Headlines for 12-19-07

Ex-CIA man predicts U.S. war with Iran ** Those who hope to prevent a military conflict in Iran should make their voices heard, he said......He cited the close American relationship with Israel, which he said considers Iran a threat, as a driving force behind a potential strike.



Turkey raid an 'attack on sovereignty', Iraq says


Iran starts second stage of maritime war games in Gulf waters


Iranian released from US custody in Iraq


Bush's bid to punish Iranian banks stalls The Bush administration's new policy of penalizing Iranian banks is facing a critical challenge as financial institutions in Russia, China and much of the Middle East decline to cut ties, analysts and diplomats say.


Turkey says U.S. intelligence led to Iraq raids


Saudis biggest group of al Qaeda Iraq fighters: study Given that, why aren't the neocons calling for an attack on THAT nation, mm?


Neocons Won't Let Facts Stand in the Way of Iran 'Threat'


Russia and Poland to Discuss U.S. Missile Shield


Russia wants more clarity on U.S. anti-missile plan Russia wants more concrete reasons from Washington as to why it plans to build an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.


Senate Approves $70 Billion To Continue Wars The US House of Representatives was expected to vote Wednesday on a Senate-approved budget bill for 2008 that includes 70 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan


Putin hopes U.S. had no hidden agenda in Iran nuclear report ** Putin said it is theoretically possible that the report was published to "divert Iran's attention from preparations for military action," which would be a "grave mistake."



US warrantless wiretapping predates 9/11


Iraq's other Kurdish rebel group the PJAK continues to operate against Iran from the Iraqi side of the border, and the Iranian government alleges it does so with American financial support.


Senate OKs terror accountability bill The bill particularly targets Iran, which has yet to pay the $2.7 billion in damages awarded to families of the 241 servicemen killed in a 1983 attack by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah on a U.S. Marines barrack in Beirut.



Europeans protest Austria-Iran deal European activists are protesting a planned deal between an Austrian energy company and Iran.


Paul rakes in millions despite low polling among GOP


Bush to make first presidential visit to Israel Bush will find a receptive audience in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states over his concerns about Iran's increasing dominance in the region. Bush insists that Iran remains a potential threat to world peace in spite of a US intelligence analysis that it had stopped a nuclear weapons programme in 2003.


Kristol, Krauthammer Are Out of Time


Foreigners head to Syria to learn Arabic Syrians point to the young foreigners in the capital as proof that their country ? which is under U.S. sanctions and on its list of state supporters of terrorism ? is not the closed, anti-American rogue nation often depicted in Western media.


Sarkozy demands Syrian action on Lebanon: report


Mideast peace in 2008 unlikely due to U.S. vote: Assad Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said achieving Middle East peace in 2008 looked unrealistic because the United States would be preoccupied with the presidential election.


Palestinian refugees from Iraq stranded in desert camp Many have known no home outside Baghdad ? they're the offspring of parents who settled in Iraq in 1948 after being driven from Haifa as when Israel became an independent nation


Mazuz: Int'l law not broken in Kfar Kana Israel exonerates itself from blame for another war crime.


Israel tests advanced Patriot Israel tested an advanced version of the U.S.-supplied Patriot missile.


Israel worried about Hamas hajjis Israel believes that hundreds of Palestinians who left on the pretext of a pilgrimage will receive military training in Iran.


Congress approves extra anti-terror funds Jewish groups have received a lion?s share of the funds since the program was instituted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. Last year they received 251 of the 308 grants awarded.


The Wages of Intervention Turkish-Syrian-Iranian rapprochement has provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby in Washington, and this was a key factor in getting the Armenian genocide resolution through Congress, which further alienated Ankara.



Assad: We rejected nukes in '01 The Syrian president said in an interview published Wednesday that in 2001, his regime was approached by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's atomic architect, who offered in a letter to sell Damascus nuclear missiles. "We do not know if the letter was authentic or if it was an Israeli trap,"



Assassination Jars Nascent US Détente With Syria it seems that Washington's move toward détente with Damascus is being strained again, and as usual, the latest flashpoint is Lebanon, or rather, the assassination of a political figure in Lebanon. Awful strange, that.