Headlines for 01-07-08

Iranian speedboats menaced US navy vessels in Gulf: US Armed Iranian speedboats menaced three US warships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, radioing a threat to blow them up and sending tensions flaring, US officials said Monday. speedboats are a threat to warships?


Iran boats 'threatened US ships' ** Iran played down the event, describing it as an "ordinary occurrence". "This... happens for the two sides every once in a while and, after the identification of the two sides, the issue is resolved," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.



US almost opened fire on Iranian boats, Pentagon says ** The Pentagon claimed the American ships were in international waters, although the demarcation of the border between Iran and Iraq on the Strait remains a matter of dispute.


Bush: Israel no factor in Iraq "My decision was based upon U.S. intelligence, based upon the desire to provide security for our peoples and others," Bush said.



Israel lacking proof on nukes


Israel's Barak says Hezbollah stronger than ever: report


Fatah al-Islam chief warns of attacks on Lebanon army


U.S. academic Finkelstein meets top Hezbollah official in Lebanon


Edwards' openness to Iran worries some pro-Israel Jews Edwards' stance is anathema to much of the pro-Israel establishment, which views direct negotiations as a means for Iran to buy time and develop a nuclear weapons program.


From Suha embrace to Iran hawk, Clinton now most favored by Jews "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons," she said in an Oct. 30 MSNBC-sponsored debate. "And the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is in the forefront of that, as they are in the sponsorship of terrorism." She added: "I prefer vigorous diplomacy, and I happen to think economic sanctions are part of vigorous diplomacy." It was straight from the pro-Israel playbook, and it illustrates what has attracted not only Jewish voter support but, perhaps even more substantively, Jewish fund-raiser support.



Israeli official: Swap Pollard for prisoners The Bush administration should swap Jonathan Pollard for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli Cabinet member said.


Kristol Expands His Audience Thanks to New York Times


Nukes, Spooks, and the Specter of 9/11 Edmonds draws a picture of a three-sided alliance consisting of Turkish, Pakistani, and Israeli agents who coordinated efforts to milk U.S. nuclear secrets and technology, funneling the intelligence stream to the black market nuclear network set up by the Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan.


Ron Paul to Haaretz: Israel can get by without American aid