Headlines for 01-11-08

US-Iran stand-off not mere propaganda ** What is clear is that there are grave doubts about who uttered the warning picked up by the US ships. A deep voice was heard to say: "I am coming at you. You will explode after a few minutes." The video released by the US implied that the warning was part of a series of transmissions to the ships from the Iranian craft. It turns out that the warning was added onto the video. It was a radio recording made separately.



US Navy fired warning at Iranian craft ** The U.S. Navy said Friday that one of its ships fired warning shots at a small Iranian boat in the Strait of Hormuz in December during one of two serious encounters that month.


US reveals new Iran 'incidents'


Bush takes soundings on Iran US officials acknowledge that Arab-Iranian relations have thawed and that the sense of crisis was defused by the recent US intelligence estimate stating that Tehran ceased developing nuclear weapons in 2003 - though last weekend's naval clash in the Straits of Hormuz was a reminder of the potential for trouble. and well geez, this newest 'incident' just happened to come just as Bush wanted to shore up support for action vs. Iran in that part of the world. What a coincidence.


Bush: US may be in Iraq for decade


Bush unlikely to pressure Saudis on oil President George W. Bush is unlikely to complain about oil prices near $100 per barrel when he meets with Saudi Arabia's king next week, even though prices have nearly doubled since the last time the two met in 2005.


Bush tours Gulf to push Mideast peace, curb Iran


Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel The new information that appears to contradict the original version of the incident includes the revelation that US officials spliced the audio recording of an alleged Iranian threat onto to a videotape of the incident. That suggests that the threatening message may not have come in immediately after the initial warning to Iranian boats from a US warship, as it appears to do on the video.




CIA reveals: We said in 1974 that Israel had nuclear weapons The issue of an American double standard regarding the nuclear activities of Israel and Iran often comes up when senior American officials visit the Gulf, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates did last month.


Iran, Again


Military option against Iran is 'still on the table' ** Asked whether Israel had shown the president any intelligence contradicting the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that Iran had stopped its clandestine military nuclear program in 2003, the official said: "This is one of the areas our countries and establishments, including the intelligence establishment, are working in very close cooperation. We don't wait for any special event before passing on information. I assume that the president knows whatever we do."


US trade gap balloons 9.3 percent


Even with sanctions, Syrians embrace KFC and Gap the political bitterness between the two countries has not dampened the appetite for US products here ? nor has it stopped American companies from finding a way past sanctions in order to do business in Syria.


Ron Paul draws stark contrasts with GOP peers Paul urged U.S. disengagement from the Israeli-Palestinian situation. "It would be much better to have a balance by being out of there. And I think it would be a greater incentive for Israel and the Palestinians and all the Arab nations to come together and talk because I think we get in the way too often. And besides, it's costing us a lot of money and it's costing us lives now.... We're out of money. We can't do it any longer."


Paul, Giuliani debate Israel "The reality is that Israel is a close and strong ally of the United States," Giuliani said. "America has only a few extremely reliable allies, special relationships. The defense of Israel is a -- critical importance to the United States of America, and it goes much deeper than just tactical things."


Likud slams PM's 'sycophancy' to Bush most of the meeting was devoted to the Iranian issue. Netanyahu pressed Bush to act against the Islamic Republic before he left office in January 2009.


Spy case still makes waves in Israel Ron Olive, the agent in charge of counterintelligence for the Naval Investigative Service at the time of Pollard's arrest, told the BBC that the incident was "one of the most devastating cases of espionage in US history" during which Pollard stole over "one million classified documents". "Even though Israel is an ally, it had friends that aren't necessarily friend of the US," said Mr Olive, who wrote a book about the case, Capturing Jonathan Pollard.



Weisenthal Center: Lebanese blocking our ad Several other Arab newspapers did not respond requests to run the ad, which was timed to coincide with President Bush's to Israel. It did appear in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post.