Thailand joined Japan in urging sincere cooperation on the issue of missing persons in North Korea, only to be met with silence from the Pyongyang representative at the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) meeting yesterday. Caretaker Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon called on Pyongyang to cooperate with other countries in addressing the disappearance of foreign nationals including those from Thailand and Japan. Anocha Panjoy from Chiang Mai was believed to be abducted by North Korea's spies in Macau 30 years ago. Mr Kantathi joined Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso during the ARF meeting in appealing for humanitarian assistance from North Korea to solve the problem.
However, North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun did not respond. ''He closed his eyes for most of the time at the meeting,'' Mr Kantathi said jokingly. Mr Paek only talked when ARF participants expressed concern over the Korean nuclear issue, saying that Pyongyang had a right to test its missiles. He emphasised that certain conditions must be met if the six-party talks were to restart. But involved parties, especially US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), urged that the talks should be held without pre-conditions, Mr Kantathi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Calling conditions in Iraq "an absolute replay of Vietnam," Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday that the Pentagon is making a mistake by beefing up American forces in Iraq. U.S. soldiers have become "easy targets" in a country that has descended into "absolute anarchy," the Nebraska Republican and Vietnam combat veteran said in an interview with The World-Herald.
Hagel previously has likened the war in Iraq to Vietnam, but Friday's comments drew a stronger connection. They followed a speech on the Middle East that Hagel delivered at the Brookings Institution.
#2
Hagel finished growing a long time ago. How he keeps getting re-elected is the mystery. A donk could probably run to his right and still be acceptable to Kos.
#4
Memo to Hagel: the number of Americans killed each year so far in Iraq is about the same as the number of Americans killed each year in recreational boating accidents.
If you can't grow a brain, you useless twit, at least grow a goddamn spine and quit bitching about "Vietnam"!
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/29/2006 15:22 Comments ||
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#5
DD: Memo to Hagel: the number of Americans killed each year so far in Iraq is about the same as the number of Americans killed each year in recreational boating accidents.
Actually, the total number of Americans killed in Iraq so far is also less than the number of Americans killed in a single day one sunny September morning. On 9/11.
#6
Yup. And the Iraq casualties each year are about the same as one week's worth of U.S. highway fatalities.
And roughly 2X the number of people who die in slip 'n fall accidents.
Yet useless idiots like Hagel feed the panic.
Someday, the cowardice and stupidity of people like Hagel is going to get one-- or several-- of our cities nuked.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/29/2006 16:12 Comments ||
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#7
"an absolute replay of Vietnam"
The media and the Dems are sure trying to make it so.
Big lie, etc....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/29/2006 16:46 Comments ||
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#8
"Justified" Motherly Communism, Totalitarianism, Dialecticism, Governmentism, OWG and Anti-SOvereignty, etc. = "STATUS QUO" FOR AMERICA = AMERIKA, FRRE AMERICA = UNITED SOCIALIST REPUBLICS ala OIL STORM. Move along, boyz, obviously no Global Communism-Socialism here - just becuz IRAN overtly-publicly proclaims to give support to anti-Israeli terror groups based in Lebanon doesn't mean they mean to hurt Israel, thus Israel is the cause and de facto raison d' etre of the "terror attacks" in its northern areas, becuz Israel is shelling and rocketing and suicidin' itself, killing and maiming its own citizens to deceive the world, like America on 9-11 to its own city!? IFF "MEGADISASTERS" ON HISTOY CHANNEL DOESN'T CONVINCE AMERICANS = AMERIKKANS, USA = USR = USSA OF THE NEED FOR OWG AND SOCIALISM, HYPER-REGULATION AND ANTI-SOVEREIGNTY, ETC. WHAT WILL, D*** IT??? HOW CAN AMERICA = AMERIKKA SAVE OR PRTECT OR DEFEND ITSELF WID OUT UNIVERSAL GOVT INTERVENTION - you know, the OWG Americans have to have, must to must, but without our leaders or the Demoleft having to explain why!? Just becuz America =Amerika is a representative democracy [for now]doesn't mean our elected leaders have to tell us = voters anything. GEEZ WHIZ, WHAT NEXT, NEXT THING YOU YOU KNOW POLS WILL BE DEMANDED TO KEEP THEIR ELEX ELECTION PROMISES-AGENDAS TO THE VOTERS. - THE HORROR, THE HORROR!
WASHINGTON, July 28 A federal grand jury has begun investigating the leak of classified information about intelligence programs to the press and has subpoenaed a former National Security Agency employee who claims to have witnessed illegal activity while working at the agency.
This is the on-going Russell Tice story, a sordid tale ...
The former employee, Russell D. Tice, 44, of Linthicum, Md., said two F.B.I. agents approached on Wednesday and handed him the subpoena, which requires him to testify next Wednesday before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va. The subpoena, which Mr. Tice made public on Friday, says the investigation covers possible violation of federal criminal laws involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. It specifically mentions the Espionage Act.
For months, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been looking into disclosures of secret intelligence operations, including The New York Timess reports in December about the N.S.A.s domestic surveillance program and The Washington Posts articles on the Central Intelligence Agencys overseas jails for terror suspects. But the subpoena is the first public confirmation that a grand jury has begun to hear evidence.
Good. Gov't employees who violate their security agreements need to be hauled into court.
The decision to compel testimony before a grand jury is an indication of the seriousness of the inquiry. The Eastern District of Virginia has often been chosen by the Justice Department for national security cases because the federal court there is generally thought to be favorable to the government.
Mr. Tice said in a telephone interview on Friday that he believed that the leak investigation and subpoena were designed to discourage lying scumbags who leak secrets whistle-blowers. I feel this is an intimidation tactic aimed at me and anyone whos considering dropping a dime on criminal activity by the government, he said.
A Justice Department official, who would discuss the confidential criminal investigation only on condition of anonymity, said that the leak inquiry was in a preliminary investigative phase and that no journalist had been subpoenaed. The official said federal agents had interviewed officials at several intelligence agencies about their contacts with reporters at The Times and other news organizations.
Mr. Tice was dismissed last year from his job as a space systems specialist at the N.S.A., the eavesdropping agency based at Fort Meade, Md., where he worked on top-secret satellite intelligence collection programs. In a 20-year career, he also worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency and in Air Force intelligence. By his account, his troubles began after he raised questions inside the agency about various N.S.A. activities. Eventually, Mr. Tice said, agency officials questioned his mental health and stripped him of the security clearance he needed for intelligence work.
He said that his mental health was perfect and that his dismissal was retaliation for his whistle-blowing. He said he was now doing housing construction work.
Mr. Tice said that he had discussed unclassified information about the security agency with reporters for The Times and other publications but that he had always been careful not to reveal classified information.
It's just about game, set and match for Mr. Tice. He admits to talking to Times reporters, he had access to secrets, and he was a trouble-maker. 2 + 2 + 2 = ...
He said he had described what he believed to be illegal security agency activities to Congressional staff members who had the necessary security clearances to receive the information. He declined to describe the activities, but he said he believed that they violated the Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs intelligence eavesdropping inside the United States.
So he talked with Congress and his superiors. I suspect he was told the equivalent of "okay, thanks, we'll take a look, now remember your oath and shaddup", and wasn't happy about it.
Mr. Tice gave the subpoena to the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, which posted it on its Web site. The group was formed last year by Sibel Edmonds, a former F.B.I. translator who lost a court fight challenging her 2002 dismissal after the government invoked the state-secrets privilege, a legal doctrine it is also using to try to block lawsuits involving the security agencys domestic surveillance program.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#5
Even if he didn't give classified info directly to the press he might provide the trail to the congresscritter who did.
I know Rep. 'Bagdad' Jim McDermitt (D-AlQaida) doesn't have a problem passing illegal information to the press. (incliding illegally recorded cellphone conversations - ask Newt). He also is a big-big defender of Islam and Al-Qaida. Would love to this guy brought before a grand Jury.
A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified.
Bleu Copas, 30, confirmed he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. "I knew the policy going in," Copas said in an interview on the campus of East Tennessee State University, where he is pursuing a master's degree in counseling and working as a student adviser.
An eight-month Army investigation culminated in Copas' honorable discharge on Jan. 30 - less than four years after he enlisted, he said, out of a post-Sept. 11 sense of duty to his country. Copas now carries the discharge papers, which mention his awards and citations, so he can document his military service for prospective employers. But the papers also give the reason for his dismissal.
He plans to appeal to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, established in 1993, prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members, but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay. I've posted the reaction of Andrew Stuttaford (from National Review) to this on today's Opinion page.
#2
The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, established in 1993, prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members, but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
Another MSM half truth. The law requires he be prosecuted. In accordance with Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress makes all laws governing land and naval forces [Congress because of an uncomfortable experience with Oliver Cromwell, a nightmare remembered by the writers of the Constitution]. Congress implementation of that law is Title 10 United States Code. Subsection of which is commonly referred to as the Uniform Code of Military Justice [a.k.a. military law].
Art. 125. Sodomy
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense. (b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
What is called Dont Ask, Dont Tell is actually another article within the UCMJ -
Art. 78. Accessory after the fact
Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
In other words, unlike the civilian world, if you know of a violation you have to report and act upon it. You can not ignore it. It is law.
It is Congress law. If you want it changed, talk to Congress.
#3
An eight-month Army investigation culminated in Copas' honorable discharge on Jan. 30
Yes an honorable discharge which is what most are given unless they have other established disciplinary problems. That means full veteran benefits and entitlements. What the gay advocates do not talk about is the numbers of heteros who are discharged annually with less than honorable papers because of sexual harassment and adultery charges. Heterosexual behavior which is disciplined by the services is never mentioned by the gay advocates. If and when they achieve their goal in integration, they along with heteros will be discharged at less than honorable for their behaviors. That means then the loss of those benefits and entitlements. Bets on the victimhood card being played because theyre gay? Oh, well, well just lower change the standards for everyone.
India has been warned by its intelligence agencies that militant group Lashkar-e-Taiaba (LeT) could target its nuclear installations, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said on Friday. Narayanan described it as a "very serious threat".
"There is information that maybe one of our atomic energy installations could be the target," he told CNN-IBN news channel. "It's (an) LeT operation... it is a very serious threat," he said. India has pointed a finger at the LeT for a series of bomb attacks on commuter trains in Mumbai on July 11 that killed 183 and wounded more than 800.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The government has issued deportation notices to five foreigners, including two Malaysians, an Indonesian and a Sri Lankan studying at the Jamia Benoria Madrassa, whose visas have expired, sources said. An administrator at the madrassa, Qari Muhammad Iqbal, has expressed "surprise" at the notices. He said that last year President General Pervez Musharraf had pledged that the government would issue visas to all those students who had no objection certificates (NOCs) from their countries' governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Israel will not demand the immediate disarming of Hizbollah as part of a deal to end the current fighting in Lebanon, a senior Israeli foreign ministry official said on Saturday. Lebanon-Israel Rocket Wars Ver 2.0 available on your TV in 2012.
Israel's stance could make it easier to reach an agreement with major powers and the Lebanese government on the deployment of a peacekeeping force in south Lebanon. Hizbollah would almost certainly reject a peacekeeping force whose mandate calls for its disarmament. Any takers? Perhaps the Irish would like to sacrifice another 45 sons to guarantee a muzzie enters jannah?
The foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel would demand that the proposed peacekeeping force in south Lebanon keep Hizbollah away from the Israeli border and prevent the group from replenishing its stockpile of rockets from Syria and Iran. Like the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers were doing for the past 6 years?
The official told Reuters that Israel was seeking a commitment to "start the process of implementing" U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for disarming Hizbollah. "But disarming Hizbollah now is not what Israel is demanding," the official said, adding that "disarming Hizbollah will not be part of the mandate for the (peacekeeping) mission." Sociopaths Muslims can smell weakness a mile away.
Posted by: ed ||
07/29/2006 14:22 ||
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#2
Israel is going to have a lot of fun with negotiations that assume a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, cause no one is volunteering. And they won't volunteer until Hezb'Allah is disarmed.
I posted a comment on this report on a different thread a couple of hours ago - and the denial by Israel very quickly after it began getting air time on Fox.
It was denied. But that didn't prevent repetition - even on Fox (LOL - after they got the denial) and on others (CNN, ABC). Yahoo will probably be slow to print the denial.
#9
Dave D: Remember what I said Thursday (I think)? About how you'd do your tactics if every five minutes everyone said you were going to capitulate and all the other side had to do was hold on five more minutes?
Posted by: Phil ||
07/29/2006 18:55 Comments ||
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"Dave D: Remember what I said Thursday (I think)?"
Vaguely. I count a day as "a real good day" when I can remember something that happened an hour ago.
Makes sense, but counting on such a thing takes more faith than I can summon up. Same goes for the notion that we're acting irresolute and confused in our dealings with Iran to lure them into doing something so utterly vile that we'll have the perfect excuse to play Cowboys And Mullahs, and go absolutely apeshit medieval on their skanky bitch ho' asses.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/29/2006 19:18 Comments ||
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When they write the books, this'll be the mistake they discuss in multiple chapters...
Despite approving the call-up of three reserve divisions, the security cabinet decided on Thursday against significantly widening the IDF's operations in southern Lebanon, rejecting a recommendation by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz to escalate the offensive against Hizbullah. Halutz, IDF officials said, asked the cabinet for permission to expand Israel's ground operations in southern Lebanon, to insert larger forces to sweep through the Hizbullah strongholds in the area. According to a high-ranking source in the Northern Command, Hizbullah has several hundred underground bunkers in southern Lebanon, mostly near the border with Israel.
As a result of the cabinet decision, the IDF said the operation in Lebanon, now called "the war within the straits" would retain its current format, according to which brigade and battalion-level forces - not division-level as Halutz had requested - carry out pinpoint incursions on specific targets. The IDF stressed that if Bint Jbail - where eight Golani soldiers were killed on Wednesday - did fall into Israeli hands, the victory could have a ripple effect on other Hizbullah strongholds and cause them to surrender. Halutz said the IDF would now immediately call up the senior commanders of three reserve divisions. The soldiers, he said, would only be mobilized when the need arose. "We need to be ready for every scenario," Halutz said during a joint press conference with Defense Minister Amir Peretz. "This is the IDF's duty and the government has allowed us to fulfill it [by calling up reservists]."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Yep, the one that gotta way.
Meanwhile, Israeli citizens live in fear for their lives for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/29/2006 0:43 Comments ||
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#2
I'm puzzled by the logic behind this because, on the surface, it seems like a really bad idea. As a general principle, winning quickly with overwhelming force is better than long drawn-out onflict. Is the Israeli cabinet worried about tipping the scales too far and drawing Syria and friends explicitly into the game?
#3
Although this article is coming from JPost, I think there is a major disconnect somewhere. Articles and TV interviews and such over the last week are full of contradictory stuff, from Israeli Govt spokes-folks on TV, former Mossad guys, Netanyahu, even Peres, all seeming to indicate this opportunity must be exploited to kill off Hezb - and the go-slow dance of Bush & (even) Blair to allow for it. Then articles like this suggesting they don't have the confidence to follow through.
Certainly there's intentional and adversarial disinformation flying about. The sound of grinding axes is deafening.
To be honest, were I running Israel's campaign, I'd be trying to trip Syria and Iran, by whatever means and psyops available, into showing more of the skin we know they have in the game.
#7
Why warn the Hezzies and their allies around the world until its too late to do anything about it? If you were dedicated to a limited war, why call up additional troops?
As long as the Hezzies don't withdraw from the south, there's no need to move further in and give the MSM and diplomats more leverage. Meanwhile, the Hezzie cadres are submitting to the meat grinder.
I'd watch what the Israelis do more than what they say to the press.
#8
So true, Oldcat. Just a little while ago Fox was reporting that Israel wouldn't demand that Hezbollah be disarmed to agree to a cease-fire. I didn't hear which "newswire" it supposedly came from.
Imagine that for a second. I presumed it had to be bullshit, but still... I wasn't sure...
Now, only about 40 minutes later they're reporting that Israel utterly and completely denied the report. Of course Hezbollah must be disarmed. They ridiculed the report.
#9
It would be a mistake to do anything other than grind up Hizbollah. Anything less is going to be claimed as a victory by the Hezs, Syria, and Iran. Total humiliating defeat is the only thing these islamofacists understand. Anything less is a grave mistake.
Many Arab leaders responded with quick condemnation when Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers this month. Some of the harshest words were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Sunni Muslim-led U.S. allies that both said the Shiite militants' "adventures" risked destabilizing the Middle East. But as the fighting stretches into its third week and the civilian casualties climb from Israel's Lebanese offensive, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries are shifting the focus of their criticism from Hezbollah to Israel.
We had no doubt that'd happen. It was only a matter of time. Hezbollah's surprised it hasn't happened earlier.
Immediately after the militant group seized the soldiers, Riyadh issued a strong rebuke accusing it of carrying out "uncalculated adventures." This week, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia warned that "if the option of peace fails as a result of Israeli arrogance, then the only option remaining will be war, and God alone knows what the region would witness in a conflict that would spare no one."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned after the Hezbollah raid that the guerrilla fighters "will drag the whole region to adventures that won't serve either the interests or the issues of Arabs."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Oh yes, we must not incite the Arab street. Israelis jus grab your ankles and take it like a joo.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/29/2006 0:46 Comments ||
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned after the Hezbollah raid that the guerrilla fighters "will drag the whole region to adventures that won't serve either the interests or the issues of Arabs."
#3
These kind of stores are starting to saturate the MSM. Same old "why do they hate us" handwringing, and it's all bullshit. The myth that terrorism is caused by 'injustice' or wrongs, rather than the truth that there are some people who are just evil murdering bastards. Muzzie terrorists don't need a REASON to hate, and even if they did, who cares why? Do you ask the cockroach why it's crawling across your floor, or do you kill it?
#4
The Times is reporting over 80% Druze and lebanese Christian support for the Hizbis. But how can they believe the IDF is losing, when Israeli defense forces have lost only a couple of dozen troops? Because Islam fosters a party-line culture.
The IDF is advancing slowly because they know that the nukes will fly when missiles strike Tel Aviv.
What is the source of resistance to the belief that Israel will use nukes to pre-empt a status quo "peace" that would allow genocidal missile placements? Appeasement?
Because the Israeli government is acting like it is losing. War is not merely a physical exercise, but a moral one. The greater the physical challenges, the more moral resources are required to overcome them. But Olmert and Peretz (and Bush and Blair) are providing no moral support to the IDF,or they are conducting the greatest disinformation campaign in history. I'm not positive which, but it still looks like the IDF will be hung out to dry.
#7
It is, but it will not be sufficient to assure victory if the moral support is absent. That is why this problem has been festering for 60 years. The Cold War was a sufficient reason to leave it an open wound. What reason is there now?
#8
"if the option of peace fails as a result of Israeli arrogance, then the only option remaining will be war, and God alone knows what the region would witness in a conflict that would spare no one."
Right - Arabs losing yet another war. Keep trying, guys, and maybe you'll be as successful as Kos picking political winners!
#9
Actually, it has been festering for 60 years because no one has ever done what Bush is doing right now. Give it time - Bush is. If the IDF seems to be having a rough go of it, perhaps they are. Perhaps Hezb's front line is playing tough and they're not the usual muzzy pushovers. Perhaps the IDF is not exactly the Super Force that everyone has given it credit for. Many of those on the line right now are merely kids. Big hearts and decent doctrine, but green kids.
#11
Wise comments. Dealing with the growing and entrenched Iranian and Arab strength will not be a pushover -- not for Israel and not for us.
The problem is that everyone THINKS we could just push a button, have a little military operation and wipe out this threat. And so long as people think that they will be reluctant to do what is necessary to ensure that western civilization survives this threat.
#13
I think Israel needs to rid Peretz from the position of Defense Minister if they want any chance of making this work out right. Look at the bio on him in wikipedia BIO AT THIS LINK
Finishing up with these fine MOONBAT TRANZI beliefs so important for a defense minister to have:
Views and beliefs:
Peretz is strongly committed to social issues and to the strengthening of the welfare state. He has declared that "within two years of taking office I will have eradicated child poverty in Israel". Notwithstanding, he has also reiterated his commitment to a market economy. For his movement in latter years towards "third way" positions, as well as for his earthy and warm personality, Peretz has been compared to Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In matters concerning relations with the Palestinians and the Arab world, Peretz holds dovish positions. He was an early member of the Peace Now movement. He was also, in the 1980s, a member of a group of eight Labour party Knesset members, dubbed "the Eight" and led by Yossi Beilin, who tried to set a liberal agenda for the party in matters concerning the peace process with the Palestinians. Peretz connects between the peace process and internal Israeli social issues. He believes that the unresolved conflict with the Palestinians has also been a hindrance to the solution of some of Israel's most pressing social ills, such as rising inequality. He sees the resources allotted to the settlements in the West Bank as having diverted funds that could have helped to solve these problems. He has described the conflict as having mutated Israeli politics, so that the traditional left-right distinctions do not hold: Instead of supporting a social-democratic left which would advance their cause, the lower classes, mostly of Middle Eastern Jewish origins, were diverted to the right by the fanning of nationalist tendencies. Concurrently the left in Israel was usurped by the well-to-do, so that the Labour party had ironically become elitist. That is why Peretz sees an intrinsic connection between a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resolving of Israel's internal social tensions
#14
lotp, if you'd read the drubbing I got from Oldspook earlier this week, you'd know I don't expect a walkover. But something here is fishy and it's got nothing to do with military capability. And the fishy smell is the real threat to Western Civ.
Same meeting between the two as cited by Fred below, but two different stories. What gives?
I listened to them today. They politely endorsed a multinational force when the shootin's all over, but they stuck to their guns on not calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Tony Blair and US President George Bush say they want to see a multinational force sent to the Middle East as soon as possible.
Assuming the shooting is over.
Following discussions in the White House, Mr Bush said their objective was to "achieve a lasting peace out of this crisis".
Which doesn't mean caving in to the "stop the killing" crowd...
He said they would work for a UN resolution to provide "a framework for the cessation of hostilities on an urgent basis and mandating a multinational force".
And we all know how quickly that goes...
A meeting of the UN Security Council has been brought forward to Monday to discuss the force. Mr Blair said it was important not only to stop the violence but to use the opportunity to set out and achieve a "different strategic direction for the whole of that region". "We feel deeply for people in Lebanon and people in Israel who are the innocent casualties of this conflict, of course we do.
A MNF would take weeks to organize. A NATO force would need permission from the member states, and deployment will be a problem since a fair chunk of the Euro 'rapid reaction' force is in Afghanistan. If this means the IDF can continue to whack the Hezbies until then, fine.
"And we want it to stop now... We have set out a way to do this but it requires the long term as well as the short term."
As far as I know, we're sticking with Resolution 1559...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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HAHAHAHAHA...UNSC resolution 1559, that was soooo late year.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/29/2006 0:47 Comments ||
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Resolution shmezolution. The muzzies don't give a damn about them. They go around killing people while the western world f*cks around with worthless pieces of paper and speeches.
US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday refused to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying a more comprehensive solution was needed. "This is a moment of intense conflict in the Middle East. Yet our aim is to turn it into a moment of opportunity and a chance for a broader change in the region," said Bush at a joint press conference after talks at the White House.
Bush also sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice back to the Middle East as he and Blair called for quickly sending a multinational force to Lebanon. The two leaders criticised Iran and Syria, with Blair warning that they must become "proper and responsible members of the international community" or face "the risk of increasing confrontation."
Rice will arrive in the region today (Saturday) "to work with Israel and Lebanon to come up with an acceptable UNSC resolution" to end the conflict and set the stage for sending the international deployment, said Bush. Then, on Monday, world powers will meet at the UN to decide the size, composition and mandate of the multinational force, paving the way for the UNSC to take up a resolution on the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Okay, so we push the Hezbo's back 10, 20, or 30 miles from the border. Stick a peacekeeper (snicker, snicker) force in between. Then what happens?
Hezbos get bigger missiles from Iran and suicide boom the peacekeeper force. Think I've seen this movie before.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/29/2006 0:51 Comments ||
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I saw the News Conference and I think that the BBC and David Gregory should have their press creds revoked. They sounded just like a spokewomen for Hizbullah, except they left out the word Zionist running dogs.
President Jacques Chirac said Friday that France will press for the rapid adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, his office said. The statement from Chirac's office cited the "deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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So what happens if Israel plays Saddam, and just ignores any resolution about cease fire? Worked for Saddam, should work equally well for Israel.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to the Middle East this weekend to work with others on trying to bring an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting. President Bush, holding a news conference in Washington Friday with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, announced Rice's return to the region she visited just a week ago amid escalating violence. Earlier, Rice's spokesman, Adam Ereli, took strong issue with an assertion by Israel's Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who said the failure of world leaders to call for an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah. Any such statement is outrageous, Ereli said. The United States is sparing no effort to bring a durable and lasting end to this conflict.
Rice also said: I think everybody in Rome agreed that we can't return to the circumstances that led us to this in the first place. The United States, adopting a diplomatic stance that has not been embraced by allies, has been insisting that any cease-fire to the violence over the last three weeks must come with conditions to address long-standing regional disputes. That, she has said, will ensure a durable solution. Nearly every U.S. ally has called for a quick truce to end the bloodshed and efforts to smooth needed humanitarian supplies to the Lebanese. They believe the difficult work solving of old grievances between Hezbollah and Israel can come later.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council neared a deal Friday on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Diplomats said the resolution would probably be introduced to the full 15-member council later Friday and adopted next week. Because of Russian and Chinese demands, the text is weaker than earlier drafts, which would have made the threat of sanctions immediate. The draft now essentially requires the council to hold further discussions before it considers sanctions. There (are) no sanctions introduced on Iran in the draft resolution which we are finalizing, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
Churkin stressed that work on the resolution was not finished, raising the possibility the introduction of the draft could be postponed. The resolution, drafted by Britain, France and Germany with U.S. backing, is a followup to a July 12 agreement by the foreign ministers of those four countries, plus Russia and China to refer Tehran to the Security Council for not responding to incentives to suspend enrichment.
The ministers asked that council members adopt a resolution making Iran's suspension of enrichment activities mandatory. Tehran said last week it would reply Aug. 22 to the Western incentive package, but the council decided to go ahead with a resolution and not wait for Iran's response. Iran on Friday called again for international negotiations on its nuclear ambitions and said it was considering the incentives. Western nations have dismissed the idea of such talks without a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I am psychic. The UN will say: we call for an immediate ceasefire and a pullback of all Israeli troops, and we will place towers along the Frontier with Israel to monitor future aggression, while allowing Hamas and Hizbollah supporters to site 30,000 all-Israel reaching missiles. If, when Israel is forced to sue for peace, the indulged Arabs begin exterminating Israel's 6,000,000 Jews, then we will point the blame at the Americans who aided the Zionist regime.
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.
Thailand joined Japan in urging sincere cooperation on the issue of missing persons in North Korea, only to be met with silence from the Pyongyang representative at the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) meeting yesterday. Caretaker Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon called on Pyongyang to cooperate with other countries in addressing the disappearance of foreign nationals including those from Thailand and Japan. Anocha Panjoy from Chiang Mai was believed to be abducted by North Korea's spies in Macau 30 years ago. Mr Kantathi joined Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso during the ARF meeting in appealing for humanitarian assistance from North Korea to solve the problem. 
India has been warned by its intelligence agencies that militant group Lashkar-e-Taiaba (LeT) could target its nuclear installations, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said on Friday. Narayanan described it as a "very serious threat".
The government has issued deportation notices to five foreigners, including two Malaysians, an Indonesian and a Sri Lankan studying at the Jamia Benoria Madrassa, whose visas have expired, sources said. An administrator at the madrassa, Qari Muhammad Iqbal, has expressed "surprise" at the notices. He said that last year President General Pervez Musharraf had pledged that the government would issue visas to all those students who had no objection certificates (NOCs) from their countries' governments.
Despite approving the call-up of three reserve divisions, the security cabinet decided on Thursday against significantly widening the IDF's operations in southern Lebanon, rejecting a recommendation by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. 
Many Arab leaders responded with quick condemnation when Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers this month. Some of the harshest words were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Sunni Muslim-led U.S. allies that both said the Shiite militants' "adventures" risked destabilizing the Middle East. But as the fighting stretches into its third week and the civilian casualties climb from Israel's Lebanese offensive, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries are shifting the focus of their criticism from Hezbollah to Israel. 
US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday refused to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying a more comprehensive solution was needed. "This is a moment of intense conflict in the Middle East. Yet our aim is to turn it into a moment of opportunity and a chance for a broader change in the region," said Bush at a joint press conference after talks at the White House. 
President Jacques Chirac said Friday that France will press for the rapid adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, his office said. The statement from Chirac's office cited the "deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to the Middle East this weekend to work with others on trying to bring an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting. President Bush, holding a news conference in Washington Friday with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, announced Rice's return to the region she visited just a week ago amid escalating violence. Earlier, Rice's spokesman, Adam Ereli, took strong issue with an assertion by Israel's Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who said the failure of world leaders to call for an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah. Any such statement is outrageous, Ereli said. The United States is sparing no effort to bring a durable and lasting end to this conflict. 
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council neared a deal Friday on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Diplomats said the resolution would probably be introduced to the full 15-member council later Friday and adopted next week. Because of Russian and Chinese demands, the text is weaker than earlier drafts, which would have made the threat of sanctions immediate. The draft now essentially requires the council to hold further discussions before it considers sanctions. There (are) no sanctions introduced on Iran in the draft resolution which we are finalizing, Russia's U.N. Ambassador 
