Headlines for 11-26-07

IAEA checks Russian nuclear fuel bound for Iran


No let up in attacks by Iranian backed groups: commander "I can speak for my sector," he said. "And in my sector the assessment is we have not seen any slowing down or any indicators that these special groups are going to curtail their activities or quit receiving this support that's coming from outside the country."


American Majority Sees Iraq War as a Mistake


Richardson: Iraq war not worth one more life


Evidence on Iran doesn't seem to matter


Cheney given shock treatment for heart


US, Iraq deal sees long-term US presence


Schumer says DOD duns wounded vets for bonus repayments Senator Charles Schumer blasted the defense department Sunday -- for mailing bills to wounded soldiers -- asking them to repay part of their enlistment bonuses... all because they couldn't finish their tours of duty.


Fox hypes shaky story on border tunnel jihadists


Pat Buchanan?s Day of Reckoning: Good-bye to America? Buchanan explains how hubris, ideology, and greed have torn America apart. A neoconservative cabal with an alien agenda captured the Bush administration and committed American blood, energy, and money to aggression against Muslim countries in the Middle East, while permitting America?s domestic borders to be overrun by immigrants and exporting the jobs that had made the US an opportunity society. War and offshoring have taken a savage economic toll while open borders and diversity have created social and political division.


Hired Guns "I feel that many of the contractors here have no respect for the locals and are doing a great deal of harm to our reputation," an Army lieutenant stationed in Afghanistan e-mailed.


Iran sanctions are getting results, Clinton tells Iowans Campaigning in northwestern Iowa on Saturday, Hillary Rodham Clinton told voters that a Senate resolution on Iran she supported has helped bring that country to the negotiating table while stemming the violence in Iraq.


The Myth of the Oil Weapon Our oil supply is secure, not because our government threatens to use force against those who would make it insecure but because the world?s oil suppliers want to make money


PM to discuss Iran with Bush during U.S. visit ** Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. President George W. Bush will on Wednesday discuss ways of stepping up efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear program before Bush's term in office ends in the coming year. The meeting will be held the day after the Annapolis peace conference......"This will be the most important meeting" of the prime minister's visit to the United States, said a senior Olmert aide.....The prime minister is concerned by what in Israel appears to be a drop in the U.S.'s determination to take action against Iran................Israeli officials said in closed meetings that it would be best if the United States attacked Iran - and not Israel alone.
Note that last sentence and the source. Whose war is this? This meeting will be held the day after the Annapolis conference because the conference itself is a dog and pony show to get the rest of the Arab nations to support US action against Iran (at Israel's behest).


US, Mid East talks 'doomed to failure': Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's top authority, said a US-organised Middle East conference was "doomed to failure" and said it was being held to help Israel not the Palestinians.


Can Syrians, Saudis make summit work? The Bush administration is about to present for congressional approval a $20 billion arms deal with the Saudis. Details have yet to be released, but its core is believed to be aimed at equipping the Saudis with the smart bomb capabilities that could take out long distance targets with precision. The potential target would be Iran; in fact, the interest the Saudis have taken in the renewed peace process has mostly to do with the Sunni Muslim nation's fears of Iranian Shi'ite hegemony. Already, the Saudis are chafing at Iran's influence in neighboring post-war Iraq, where Shi'ite Muslims are the majority......As for the Saudi piece, Israeli leaders have swallowed hard and instructed pro-Israel groups here not to oppose the arms deal with the Saudis. Note the source - the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Now, isn't that interesting that they openly admit that Israeli leaders instruct pro-Israel groups here in the states on these issues. That would, I believe, make these pro-Israeli groups the agents of a foreign power and they thus should register as such. Registration is free.


Iran rebukes Saudi Arabia over Mideast conference "The US government, which is an accomplice to Zionist crimes, cannot play the role of saviour by hosting the Annapolis conference,"


Peace effort aims to repair damaged U.S. image** "Call it a cynical bargain. The Arabs will help the United States on Iraq and Iran if the West helps towards a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because that is what is inflaming Arab opinion,"


Romney criticizes conference's timing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized the timing of the Annapolis peace conference in an interview with The Jerusalem Post Saturday and said the Palestinians have not taken the steps necessary for peace.....He stressed, though, "It's important to me that we not in any way place pressure on Israel to take action which would further weaken its negotiating hand."


Syrian issues secondary at parley "Syrian participation is not the focus of these discussions," Hadley said. "The focus of these discussions are the Israelis and the Palestinians launching a negotiating process."


Bush, the Born-Again Peacemaker Even the Saudis and Syrians are coming to Tuesday's summit. So it is odd to see an alliance of neo-cons and left-wingers unite in opposition to Bush's efforts. Writers for the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Weekly Standard have bemoaned negotiations with "old men like Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Abbas]." Their counterparts on the left say Bush is making a cynical and rash gamble on a peace he doesn't have the stomach to push through.



Giuliani's Culture of Corruption Kerik failed to report a $250,000 "loan" from a mysterious Israeli billionaire, which had been laundered through a Brooklyn businessman.


Frantic bid to bridge Middle East divide Stephen Hadley, his national security adviser, signalled that the president was unlikely to put forward new ideas. "It is now time for the parties to get into this process by way of negotiation," Hadley told reporters. "And I don't think the president will conclude that the time is right to start offering ideas on outcomes on specific issues."