Cartoon by Peter Schrank
Thursday, November 12, 2009
America, Israel’s Lackey
by Paul Craig Roberts, November 12, 2009
(Cartoon by Khalil Bendib)
"It did not take the Israel Lobby long to make mincemeat out of the Obama administration’s "no new settlements" position. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu is bragging about Israel’s latest victory over the US government as Israel continues to build illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.....
Allegedly, the US is a superpower and Israel is a client state whose very existence depends entirely on US military and economic aid and diplomatic protection. Yet, in the real world it works the other way. Israel is the superpower and the US is its client state....."
(Cartoon by Khalil Bendib)
"It did not take the Israel Lobby long to make mincemeat out of the Obama administration’s "no new settlements" position. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu is bragging about Israel’s latest victory over the US government as Israel continues to build illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.....
Allegedly, the US is a superpower and Israel is a client state whose very existence depends entirely on US military and economic aid and diplomatic protection. Yet, in the real world it works the other way. Israel is the superpower and the US is its client state....."
Same Song, Different Verse
by Philip Giraldi, November 12, 2009
"The American people, barely coping with nearly 20% in actual as opposed to statistical unemployment, a broken health care system, a skyrocketing federal deficit, and a collapse in home values really don’t need another war, but another war is what they are going to get. Blame the usual players in Congress and the mainstream media for a lot of it, but the case being made that Iran is a threat to the remainder of the world is largely being cranked up by Israel and its yapping poodles loosely described as the Israel lobby. That Iran spends only 1% as much on its military as does the United States appears to be irrelevant to the argument because everyone who reads the Washington Post and New York Times knows that those wily mullahs have nukes hidden up the sleeves of those loose gowns that they wear, secret warhead programs, and ballistic missiles that will be able to strike Europe someday for reasons that continue to be somewhat elusive......
And so the propaganda campaign, referred to during the cold war as agitprop, continues with Iran in the crosshairs. There are reports that Israel has funded a group of young bloggers who have good English to go onto websites to disseminate the party line, particularly regarding Iran, so it is safe to assume that an Orwellian conflict that has no rhyme or reason will be promoted all over the internet. There will be no rest in Congress, within the media, and in the corridors of power in Israel until Iran is defanged. And if it will take the deaths of a few thousand more young Americans and the total destruction of the US economy to accomplish that objective, so be it. Congress and the White House have not been answerable to the American people for quite some time so why should another war change anything? "
"The American people, barely coping with nearly 20% in actual as opposed to statistical unemployment, a broken health care system, a skyrocketing federal deficit, and a collapse in home values really don’t need another war, but another war is what they are going to get. Blame the usual players in Congress and the mainstream media for a lot of it, but the case being made that Iran is a threat to the remainder of the world is largely being cranked up by Israel and its yapping poodles loosely described as the Israel lobby. That Iran spends only 1% as much on its military as does the United States appears to be irrelevant to the argument because everyone who reads the Washington Post and New York Times knows that those wily mullahs have nukes hidden up the sleeves of those loose gowns that they wear, secret warhead programs, and ballistic missiles that will be able to strike Europe someday for reasons that continue to be somewhat elusive......
And so the propaganda campaign, referred to during the cold war as agitprop, continues with Iran in the crosshairs. There are reports that Israel has funded a group of young bloggers who have good English to go onto websites to disseminate the party line, particularly regarding Iran, so it is safe to assume that an Orwellian conflict that has no rhyme or reason will be promoted all over the internet. There will be no rest in Congress, within the media, and in the corridors of power in Israel until Iran is defanged. And if it will take the deaths of a few thousand more young Americans and the total destruction of the US economy to accomplish that objective, so be it. Congress and the White House have not been answerable to the American people for quite some time so why should another war change anything? "
U.S. is doing no good in Afghanistan
By Malalai Joya
Special to the Mercury News
"As an Afghan woman who was elected to Parliament, I am in the United States to ask President Barack Obama to immediately end the occupation of my country.
Eight years ago, women's rights were used as one of the excuses to start this war. But today, Afghanistan is still facing a women's rights catastrophe. Life for most Afghan women resembles a type of hell that is never reflected in the Western mainstream media.....
Now President Obama is considering increasing troops to Afghanistan and simply extending former President Bush's wrong policies. In fact, the worst massacres since 9/11 were during Obama's tenure. My native province of Farah was bombed by the U.S. this past May. A hundred and fifty people were killed, most of them women and children. On Sept. 9, the U.S. bombed Kunduz Province, killing 200 civilians.
My people are fed up. That is why we want an immediate end to the U.S. occupation."
Special to the Mercury News
"As an Afghan woman who was elected to Parliament, I am in the United States to ask President Barack Obama to immediately end the occupation of my country.
Eight years ago, women's rights were used as one of the excuses to start this war. But today, Afghanistan is still facing a women's rights catastrophe. Life for most Afghan women resembles a type of hell that is never reflected in the Western mainstream media.....
Now President Obama is considering increasing troops to Afghanistan and simply extending former President Bush's wrong policies. In fact, the worst massacres since 9/11 were during Obama's tenure. My native province of Farah was bombed by the U.S. this past May. A hundred and fifty people were killed, most of them women and children. On Sept. 9, the U.S. bombed Kunduz Province, killing 200 civilians.
My people are fed up. That is why we want an immediate end to the U.S. occupation."
The Blackwater plot deepens
For all the scandal, the mercenary firm has escaped any severe legal sanction. That could now change
Jeremy Scahill
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 November 2009
"The mercenary firm Blackwater has become a symbol of the utter lawlessness and criminality that permeates the privatised wing of the US war machine. The company's operatives have shot dead scores of Iraqi and Afghan civilians, while former employees allege in sworn statements that Blackwater's owner Erik Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe", and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life". Five Blackwater employees will stand trial in federal court in the US on charges that they slaughtered 14 innocent Iraqis, while a sixth Blackwater operative has already pleaded guilty. The company faces allegations of illicit weapons-smuggling and tax evasion, and is being sued for war crimes. The private army is under fire. And yet, despite all the action, none of the legal bullets has – to date – landed a serious blow.
An explosive report in the New York Times today could change that. The paper alleges that in the aftermath of the infamous 2007 Nisour Square massacre of 17 Iraqi civilians, top Blackwater officials "authorised secret payments" of about $1m into Iraq intending to bribe officials to allow Blackwater to remain in Iraq despite Baghdad's position that the company would be banned and the killers prosecuted......."
Jeremy Scahill
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 November 2009
"The mercenary firm Blackwater has become a symbol of the utter lawlessness and criminality that permeates the privatised wing of the US war machine. The company's operatives have shot dead scores of Iraqi and Afghan civilians, while former employees allege in sworn statements that Blackwater's owner Erik Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe", and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life". Five Blackwater employees will stand trial in federal court in the US on charges that they slaughtered 14 innocent Iraqis, while a sixth Blackwater operative has already pleaded guilty. The company faces allegations of illicit weapons-smuggling and tax evasion, and is being sued for war crimes. The private army is under fire. And yet, despite all the action, none of the legal bullets has – to date – landed a serious blow.
An explosive report in the New York Times today could change that. The paper alleges that in the aftermath of the infamous 2007 Nisour Square massacre of 17 Iraqi civilians, top Blackwater officials "authorised secret payments" of about $1m into Iraq intending to bribe officials to allow Blackwater to remain in Iraq despite Baghdad's position that the company would be banned and the killers prosecuted......."
The real lesson of 1989 is that nothing is ever settled
The fall of the wall brought freedoms, but also war and crisis. Now that is creating the basis for a new alternative
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 November 2009
"......It's often said that the collapse of European communism and the Soviet Union has destroyed the only systemic alternative to capitalism. But the pressure for a social alternative has always come from capitalism itself and its failures, which are once again obvious to people throughout the world. Only 11% of those questioned in a BBC poll across 27 countries this week said they think free-market capitalism is working well, nearly a quarter believe it is fatally flawed and most want more public ownership and intervention in the economy.
The system that collapsed two decades ago, with all its lessons for the future, both negative and positive, is history. But that new movements and models will emerge to challenge a global order beset by ecological and economic crisis seems certain. As communists learned in 1989, and capitalism's champions are discovering now, nothing is ever settled."
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 November 2009
"......It's often said that the collapse of European communism and the Soviet Union has destroyed the only systemic alternative to capitalism. But the pressure for a social alternative has always come from capitalism itself and its failures, which are once again obvious to people throughout the world. Only 11% of those questioned in a BBC poll across 27 countries this week said they think free-market capitalism is working well, nearly a quarter believe it is fatally flawed and most want more public ownership and intervention in the economy.
The system that collapsed two decades ago, with all its lessons for the future, both negative and positive, is history. But that new movements and models will emerge to challenge a global order beset by ecological and economic crisis seems certain. As communists learned in 1989, and capitalism's champions are discovering now, nothing is ever settled."
Reporting from Iraq: Freedom at risk
Editorial
The Guardian, Thursday 12 November 2009
"We take our freedom for granted. But imagine not to be able to speak or discuss or debate or even question the society you live in," Tony Blair told the House of Commons in March 2003, urging MPs to support the invasion of Iraq. They were fine words. But they ring hollow more than six years after a war held in the name of democracy led to elections and a new constitution, which promised to guarantee "freedom of expression using all means".
This week a Iraqi court ordered the Guardian to pay 100m dinar (£52,000) for supposedly defaming the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. The ruling should outrage anyone who cares about free speech and fair reporting. Journalists in Iraq find their task difficult and dangerous enough without the government adding its own challenge by suing reporters through the country's court system. The article that caused offence would not have raised an eyebrow in an established democracy. But either Mr al-Maliki himself, or someone who believed he was acting in his interest, took exception to a piece of reporting by the Guardian's correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, which described fears inside Iraq that the prime minister was ruling in an increasingly autocratic manner....."
The Guardian, Thursday 12 November 2009
"We take our freedom for granted. But imagine not to be able to speak or discuss or debate or even question the society you live in," Tony Blair told the House of Commons in March 2003, urging MPs to support the invasion of Iraq. They were fine words. But they ring hollow more than six years after a war held in the name of democracy led to elections and a new constitution, which promised to guarantee "freedom of expression using all means".
This week a Iraqi court ordered the Guardian to pay 100m dinar (£52,000) for supposedly defaming the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. The ruling should outrage anyone who cares about free speech and fair reporting. Journalists in Iraq find their task difficult and dangerous enough without the government adding its own challenge by suing reporters through the country's court system. The article that caused offence would not have raised an eyebrow in an established democracy. But either Mr al-Maliki himself, or someone who believed he was acting in his interest, took exception to a piece of reporting by the Guardian's correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, which described fears inside Iraq that the prime minister was ruling in an increasingly autocratic manner....."
Fragmenting Palestinian land
A young student deported from the West Bank to Gaza is just the latest victim of Israeli efforts to sever ties between the territories
Ben White
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 November 2009
"Twenty-one-year-old Palestinian student Berlanty Azzam was seized by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank last month. Bound and blindfolded, she was forcibly deported to the Gaza Strip. Berlanty was in her final semester at Bethlehem University in the West Bank, and was returning from a job interview in Ramallah.
Ben White
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 November 2009
"Twenty-one-year-old Palestinian student Berlanty Azzam was seized by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank last month. Bound and blindfolded, she was forcibly deported to the Gaza Strip. Berlanty was in her final semester at Bethlehem University in the West Bank, and was returning from a job interview in Ramallah.
The problem was that she had an ID card registered in Gaza, and the Israeli occupation, in the words of the human rights organisation, B'tselem, "almost completely forbids the movement of Palestinians between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip"........
Israel's efforts to sever links between Gaza and the West Bank are also being replicated in the West Bank itself, with the fragmenting of Palestinian territory there. Restrictions on access based on residency location have been used, for example, in the Jordan Valley.......
There is, therefore, a strategic continuity between Sharon's aim with the disengagement to "kill the possibility of a negotiated peace" in exchange for imposing an "emasculated and semi-autonomous Palestinian homeland" on Israel's terms, and the Binyamin Netanyahu/Lieberman vision of an "economic peace".
Severing ties between Gaza and the West Bank is part of a deliberate fragmentation policy that not only defies international law and human rights, but is also designed to render genuine Palestinian independence and self-determination impossible."
"يديعوت أحرونوت": حزب الله يعرف عن الجيش الإسرائيلي كل شيء
عرب48
"ذكرت صحيفة "يديعوت أحرونوت" الإسرائيلية أنها حصلت على نشرة داخلية سرية لحزب الله تصف بشكل مفصل نشاطات الجيش الإسرائيليوقيادة منطقة الشمال ولواء 91 في المنطقة الحدودية.
وتقول الصحيفة في عددها الصادر صباح اليوم، الخميس، إن «النشرة تُظهر إلى أي مدى نجحت استخبارات حزب الله في التغلغل داخل الجيش الإسرائيلي، وتثبت أن حزب الله لديه مصادر معلومات لا بأس بها».
وحسب الصحيفة فإن النشرة مكونة من 150 صفحة، وتصف بشكل مفصل انتشار قوات الجيش الإسرائيلي، ونشاطاته البرية والبحرية والجوية.
وتنقل الصحيفة عن ضابط شغل في السابق منصبا رفيعا في قيادة المنطقة الشمالية قوله: " حينما قرءت المادة التي جاءت في النشرة صعقت". ويضيف أن درجة تفصيل حزب الله في وصف منظومة الرصد والإنذار للجيش الإسرائيلي أذهلته: مناظير الرصد، أجهزة التصوير للمراقبة، أجهزة الإنذار الجوي، أجهزة الإنذار الأرضية، ومادة وافرة حول الطائرات بدون طيار. تلك الطائرات التي اعتقدنا أنها تعمل بسرية تامة.
وتقول الصحيفة إن في النشرة ترد صور كثيرة، معظمها صورت في الجانب الإسرائيلي للحدود، تصف، من بين عدة أمور، نقاط الرصد للجيش الإسرائيلي؛ حماية ومرافقة الأعمال الهندسية وأعمال صيانة الجدار الحدودي على الطريق الحدودي؛ مرافقة وحماية المواكب، تبادل الورديات، القوات التي تتقاطع على حدود القطاعات التابعة للواء.. وأمور أخرى.
وتضيف الصحيفة أن النشرة تكرس فصولا كاملة للسياج الحدودي والتغيرات التي طرأت عليه مع مرور الوقت، والتكنولوجيا المستخدمة فيه، وتكتيكات الجيش في المطاردة، ونظام حماية المستوطنات الشمالية. ذلك إلى جانب تفاصيل مثيرة حول الكمائن التي يقوم بها الجيش مرفقة برسومات توضيحية.
وتشير إلى أن النشرة تخصص فصلا كاملا لوحدات قصاصي الأثر، تأهيلهم، قدراتهم، وطرق تمويههم. كما تخصص عشر صفحات لوحدة "عوكتس" التي تستخدم الكلاب في قص الأثر، وتورد سبل مواجهتها.
وتضيف الصحيفة أن المواد التي جاءت في النشرة تعتمد على مصادر بشرية – جواسيس يشغلهم حزب الله داخل الجيش وفي إسرائيل، إلى جانب ما لا نهاية من المصادر المعروفة كالتنصت على شبكات اتصال الجيش، وربما المشفرة منها. وتنهي الصحيفة تقريرها بالقول: " من الصعب أن لا نصدق أن رجال الاستخبارات التابعين لحزب الله ام يقوموا كما يبدو بنسخ وثائق إسرائيلية سرية تابعة لقيادة المنطقة الشمالية".
"
"ذكرت صحيفة "يديعوت أحرونوت" الإسرائيلية أنها حصلت على نشرة داخلية سرية لحزب الله تصف بشكل مفصل نشاطات الجيش الإسرائيليوقيادة منطقة الشمال ولواء 91 في المنطقة الحدودية.
وتقول الصحيفة في عددها الصادر صباح اليوم، الخميس، إن «النشرة تُظهر إلى أي مدى نجحت استخبارات حزب الله في التغلغل داخل الجيش الإسرائيلي، وتثبت أن حزب الله لديه مصادر معلومات لا بأس بها».
وحسب الصحيفة فإن النشرة مكونة من 150 صفحة، وتصف بشكل مفصل انتشار قوات الجيش الإسرائيلي، ونشاطاته البرية والبحرية والجوية.
وتنقل الصحيفة عن ضابط شغل في السابق منصبا رفيعا في قيادة المنطقة الشمالية قوله: " حينما قرءت المادة التي جاءت في النشرة صعقت". ويضيف أن درجة تفصيل حزب الله في وصف منظومة الرصد والإنذار للجيش الإسرائيلي أذهلته: مناظير الرصد، أجهزة التصوير للمراقبة، أجهزة الإنذار الجوي، أجهزة الإنذار الأرضية، ومادة وافرة حول الطائرات بدون طيار. تلك الطائرات التي اعتقدنا أنها تعمل بسرية تامة.
وتقول الصحيفة إن في النشرة ترد صور كثيرة، معظمها صورت في الجانب الإسرائيلي للحدود، تصف، من بين عدة أمور، نقاط الرصد للجيش الإسرائيلي؛ حماية ومرافقة الأعمال الهندسية وأعمال صيانة الجدار الحدودي على الطريق الحدودي؛ مرافقة وحماية المواكب، تبادل الورديات، القوات التي تتقاطع على حدود القطاعات التابعة للواء.. وأمور أخرى.
وتضيف الصحيفة أن النشرة تكرس فصولا كاملة للسياج الحدودي والتغيرات التي طرأت عليه مع مرور الوقت، والتكنولوجيا المستخدمة فيه، وتكتيكات الجيش في المطاردة، ونظام حماية المستوطنات الشمالية. ذلك إلى جانب تفاصيل مثيرة حول الكمائن التي يقوم بها الجيش مرفقة برسومات توضيحية.
وتشير إلى أن النشرة تخصص فصلا كاملا لوحدات قصاصي الأثر، تأهيلهم، قدراتهم، وطرق تمويههم. كما تخصص عشر صفحات لوحدة "عوكتس" التي تستخدم الكلاب في قص الأثر، وتورد سبل مواجهتها.
وتضيف الصحيفة أن المواد التي جاءت في النشرة تعتمد على مصادر بشرية – جواسيس يشغلهم حزب الله داخل الجيش وفي إسرائيل، إلى جانب ما لا نهاية من المصادر المعروفة كالتنصت على شبكات اتصال الجيش، وربما المشفرة منها. وتنهي الصحيفة تقريرها بالقول: " من الصعب أن لا نصدق أن رجال الاستخبارات التابعين لحزب الله ام يقوموا كما يبدو بنسخ وثائق إسرائيلية سرية تابعة لقيادة المنطقة الشمالية".
"
Nasrallah slams Obama Israel 'bias'
Al-Jazeera
"The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Barack Obama, the US president, of "absolute bias" in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Obama has gone further than his predecessor, George Bush, in supporting the Jewish state adding that the high expectations that followed Obama's election had been "shattered".
He said Obama's initial statements calling on Israel to freeze settlement building and then backtracking was a "tactic" agreed on by both Israel and the US, and that the initial settlement demand had been exposed as "an American ploy to pass the time and gain Arab sympathy".
Wednesday's remarks are the Hezbollah leader's strongest criticism yet of Obama since he took office almost a year ago....."
"The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Barack Obama, the US president, of "absolute bias" in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Obama has gone further than his predecessor, George Bush, in supporting the Jewish state adding that the high expectations that followed Obama's election had been "shattered".
He said Obama's initial statements calling on Israel to freeze settlement building and then backtracking was a "tactic" agreed on by both Israel and the US, and that the initial settlement demand had been exposed as "an American ploy to pass the time and gain Arab sympathy".
Wednesday's remarks are the Hezbollah leader's strongest criticism yet of Obama since he took office almost a year ago....."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sayyed Nasrallah to Israelis: Send Your Whole Army, We'll Destroy Them!
Al-Manar
"Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declared on Wednesday that the battle with Israel next time would start from "beyond and beyong Haifa" instead of "Haifa and beyond Haifa," emphasizing that the Resistance doesn't seek war but is ready for any form of confrontation with the enemy. Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking through a large TV screen commemorating the annual Martyr's Day in the framework of a ceremony held by Hezbollah.....
US FULLY COMMITTED TO ISRAEL'S SECURITY AND INTERESTS
Following this introduction, Sayyed Nasrallah started his political speech by focusing on the US administration's continuous and flagrant support for the Israeli enemy. "A few months ago, when Barack Obama was elected as US President and a new American administration saw light, many had high hopes and believed that major changes will happen in favor of the Arab and Islamic world and that there would be a reform policy and more human approach than that of former US President George W. Bush. However, the truth was quickly revealed and all these illusions quickly failed, especially during the few last weeks. The result was obviously a full US commitment to Israel's interest and security, disregarding the dignity and feelings of the Arab and Muslim people and governments."....
US PROTECTS ISRAELI VIOLATIONS, WANTS LEBANON TO IMPLEMENT RESOLUTIONS!
Sayyed Nasrallah then pointed to the "double standards" of the international community. "The US, which is supplying Israel with technology and weapons, is requesting the full implementation of UN Security Resolutions. The US, which defends and protects Israel as it violates the resolutions, is urging Lebanon to fully implement the international resolutions. It's the US that's also working to prevent voting on the Goldstone report within the Security Council, a report that unfortunately equalizes the victim and the hangman. But, unfortunately, we have reached a stage where we accept that the violator and the violated are treated equivalently."......
NEXT BATTLE WILL START FROM BEYOND AND BEYOND HAIFA
Hezbollah Secretary General stressed that Lebanese are able of turning any threat into an opportunity. "The Israelis are saying that their air force cannot win such a war. They only have the option of an extended land operation. We will turn this threat into an opportunity."
"Next time the battle will start from beyond and beyond Haifa instead of Haifa and beyond Haifa," the Resistance's leader pledged, adding that "the geographical nature of the south, and Lebanon in general, was created by God to humiliate and destroy the occupiers."
"We are more trained and prepared. We evaluated the war as well and addressed our weak points," his eminence said, before addressing Israelis: "Send as many (Israeli) brigades as you want, send even your whole army, we will destroy them in our valleys and mountains."......"
"Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declared on Wednesday that the battle with Israel next time would start from "beyond and beyong Haifa" instead of "Haifa and beyond Haifa," emphasizing that the Resistance doesn't seek war but is ready for any form of confrontation with the enemy. Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking through a large TV screen commemorating the annual Martyr's Day in the framework of a ceremony held by Hezbollah.....
US FULLY COMMITTED TO ISRAEL'S SECURITY AND INTERESTS
Following this introduction, Sayyed Nasrallah started his political speech by focusing on the US administration's continuous and flagrant support for the Israeli enemy. "A few months ago, when Barack Obama was elected as US President and a new American administration saw light, many had high hopes and believed that major changes will happen in favor of the Arab and Islamic world and that there would be a reform policy and more human approach than that of former US President George W. Bush. However, the truth was quickly revealed and all these illusions quickly failed, especially during the few last weeks. The result was obviously a full US commitment to Israel's interest and security, disregarding the dignity and feelings of the Arab and Muslim people and governments."....
US PROTECTS ISRAELI VIOLATIONS, WANTS LEBANON TO IMPLEMENT RESOLUTIONS!
Sayyed Nasrallah then pointed to the "double standards" of the international community. "The US, which is supplying Israel with technology and weapons, is requesting the full implementation of UN Security Resolutions. The US, which defends and protects Israel as it violates the resolutions, is urging Lebanon to fully implement the international resolutions. It's the US that's also working to prevent voting on the Goldstone report within the Security Council, a report that unfortunately equalizes the victim and the hangman. But, unfortunately, we have reached a stage where we accept that the violator and the violated are treated equivalently."......
NEXT BATTLE WILL START FROM BEYOND AND BEYOND HAIFA
Hezbollah Secretary General stressed that Lebanese are able of turning any threat into an opportunity. "The Israelis are saying that their air force cannot win such a war. They only have the option of an extended land operation. We will turn this threat into an opportunity."
"Next time the battle will start from beyond and beyond Haifa instead of Haifa and beyond Haifa," the Resistance's leader pledged, adding that "the geographical nature of the south, and Lebanon in general, was created by God to humiliate and destroy the occupiers."
"We are more trained and prepared. We evaluated the war as well and addressed our weak points," his eminence said, before addressing Israelis: "Send as many (Israeli) brigades as you want, send even your whole army, we will destroy them in our valleys and mountains."......"
Listen Up Everyone: Habila is Talking Strategy!
Haneyya calls for devising Arab strategy to restore Palestinian rights
"GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the PA premier in Gaza Strip, has called for the formulation of a pan-Arab strategy that would restore Arab rights in general and Palestinian rights in particular. [COMMENT: Is this man for real? He sounds like a voice from 1909, not 2009.]
He said during a meeting with a Jordanian medical delegation on Wednesday that such a strategy should be adopted to confront the Israeli occupation's schemes and its procrastination and the American administration's bias in favor of occupation.
Haneyya said that his government and his Hamas Movement rejects the notion of the alternative homeland, stressing the importance of security and stability in all Arab countries especially Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in view of its positive reflection on the Palestine cause.
The premier hailed the Jordanian role in serving the Aqsa Mosque and asked for more efforts to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and reconstructing the devastated buildings.
He underlined that national reconciliation was the best means of retaliating to the Israeli obstinacy."
"GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the PA premier in Gaza Strip, has called for the formulation of a pan-Arab strategy that would restore Arab rights in general and Palestinian rights in particular. [COMMENT: Is this man for real? He sounds like a voice from 1909, not 2009.]
He said during a meeting with a Jordanian medical delegation on Wednesday that such a strategy should be adopted to confront the Israeli occupation's schemes and its procrastination and the American administration's bias in favor of occupation.
Haneyya said that his government and his Hamas Movement rejects the notion of the alternative homeland, stressing the importance of security and stability in all Arab countries especially Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in view of its positive reflection on the Palestine cause.
The premier hailed the Jordanian role in serving the Aqsa Mosque and asked for more efforts to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and reconstructing the devastated buildings.
He underlined that national reconciliation was the best means of retaliating to the Israeli obstinacy."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
The question is:
Does Iran have the right to ask countries bordering Yemen not to interfere in the internal strife with Houthis?
With over 2,300 responding so far, 70% said no.
Does Iran have the right to ask countries bordering Yemen not to interfere in the internal strife with Houthis?
With over 2,300 responding so far, 70% said no.
Can Talks with Iran Lead to Obama's 'World without Nuclear Weapons'?
by Phyllis Bennis
(Cartoon by Khalil Bendib)
"......But there's already a powerful nuclear weapons arsenal in the Middle East, whose very existence is instigating a regional nuclear arms race, and undermining non-proliferation efforts. That arsenal belongs to one of the small group of outlaw countries that have refused even to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Its arsenal is widely known, but not officially acknowledged, and the UN's nuclear watchdog agency has never been allowed to inspect the hundreds of high-density nuclear bombs.
That country is Israel. And Obama, so far, has accepted Israel's policy of "strategic ambiguity," in which Tel Aviv refuses to acknowledge its nuclear arsenal. Israel rejects a nuclear weapons-free zone, because it would mean having to open its nukes to immediate international inspection and then quickly getting rid of them. Other countries that built and tested nuclear weapons, such as India and Pakistan in 1998, faced serious U.S. sanctions. But the U.S. refuses to hold Israel accountable for its dangerous nuclear weapons......"
Does Obama Have a Mideast Plan B?
By Tony Karon
(Cartoon by Steve Bell)
"It’s hardly surprising that President Barack Obama chose to schedule a White House visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the dead of night on Monday, because right now Obama has little to show for his 10-month effort to revive a Middle East peace process. The Israeli leader’s refusal to abide by Washington’s demand for a complete freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and the Palestinians’ refusal to enter talks without one — has left the Obama Administration’s plans in tatters, with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas threatening to resign and pull the plug on the PA and the peace process of which it forms a part......"
(Cartoon by Steve Bell)
"It’s hardly surprising that President Barack Obama chose to schedule a White House visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the dead of night on Monday, because right now Obama has little to show for his 10-month effort to revive a Middle East peace process. The Israeli leader’s refusal to abide by Washington’s demand for a complete freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and the Palestinians’ refusal to enter talks without one — has left the Obama Administration’s plans in tatters, with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas threatening to resign and pull the plug on the PA and the peace process of which it forms a part......"
Drones: A slam-dunk weapons system
By Tom Engelhardt
Asia Times
"In Afghanistan and Pakistan, drones seem to be the only things that "work". They are not, however, the first wonder weapons so hailed. The atomic bomb, Vietnam's electronic battlefield, Star Wars, "smart bombs" and "netcentric warfare". All failed, just as drones will. But it made no difference, all "succeeded" at home; yet another mini-sector of the military-industrial complex was born......"
Asia Times
"In Afghanistan and Pakistan, drones seem to be the only things that "work". They are not, however, the first wonder weapons so hailed. The atomic bomb, Vietnam's electronic battlefield, Star Wars, "smart bombs" and "netcentric warfare". All failed, just as drones will. But it made no difference, all "succeeded" at home; yet another mini-sector of the military-industrial complex was born......"
Kill Enemy Children: Jewish Edict
Hundreds of children were killed in Israel's war on Gaza earlier this year.
By Khalid Amayreh
"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – A Jewish rabbi has issued a book giving Jews permission to murder non-Jews, including babies and children, who may pose an actual or potential threat to Jews or Israel. "It is permissible to kill the Righteous among non-Jews even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation," Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement in the occupied West Bank, wrote in his book "The King's Torah."
He argues that goyem (a derogatory epithet for non-Jews) may be killed if they threaten Israel.
"If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder."
Shapiro, who heads a small Talmudic school at the settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus, claims his edict "is fully justified by the Torah and the Talmud."....."
By Khalid Amayreh
"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – A Jewish rabbi has issued a book giving Jews permission to murder non-Jews, including babies and children, who may pose an actual or potential threat to Jews or Israel. "It is permissible to kill the Righteous among non-Jews even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation," Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement in the occupied West Bank, wrote in his book "The King's Torah."
He argues that goyem (a derogatory epithet for non-Jews) may be killed if they threaten Israel.
"If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder."
Shapiro, who heads a small Talmudic school at the settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus, claims his edict "is fully justified by the Torah and the Talmud."....."
Department of meaningless gestures
By Stephen M. Walt
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
"....Remember: we are dealing with a Congress that just voted to condemn the Goldstone Report by a vote of 344-24. The aid package may be indirectly subsidizing the settlements and threatening Israel’s future as a Jewish majority state, but a supine House and Senate will still sign the annual check.
The second problem, I fear, is that it is too little, too late. Having dithered, delayed and dissembled ever since the Oslo Accords -- while the number of settlers more than doubled -- we are about to face an entirely different problem. The sun is now setting on the "two-state solution" -- if it is not already well below the horizon -- and pretty soon everyone will have to admit that they are sitting around in the dark and pretending they see daylight.
Be careful what you wish for. Israel is going to get what it has long sought: permanent control of the West Bank (along with de facto control over Gaza). The Palestinian Authority is increasingly irrelevant and may soon collapse, General Keith Dayton's mission to train reliable and professional Palestinian security forces will end, and Israel will once again have full responsibility for some 5.2 million Palestinian Arabs under its control. And the issue will gradually shift from the creation of a viable Palestinian state -- which was the central idea behind the Oslo process and the subsequent "Road Map" -- to a struggle for civil and political rights within an Israel that controls all of mandate Palestine. And on what basis could the United States oppose such a campaign, without explicitly betraying its own core values?
In this regard, it was telling that Martin Indyk -- a key figure in the lobby and far from a harsh critic of Israeli policy -- is quoted in the Times saying "more than likely, we are entering a new era." I think he's right, and he sounds worried. He should be, because the Obama administration isn't remotely ready for it. "
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