Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday criticized the Bush administration for being too slow in helping to resolve the crisis in Lebanon. "The United States did not move sufficiently and quickly enough to contain the situation," Mubarak was quoted as saying by the state-run Middle East News Agency.
He also blamed other UN Security Council members for their inaction. "The international dealing with the crisis, whether inside or outside the Security Council, lacks necessary speed and balance," Mubarak said. He blamed the Lebanese standoff on the international community's failure to push for a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. "Unless the United States and other members of the Quartet admit [their failure to address the Palestinian peace process] this crisis will only breed more crises," Mubarak said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Hosni,our dear friend, I could not agree with you more. We have been far too slow in bringing in Spectre gunships, A-10 ground support, offshore fire battery support, major carpet bombing runs, and the like. Had we done this, as you recommend, this shit would be over. We could now be bulldozing rubble and creating the free fire zones required for safety. We should consult with you more often.
Australians could be committing a serious offense under Australian law if they fight for Hizbullah in Lebanon, the attorney-general warned Thursday. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock warned that traveling to a foreign country to fight under some circumstances is an offense under Australia's toughened counter-terrorism laws punishable by 25 years in prison. "The foreign incursion offense does not apply if a person is with armed forces of a government and that would mean it wouldn't apply in relation to Israel or Lebanese defense forces," Ruddock told Parliament. "However, Australians who engage in hostile activities with Hizbullah or the external security organization could well be committing an offense," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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More good sense from the Aussies.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/11/2006 3:44 Comments ||
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The son of the last ruler of part of present-day Saudi Arabia said Tuesday he was setting up an opposition party in Paris to seek democratic rule in the oil-rich kingdom. "We announce the birth of the 'Saudi Democratic Opposition Front' which will struggle by peaceful means for the establishment of democracy in the country," said Prince Talal Mohammad al-Rashid, son of the last ruler of the independent Rashidi emirate which reigned in the northwestern region of Hail from 1835 to 1921. "The Al-Saud (family ruling Saudi Arabia) must either respect liberties and introduce democracy or give up the power they usurped," Prince Talal, who has been living in exile in France since 1980, told AFP.
My name is Talal Montoya. You deposed my father. Prepare to die."
Talal, son of Mohammad II bin Talal al-Rashid, said his opposition group would launch a satellite television channel within three months which will broadcast from a European country to "call on Saudis to rise up against the tyrants and usurpers plundering public funds."
The Rashidi emirs, who were ousted by the Saud family during its struggle to unite Saudi Arabia, are a branch of the Shammar tribal confederation. Prince Talal, who has retained his title, said that the confederation was backing his new movement. He said his group, with "some 2,000 active members, mostly in Saudi Arabia," would coordinate its activities with other opponents of the Saudi government at home and abroad, chiefly the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) which calls for a regime change in the kingdom. Members of the Shammar confederation are believed to number "hundreds of thousands living mainly in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria but also in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates," said Talal's daughter, Madhawi al-Rashid, a London-based academic.
#3
He (Prince Talal) said his group, with "some 2,000 active members, mostly in Saudi Arabia," would coordinate its activities with other opponents of the Saudi government at home and abroad, chiefly the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA)
MIRA is an al Qaeda front group. Treasury Designates MIRA for Support to Al Qaida The U.S Department of the Treasury today designated the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), a U.K.-based Saudi oppositionist organization, for providing material support to al Qaida. MIRA is run by al Qaida-affiliated Saad al-Faqih, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 by the Treasury on December 21, 2004 and is named on the United Nations 1267 Committee consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 7:21 Comments ||
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More than a year after sneaking away from his unit at Fort Bragg, an Army sergeant said Friday he'll turn himself over to military custody.
Ricky Clousing, 24, planned to go to authorities at Fort Lewis, south of Seattle, after his news conference Friday at the University of Washington.
Less than six months in Iraq, seeing the "daily physical, psychological and emotional harassment of civilians" had left him confused and disenchanted with the United States' role in the war, Clousing told The Associated Press in an interview a day before his official announcement.
"My experience in Iraq really made me second-guess my ability to perform as a soldier and also forced me to question my beliefs in associating myself" with the Army, the Sumner man said.
Officials in Fort Bragg, N.C., did not return an Associated Press call for comment on the case Thursday. Fort Lewis officials said they did not know about Clousing's case and could not comment.
Clousing said he won't participate in what he considers to be a "war of aggression" that has "no legal basis to be fought."
Clousing sneaked out of Fort Bragg in June 2005. Beginning last fall, his lawyers said, they contacted Fort Bragg and later Fort Lewis to try to negotiate a discharge. But neither installation claims responsibility for him, said attorney Lawrence Hildes of Bellingham. Finally, Clousing decided to just show up at Fort Lewis... Hopefully 4 years in Leavenworth will clear up the issue for him.
#1
We had one of those. Deserted before being assigned to a combat unit. Old (training) unit disbanded in the interim, new training unit didn't want him. Basically, he didn't exist. Spent three months in limbo and then committed suicide.
It was at the Veterans for Peace national convention in Dallas last year that Cindy Sheehan says she was galvanized to seek a meeting with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch. The result was a 26-day sit-down protest near Bush's ranch that attracted common folk and luminaries from across the nation, rejuvenating the anti-war movement. On Thursday, Sheehan, who became a peace activist after her soldier son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004, was at the Veterans for Peace national convention at the University of Washington.
Now almost 40 days into her on again - off again diet fast supporting war resisters and their families, Sheehan, though weak, announced that she is offering land she bought in Crawford near Bush's ranch as a refuge for U.S. troops who desert to resist the war in Iraq.
What, Canada's full?
"What is the noble cause that my son died for in Iraq?" Sheehan asked, echoing her remarks from last year as she spoke Thursday on the steps of the HUB on the UW campus.
Protecting us from islamic nutjobs. Not that you'd care
Joined by conscientious objectors from the Vietnam War, the 1991 Persian Gulf War and Iraq, Sheehan said she decided to offer her land because 12,000 more U.S. troops are being deployed to Iraq, calling the war "this nightmare, and it's breaking my heart."
Sheehan is among what Veterans for Peace leaders bill as an "all-star cast of war resisters" in Seattle this week. At least 425 of its 5,000 membership signed up for the convention, which opened Thursday with calls for disengagement by the United States in Iraq and Israel in Lebanon.
Gray-haired veterans from the Vietnam War joined fresh-faced veterans from the current war. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, a Navy doctor in Vietnam and early opponent of the war in Iraq, is slated to speak to the group today. Among a contingent of younger Iraq Veterans Against the War were several current service members.
One not wearing a name badge declined to reveal his identity. He said, with confirmation from his peers, that he was from the Seattle area, in his 20s, and had been "away-without-leave from a combat unit now in Iraq" for an undisclosed period of time. The AWOL soldier said he decided to flee the Army after the invasion of Iraq because he believes the war illegal. He said he joined the military before 9/11 "because I had been to five different high schools and went through family problems. The military was a way to get friends and family structure." He said he first began considering risking prosecution for desertion after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Being AWOL, however, has been "hell," he said, not only because of rifts in his family, but also because of "the uncertainty of not knowing if I will be caught as a deserter or if I should go public and turn myself in. I am constantly back and forth; it's always on my mind."
He will have more to think about at 9 a.m. today, when a fellow soldier he knows who also is AWOL -- Ricky Clousing, a 24-year-old Army sergeant and interrogator from Seattle who served in combat in Iraq -- appears outside the HUB with lawyers, relatives and supporters to announce he is turning himself in to authorities. He left Fort Bragg in 2005 after returning from Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Several members of the military supporting efforts against the war said they were careful to attend the convention on military leaves. Christina Taber, 26, of Madison, Wis., is an Army reservist activated for 18 months who works in behavioral health at Camp Atterbury, Ind., where she hears stories from soldiers returning from war. "I think hearing their powerful war stories motivated me to get involved" in the veterans efforts to end the war, Taber said. Taber said she became a veteran for peace after a fellow soldier died in April 2003 before deployment to Iraq. The death was linked to the mandatory anthrax inoculation she received.
Damon Murphy, 26, of Minneapolis, meanwhile, a U.S. Navy submariner based in San Diego, said he joined the anti-war movement seven months ago. Murphy, who has 10 weeks to go on his enlistment, said he has no orders for Iraq but acknowledged that if he did, "I'd be in jail" refusing to go.
I'd say you're pretty safe, Damon. Haven't seen too many submariners getting orders to Baghdad
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2006 13:17 ||
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Hey Cin, news flash for ya. The Big Bad gummint can search your 'land' for deserters if they suspect they are there. It's called a warrant. It's called probable cause. It's called hey you dumbass, if you really want to 'hide' them there, why announce it beforehand?
Thursday August 4, 2006 (updated Sun, Aug 6)
There goes the neighborhood...
The five acres of land that was purchased on behalf of war protester Cindy Sheehan is now being riddled with leftist propaganda and ten port-o-potties. Surrounding land owners have denied Sheehan access to electrical lines and the city of Crawford work crew was forced to stop laying water lines to the property since the proper permits were not obtained.
Though the protesters purchased five acres, they have already filled the property with displays of their descent that there is not adequate parking. It is dangerous and against the law to park along the side of the highway.
There are so many curious people pulling into their drive way and then backing out onto the highway that residents are afraid that a major accident will surely happen.
BUSH SUPPORTERS ARE ASKED TO PLEASE NOT COME TO CRAWFORD TO PROTEST SHEEHAN AND HER GROUP!
These people feed off the energy of counter protesters and believe that Bushies help center the media back on them.
Remember Sheehan sitting all alone at a table in a circus tent last Thanksgiving waiting for someone to ask her to sign her book of rhetoric? I, for one, want to see more photos of her all alone this August. Just Cindy and the media.
Sheehan is only looking for press coverage... lets be smart and not give it to her!
Many Crawford residents just want to try to have a normal summer and are looking forward the beginning of a new school year and preparing for the upcoming dove season. We will try to update this site frequently so that you will have an idea of what is going on in Crawford without having to coming here.
Upon Sheehan's arrival to her new location Sunday, Reuters reports:
Talking to reporters, Sheehan defended the purchase of a 5-acre (2 hectare) plot of land for use as a protest location. The land was purchased by her supporters through a third party to keep secret her connection to it.
"I just had a third party do it because I know that they wouldn't have sold property to me," Sheehan said.
The previous owner of the property, Celia Ramsey, told ABC News, "We were duped, we were deceived, we had no idea" that Sheehan was behind the purchase.
Crawford residents angry at her presence "just need to relax a little bit and learn to live with us," said Sheehan.
#4
Maybe Cheney will invite her to go dove hunting.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 13:52 Comments ||
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CO's? Its an all volunteer force. By now all the 4 year hitches pr-9/11 are done. Anyone in now knows what they are getting into, and should be classified as deserters, subject to federal penalty. And Cindy and her group should very careful read the RICO act statutes as well as aiding and abetting a felony. They've written a lot of the laws for the drug war that make yo liable for the original felony if you actively participate in helping those who are knowingly committing the felony.
Cindy might not own that land for long if they get a RICO civil seizure.
That "illegal" thing is a bullshit cover for running away and cowardice. If you believe it to be illegal, then challenge it - have the guts go to court and push it to the chain of command. If its truly illegal you will be vindicated. If not you will be forced to go to fight. But either way its better than running away and using it as an excuse to cover your cowardice.
Reminder: Desertion during war carries a possible death sentence.
#9
One of you ex-military types should contact her, claim to be a deserter, and see what she does. If she helps you, she can be prosecuted. If she doesn't she's a liar. And if they won't prosecute, she looks like a fool for falling for a sting operation
#11
Talking to reporters, Sheehan defended the purchase of a 5-acre (2 hectare) plot of land for use as a protest location. The land was purchased by her supporters through a third party to keep secret her connection to it.
"I just had a third party do it because I know that they wouldn't have sold property to me," Sheehan said.
The previous owner of the property, Celia Ramsey, told ABC News, "We were duped, we were deceived, we had no idea" that Sheehan was behind the purchase.
Crawford residents angry at her presence "just need to relax a little bit and learn to live with us," said Sheehan.
#12
I have a basic question. If the money for this came from Casey's insurance money, shouldn't this money been shared by all members of Casey's family?
Did Cindy take money that was meant for her husband? What are the rules for distributing money from the insurance policy?
P.S. I agree on RICO. It can be used for many purposes far removed from its original purpose. Cindy may not have her land for long.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/11/2006 15:26 Comments ||
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At least 425 of its 5,000 membership signed up for the convention, which opened Thursday with calls for disengagement by the United States in Iraq and Israel in Lebanon.
Geez, a grand old whopping membership of 5,000 (even from Vietnam era) and you can't even get 10% to show up for your protest. I imagine most of these 5,000 live nearby too, so it's not like it'd be expensive to get to Univ. of Wash. Probably from Portland, Seattle, San Fran, etc.
Posted by: BA ||
08/11/2006 16:06 Comments ||
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What are the rules for distributing money from the insurance policy?
It goes to the named beneficiary, as with every other insurance policy.
#17
It'd sure be a shame to have a grassfire around Crawford, wouldn't it? With all that crowding, tents, port-o-johns, no water, no electricity... Nasty, nasty.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2006 19:05 Comments ||
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...On the streets of Dearborn, Hezbollah is not seen as a terrorist group but as a heroic resistance force. Residents say the group led the "freedom fight" in Lebanon during 18 years of Israeli occupation.
Without the diligence and sacrifice of Hezbollah, people here say they would not have been able to return every summer to show their children their hillside villages and share their ancestral heritage. Hezbollah also provides social services and education for their relatives in Lebanon who are too poor to afford them.
Watching reports from the Middle East, many in Dearborn feel betrayed and unfairly targeted by the U.S. government.
This week some 200 Hezbollah fighters engaged in fierce battles defending Bint Jbeil, a village that is a longtime Hezbollah stronghold near the Israeli border. Some 15,000 Dearborn residents have emigrated over the years from Bint Jbeil. They created a community center named after the village.
When about 10,000 Arab-Americans demonstrated in Dearborn last week in support of the Lebanese cause, some held up portraits of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. People here draw a distinction, though, between Hezbollah's strict religious theocracy and its military movement...
#3
Reportedly the Paks or Brits got the tip off for the latest aircraft plot from a Muslim. There's some on both sides of this conflict, disgusting as the one side is.
#4
There's some on both sides of this conflict, disgusting as the one side is.
Uh-huh. When Western Muslim support for terrorists drops below, oh, 5%, let me know. Make sure the definition of "terrorist" includes people who kill Israelis.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/11/2006 9:24 Comments ||
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You know, you get the idea that domestic muzzies are sitting on the sidelines to see which side wins. I would like to see them more actively engaged in the WOT--not as the enemy.
#6
#1 People here draw a distinction, though, between Hezbollah's strict religious theocracy and its military movement...
Same rationale, a distinction between the political and military arms, used by many a Irish-American as they dropped their dollars into the the IRA collection plates stateside.
#8
From the cited article " Even though the U.S. government has linked Hezbollah with the deadly attack on the Marine barracks and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in the 1980s, Hezbollah has never attacked America at home" -- Headline should have read "Dearborn Arabs continue to support terrorist group"
BP may be right. Islam is antithetical to the very concept of freedom, liberty and tolerance. I think this is where we really need to start. What's the solution? I have NO idea.
#10
There's some on both sides of this conflict, disgusting as the one side is.
Sadly, the ratio is somewhere around 99:1 and its not in our favor.
Islam is antithetical to the very concept of freedom, liberty and tolerance. I think this is where we really need to start. What's the solution? I have NO idea.
Yes, it is. Islam largely views man as being forbidden from making laws that govern his fellow men. Only Allah, and the sharia law descending from his word, is regarded as being worthy of such status. This is entirely inimical to democratic rule of law and Islam is a direct threat to it.
As to a solution? We are currently developing fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of the brain to where it may well serve as a very reliable lie detector.
There may come a time where it will be necessary to take each and every single Muslim or immigrant from an Islamic country (that old taqiya thingie), and subject them to fMRI interrogation about their views on terrorism, jihadism, acceptance of democratic rule and so forth.
Massive violation of civil rights? Undoubtedly. Do the Islamists entertain even more massive violations of human rights along with even greater atrocities and crimes against humanity? Absolutely. We know who the enemies within our midst are. Eventually we will need to come to terms with the importance of identifying them without mistake and taking appropriate measures there after.
#11
"Yes, it is. Islam largely views man as being forbidden from making laws that govern his fellow men. Only Allah, and the sharia law descending from his word, is regarded as being worthy of such status. "
Nonetheless Turkey is not only a functioning democracy, but is strictly secularist (head coverings forbidden in govt buildings) Yet they (even the ones who support the secularism) consider themselves muslims.
Obviously theyre not REAL Muslims, even though they think they are. What we need are more muslims who arent real muslims, whatever they think of themselves as. Or something.
(via Secrecy News blog)
In a momentous expansion of the government's authority to regulate public disclosure of national security information, a federal court ruled that even private citizens who do not hold security clearances can be prosecuted for unauthorized receipt and disclosure of classified information.
The ruling by Judge T.S. Ellis, III, denied a motion to dismiss the case of two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who were charged under the Espionage Act with illegally receiving and transmitting classified information.
The decision is a major interpretation of the Espionage Act with implications that extend far beyond this particular case.
The Judge ruled that any First Amendment concerns regarding freedom of speech involving national defense information can be superseded by national security considerations. "Although the question whether the government's interest in preserving its national defense secrets is sufficient to trump the First Amendment rights of those not in a position of trust with the government [i.e. not holding security clearances] is a more difficult question, and although the authority addressing this issue is sparse, both common sense and the relevant precedent point persuasively to the conclusion that the government can punish those outside of the government for the unauthorized receipt and deliberate retransmission of information relating to the national defense," Judge Ellis wrote.
I guess I'm just a simple conservative but it seems like common sense to me. If we classify something as 'secret' that means that not everyone can know about it. Since we have a representative gummint, it decides what's secret and what isn't. Ordinary joes and joans don't get to decide when to violate national security laws.
The provisions of the Espionage Act are not impermissibly overbroad or unconstitutional, the Judge ruled, because they are limited by the requirements that the prohibited behavior be both knowing and willful.
"The government must... prove that the person alleged to have violated these provisions knew the [restricted] nature of the information, knew that the person with whom they were communicating was not entitled to the information, and knew that such communication was illegal, but proceeded nonetheless."
"Finally, with respect only to intangible information [as opposed to documents], the government must prove that the defendant had a reason to believe that the disclosure of the information could harm the United States or aid a foreign nation...."
"So construed, the statute is narrowly and sensibly tailored to serve the government's legitimate interest in protecting the national security, and its effect on First Amendment freedoms is neither real nor substantial as judged in relation to this legitimate sweep," Judge Ellis wrote (p. 63).
Others will disagree. For example, the classified 2004 report of Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison clearly fit the court's description of national defense information that is closely held by the government. Moreover, its unauthorized disclosure was likely to, and did in fact, harm the United States. And yet that disclosure also served an important national purpose in attacking the hated Booosh administration prompting a public debate over U.S. policy on prisoner detention and interrogation.
But under Judge Ellis' new interpretation, those reporters and others who communicated this information to the public could apparently be prosecuted under the Espionage Act.
Think about that Mr. Keller.
Judge Ellis concluded his opinion by noting that the provisions of the Espionage Act "have remained largely unchanged since the administration of William Howard Taft."
Technological and other changes over the past century "should suggest to even the most casual observer that the time is ripe for Congress to engage in a thorough review and revision of these provisions to ensure that they reflect both these changes, and contemporary views about the appropriate balance between our nation's security and our citizens' ability to engage in public debate about the United States' conduct in the society of nations."
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/11/2006 0:21 Comments ||
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What hath Valerie Plame wrought?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2006 0:40 Comments ||
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Since we lay-folks have seen the actual language of applicable laws posted here on a few occasions, the only response that comes to my mind is, "Well Fuck Yeah!"
It's no "momentous expansion" - that's idiocy. It was there in black and white. Only ruling the Espionage Act and other laws which apply are unconstitutional could blunt the will of the people as expressed in those statutes.
I'm "happy" with this "decision", of course, but sheesh. Any two-bit punk can tell you all about receiving stolen goods...
#7
I protest ! This is an attack on the democrat party. This is politically motivated and the judge should be impeached and removed.
Sarc off.
It would also be great if a judge ruled that anyone participating in a cover-up be jailed as well.
Then, it would be great if we elected a republican with the balls to investigate the Clinton administration. ie. Deaths of Vincent Foster, Ron Brown, the old CIA leader, William something, and all of those witnesses who were run off the road and killed on their way back from church. Not to mention all the suicides of people with a Clinton connection.
#9
The only proviso I have is that the recipient must know (or reasonably assume) that the material is classified. I worked with classified stuff and unclassified stuff. I can show the latter to y'all. What if I slipped something classified in? Would you necessarily know the difference?
I'm not saying that's the case here. Just that it may be the case sometime in the future.
#10
J, I may not know the difference, but I'm sure the prosecutors will be showing you what the difference is, even if you knew already. I believe that is the point. Now if I share that information with someone else, the same prosecutors will be explaining the difference to me in short order.
Posted by: john ||
08/11/2006 11:57 Comments ||
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(Reuters) - U.S. Muslim groups criticized President Bush on Thursday for calling a foiled plot to blow up airplanes part of a "war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions.
I'd say the turban and automatic weapons set is doing a pretty good job at that, without Bush having to say anything.
U.S. officials have said the plot, thwarted by Britain, to blow up several aircraft over the Atlantic bore many of the hallmarks of al Qaeda. "We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counterproductive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group.
We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counterproductive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism
At the very first we picked up on the blind hatred of the West, Nihad. It took a bit more study to realize we were dealing with Nazis, only without the natty uniforms and the marching songs. The Jew hating's there. So's the accrual of rights to the state in this case the ummah rather than to the individual, who's reduced to being nothing but cannon fodder since jihad's a requirement on the devout. We've read the words of the new Streichers and Goebbels and Dr. Neys in the Arab and Muslim press. We've watched Hezbollah and the Marching Mullahs of Iran doing their funny imitation goose steps and just a-Hitlergrüssing to beat the band. You've got Supreme Councils and Supreme Leaders and Global Councils and aspiring Fearless Leaders and you've got holy men just as corrupt and just as merciless as any Gauleiter was. There's always a beturbanned SA ready to march and bust things up, whether it's in Lahore or Gay Paree. The TNSM's out in force in Peshawar in today's news; nobody there owns any books but the Koran, so they're burning TV sets instead of books. So where's the inaccuracy in referring to them as fascists? From our angle the curly-toed slipper's a pretty good fit.
"We ought to take advantage of these incidents to make sure that we do not start a religious war against Islam and Muslims," he told a news conference in Washington.
We ought to take advantage of these incidents to make sure that we do not start a religious war against Islam and Muslims
Why? Muslims have declared war on us. As a matter of fact, we seem to get a declaration of war from some nutball group or other about once a week. With lunatics running through the streets and burning our flag and the SA smashing and booming McDonalds' and Kentucky Frieds, wouldn't the appropriate response be for the populace of, say, Milpetas to riot in the streets and burn Pak or Soddy or Iranian flags and smash the occasional felafel shop?
"We urge him (Bush) and we urge other public officials to restrain themselves."
Why, oh why, is it incumbent upon us to restrain ourselves when there's no such constraint on the Muslim world?
We urge him [Bush] and we urge other public officials to restrain themselves...
Awad said U.S. officials should take the lead from their British counterparts who steered clear of using what he considered inflammatory terms when they announced the arrest of more than 20 suspects in the reported plot. Hours after the news broke, Bush said it was "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."
I like it when he calls a spade a spade...
Bush and other administration officials have used variations of the term "Islamo-fascism" on several occasions in the past to describe militant groups including al Qaeda, its allies in Iraq and Hizbollah in Lebanon.
I think this is Bush's first use of the term. Anybody who thinks Hezbollah's not a fascist organization has never listened to their rhetoric, though I'll admit they're lousy goosesteppers, not a patch on the old GDR.
'...it is a totalitarian, intolerant imperialism that has a vision that is totally at odds with Western society and our rules of law,' Chertoff said...
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told MSNBC television the phrase reflected what he called Osama bin Laden's own vision of leading a totalitarian empire under the guise of religion. "It might may not be classic fascism as you had with Mussolini or Hitler. But it is a totalitarian, intolerant imperialism that has a vision that is totally at odds with Western society and our rules of law," Chertoff said.
Elections are un-Islamic, as the holy men have told us on a number of occasions. Democracy's a Jewish plot. God's law, as interpreted by properly pious holy men, displaces the will of the people.
Many American Muslims, who say they have felt singled out for discrimination since the September 11 attacks, reject the term and say it unfairly links their faith to notions of dictatorship, oppression and racism. "The problem with the phrase is it attaches the religion of Islam to tyranny and fascism, rather than isolating the threat to a specific group of individuals," said Edina Lekovic, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
That specific group of individuals acts in the name of Islam, justifies its actions by invoking Islam, and those who aren't members of that specific group nod sagely when nobody's looking and root for the old Ummah.
She said the terms cast suspicions on all Muslims, even the vast majority who want to live in safety like other Americans.
Even while contributing to Hamas, Hezbollah, and unspecified other charities. Even while raising their children to hate the Christians and the Jews, just like back in the Olde Countrie. Those who don't aren't CAIR members.
Bush upset many Muslims after the September 11 attacks by referring to the global war against terrorism early on as a "crusade," a term which for many Muslims connotes a Christian battle against Islam. The White House quickly stopped using the word, expressing regrets if it had caused offense.
"Jihad" is the same thing, a war carried out in the name of Islam. I notice nobody's stopped using that.
Mohamed Elibiary, a Texas-based Muslim activist, said he was upset by the president's latest comments. "We've got Osama bin Laden hijacking the religion in order to define it one way. ... We feel the president and anyone who's using these kinds of terminologies is hijacking it too from a different side," he said.
No, he's not. He's referring to a well-documented phenomenon.
"The president's use of the language is going to ratchet up the hate meter, but I think it would have caused much more damage if he had done this after 9/11," Elibiary said, adding that tensions were not running as high as they had been in the immediate aftermath of the 2001 attacks.
Nope. The combination of fatigue and the national attention span deficit has kicked in. The streets of Milpetas remain quiet, despite the ravings of the loons in Terrorhan and Peshawar and Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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So start calling it the "Crusade Against Islamic Fascism". That'll drive them nuts...
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/11/2006 0:40 Comments ||
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#7
At the very first we picked up on the blind hatred of the West, Nihad. It took a bit more study to realize we were dealing with Nazis, only without the natty uniforms and the marching songs. The Jew hating's there. So's the accrual of rights to the state in this case the ummah rather than to the individual, who's reduced to being nothing but cannon fodder since jihad's a requirement on the devout. We've read the words of the new Streichers and Goebbels and Dr. Neys in the Arab and Muslim press. We've watched Hezbollah and the Marching Mullahs of Iran doing their funny imitation goose steps and just a-Hitlergrüssing to beat the band. You've got Supreme Councils and Supreme Leaders and Global Councils and aspiring Fearless Leaders and you've got holy men just as corrupt and just as merciless as any Gauleiter was. There's always a beturbanned SA ready to march and bust things up, whether it's in Lahore or Gay Paree. The TNSM's out in force in Peshawar in today's news; nobody there owns any books but the Koran, so they're burning TV sets instead of books. So where's the inaccuracy in referring to them as fascists? From our angle the curly-toed slipper's a pretty good fit.
olde Rantburgese literary piece, joins the classic library section in private collection.
The streets of Milpetas remain quiet, despite the ravings of the loons in Terrorhan and Peshawar and Cairo.
#8
Islamic supremacy also describes the phenomenon. The One True Religion plays the role of Aryanism in Nazism or the proleteriat under Communism. One group is destined by nature, history, or Divine Will to rule all the others and true believers have few scruples about the unpleasantries necessary along the way. Unity of purpose will overcome all opposition; free thought threatens that unity and must be ruthlessly suppressed for the cause.
Historically, of course, there's ample basis for Bush's remark. The progenitors of today's Islamic revival were supporters of the Third Reich in its day. Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, is only the most prominent example, going so far as to raise of Muslim brigade to fight for Germany in the Balkins.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
08/11/2006 1:16 Comments ||
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#9
Can we please get a graphic for Elibiary's "hate meter"?
I bet it would look spiffy next to the sympathy meter!
#10
Bristling already ? I hope this doesn't mean spittle and slobber all over the floor again. Really, you f**kin' Muzzies ain't seen nothin" yet. We're just starting to pay you some attention. And we don't like what we see. You better pack your asses up and drag them out of here while you can.
#11
Prediction: over 100 posts on this topic. I heard widespread support for the President on talk radio.
Fascism? Ask Mussolini: "...Fascism reasserts the right of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual. And if liberty is to be the attribute of living men and not of abstract dummies invented by individualistic liberalism, then Fascism stands for liberty, and for the only liberty worth having, the liberty of the State and of the individual within the State. The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State - a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values - interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people...it is the purest form of democracy if the nation be considered -as it should be - from the point of view of quality rather than quantity, as an idea...expressing itself in a people, as the conscience and will of the few, if not, indeed, of one..." Benito Mussolini, 1932.
An airline passange was stopped at Airport security due to smoke rising from his turban.
Authorities were relieved to find it was simply CAIR representative Mohammed Mohammed Bin Fumin's brain smoldering after hearing President Bush call a spade a spade.
#18
I would like to gice a little testimony about "Islamic fascists" in Paris...
I live in the center of this city, in a very old street. 20 meters right of my house, there is a muslim bookshop, selling Korans, books in arabic, and a few in french; I had bought there a translation of Omar Khayyam's wonderful poems some time ago (before 9/11); one year ago, I noticed in the window a negationnist book and an antisemitic book, both of which had been forbidden by the French justice; and some time later, I heard on radio that the owner of this bookstore had personally published those 2 new editions, and had been convicted after a trial.
On the opposite way, 50 meters left of my house, there is a grocery, whose owner is a nice Tunisian immigrant 50 years old; two months ago, I heard his 20 years old son speak with another Arab of his age, and say that "9/11 wasn't done by the Muslims, but by the Jews"; I objected to this, but he was totally convinced it was the Jews; then, I noticed he had always at his side a small book in arabic, probably a pocket Koran.
#19
leroidavid (king david):
When I was last in Paris - 1976 - the parks were safe 24-7. I hear that they are now Arab rape and rob zones. There is a Resistance movement against savage islamization.
#20
This definition by Columbia University professor Robert O. Paxton seems to fit the Islamists:
"Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
Central Paris is still safe: the government doesn't want the tourists to leave our country...
Nevertheless, there is a high rise of Muslim crime (for the moment, French Muslims commit 30 times more offenses and crimes per person than non-Muslims).
And the situation in the suburbs is very bad, but you all know that, thanks to our famous riots... White people living there can't go out at night, and are carefully planning their travels...
However, recently, in the center of Paris, I had to use for the first time my paralysing spray against 2 Arabs, and knock the third. They attacked me 'for the fun', as it seems (and it's easier to attack one single man when you are three - that's the courage of the Lions of Allah). The police came fast, but we were unable to arrest those heroes.
#23
Nihad, it's counterproductive to hide jihadism behind "sensitivities". That makes you a bigger narcissistic liar. Your "sensitivities" or our health.
#24
The term "Islamofacism" (my favorite, and which I invented) is better IMO, because is suggests a "flavor" of Islam when connected with facist terrorism, rather than "impugning" the religion as a whole--so it keeps the aspect of denigrating religion out of the debate, at least technically. But it wouldn't matter. They'd be upset anyway. I think Bush was smart to put it on the table and quit dancing around the PC noose.
#27
Karl Popper coined the term 'Historicism' to describe all the ideologies that claim they are historically inevitable, and wrote arguably the most important book of the twentieth century - The Poverty of Historicism.
#28
The terrorists are Martyrs® fighting Jihad® against Infidels® to convert them to Dhimmis® for Allah®. In other words, they are fascists killing people in the name of Islam.
Which part of "Islamic fascists" did Bush get wrong?
Instead of criticising, clean up your own house. You've got a lot of work to do there.
#29
*I* invented Islamic Crusader and introduced it here a few days ago. That's also what they're doing - crusading - and since they seem to hate that word as well....
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2006 6:48 Comments ||
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#30
I'm getting tired of hearing American Muslims whine about "descrimination." If they don't like it here, get out. Go somewhere else. Leave.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/11/2006 7:06 Comments ||
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#31
Hey, Nihad, you know what? I really don't give a rat's ass what offends you any more.
I have yet to see you poor, victimized Muslims do a damn thing about the crazies "hijacking" your religion. (An interesting choice of words, Mohammed, considering that your co-religionists pretty much pioneered that concept in the 70's.)
I have yet to see you clowns enlist to fight against said "hijackers", either. I'm not expecting the Muslim equivalent of the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, or the Navajo Codetalkers, for that matter. But we certainly could do without the "contributions" of Sgt Hasan Akbar, among others, who have signed up only to disgrace the uniform and fight against us from within.
We have shown incredible restraint so far. Sorry if I don't equate a few funny looks and being delayed at the airport with rounding up citizens and putting them in internment camps or reservations. And, no, arresting Abdul for assembling an interesting collection of books, explosives, and pen pals based in Pakistan does not equate.
If you don't want the funny looks, tell your women to take off their "traditional" hijab (dating back, oh, about 30 years ago to Lebanon, modeled after a nun's habit and meant to say to one of your out of control, seething young men "don't rape me, O mighty Lion of Islam, rape that other girl over there instead").
Until you do something, anything, constructive to fight against said religious "hijackers", and reply to them with the alacrity you do for every "offense" the rest of the world commits against Islam, sit down and STFU.
#32
Ya know, I'm with CAIR. Terms like "Islamofascist" aren't helpful.
Let's be clear, honest, and inclusive. The most accurate term is "Muslim".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/11/2006 8:00 Comments ||
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#33
I don't think they yet understand what's coming if there's another attack on American soil by muzzies. Good and innocent people (and yes, there are some in any group) are gonna pay hard for this BS. The Ummah's gonna look back on these days as "the good old days". The loony left isn't gonna save your ass, and the Supreme Court/ACLU/CAIR won't stop violence in the streets against muzzies. It'll be a real black mark on American history when we destroy Islam and it's adherents who're our enemies, but we'll get over it
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2006 9:24 Comments ||
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#34
Must be getting close to the truth. Who gives a shit what they think. Methinks that maybe islamofacism and islam may be one and the same.
#37
"a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."
There. Fixed it for you Nihad. Everyone should be happy now.
#40
The problem is that Bush hasnt explained the analytic necessity of the term Islamic Fascism.
Saying Islamic Fascism doesnt imply Islam is inherently fascist, any more than saying "european Fascism" implies Europe is inherent fascist, or "christian fundamentalism" implies all christians are fundamentalist. Its necessary to mention Islamic fascism, because European fascism was centered on the nation state and was not connected with premodern religious loyalties (with the arguable exception of Spain) while in Islam, where the nation state is weak, fascism takes on a different form.
This is explained best by Paul Berman in "Liberalism and Terror"
Y'all might not want to read it though, as Berman is a socialist :)
#42
Nihad Awad doesn't like Islamic Fascists term?
Okay, how about Wahhabi-Islamo-Fascists?
I nailed it *cough* of course under the influence of much learned men (Daniel Pipes, Christopher Hitchens, Stephen Schwartz) nearly five years ago by calling it nihilistic Islamic absolutism (NIA). But that's a bit of a mouthful, so I'll stick with Islamic Fascists.
#43
Check List on How Do We Discern If You're An Islamo-Fascist:
1. You call for the murder of all non-Wahhabis, including Jews, Christians, Shiites, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, B'hais, Sufis, etc.
2. You hate music, dance, art, and anything remotely and humanly sensual. Goats and under-age children are okay (See depressing movie OSAMA).
3. You glorify death, often wear black uniforms, and pledge your loyalty to cultiish-like leaders.
4. Goose-stepping and stiff arm salutes kinda gives away the game.
5. You hate democracy and yearn to impose by force of arms and terror, the latter directed entirely at unsuspecting, innocent civilians, your dark, Medieval vision of Shar'ia.
These are more than sufficient though several additional examples can be added.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/11/2006 11:57 Comments ||
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#45
Bristling over Islamic Fascists? If the truth hurts, too bad!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/11/2006 12:15 Comments ||
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#46
#8 Baba Tutu Historically and politically accurate analysis, sir. May the innocent among them be protected. Ideas can be smashed if not completely destroyed or rendered controllable.
#48
They are right in a way. We are not at war with islamic fascists.
We are at war with islam. No modifer is required.
And the only thing that "inflames anti-muslin tensions" are the muz themselves because all things being equal no sane person would ever give them a second thought to them.
Posted by: kelly ||
08/11/2006 15:06 Comments ||
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#49
Good grief, it didn't even take 12 hours before CAIR was offended? How are those trials/detentions going for all your leadership, there CAIR? Finally, the Prez calls our war what it is.
Again, why Islam must undergo a "modernization" as Judaism and Christianity have. Except that big Mo' himself wouldn't allow for it. By that, I mean, I'd call myself a believer of a "Only Way" religion (Christianity), but it's been tempered with Christ's teachings, the Magna Carta and the US Constitution (Separation of Church and State). Yes, I believe Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven, but I'ma not gonna strap a bomb on or hide liquid explosives in a sports drink bottle to prove my point. Unfortunately, I don't believe Islam can modernize without doing away with Big Mo and his crazy "religion." And, they won't go for that, so Mr. Prez, carry on.
Posted by: BA ||
08/11/2006 15:42 Comments ||
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#50
"We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counterproductive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism,"
"Ill-advised"? For who? Those that promote increasing awareness of exactly how serious a threat Islam (not "Islamism", not "Islamofacism", not "Islamists" ab nauseum) is to civilized society. "Ill-advised"? In what way? Was that a threat on your part at those of us who oppose sharia law to avoid using such a precise description of what your so-called "faith" entails?
Rather, I'd say, Islam is "ill-advised" to continue on its current course. Nothing other than radioactive glass awaits all Muslim countries if they are unable to authentically and genuinely reform their religion.
#51
Hmmmm. Lets see. You muzzies 'bristle' at the term "Islamic Fascism". OK. Ummm, don't get all pissed, but there's a few things about you that make me 'bristle' too. Bet my list is longer.
#52
CAIR and every single Muslim public figure needs to be ridiculed at mocked at every opportunity. That's how ideologies eventually get defeated--the folks on the sidelines begin to notice that its *ok* for them to voice the things they had already noticed but feared to comment upon.
#53
Well, not to play devil's advocate (besides, Aminahajib already has that role), bu we're dealing with weird brain-washed, brain-numbed cultist Muslims, and if you say Muslim Facists, rather than Islamic Facists, then it leaves room for alternate personal definitions: i.e., some Muslims are facists and others aren't (which of course is arguable--but you get the drift). On the other hand if you say "Islamic" Facists, then you damn the entire religion itself along with them (again, arguable, but to be avoided in the real world where perception is 9/10ths of reality). "Islamofacist" would mean that they are "informed" or at least think they are by Islam, and leaves the same room for differentiation, although again, I don't think it matters much in this fight. It's bad monkeys against good monkeys, for all you evolutionists, and for the Christians, it's written, so we're not surprised, but we better do what's right and fight them (which is what's right), and for Jews, fight now or fight more later, and for the Buddhists . . . well, I'm not sure. Blondie--great comment.
#54
damn perceptions. They've lost the opportunity to be "surprised" and "disappointed" when the shit hits the Islamic fan. The entire religion is based on disgusting premises. The religious "must see" sites are in a country which tolerates no other religion. Their "good book" expresses no tolerance of other religions, instead they are to be killed or enslaved, lied to, and at best, to be taxed just for being dhimmis. I say, F*&K em. I've had enough of their outrage and seething, I've had enough of being discomforted by the acts of their true believers, and I've had enough of them. Adopt the customs and tolerances of your adopted states or get the fuck out. Attacks on US soil will cause innocent (and non-practicing muslims) to die. I suppose the hard core Islamists don't care. I've seen them send their children and women out as human shields, splodeydopes, and cannon fodder. Truly a disgusting and cowardly belief system - our Saudi and Paki friends along with the conniving Iranians and Syrian cowards are targets. Get the coordinates
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2006 19:42 Comments ||
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#55
The police came fast, but we were unable to arrest those heroes.
UUmmmm, Why?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/11/2006 21:53 Comments ||
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#56
Couldn't agree more Frank. Well said. I was musing on the political problems, and the fact of lumping everyone together, which will make them all more willing to lump. Of course, my belief is that they'd do it anyway, so it don't really matter.
Decent, tech-oriented NYT article once you get past the obligatory Bush bashing.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 Despite knowing for years that liquid explosives posed a threat to airline safety, security agencies have made little progress in deploying technology that could help defend against such attacks, security experts say.
"But you can rest assured we'd give you the full details if they had! Remember, we're all the news that hurts George Bush."
Since September 2001, the federal government has hired tens of thousands of government screeners and upgraded its metal detectors and X-ray machines. But most of the equipment is still oriented toward preventing a metallic gun or other easily identifiable weapon from being carried aboard; it cannot distinguish shampoo from an explosive. Cathleen A. Berrick, director of the Government Accountability Offices homeland security and justice division, told a Senate committee in February 2005 that the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, redirected more than half of the $110 million it had for research and development in 2003 to pay for personnel costs of screeners, delaying research in areas including detecting liquid explosives. It has continued to redirect some research and development money, she said Thursday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I think that if you were smart enough, it would be pretty easy to smuggle even military grade explosives on an airliner using stuff that you could buy at Target. Any commercial battery would do. The hard part would be making a blasting cap that didn't look like a blasting cap. I could think of half a dozen ways to do that, too.
Luckily, most of these shaheed wannabees aren't smart enough to figure any of this out.
#4
No carry on luggage over the long haul will cut into business traveler revenues which cuts into airline viability meaning fewer flights from fewer airlines at higher costs to everyone.
The carry on policy needs to be to be reorganized no doubt, but it needs to be thought out as well.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2006 20:45 Comments ||
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#9
The MSM has long reported on how Commies/Maoists are supporting Radical Islam and akigned terror orgs - iff the Radical Islamists recognize or are aware of the Left's 2015-2020 timeline to force America under anti-Amer Socialism + anti-sovereign OWG. IMO the destruction of 6-20 airliners over America, while graphic and deadly, is not enuff. IMO the agenda of the Radical Islamists + Failed/Angry Left is better accomplished by using these airliners to spread BIO-WAR or CHEM-WAR AGENTS. Also bear in mind that it is not unkknown for the leadership in many Islamist terror orgs to mislead their own suicidists as to time and place of death by detonation.
PESHAWAR: Police arrested 24 activists of a banned religious organisation, Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariah Muhammade (TNSM), for setting TVs, CDs, and VCDs on fire during their campaign against obscenity and vulgarity in Manglawara and Charbagh. Interior Minster Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told reporters in Islamabad that the government would take stern action against people involved in the incident. He said that nobody could stop people from watching TV.
"The activists were booked ... for terrorising people in the area," Manglawara Station House Officer Khaista Rehman told Daily Times. She said that TNSM leaders including Dost Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Anwar, Fazal and Tajud Din had been arrested. According to eyewitnesses, the activists bought VCDs, VCRs, TVs and VCDs, and set them on fire along with shops. Residents of the area also joined the campaign after clerics threatened them. Clerics used loudspeakers to tell people to join hands with them. Eyewitnesses said that the activists also launched a door-to-door campaign to 'motivate' people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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NEW DELHI: Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeeds house arrest in Lahore could pave the way for a meeting between Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit to be held in Havana in the middle of September.
I wouldn't get too excited. It's a house arrest. When they're under house arrest in Pak, they have the habit of leaving the house and going anywhere they damned well please. And it's only for a month. I'd call it a charade.
Indian officials see the LT founders month-long detention as a welcome development. After dialogue between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Dhaka earlier this month, it is believed that a senior Pakistani official visited India recently, and met an Indian interlocutor to prepare the ground for the summit meeting. Sources said that after the Mumbai blasts, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved punitive measures against Pakistan, he directed that these should not end up in permanent hostility.
Which makes no sense at all.
Indian officials said Sayeeds arrest was a welcome move because Indians believed that a resumption of dialogue was not acceptable if practical steps were not taken in Islamabad to control terrorists allegedly operating from Pakistan. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in Dhaka that Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaatud Dawa, and Syed Salahuddin, chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, were roaming free in Pakistan. Sayeed and Salahuddins arrests were only some of the actions that Pakistan could take easily, said Saran while referring to Pakistans claims that it was doing all it could to fight terrorism. Officials, however, brushed aside reports that India had given a non-paper to Pakistan, envisaging the return of Jammu and Kashmir to its pre-1953 status, which granted it autonomy in most subjects.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Manmohan Singh is a far too genteel soul to deal with Perv.
Posted by: john ||
08/11/2006 15:56 Comments ||
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They say that all their red-lines were met: no return to the status quo; Israeli security situation is improved; Lebanese government is strengthened. They say they are quite pleased with the resolution.
The resolution clearly puts the blame for the war on Hezbollah. Some other drafts didn't.
It calls for a cessation of hostilities, which is not the same as a ceasefire. It means Hezbollah is to stop rocketing Israel, and Israel will stop its offensive operations. But Israel can maintain its forces in Lebanon.
A very robust international force will move in as the Israelis withdraw. French efforts to have Israel withdraw first, creating a vacuum that could be filled by Hezbollah, have been beaten back. Israel will withdraw in parallel with the deployment of the international force.
From Israel's perspective, it gets its major goal of ousting Hezbollah from the south from this resolution, if the international force works.
Over the last four weeks Israel has managed to do serious damage to Hezbollah, and has re-established its deterrence.
Israel has always wanted the Lebanese army in the South, and that will happen with this resolution too.
Israel supports this resolution, although there has been a lively debate over it. It gets them what they want.
Israel never told the administration not to get a resolution so it could proceed with its offensive. Israel wanted a resolution, so long as it meet its standards.
The ballyhooed Israeli ground offensive helped the administration get a better resolution. And if the process had fallen apart today, Israel was in position to follow through with its offensive.
The resolution describes the international force in outline. It will still be called UNIFIL, but will be different from UNIFIL, more robust. The resolution describes the mandate and size of the force. The force will be up to 15,000. The rules of engagement will be robust.
There won't be a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal until the international force is deployed, creating an incentive for it actually to happen and happen quickly.
There is an issue with the time difference in Beijing with the Chinese delegation getting its instructions, but the resolution should pass tonight.
This is all from one source, so take it with a grain of salt and none of the characterizations here represent my views, but the views of the source.
It remains to be seen if Hezbollah goes along with this. I'm suspecting they won't because it would be seen as "caving in to the Zionists." If they breach the "cessation of hostilities," well, Hezbollah is defying the UN and Israel has a UN-approved hunting license.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2006 17:27 ||
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It's not a disaster, for this reason: The language of Paragraph 10, point 1, reads "Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations." This is not parallel language. Hezbollah must cease all attacks. Israel must only cease "offensive military operations." Since Israel itself defines its own action in South Lebanon as by definition defensive, not offensive, there's a lot of give here. Besides which, will Hezbollah really cease "all attacks"?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2006 17:39 Comments ||
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#2
and what about the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers? F^*king State Dept capitulation is what it is, no matter how you paint it
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2006 18:11 Comments ||
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#3
Israel has the momentum. This UN resolution throws that away. Hizb'allah will filter back south and round 2 will happen, only next time with a lot foreign troops in the mix.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 21:11 Comments ||
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#4
Also consider that while Iran's Radical Mullah's and Moud may be Muslim, Shia, andor anti-Israel, IMO they are not for the "status quo" of State-specific sovereignty or local Nationalism for Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and any other ME nation, Muslim or otherwise. Dubya & Admin do have a legit stake in isolating and containing Radical Iranian ambitions for regional and global empire.
The main points of a resolution to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have been agreed to by the U.S. and France, diplomatic sources said Thursday. John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said council members hope to vote Friday on the resolution, but "we're not there yet."
Under the plan, the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon will deploy to southern Lebanon in parallel with an Israeli withdrawal, the sources said, adding that Hezbollah forces will move north. The timing of the UNIFIL deployment had been a key sticking point in negotiations. Parts of the plan still need to be worked out, the sources said, and the various governments involved need to agree on it. ...
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Looks like the Lebanese government isn't gonna go for it because the Joos aren't moving out of southern Leb fast enough. The Ruskies have their own proposal calling for a 72-hour Hezbo rearming period humanitarian period.
And then the Frenchies have their "own" separate proposal in case the US-French proposal falls.
With any luck, no agreement and the push to Beirut and beyond commences.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/11/2006 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
"U.S., France agree on peace plan"
That's nice, but since it's the Israelis and SyriaIran the Lebanese Hizzie-nuts who are actually fighting....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/11/2006 0:32 Comments ||
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#3
Looks like the UN (France and USA) have caved in on disarming Hizbollocks, which means another war not too far in the future, and in the interim much crowing by HB that they beat the Jooos. Dam and double dam.
#4
Right, the "peace plans" will come and go. Not worried about that. Olmert and Peretz, a different story. They may say tomorrow "go ahead" and 12 hours later, say "prrrrr". F~<&!^@ schlemiels!
With leaders like that, who needs enemies?
No, am not Jewish, but Israel is on the very important front line of Western Civilization.
I simply draw parallels, since I was born in a small country that was called Czechoslovakia and don't like to see the history stutter.
#5
I know exactly zip about Israeli politix. Are 'no confidence' votes possible? If so, I should think Netanyahu is working overtime on forcing one at this very moment.
#8
Sorry not blaming Condi on this one, if Olmert does not want to fight the US is just taking the other route and salvaging what we can. Israel had its shot and it's leadership let them down.
#9
I'll play the bad guy... Diplomacy is a game. Condi is serving at the pleasure of the President. You don't like Condi? Then you don't like how Bush plays the diplomacy game. She is the designated "nice doggie" who talks the quadruple-speak of diplomacy. What will this actually mean, in reality? Honestly, none of us here know, though I'm sure a few can accurately guess what will play out.
The failure of nerve implied and cursed so far in this thread may be real - or it may not be. If it is, and there are soooo many ways it can become yet another irrelevant UN resolution to add to the dung-heap of UN "accomplishments", it is shared by many - but most specifically Israel (Olmert) who held the high ground and had the clear opportunity, strong support, and right to aggressively pursue a military "solution". Speed was key. What we saw was irresolute and ambivalent and chaotic.
Personally, if this does play out to be another idiotic stalemate, leaving both the farce of international diplomacy intact and the threat of Hezbollah to attack again at a time of their choosing, then I most regret the lost opportunity to drag Syria and Iran out into the open for direct reprisal -- and regime change -- with the US doing the heavy lifting. It was there, just a few steps further down the road.
#12
"UNIFIL deployment had been a key sticking point"
What abooot the original sticking point? The kidnapped soldiers!! If this deal goes through, without the soldiers being returned, then Olmert is a traitor to his people. Then again, you get what you vote for.
As much as we like to blame Condi, (especially me) and as I take a 50,000 ft view, Israelis must realize that they are over the 18yrs of age and need to start taking care of themselves. If kids want respect from their parents, then they need take some responsibility for themselves. This current Israeli leadership comes crying to daddy USA and mommy UN every time they get in a hole. After receiving the rope to get out of the hole, they want someone to pull them up, too.
Grow some nuts and get with the program, people! Enough, with the victim card nonsense. Frankly, its getting old and tired.
#15
So far I think this is another case of GWB stringing a poker hand out until he sees enough of the cards. Will the Israelis really fight hard? Will the Hezbies break and run? Will the Russians and Chinese veto any resolution that leaves the Israelis in southern Lebanon?
I think GWB hasn't seen enough cards to call. The peace plan is just another way to say, "I'll take two ..." and wait to see what happens. For sure, even if this 'plan' were to be approved tomorrow by the UNSC (hah), it would take weeks to be implemented. Let's see what develops.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2006 9:50 Comments ||
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#16
Nice analogy SW. I agree GWB is not ready to fold yet.
#17
"I know exactly zip about Israeli politix. Are 'no confidence' votes possible? If so, I should think Netanyahu is working overtime on forcing one at this very moment"
Yes no confidence votes are possible. A no confidence vote with the war still underway is inconceivable in Israel, however.
After the war Likud will probably submit a no confidence resolution. What happens is unclear. Peretz and Labour will maneuver to get Olmert out, but wont want Bibi in power. Some Kadimaniks, like Lipni, will want Olmert out, but, having taken a more dovish line, wont support either Bibi OR Peretz. Peres and Ramon will stand ideologically WITH Olmert, although they may maneuver for personal power. And its quite possible when all is investigated, that Olmert wont look that bad, making the best of a bad situation.
I doubt Bibi will take power short of a new election, even if Kadima splinters, I dont think the votes are there. If theres a new election all bets are off.
#18
"I think GWB hasn't seen enough cards to call. The peace plan is just another way to say, "I'll take two ..." and wait to see what happens. For sure, even if this 'plan' were to be approved tomorrow by the UNSC (hah), it would take weeks to be implemented. Let's see what develops."
I would agree that whatever plan is passed, thats not the end of the game, its just setting up for the next round (of political maneuvering, and maybe war)
#19
Israeli fumbling has limited US options. What else could Bush/Rice/Bolton done than what they've done so far?
Israel has huge problems. Their enemy vastly outnumbers them, is currently emboldened by petrodollars, is too zealous and crazed to be deterred by their numerous defeats, and has a demographic bulge of young, underemployed males.
So Israel, hampered by being a civilized country, lurches from attempting to quell the danger by strong military action to attempting to do it by withdrawals and peace talks.
The mood in Israel at the time of the last election was to try the withdrawal method, not only putting in Olmert, but giving more votes than expected to Peretz's Labor. In effect, Israel voted for the kind of fumbling and putting PR before military necessity it experienced. Although the eventual upshot may be a call for Olmert's head (though not literally as in Islam), the Israeli public has itself to blame for voting for a government of wishful thinkers. My sympathy is with them because they just want to live sane, normal lives, but unfortunately, they are not in a sane, normal neighborhood.
#20
It would be too easy to infer that Bush and Condi and Ohmert actually see something bigger coming down the road and are avoiding the impulse to tie down any additional IDF forces in southern Lebanon.
But that would mean some sort of largescale activity from the other side that indicates a prelude to other things. Syria and Iran do not appear to be mobilizing.
So either the IDF is not ready or Ohmert has wobbled, and Bush or Condi seek peace in our time.It boggles the mind that a Lieberman primary loss would push GW to the left of Kerry.
"Ari, Ari, wake up! Ohmert's in a coma!"
Posted by: john ||
08/11/2006 10:54 Comments ||
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#21
The more I think about this, Ohmert has decided he does not want to destroy Hezbollah. He expects the UN to stop the missiles.
Bush and Condi are just trying to put a fallback plan in place to save Israel. If Ohmert really wanted to deal with the issue, I bet that Bush would him, and Condi would provide diplomatic cover for whatever the IDF did.
Posted by: john ||
08/11/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#22
"Israel voted for the kind of fumbling and putting PR before military necessity it experienced. Although the eventual upshot may be a call for Olmert's head (though not literally as in Islam), the Israeli public has itself to blame for voting for a government of wishful thinkers. My sympathy is with them because they just want to live sane, normal lives, but unfortunately, they are not in a sane, normal neighborhood."
Unfortunately for Israel PR is part of strategic necessity.
Also, whatever happens in Lebanon, theres no good strategy on offer involving staying IN the West Bank.
#23
The muslim nazis will push it too far and Israel will do what is necessary and prevail. But not will the present leadership or the familiar names passed around.
#24
LH, I agree with you that "unfortunately for Israel PR is part of strategic necessity." But other factors are part of strategic necessity as well. The reported unused IDF battle plan, if true, seemed to make strategic sense. A strike on the Hizbollah command facility in Beruit before they went underground with a chance of getting Nasrullah and then landings and paratroop drops north of Hizbollah strongholds with the idea of cutting them off. The slower method actually used doesn't actually win over world public opinion or governments in France, Russia, etc. In fact opposition to Israel can be depended on to rise the longer a conflict lasts.
In regard to the West Bank -- Israel withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza and was rewarded with missile fire from Lebanon and Gaza. Israel didn't withdraw from the West Bank and, guess what, no missiles from there.
#26
and again, Odys, afaict Olmert really believed, based on the intell available to him, that his method would NOT take that long, and so it wasnt worth the added risks of the more aggressive approach.
I dont think its possible to tell from here what intell was available to Olmert, or what the basis for his strategic decisions was.
Im not saying his position looks good, but I would await the inevitable post-war commision.
#27
Israel is cranking up the ground offensive to full tilt according to an AP alert just sent in. Looks like we'll find out what the IDF can do when it really tries.
#28
I think thats being done to put pressure on the UNSC to ignore Arab quibbles and to pass the US-French resolution. If a ceasefire passes, and they attack anyway, I for one will be surprised.
#31
Condi, like Colin Powell before her, is the institutional advocate for diplomacy in the U.S. government. It's her job to do the diplomacy dance. She's doing her job.
This administration has a standard offensive play that it's used twice, and appears to be using again: make 'em an offer they can't accept.
2001: The US demands that the Taliban turn over all al-Q in Afghanistan, or else. The Taliban refuse, as they must, since Binny won't go quietly--which is no shock, because the terms of the offer were specifically designed to be unacceptable. US goes in, Talibunnies get stomped, one of the world's worst tyrranies is reduced to an ineffectual insurgency.
2003: The US demands that Saddam leave power as a condition of leaving him alive. Saddam refuses, of course--no tyrant ever renounces the throne while breathing. As expected, the US invades, Saddam is out of power, yanked from his spider hole, and faces a date with the noose. Iraq is still a work in progress, but there's no gainsaying that one of the world's worst tyrranies has been put out of business.
It looks to me like we're seeing the same play here. Whatever the ceasefire offer might be, it will be deliberately designed to be unacceptable to Hezbollah, or to the French, or to one of the other permanent members of the UNSC--and it will, therefore, fail.
As planned.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2006 14:24 Comments ||
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#32
UAn uacceptable offer to Hezb'Allah or to Israel?
#33
It won't be unacceptable to France 'cause they helped write. If France likes it, Hez-B likes it. That leaves Olmert. He's already played his hand. He's done. He accepts as well. Game over. Someone please, tell me I'm wrong.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/11/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#34
"It won't be unacceptable to France 'cause they helped write. If France likes it, Hez-B likes it"
Thats simply not the case.
Note - its also possible Hezb wont like it, will accept it anyway, then proceed to subvert it on the ground. Thats where things become problematic.
#35
Good point LH...yet the end result is the same and that's truly to their liking. Heard in another thread that IDF is moving in...hope that's the case and I hope it sticks.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/11/2006 16:43 Comments ||
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#36
Now Fox is saying Olmert is agreeing to the "deal", and tanks that rolled north an hour ago have turned around... WTF is going down, and how can this be a win-win for anybody I am pulling for?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2006 17:36 Comments ||
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#38
It's a huge win for Hez-B and the Mullahs - a horrendous defeat for the West. Make no mistake...this is a major defeat.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/11/2006 19:01 Comments ||
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#39
It's an invitation to Osama and his friends to gloat over the weakness of Israel and the USA.
And to prepare the next attacks.
Israel is doomed. We've just seen the world take a giant step towards a nuclear war. We could have destroyed Syria and Iran now -- instead hundreds of millions will die in the next few years.
Posted by: Kalle ||
08/11/2006 20:07 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - Israel launched an expanded ground offensive into southern Lebanon on Friday as U.N. diplomats worked furiously on a cease-fire deal to deploy 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to bring an end the monthlong conflict with Hezbollah.
Israel expressed dissatisfaction over an initial cease-fire plan, saying it failed to meet its basic requirements, such as stationing robust international combat troops in southern Lebanon once Israel withdraws. But after France and the U.S. reached a deal on a revised draft resolution, Israel indicated it may accept the new arrangement and call off its offensive. The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote on the text later Friday.
The draft Security Council resolution circulated Friday would authorize the deployment of the 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon to support the Lebanese army's deployment to the region "as Israel withdraws."
No mention which countries will be supplying the troops, huh? The French will of course run the mission and logistical HQ from Cyprus.
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, would ask the U.N. force to monitor a full cessation of hostilities and help Lebanese forces gain full control over an area that has previously been under de facto control of Hezbollah militias.
The text of the draft says the force's mandate would include several elements: monitoring the cessation of hostilities, accompanying Lebanese troops as they deploy and as Israel withdraws, and ensuring humanitarian access to the area.
About 2,000 useless U.N. troops and observers are now stationed in Lebanon, as they have been since 1978. The draft would authorize an increase to a total of 15,000 troops.
If they're of the same quality and have the same mission as UNIFIL, the Israelis might as well keep on fighting.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was reviewing the draft, and an individual close to the government, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said there was a good chance Israel would accept it.
Britains U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said the resolution would give a U.N. force in Lebanon an enhanced mandate to help coordinate the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops. But it would ultimately be deployed under Chapter 6 of the U.N. Charter which Israel has previously opposed. That decision was a key concession to Lebanon and Hezbollah. Israel wanted the force deployed under the Charters Chapter 7, which would give the troops more robust rules of engagement. Youll find that the mandate for the force is very robust, Jones-Parry said.
Just another UNIFIL.
Although the government of Lebanon will have gained a certain amount in the changes that weve made, its also the case that Israel has had concerns and no one has wanted to lose Israel from that equation, he said.
The two sides sent the new text to the governments of Israel and Lebanon, but a French diplomat said the vote would go ahead whatever the response.
Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, two American officials said Thursday.
The request for M-26 artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is likely to be approved shortly, along with other arms, a senior official said.
But some State Department officials have sought to delay the approval because of concerns over the likelihood of civilian casualties, and the diplomatic repercussions. The rockets, while they would be very effective against hidden missile launchers, officials say, are fired by the dozen and could be expected to cause civilian casualties if used against targets in populated areas.
Ohfergawdsakes. The solution is for the civilians to get out of the way. It's not like they can't see what's happening around them. I rather suspect (I'm cynical) that the civilians that are still within spitting distance of a Grad launcher a) are there because they're Hezbie workers/supporters or b) are human shields. Harming them is regrettable but can't be allowed to stop taking out the launchers.
Israel is asking for the rockets now because it has been unable to suppress Hezbollah's Katyusha rocket attacks in the month-old conflict by using bombs dropped from aircraft and other types of artillery, the officials said. The Katyusha rockets have killed dozens of civilians in Israel.
The United States had approved the sale of M-26's to Israel some time ago, but the weapons had not yet been delivered when the crisis in Lebanon erupted. If the shipment is approved, Israel may be told that it must be especially careful about firing the rockets into populated areas, the senior official said.
"Careful with that, Ari! You almost took out a baby duck!"
"Sorry, Sarge, but I was aiming away from the puppies!"
Israel has long told American officials that it wanted M-26 rockets for use against conventional armies in case Israel was invaded, one of the American officials said. But after being pressed in recent days on what they intended to use the weapons for, Israeli officials disclosed that they planned to use them against rocket sites in Lebanon. It was this prospect that raised the intense concerns over civilian casualties.
During much of the 1980's, the United States maintained a moratorium on selling cluster munitions to Israel, following disclosures that Paleostinian human shields civilians in Lebanon had been killed with the weapons during the 1982 Israeli invasion. But the moratorium was lifted late in the Reagan administration, and since then, the United States has sold Israel some types of cluster munitions, the senior official said.
Officials would discuss the issue only on the condition of anonymity, as the debate over what to do is not resolved and is freighted with implications for the difficult diplomacy that is under way.
State Department officials "are discussing whether or not there needs to be a block on this sale because of the past history and because of the current circumstances," said the senior official, adding that it was likely that Israel will get the rockets, but will be told to be "be careful."
"Hokay, lissen up: the pointy end goes towards the Hezbies. Now be careful!"
"Yes ma'm, Madam Secretary!"
David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, declined to comment on Israel's request. He said, though, that "as a rule, we obviously don't fire into populated areas, with the exception of the use of precision-guided munitions against terrorist targets." In such cases, Israel has dropped leaflets warning of impending attacks to avoid civilian casualties, he said.
In the case of cluster munitions, including the Multiple Launch Rocket System, which fires the M-26, the Israeli military only fires into open terrain where rocket launchers or other military targets are found, to avoid killing civilians, an Israeli official said.
While Bush administration officials have criticized Israeli strikes that have caused civilian casualties, they have also backed the offensive against Hezbollah by rushing arms shipments to the region. Last month the administration approved a shipment of precision-guided munitions, which one senior official said this week included at least 25 of the 5,000-pound "bunker-buster" bombs. Israel has recently asked for another shipment of precision-guided munitions, which is likely to be approved, the senior official said.
Last month, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said its researchers had uncovered evidence that Israel had fired cluster munitions on July 19 at the Lebanese village of Bilda, which the group said had killed one civilian and wounded at least 12 others, including 7 children. The group said it had interviewed survivors of the attack, who described incoming artillery shells dispensing hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village. Human Rights Watch also released photographs, taken recently by its researchers in northern Israel, of what it said were American-supplied artillery shells that had markings showing they carried cluster munitions.
We can always depend on HRW decry something that makes either America or Israel look bad. This is a two-fer for them.
Mr. Siegel, the Israeli Embassy spokesman, denied that cluster munitions had been used on the village.
The United States Army also employs the M-26 rocket and the Multiple Launch Rocket System in combat, and the Pentagon has sold the weapon to numerous other allies, in addition to Israel. The system is especially effective at attacking enemy artillery sites, military experts say, because the rockets can be quickly targeted against a defined geographic area. Each rocket contains 644 submunitions that kill enemy soldiers operating artillery in the area.
But Human Rights Watch and other groups have campaigned for the elimination of cluster munitions, noting that even if civilians are not present when the weapons is used, some submunitions that do not detonate on impact can later injure or kill civilians.
War is a bitch, guys, but you don't fight it with both arms tied behind you.
The M-26 "is a particularly deadly weapon," Bonnie Docherty, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, who helped write a study of the United States' use of the weapons in the 2003 Iraq invasion. "They were used widely by U.S. forces in Iraq and caused hundreds of civilian casualties."
Unfortunate, but we can't let an opposition artillery unit shell our people. That's just not going to happen. These weapons were created for a reason. We don 't want, and the Israelis don't want, to kill civilians. Note that Hezbollah has no similar qualms.
After the Reagan administration determined in 1982 that the cluster munitions had been used by Israel against civilian areas, the delivery of the artillery shells containing the munitions to Israel was suspended. Israel was found to have violated a 1976 agreement with the United States in which it had agreed only to use cluster munitions against Arab armies and against clearly defined military targets. The moratorium on selling Israel cluster weapons was later lifted by the Reagan administration.
This week, State Department officials were studying records of what happened in 1982 as part of their internal deliberations into whether to grant approval for the sale to go forward.
#3
I doubt the military benefit outweighs the PR cost. I'd have to agree with State based on the limited information here. State itseld is like a slow clock. it can be correct.
#4
I'd have to agree with State based on the limited information here. State itseld is like a slow clock. it can be correct.
A 1 in 1,440 probability.
I hope Bush ignores them and sends those M-26's out today.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
08/11/2006 12:06 Comments ||
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#5
The military benefit is obvious. Suppress the AT fire and kill the gunners. Israel (and the USA) need to decide whether or not we want to win and destroy Hisbullah - or not. If IDF uses the the weapons, the world will hate us. If IDF doesn't use the weapons, the world will hate us. The down-side is? Looks like zero PR cost to me.
I believe the DoS is working for the other side. I am disappointed that Condi did not clean house. As far as I'm concerned, burn Langley and Foggy Bottom to the ground and start over.
#6
This story sounds fishy. Israel already has the MLRS and cluster bomb rockets were it's main armament. It makes little sense that the US would have provided only the unitary warhead since it would have been less useful than artillery w/o the GPS guidance kit (new).
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 12:11 Comments ||
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#7
NS: I doubt the military benefit outweighs the PR cost.
The military benefit is that less Israelis get killed. The PR cost is that Arabs, who claim that Israelis are using chemical weapons against the Lebanese, will now add cluster bombs to their list. I really don't see much downside - from the Israeli viewpoint.
#9
Phuech the piano music. If Richard Armitage were Secretary of State you'd find him down at Tobyhanna Army Depot with his sleeves rolled up and a good sweat on, assisting the load masters palletize M-26 crates.
#12
Israel is fighting our enemy currently. I believe that the DoS is working for our enemies: Tranzi Progs, Socialists, the Phrench, The Soodies, the BDS Dhimmiecrats. . .
#13
The State Department need a cleaning from top to bottom. We all know this. We are in a war we need to arm our sometimes allies with the weapons they need to win. The State Department is not helping us fight the war in a fashion that assures victory for US or our sometimes allies.
Find the cabal responsible for this and fire, demote or harass them until they quit.
#15
One week Rice and Bolton are the next best thing to sliced bread and happy-hour and the next week they are subversive elements that deserve nothing less then a tortuous death. And todays reason is because the US is reluctant to give (not sell) Israel cluster munitions in a conflict that involves guerilla warfare in civilian population centers. Damn, this is a tough crowd.
#17
Bolton and Condi serve at the pleasure of the President. They follow orders. Many of the rest of the DoS apparatchiks do not.
And todays reason is because the US is reluctant to give (not sell) Israel cluster munitions in a conflict that involves guerilla warfare in civilian population centers. Damn, this is a tough crowd.
"civilian" is a relative term. Hisbullah is not uniformed and could be called civilian. I doubt that many of the "civilians" south of the Litani are innocent. Human shield tactics will end up killing us all.
#18
STATE can delay anything they want. As long as the missiles get there by the time Netanyahu is in charge. They are unlikely to be used until he is in charge anyway. Olmert is history. My take is that the US did not want to get out in front Israel in protecting Israel.
I await part 2 of this fighting, when Israel has a real leader again.
#19
D: And todays reason is because the US is reluctant to give (not sell) Israel cluster munitions in a conflict that involves guerilla warfare in civilian population centers.
The US is selling these munitions to the Israelis. They have a fixed amount of military aid alloted to them, and they can buy whatever they want with it. Western Europe never "bought" the munitions or the 400,000 lives we expended rescuing them from a choice between Nazi or Soviet domination, but that's what that war cost us. Note that we've never had to come directly to Israel's defense, unlike in Western Europe, where we lost another 100,000 men in WWI.
#20
D: And todays reason is because the US is reluctant to give (not sell) Israel cluster munitions in a conflict that involves guerilla warfare in civilian population centers.
I think you've also got to realize that a guerrilla force that uses civilians as human shields is a legitimate military target for cluster bombs, especially after the civilians have been told ahead of time to clear out of the regions in which fighting is about to happen. This is pretty standard issue - the lives of military men are worth no less than the lives of civilians.
Defying a police veto, a group of 200 gay pride activists held a silent protest vigil in a central Jerusalem park on Thursday, after their long-planned international city parade was canceled due to the war in Lebanon. The heavily guarded demonstration, which was ignored by the city's haredi community, was allowed to take place after organizers adhered to the police conditions for the gathering, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.
'We believe that the holiness of Jerusalem is increased by this city being the center of tolerance and coexistence,' said Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen...
The evening event in the city's Liberty Bell Park was marred after a group of far-left anarchists joined the gathering and began waving placards against the war in Lebanon and shouting slogans against the IDF. Police forcibly prevented them from approaching the sidewalk on the edge of the park, and detained a protester who unfurled a PLO flag on the scene.
The low-key event, which was one-fifth the size organizers had planned, came near the culmination of six-day World Pride Event in Jerusalem, which was overshadowed by the war in Lebanon and the police decision to bar their planned parade through the streets of Jerusalem. A huge red banner at the protest read "Jerusalem is for all," while rainbow-colored placards included such slogans as "The Path to God is not always straight" and "Senseless hatred."
'At a time when Jewish blood is being spilt in Lebanon, all that these self-indulgent narcissistic selfish perverted people can think about is engaging in sodomy,' said New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin...
"We believe that the holiness of Jerusalem is increased by this city being the center of tolerance and coexistence," said Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, 32, who lead a delegation from New York City's Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, which is the world's largest gay and lesbian synagogue. Cohen added that organizers of the event understood that the tone had to be "appropriate" during wartime when "the voices of tolerance and hope are all the more essential."
Some Israeli motorists shouted at the protesters to go to Lebanon and alternatively to relocate to Palestinian-ruled Gaza. "At a time when Jewish blood is being spilt in Lebanon, all that these self-indulgent narcissistic selfish perverted people can think about is engaging in sodomy," said New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin, of the Orthodox 'Rabbinical Alliance of America' and the 'Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the US and Canada' who has been spearheading an international campaign against the parade.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Round em up and send them to the front lines.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/11/2006 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
'At a time when Jewish blood is being spilt in Lebanon, all that these self-indulgent narcissistic selfish perverted people can think about is engaging in sodomy,' said New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin...
(Bloomberg) -- The Russian envoy to the United Nations Security Council said he is willing to table his proposal for a 72-hour cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah if a broader U.S.-French proposal goes to a vote. ``If it goes to a vote tonight, we are prepared to give it to the French and the Americans,'' Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said. Russia had said it would ask the Security Council to demand a 72-hour cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid into Lebanon, a proposal the U.S. said will hamper efforts to get agreement on a resolution to permanently end the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 13:56 ||
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...On August 12 at 7 am, we will gather in Martyrs Square to form a civilian convoy to the south of Lebanon. Hundreds of Lebanese and international civilians will carry relief as an expression of solidarity for the inhabitants of the heavily destroyed south who have been bravely withstanding the assault of the Israeli military.
After August 12th, the campaign will continue with a series of civil actions for which your presence and participation is needed. Working together in solidarity we will overcome the complacency, inaction, and complicity of the international community and we will deny Israel its goal of removing Lebanese from their land and destroying the fabric of our country...
#2
Does Israel have any A-10s? If not, do they wanna borrow a couple?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2006 0:16 Comments ||
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#3
Target-rich environment....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/11/2006 0:29 Comments ||
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#4
Hope springs eternal, tu3031. My e-mail to Adam Shapiro ...
Adam,
Here's hoping the biggest JDAM in the IAF arsenal finds you and all your islamofascist-loving pals huddled with Nasrallah and as many other Hez-vermin as possible. I'm sure there's an especially vile corner of Hades reserved for treasonous, self-loathing Jews like yourself, and I'm so looking forward to seeing you go there as soon as possible. Nobody deserves it more than you.
Oh, almost forgot ... a big "hello" from me to Rachel Corrie when you get there. Viva Caterpillar!
Sweet dreams!
Unfortunately, he'll probably make it no further than the bar of the Beirut Hilton.
#9
Oh the irony of it all. Moonbats on parade at the Martyr's square. It could only be better if it was on the anniversary of tianiman square! All we need now is Jesse Jackson and the show will be complete!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/11/2006 17:43 Comments ||
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#10
Isn't there an edict "Any moving vehicle WILL be destroyed"?
Self curing problem.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/11/2006 22:05 Comments ||
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Tehran, Iran, Aug. 10 Irans Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will travel to Istanbul on Friday to hold talks with Turkish officials on the crisis in Lebanon, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday. Mottaki will also discuss the events in Palestine, the report said.
Fridays trip will be Mottakis second visit to Turkey since he became Foreign Minister.
Mottaki has a chequered history in Turkey and was once expelled for his involvement in terrorism when he was the Islamic Republics ambassador to Ankara. Mottaki, 53, has been accused of involvement in a series of terrorist attacks in Turkey in the late 1980s, according to Iranian exiles and defectors from the theocratic regime. Turkish authorities had asked him to leave the country in 1989, when he was Irans ambassador in Ankara, after his role in several terrorist incidents in Turkey became known.
Mottaki was appointed Irans ambassador to Turkey in 1985 and it was during his tenure in Ankara that the Revolutionary Guard-turned-diplomat became involved in a number of terror attacks and assassinations of dissidents, according to Iranian opposition figures and defectors. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, at least 50 Iranian dissidents were kidnapped or assassinated in Turkey by Iranian secret agents often working closely with diplomats from Irans embassy and consulates.
On Mottakis watch, the Iranian embassy in Ankara and the consulate-general in Istanbul were turned into safe houses for agents of Irans notorious secret police hunting down Iranian dissidents, according to exiles.
Just the kind of guy you want as a foreign minister -- if you run a terror state.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"...according to Iranian exiles and defectors."
How about a name...no? Maybe an affilliation...not that either huh? Oh that's right this 'Iranfocus'...guess we'll just go with exiles and defectors then.
(KUNA) -- A ceasefire in Lebanon might be reached within hours, Israeli television cited political sources on Thursday. The sources said that the UN Security Council has been discussing the deployment of French forces with the Lebanese Army in Southern Lebanon in addition to granting international forces wider combat powers. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said that Israel would achieve big progress if a ceasefire was reached with the removal of Hezbollah from South Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported three Israeli soldiers were killed and several others injured in battles with Hezbollah in South Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I still maintain any international force that goes and tries to disarm Hizbollocks won't last till Christmas. It will be a bloody mess.
#4
Face it, we lost this one big time. Olmert will go down as another Chamberlain and will be held accountable. Israel is now a paper tiger and all of Islam has taken note. The next war - and it isn't far off - will be everyone's worst nightmare. And, despite seeing it from far off, we were still a party to it. Maybe this is how it had to be though 'cause in the end, who here really felt that anything short of wholesale torching was gonna convince these nutjobs. Hell....they want it - been begging for it. Well....soon enough.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/11/2006 1:26 Comments ||
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#5
Whimper or Bang?
Cake or Death?
SOSDD.
Another pointless round in the endless M.E. "game", another opportunity lost.
(Xinhua) -- Iran will continue its nuclear work "to the maximum scope" within the non-proliferation regime, but will give a reply to an international nuclear offer by Aug. 22 as announced, Iran's ambassador to Russia said on Thursday. Tehran views as "unlawful" the latest UN Security Council resolution on Iran, which urges the country to stop uranium enrichment by Aug. 31, Gholamreza Ansari said, quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency. "Therefore we don't recognize the demand that we suspend uranium enrichment in view of absence of violations on our part," Ansari said. But Tehran will give an answer by Aug. 22 to the international proposal on its nuclear program, he added.
To lure Tehran to the suspension of uranium enrichment, Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany offered an international package in mid-June offering incentives and multilateral talks to Iran. "Iran intends to continue work in the nuclear field to the maximum scope in accordance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Ansari said. "We are resolved to continue our activity within the framework of IAEA rules," the diplomat said, referring to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course. Anyone who might entertain even the most fleeting thought otherwise is a diplomat or journalist, er sorry, a fool... but I repeat myself.
#2
So far many on the Net see either a Commie-style, Cold War-era anti-US/West classic dual warning that Iran is now a nuclear power thanx to its Radical leaders, as opposed to a WMD attack on a US-Israeli city(s)[Tel Aviv?]. It makes no sense for the Terror Groups + Moud to proclaim to liberate Jerusalem only to destroy same via WMD attack.
THEY lived on quiet English streets. Neighbours invariably described them as polite, pleasant and respectable. But from unremarkable houses in East London, a leafy town in Buckinghamshire and Birmingham, 24 young British residents, mostly of Pakistani background, were arrested early on Thursday after being under MI5 surveillance for more than a year.
The Muslim-convert son of a Conservative Party staffer, a young woman with a six-month-old baby and two brothers, both married and living in a semidetached house with their wives and parents, were among those detained.
It was in the aftermath of the London Underground bombings in July last year that attention was drawn to the group when a member of the Muslim community became suspicious about an acquaintance's behaviour.
MI5 started an investigation and, as the evidence mounted, it became clear something big was being planned. Intelligence officers placed bugs and phone taps in the homes of some young men and began listening carefully. The plot they discovered being hatched in these quiet streets was described by one senior security source as "bigger than 9/11". They wanted to bring down up to 12 American aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean, each carrying a maximum of 400 passengers. Some sources believe the plan was being timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001.
Last December, MI5 called in the British police to mount an even larger surveillance operation. Officers and agents began watching the alleged plotters and following them. They found out who they spoke to and what meetings they attended. Their spending habits and bank accounts were tracked by a special anti-terrorism unit that discovered some of the alleged plotters had access to unusually large amounts of money, well out of keeping with their incomes.
The network was large: US officials believe there were three cells of terrorists, involving up to 50 people. They were organised centrally and may not have been aware of the activities of their co-plotters.
But in recent days, one thing became clear to authorities: the intensity of their activities were increasing and an attack was, if not imminent, then in the final stages of preparation.
After two Britons of Pakistani descent were arrested in Pakistan nearly two weeks ago, some British Government sources believe a message was sent to the suspected terrorists in Britain, saying: "Do your attacks now." Rest of 3 page article at link.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 18:51 ||
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THE capture of a British national in Pakistan was the trigger for the arrests of 24 men suspected of plotting to blow up transatlantic airliners.
Government sources indicated to The Times that the apprehension of Rashid Rauf was the key event that forced British police to raid addresses in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe. One of those arrested in Birmingham was Raufs brother, Tayib, 21. Police brought the raids forward because they were concerned that the alleged plotters would realise they were under surveillance once they lost contact with a central figure in their plans, and either go into hiding or carry out an attack.
In a separate development, Scotland Yard is investigating possible links between the men arrested on Thursday and other British terrorists, including the July 7 bombers. They are concerned that some of those now in custody visited Pakistan last year at the same time as two of the London bombers. Pakistani intelligence sources are examining whether any of those arrested on Thursday attended the same madrassa, or religious school, as the 7/7 bombers..
Searches after Thursdays arrests had uncovered material which could be used in bomb making, The Times was told by security sources last night.
Rashid Rauf left Britain in 2002 after the murder of his uncle Mohammed Saeed, 54, who was stabbed to death in Birmingham in April of that year. Pakistani officials said that Rauf had forged links with militant groups and received explosives training at an al-Qaeda camp. The Foreign Ministry said: A key person arrested is British national Rashid Rauf.
West Midlands Police said that the home of the Rauf family, at St Margarets Road in Birmingham Ward End, had been searched in 2002 in connection with the Saeed murder inquiry. Rashid Rauf has not been arrested or charged with his uncles murder.
The Pakistani authorities have made several more arrests which they said were directly connected to the airline plot. They said that one was a British national.
Another of those detained is understood to be Matiur Rehman, Big news. Purported mastermind and keeper of the al Qaeda personnel book 29, previously identified by Pakistani intelligence as a senior al-Qaeda operative and linked to an assassination attempt on President Musharraf. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry added: There are indications of an Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda connection.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, has thanked the Pakistani Government for its assistance. He said the threat level would remain at critical.
Police have been granted an extension until August 16 to question the suspects. They can in theory hold them for 28 days before charging or releasing them. One person has been released without charge.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 18:36 ||
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· Key suspect seized on Afghan border
· Arrested men attended Islamic camps
· Martyrdom tapes found during searches
· Tip-off came from Muslim informer
A brother of one of the 24 suspects seized by detectives investigating a plot to bomb up to 12 planes was seized in Pakistan shortly before police launched their raids, it emerged tonight. The arrest of Rashid Rauf in the border area with Afghanistan was a trigger that led anti-terrorist investigators to start an immediate pre-emptive operation with officers fearing that the alleged cells were ready to strike.
Pakistani officials claimed tonight that Mr Rauf had links with al-Qaida. "We arrested him from the border area and on his disclosure we shared the information with British authorities, which led to further arrests in Britain," said the interior minister, Aftab Khan Sherpao. The foreign minister, Khursheed Kasuri, said Mr Rauf had been monitored for some time before his arrest.
Mr Rauf's uncle was murdered in Birmingham in April 2002 and as part of the murder hunt it is understood that Mr Rauf's home in St Margaret's Road in the city was searched. The arrest of Mr Rauf in Pakistan was one of seven made by Pakistani authorities in recent days, and is understood to have included one other Briton. Mr Rauf's two brothers were arrested in Birmingham yesterday as part of the raids.
It also emerged today that at least one of the suspects arrested in Walthamstow, east London, regularly attended Islamic camps run by Tablighi Jamaat, an organisation which the Americans believe has been used as a recruiting ground for al-Qaida. Martyrdom tapes and other significant items were discovered during the search of the 29 properties where arrests were made yesterday morning.
As it became clear that Pakistan played a pivotal role in the plot, and helped in its unmasking, British counter-terrorism officials said several of the Britons involved had visited the country two months ago, before returning to the UK.
British intelligence sources say the original tip-off about the alleged plot came more than a year ago from an informant in the UK. The informant is believed to have come from the Muslim community.
A combination of Mr Rauf's arrest, at least one intercepted message from Pakistan to Britain, and an alert from an informant here, led to yesterday's arrests, according to British security sources.
More details about the backgrounds of the 24 arrested suspects emerged today. Three were Muslim converts. The youngest was 17 and the oldest 35. Among those arrested was the wife of one of the suspects, detained with her young baby. It is likely that in the next few days a handful of those arrested will be released having been caught up in the sweep inadvertently. It is understood that the 19 names released by the Bank of England as subject to asset freezes are the core suspects.
Although some had visited Pakistan, a senior security official said: "The plot was constructed in the UK, targeted in the UK, based in the UK, and foiled in the UK". But it is not clear when the attack was to take place. None of the alleged plotters had yet bought airline tickets, according to anti-terrorist sources.
The Guardian has learned that US and British counter-terrorism officials believe that the liquid chemical the alleged plotters were planning to use to crash the planes was the peroxide based TATP.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 18:24 ||
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Pakistani officials tell ABC News a new terrorist plan to attack the United States and Europe is being organized by a shadowy Pakistani, who is the keeper of the log of recruits who attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Pakistani police and military officials identify the man as Matiur Rehman, whose role as al Qaeda's planning director was first revealed by ABCNews.com earlier this year.
U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News Rehman is now the "leading suspect" in the attack earlier this year on the U.S. consulate in Karachi that killed a State Department Foreign Service officer, David Foy. Officials say the car bomb attack was planned by Rehman. The officials say Rehman was spotted within the last month in the slums of North Karachi but escaped capture. The Pakistani government has posted a reward of 10 million rupees for the capture of Rehman, who also uses the aliases "Akeel Khan" and "Sadamd Sial."
U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News there has been great concern since last March about a "Pakistani" network that could attempt multiple international attacks. Rehman, along with his deputy, another Pakistani named Qari Hassan, are believed to be keepers of the "Directory of Jihad," which officials say contains "thousands of names" of young militants who trained at al Qaeda camps and have since dispersed around the world. U.S. law enforcement officials confirm al Qaeda kept extensive recruitment records, many of which were recovered after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Rehman, now in his mid-30s, worked as an explosives instructor in the al Qaeda camps, according to Pakistani officials, who say he has been deeply involved in most of the major terror attacks in Pakistan in the last few years. Officials say they disrupted yet another Rehman plot last month to assassinate Pakistani President Musharaff at a summer festival.
Pakistan intelligence officials tell ABC News that Rehman moves between between Karachi, Waziristan and South Punjab, where he was born. He is in "constant communication" with al Qaeda's top leaders, according to the officials.
A former militant of the Pakistani terrorist groups Harakat ul Jihad ul Islami and Lashkar e Jhangvi, Rehman rose to prominence in the late 1990s by setting up elaborate networks in Pakistan through which he recruited young men to be trained in al Qaeda's camps.
Pakistani intelligence officials tell ABC News that between 10,000 and 50,000 militants received basic training in these camps, where the best recruits were directly "hired" by al Qaeda. The rest was used by Pakistan's most violent terrorist groups such as Lashkar e Jhangvi, Harakat ul Mujahideen and Jaish e Muhammad, either to fight in Kashmir or India, or conduct sectarian attacks within Pakistan.
U.S. officials say there is no information that any attack on the United States is imminent.
Posted by: ed ||
08/11/2006 07:09 ||
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#1
FOX NEWS & FRIENDS > in aftermath of yesterday's HEATHROW incident, the only choices for Americans is between Reagan-style PEACE THRU STRENGTH, versus Carter-style PEACE THRU APPEASEMENT/CONCESSIONS. * "OVER THERE",
versus "OVER HERE/IN OUR BACKYARDS-MAINSTREETS".
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday criticized the Bush administration for being too slow in helping to resolve the crisis in Lebanon. "The United States did not move sufficiently and quickly enough to contain the situation," Mubarak was quoted as saying by the state-run Middle East News Agency.
Australians could be committing a serious offense under Australian law if they fight for Hizbullah in Lebanon, the attorney-general warned Thursday. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock warned that traveling to a foreign country to fight under some circumstances is an offense under Australia's toughened counter-terrorism laws punishable by 25 years in prison. "The foreign incursion offense does not apply if a person is with armed forces of a government and that would mean it wouldn't apply in relation to Israel or Lebanese defense forces," Ruddock told Parliament. "However, Australians who engage in hostile activities with Hizbullah or the external security organization could well be committing an offense," he added.
The son of the last ruler of part of present-day Saudi Arabia said Tuesday he was setting up an opposition party in Paris to seek democratic rule in the oil-rich kingdom. "We announce the birth of the 'Saudi Democratic Opposition Front' which will struggle by peaceful means for the establishment of democracy in the country," said Prince Talal Mohammad al-Rashid, son of the last ruler of the independent Rashidi emirate which reigned in the northwestern region of Hail from 1835 to 1921. "The Al-Saud (family ruling Saudi Arabia) must either respect liberties and introduce democracy or give up the power they usurped," Prince Talal, who has been living in exile in France since 1980, told AFP..JPG)
(Reuters) - U.S. Muslim groups criticized President Bush on Thursday for calling a foiled plot to blow up airplanes part of a "war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions. 
PESHAWAR: Police arrested 24 activists of a banned religious organisation, Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariah Muhammade (TNSM), for setting TVs, CDs, and VCDs on fire during their campaign against obscenity and vulgarity in Manglawara and Charbagh. Interior Minster Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told reporters in Islamabad that the government would take stern action against people involved in the incident. He said that nobody could stop people from watching TV. 
NEW DELHI: 
Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, two American officials said Thursday.
Defying a police veto, a group of 200 gay pride activists held a silent protest vigil in a central Jerusalem park on Thursday, after their long-planned international city parade was canceled due to the war in Lebanon. The heavily guarded demonstration, which was ignored by the city's haredi community, was allowed to take place after organizers adhered to the police conditions for the gathering, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. 
(KUNA) -- A ceasefire in Lebanon might be reached within hours, Israeli television cited political sources on Thursday. The sources said that the UN Security Council has been discussing the deployment of French forces with the Lebanese Army in Southern Lebanon in addition to granting international forces wider combat powers. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said that Israel would achieve big progress if a ceasefire was reached with the removal of Hezbollah from South Lebanon.
(Xinhua) -- Iran will continue its nuclear work "to the maximum scope" within the non-proliferation regime, but will give a reply to an international nuclear offer by Aug. 22 as announced, Iran's ambassador to Russia said on Thursday. Tehran views as "unlawful" the latest UN Security Council resolution on Iran, which urges the country to stop uranium enrichment by Aug. 31, Gholamreza Ansari said, quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency. "Therefore we don't recognize the demand that we suspend uranium enrichment in view of absence of violations on our part," Ansari said. But Tehran will give an answer by Aug. 22 to the international proposal on its nuclear program, he added. 
