of Al-Hakeem.

When it is convenient for him, he becomes anti-Iranian and when not, he engages in massive ethnic cleansing along with the Badr brigades as per the sectarian agenda from Iran and yes Iran has a SECTARIAN DIVISIVE AGENDA, very much in line with the AMERICAN DIVISIVE AGENDA.......

I also said on numerous occasions that those inter-shiite tensions/conflicts reflect a) tensions within the governmental body in Iran. b) a vying for power and resources within the shiite mafias ruling today's Iraq c) internal "Iraqi" politics
d) Iranian and American strategic moves.

The current conflict between these rival sectarian mafias has been exacerbated by Mc Cain and Cheney's recent visits to Iraq.......

Ok, you may think so what has that got to do with Sadr and the current intra-shiite conflict ?

I say, everything. Maliki and Al-Hakeem have been promised shares of the spoils and Muqtada has been excluded from the game for several possible reasons.

- Tenders for American oil companies have been issued by the Maliki government, as well as oil and gaz development projects.

- the election and ensuing laws for the "provinces" is coming up soon.

- in his most recent statement Maliki urged the people of Basrah to comply with the "Federal government of Iraq" - obviously this "federal government of Iraq" has left out the Sadrists (even though they are still in the political process). And who wants to give up Basrah where the biggest oil reserves lie ?

- Iran and America may have decided that Muqtada having fulfilled his function of sectarian cleansing is now disposable material.

- Iran may be using Muqtada as the joker card (as I mentioned in one of my previous posts) to bring down Al-Maliki's government just in time BEFORE the American Elections in November 2008, hence hoping for a democratic victory preferably with Obama winning. A careful reading of "alternative websites" shows that they are already praising both (Iran and Obama). And of course the longer the US is bloodily bogged down in Iraq and the deeper and longer the Iraqi chaos, the better it is for Iran and -- Israel.
Maybe someone ought to write an article on the hijacking of American foreign policy by the Zionist lobby and the Mullah theocracy !......

As I mentioned before the INC (Iraqi opposition) headed by Chalabi was formed in the 90's (under the democrats) then later adopted and further funded by the republicans.

After the invasion, Chalabi (the double agent US/Iran) fell out of favor with the White House and was kind of shelved to the side, even though he was/is still given the task of completing the debaathificaton process...

Before the fall out (or what looks like a fall out) with the White House, Chalabi was in charge of the Ministry of Oil, before being relegated to a "junior" position as executer of the debaathification process...

During Ahmadenijad last visit, Al Maliki asked the Iranian president to talk to Talabani who can influence Barazani - as this latter -- as Maliki alledges --wants his demise. Basically a conflict over a fully independent Kurdistan and of course Kirkuk. (second biggest oil reserve in Iraq) And by the way Chalabi and Talabani are next of kin (i.e related.) And both Kurdish warlords are really aiming for an independent Kurdistan with Kirkuk's wealth as the ultimate trophy.

Chalabi's eternal dream was/is to become president of "federal"Iraq. And he may stand a better chance with the Democrats victory this time around.

Can this shiite shiite conflict be Chalabi's payback time ?

I will not be surprised."

Operation Cassandra

A Good Piece
by William S. Lind

"Adm. Fallon's (forced?) resignation was the last warning we are likely to get of an attack on Iran. It does not mean an attack is certain, but the U.S. could not attack Iran so long as he was the Centcom commander. That obstacle is now gone.

Vice President Cheney's Middle East tour is another indicator. According to a report in The American Conservative, on his previous trip Cheney told our allies, including the Saudis, that Bush would attack Iran before the end of his term. If that report was correct, then his current tour might have the purpose of telling them when it is coming.

Why not just do that through the State Department? State may not be in the loop, nor all of DOD for that matter. The State Department, OSD, the intelligence agencies, the Army, and the Marine Corps are all opposed to war with Iran. Of the armed services, only the Air Force reportedly is in favor, seeking an opportunity to show what air power can do. As always, it neglects to inform the decision-makers what it cannot do.

The purpose of this column is not to warn of an imminent assault on Iran, though personally I think it is coming, and soon. Rather, it is to warn of a possible consequence of such an attack. Let me state it here, again, as plainly as I can: an American attack on Iran could cost us the whole army we now have in Iraq.

Lots of people in Washington are pondering possible consequences of an air and missile assault on Iran, but few if any have thought about this one. The American military's endless "we're the greatest" propaganda has convinced most people that the U.S. armed forces cannot be beaten in the field. They are the last in a long line of armies that could not be beaten, until they were.

Here's roughly how it might play out......

It is imperative that we have an up-to-date plan for dealing with this contingency. That plan must not depend on air power to rescue our Army. Air power always promises more than it can deliver.

As I have warned before, every American ground unit in Iraq needs its own plan to get itself out of the country using only its own resources and whatever it can scrounge locally. Retreat to the north, through Kurdistan into Turkey, will be the only alternative open to most U.S. Army units, other than ending up in an Iranian POW camp......."

Anti-war campaigners have to change electoral tactics

Neither Clinton nor Obama has a real plan to end the occupation of Iraq, but they could be forced to change position

Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill
The Guardian, Wednesday March 26 2008

"'So?" So said Dick Cheney when asked last week about public opinion being overwhelmingly against the war in Iraq. "You can't be blown off course by polls." A few days later, his attitude, about the fact that the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq has reached 4,000, displayed similar levels of sympathy. They "voluntarily put on the uniform," the vice-president told ABC news......

This brick wall of indifference helps explain the paradox in which we in the US anti-war camp find ourselves five years into the occupation of Iraq: anti-war sentiment is as strong as ever, but our movement seems to be dwindling. Sixty-four per cent of Americans tell pollsters they oppose the war, but you'd never know it from the thin turnout at recent rallies and vigils.

When asked why they aren't expressing their anti-war opinions through the anti-war movement, many say they have simply lost faith in the power of protest. They marched against the war before it began, marched on the first, second and third anniversaries. And yet, five years on, US leaders are still shrugging: "So?"......"

The Perpetual Liars Reverse Themselves and Admit What They Earlier Denied. Now Go Break Their Legs Mr. Abu Al-Ghait!

US admits Suez Canal killing

"An Egyptian citizen was killed when a US navy-contracted ship fired warning shots at approaching motor boats in the Suez Canal, a statement from the US embassy in Cairo has said.

The individual died on Monday after the Global Patriot opened fire on the boats after issuing verbal warnings for them to alter their course, the statement said.

"It appears that an Egyptian in the boat was killed by one of the warning shots," the embassy statement said on Wednesday....."

Transforming Israel

By Miko Peled, The Electronic Intifada, 25 March 2008

".....A mutual struggle for equality within a single state holds the promise of a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinians who they rule with brutal force, can be brought to an end through defiance of the Israeli security apparatus that is charged with enforcing the oppression. The defiance of the occupation through a joint struggle with a dedicated focus towards the transformation of Israel into a secular democracy holds the promise of a great future for both nations.

The idea of Israelis and Palestinians living in a single democracy is considered by many people to be naive, and perhaps it is. But one has to wonder: Does the current Zionist brand of apartheid, breeding as it does fear and suspicion, offer any future at all? The transformation of Israel into a democratic, pluralistic, secular state that will offer equal citizenship to all ten million people who reside within historic Palestine can provide a sound solution to the conflict. Furthermore, though morality is seldom mentioned as a political objective, it is morally right to turn Israel into a state that is a function of the will of the people rather than it being the enforcer of its own will on the people. It is morally right to bring the two nations to a place of equal opportunity and give them an equal voice in determining their shared future........"

Iraq unrest casus belli for Lebanon war?

"The Israeli media accuses Hezbollah of involvement in fighting with US troops in southern Iraq amid fierce clashes in Basra.

Two Israeli right-wing newspapers reported that Hezbollah fighters joined Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army who are battling 'for control of Basra and its oil resources'.

Heavy fighting broke out between Mahdi Army forces and Iraqi security members in Basra on Tuesday after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on "armed groups" in Iraq.

The report alleged that "the Iraqi [Hezbollah] draws on its Lebanese command for orders, fighters, arms and cash".

The publication of report could be a scenario by the US and Israel to make case for waging another war against Lebanon, an Arab political analyst told Press TV, on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue.

Since Israel has found Hezbollah a powerful enemy, through making such accusation, Israel could involve the US in a possible attack on Lebanon or pave the way for US military intervention in the country, he added.

The report came after analysts warned that Israel is planning another Lebanon war and the US deployed more warships to the Mediterranean Sea......"

We Choose How, When, Where to Punish Murderers

Al-Manar

Contributed by Uprooted Palestinian

"25/03/2008 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah renewed his pledge to avenge Israel's assassination of Islamic Resistance top commander martyr Imad Moghniyeh (Hajj Radwan) last month in Syria. Sayyed Nasrallah's words came during a commemoration ceremony Monday marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the martyr.....

AN ISRAELI WAR IS NO LONGER A PICNIC
Sayyed Nasrallah pledged that Israel is heading towards more defeats. "The Israelis would discover during any confrontation what a stupid act they committed by killing Moghniyeh," he vowed.
His eminence added that a war by Israel would not be a picnic because 85% (according to a poll made recently) of the Lebanese support efforts to topple the Zionist Entity." "I want to remind you that an Israeli war is no longer a picnic. An Israeli war has become very costly because there is in Lebanon the strength, will and education of the resistance as well as the blood of the resistance's martyrs," the Hezbollah chief said.
He added that it is "not a simple option for the United States to attack Iran or for Israel to attack Syria."
"The Israelis don’t learn from their mistakes. Did they draw lessons from the July war when they set goals that can't possibly be fulfilled within days? Did they make use of this lesson in Gaza? They went into the besieged Strip and undertook their operation there. (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert set two goals for the Gaza operation: To stop rocket firing at Sderot, Ashkelon and nearby settlements and to topple the Hamas government. The bombing started, massacres were committed, children and women were killed and houses were destroyed; they believed that the people would revolt against the resistance. However none of the goals was fulfilled. The Israelis did not dare to conduct a ground assault in Gaza after the resistance inflicted heavy casualties within army ranks."
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and Hezbollah's victory in 2006 mean that a new Israeli war is no longer that simple. He also criticized those who have been projecting Israel as "the regional neighbor" with whom we should show tolerance.
"Some weak-kneed won't admit that they are weak and do not have enough courage to confront and defend our people. Instead they seek to change this concept and distort it by saying that the resistance is an irrational choice. For them, when one man enters the temple with his rod to fight the thieves, it is a culture of death; whereas the culture of life is the culture that transforms the occupier, the killer and the enemy into a regional neighbor to whom we should show tolerance and with whom we should coexist."....."

Worried Yet? Saudis Prepare for "Sudden Nuclear Hazards" After Cheney Visit

By Chris Floyd

"I. One Tick Closer to Midnight

Last Friday, Dick Cheney was in Saudi Arabia for high-level meetings with the Saudi king and his ministers. On Saturday, it was revealed that the Saudi Shura Council -- the elite group that implements the decisions of the autocratic inner circle -- is preparing "national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors," one of the kingdom's leading newspapers, Okaz, reports. The German-based dpa news service relayed the paper's story.

Simple prudence -- or ominous timing? We noted here last week that an American attack on Iran was far more likely -- and more imminent -- than most people suspect. We pointed to the mountain of evidence for this case gathered by scholar William R. Polk, one of the top aides to John Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and to other indicators of impending war. The story by Okaz -- which would not have appeared in the tightly controlled dictatorship without approval from the top -- is yet another, very weighty piece of evidence laid in the scales toward a new, horrendous conflict.

We don't know what the Saudis told Cheney in private -- or even more to the point, what he told them. But the release of this story now, just after his departure, would seem to be a clear indication that the Saudis have good reason to fear a looming attack on Iran's nuclear sites and are actively preparing for it......."

How Public Servants Can Help End the Iraq War

Intensifying the Public Sentiments

By RALPH NADER
CounterPunch

".....There is a group of distinguished Americans who have spoken, written, testified, and acted against the invasion of Iraq or who have opposed the war-occupation, now in its sixth year--longer than World War II.

These Americans, numbering in the hundreds, have one common characteristic: they are retired after serving in the federal government under both Republican and Democratic administrations, including the present one, as military, diplomatic and national security-intelligence officials. They include four-star generals, admirals, ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, top national security advisors and a former president. Never in our nation's history have so many such professionals at so many levels opposed a war involving the United States. For that matter, never before was there so much muzzled opposition to a war inside the Department of Defense--up to the four-star general level.

Their opposition was based on strategic, tactical and logistical considerations that subsequently found their way into the media, but to no avail. The two pro-Vietnam War draft-dodgers in the White House prevailed......."

Setting up Russia or Iran to blame for a dirty bomb in America's future?

By Paul Craig Roberts

".....The effort to link Putin and the FSB to Litvinenko’s death might be a tale designed to cover-up a more serious crime in the making. Polonium-210 is an indication that someone is trying to build a nuclear weapon. Epstein finds reasons to suspect that Litvinenko had, and perhaps Berezovsky has, connections to a Polonium smuggling scheme, and Litvinenko’s death resulted from accidental or careless exposure to Polonium-210.

Who would be trying to build a secret nuclear weapon or perhaps only a "dirty bomb" that would serve to spread some radiation and massive amounts of fear and hysteria? The public has been carefully prepared to suspect Iran. If such a device were exploded somewhere in the United States, Bush, Cheney, and the neocon Nazis would have their second new Pearl Harbor to justify their planned attack on Iran.

We know that the Bush regime wants to attack Iran. Despite the NIE report that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program several years ago and despite no signs of a weapons program having been uncovered by IAEA inspectors, Bush, Cheney, and the neocon Nazis continue to agitate for striking Iran "before it is too late." Their politicized military commander in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus, keeps insisting that Iran is training Iraqi insurgents and supplying weapons that are killing US troops. Bush and Cheney themselves have made trips to Europe and the Middle East trying to marshal support for an attack on Iran. Anyone who is not deaf, blind and stupid knows that the Bush regime is doing everything it can to create circumstances that will permit a US attack on Iran.

We know for a fact that the Bush regime created false evidence, lied, and deceived in order to attack Iraq. All the reasons given for the US invasion have proven to be false. The real agenda has never been declared. Yet, five years later the traitors in high office who deceived Americans into a war in behalf of a hidden agenda have not been held accountable. As Agatha Christie said, getting away with one murder makes it easy to commit another......"

The curse of the Nablus dream house

Contributed by Fatima

"Six years ago, Abdul-Latif Nasif and his two brothers built their family home on one of the hills over-looking the West Bank city of Nablus.

It has spectacular views over the city and surrounding area - but that has been its curse. "This just isn't my home any more," says the 47-year-old Palestinian bank manager, "it might as well belong to the Israeli army."

Less than a month after it was finished, Mr Nasif says Israeli troops banged on the door and came in with dogs and guns, telling all his family to gather in one room.

He says they took control of the upper storeys of the house and used it as a base and observation post as the army invaded Nablus.

"They stuck maps on the wall in my living room and brought computers to make the room like a control room." They stayed for over a month.

Mr Nasif says there was huge relief in his family when the army finally left, but the joy was short-lived.....

Over the last six years, the Israeli army has made frequent incursions into the city, to arrest and kill militants. When it does, the soldiers often return to bang on Mr Nasif's door.

"They come any time they want, in the morning, or in the middle of the night. It scares us." says Mr Nasif. "Sometimes they stay for a night, sometimes for weeks."
"They use anything they want. They have used my bed, my children's beds, the bathrooms, the gas, electricity - everything."......"

Carlos Latuff: 5 Years and Counting

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Real News Video: US military toll in Iraq hits 4000

"Phyllis Bennis: Cheney visit in Middle East intended to isolate Iran and prepare possible war

Tuesday March 25th, 2008

Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. She is the author of Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power. "

Neocon Valor Is an Act of Feith

"It has sometimes been noted that the neoconservatives, conspicuously absent on the battlefield, excel at the Washington infighting that enabled their ascent in the first place. Marine and Army combat units are justifiably proud of never leaving a comrade behind on the battlefield. Neocons adhere to a somewhat different philosophy, namely putting the boot in to an erstwhile ally who has faltered in the struggle for global hegemony and lost his usefulness. When Francis Fukuyama could no longer see the sense in what was going on in Iraq and said so publicly, he was excoriated by his former friends at the American Enterprise Institute. Donald Rumsfeld, who did everything the neocons wanted and more, also fell (or was pushed) under the wheels when the Mesopotamian adventure turned out to be somewhat less than Club Med on the Euphrates. No less a sage than Richard Perle, while conceding that Rumsfeld had kicked Iraqi butt during the April 2003 invasion, suggested ominously that the defense secretary had somehow failed in his execution of the remainder of the Iraq plan, which had been carefully crafted by leading neocon intellectual Paul Wolfowitz of "oil revenue will pay for reconstruction" fame.

But within the neocon pantheon of the great and not so great there is one man who stands out for sheer class, integrity, and intellectual rigor: Douglas J. Feith, the former undersecretary of defense for policy...... And now, for everyone who was disappointed by the ultimate Harry Potter book or the latest recommendation from Oprah, Doug Feith is preparing to explain himself in his own words through a massive 688-page tome that goes on sale April 8........."

Abbas In the Service of Zion As a "Security" Subcontractor

Israel to allow Abbas' security forces to deploy in Jenin

"Israel will let Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deploy hundreds of his security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin after they complete U.S.-funded training in Jordan, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak will inform Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the decision when they meet on Wednesday, the officials said.

Israeli officials said the planned deployment in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, could include up to 500 to 600 men. Palestinian forces took up positions in the larger West Bank city of Nablus in November as part of a law-and-order campaign.

Nearly 700 members of Abbas's National Security Forces crossed into Jordan in January to begin the four-month-long, U.S.-funded training course. A separate group from Abbas's Presidential Guard has also gone to Jordan for advanced training.

Fayyad and some U.S. officials have accused Israel of undermining Palestinian Authority security efforts in Nablus by refusing to curtail army raids into the city. Both Jenin and Nablus have long been seen by Israel as bastions for anti-Israeli militant activity, although in recent months the cities have been relatively calm......."

إسرائيل تسمح بنشر قوات أمن فلسطينية في الضفة

برنامج تدريب القوات الفلسطينية تموله أميركا وينفذ في الأردن

"قالت وزارة الدفاع الإسرائيلية إن إسرائيل ستسمح للفلسطينيين بنشر مئات من قوات الأمن في مدينة جنين بالضفة الغربية، بعد أن ينهوا برنامجا تدريبيا تموله الولايات المتحدة في الأردن.

ومن المقرر أن يبلغ وزير الدفاع الإسرائيلي إيهود باراك رئيس الوزراء الفلسطيني سلام فياض بهذا القرار، عندما يجتمعان غدا الأربعاء، وقد جرت عمليات انتشار مماثلة في مدينتي نابلس وطولكرم بالأشهر الأخيرة.
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