Headlines for 12-10-07

Iran, Nukes, and the 'Laptop of Death' ** The pushback against the recent finding [.pdf] by America's 16 intelligence agencies that puts "high confidence" in their evaluation that Iran stopped its covert nuclear weapons project in 2003 has the Lobby going into overdrive ? with (who else?) John Bolton leading the charge, crying "Putsch!" and decrying the NIE as pure "politics." Bolton and his neoconservative co-thinkers are really just echoing the Israelis, however, who have sullenly asserted their own dissent, albeit discreetly enough to maintain the fiction of their own complete lack of influence Now you get to see just how many friends Israel has in the US mainstream media and Congress judging by the amount of airtime they are given and noise they are making in response to the NIE. Per yesterday's news batch, the Israelis rolled out the Holocaust card in response to this NIE. So, it's to be expected that their shills in America are screaming bloody murder. How dare our intelligence community not go along with Cheney and the neocons (and their Israel-centric agenda)? The horror.


Calling on Congress to Stop a War By Scott Ritter ** The ongoing Israeli paranoia about a nexus of nuclear proliferation among North Korea, Iran and Syria, void of any hard intelligence to back it up and yet hyped to the point that an abandoned military warehouse in the middle of the Syrian desert could be pre-emptively bombed, serves as a warning to any who believe that the newly published NIE will, by itself, inject a measure of sanity and objective thinking into a process that has created an ideologically driven self-fulfilling prophesy that no amount of fact and reasoning can make go away......If the newly released NIE on Iran is to have any meaning, then let it be that it triggered a reawakening of the Congress of the United States to assert its authority and responsibility in a time of great need. Another excellent article by Scott Ritter.


Iran, IAEA in new talks to clear nuclear doubts Iran and a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog started a fresh round of talks on Monday in Tehran to resolve doubts about the Islamic Republic's nuclear work, Iranian media reported.


Libby drops appeal in CIA leak case Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction but President Bush commuted his 30-month prison sentence in July


Saudi projects 2008 budget surplus of 10.7 billion dollars The oil powerhouse in September announced a record budget surplus of more than 77 billion dollars for 2006 thanks to surging crude prices. Yeh. Swell. Meanwhile, the American populace is spreadeagle over a barrel (no pun intended), thanks to the exorbitant price of gas ($3+/gallon).


US-Iran to discuss Iraq on December 18: minister


US rebuilding credibility, expert says


Egypt to send envoy to Iran soon: FM


Army Still Discharging Traumatic Brain Injury Patients Without Benefits


Bush's real lie about Iran Even with Ahmadinejad in office, Tehran has tried repeatedly -- through discussions with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and other channels -- to elicit some indication that Washington would be willing to consider Iran's security interests and regional role as part of a negotiating agenda, but President Bush has consistently refused to allow this. It is in this context that the significance of Bush's real lie about Iran is exposed: The Bush administration has never offered to negotiate with Tehran on any basis that might actually be attractive to the Islamic Republic's leadership.


Bush tells Jewish leaders he will visit Israel in Jan Israeli news media said Bush would reassure the Jewish state that Washington stood firm against Iran's nuclear program despite a new U.S. intelligence report, disputed by Israel, that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.


Joint Chiefs chairman visits Israel Mullen, who has visited Israel before, voiced understanding for the country's security concerns in a speech last month. "I think how Israel thinks and views the world is a very important consideration for us in the United States, and certainly from my perspective as a military leader," he said.
I fail to see it that way, Admiral. Frankly, I don't think I'm the only one.


Rice expects final draft of UN sanctions resolution against Iran by Tuesday Meanwhile on Monday Rice said she hoped Israel's plans to build homes in a contested Jerusalem neighborhood would not "cloud" peace talks with the Palestinians and cautioned that time was running out to end the conflict.


Why We Resist When Dante enters the "city of woes" in the "Inferno" he hears the cries of "those whose lives earned neither honor nor bad fame," those rejected by heaven and hell, those who dedicated their lives solely to the pursuit of happiness. These are all the "good" people, the ones who never made a fuss, who filled their lives with vain and empty pursuits, harmless no doubt, to amuse themselves, who never took a stand for anything, never risked anything, who went along. Sometimes you've got to stand up for what you believe despite any risks.


Defense Min.: Israel now world's fourth largest weapons exporter Defense Ministry legal adviser Ahaz Ben-Ari said an important issue covered in the new law is Israel's ability to supervise international mediation of defense equipment acquisitions and sales between Israelis and foreign sources abroad.


CCR Argues Appeal of Case Charging Former Israeli General With War Crimes in Attack On United Nations Compound In December 2006, Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case, stating that Ya'alon could not be sued for the shelling of the UN compound.......Lebanese civilians who were unable to leave the south fled to UN compounds; more than 800 civilians ? mostly women, children, and the elderly ? had sought refuge in the UN compound in Qana. The IDF then targeted the compound, killing more than 100 civilians and injuring even more.


The final humiliation Conrad Black, the newspaper tycoon whose ownership of The Daily Telegraph won him the keys to the British establishment and a seat in the House of Lords, was handed a six-and-a-half-year jail sentence yesterday while still protesting he is innocent of the fraud and obstruction of justice charges against him.


Damascus Diary: Monday 10 December Arab culture does not flourish easily in the occupied territories. In Damascus, it is in full spate.


israel summons US Chairman of Joint Chiefs to Tel-Aviv to explain himself israel doesn't mind if the US disagrees - as long as we do what they want, which is why Mullen was summoned to israel and why George W. Bush will follow.


Drummond: End ignorance of Mideast geography


Stuck in Limbo: Palestinian Refugees of Lebanon


Bush Team Snubbed 'Grand Bargain' on Iran's Atomic Work in 2003 Parsi's book is the more scholarly and ambitious of the two, tackling the complex question of Israel's role in what has become a triangular relationship. As the only non-Arab nations in the region, Israel and Iran may be doomed to a rivalry that has more to do with power politics than ideology, he argues.


"TREASON ON THE HIGH SEAS" The captain had given the order to abandon ship, as it appeared we were about to roll over. There were 3 life rafts left that were floatable. We put them over the side so we could put our most severely wounded in them to try to save their lives. The torpedo gunmen would have none of that and blew 2 of them out of the water. .....In many ways, America today is the USS Liberty after that 2 hour attack taking place 40 years ago. We are badly hit and stand the chance of sinking into the abyss with everyone being lost forever unless something is done immediately.