Headlines for 03-17-08

Iraq invasion was "successful endeavor": Cheney Wow.


US military growing weary in Iraq Korb said it will take at least a decade for the army to recover, assuming that the United States continues to draw down its "surge" force in Iraq, which currently number 162,000.


Oil prices in retreat from record Investors fear the financial crisis that forced the sale of US banking giant Bear Stearns bodes ill for the world economy and demand for oil.


Iran, Switzerland sign gas export deal Calmy-Rey said the deal was in full compliance with UN Security Council resolutions imposed against Iran for its failure to suspend uranium enrichment, a potential nuclear weapons-making process.


Cheney urges Arabs to counter Iran in Iraq


Perle, the New York Times, and Chutzpah In any event, one has to ask why the Times, which, after admitting that its pre-war coverage of Iraqi WMD was highly misleading and journalistically irresponsible, then added a pro-war propagandist like William Kristol to its stable of regular columnists, would not only offer a disproportionate amount of space to people whose judgment with respect to Iraq and Iraqis has proved so disastrously wrong, but also, in Perle?s specific case, offer it to someone with such a long-standing and proven record of contempt for the historical record. I guess it shows that chutzpah has its rewards.


McCain's mixed signals on foreign policy In 2002, when debate erupted over war with Iraq, McCain seemed to strengthen his identity as a neoconservative. He agreed with administration officials that Saddam Hussein was trying to restart his nuclear weapons program, and he urged the United States to give more money to controversial financier Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress and other Iraqi exiles. He predicted that regime change in Iraq could catalyze sweeping democratic change in the region. McCain has staked out a more hawkish position on Iran than the Bush administration, saying that "the only thing worse than military action against Iran is a nuclear-armed Iran."



Israel to hold massive emergency drill In the face of a possible escalation with Syria and Iran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon, parts of the country will shut down next month in what security officials say will be the largest emergency exercise in Israel's history.


Web has unexpected effect on journalism Yeh, the media has found out that it actually has to print the truth - else they be called on their BS.


IRAQ: War Launched to Protect Israel - Bush Adviser Some of us have know that for years.


JINSA afraid US military might tell Israel what to do Who wears the pants here?


The U.S. Military's Assassination Problem In December 2006, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the case. While the court stopped short of an outright ban on Israel's assassinations program, it ruled that international law constrains the targeting of terror suspects. Currently, in order to justify a strike, Israel must have reliable information that the suspect is actively engaged in hostilities (such as planning a terrorist attack) and must rule out an arrest as being too risky. The court also requires that there be an independent investigation after each strike. The Israelis still continue to kill numerous civilians as a result of their missile strikes, despite this ruling.


Israel upgrades ties with Germany Political, cultural, economic and social relations will all be strengthened, said a joint statement. Good! Maybe Israel can get the Germans to attack Iran instead of getting us to do it. Or better yet, maybe they could finally learn how to GET ALONG WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS. It's only been 60 years! (Hint, stealing Palestinian land and bombing the babies isn't how you go about it).


Syrian FM: War with Israel possible Moallem went on to call Hizbullah a friend of Syria. "Hizbullah is not a proxy of Syria but a friend. Hizbullah is a part of Lebanon and the difficulties Lebanon faces."


Nations Working to Ban Cluster Bombs On the morning of an apparent cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants, 11-year-old Hadi Hattab played in the street for the first time since the monthlong war began in July 2006. Seconds later, an explosion of ball bearings shot into his skull from one of more than 4 million cluster bombs fired into southern Lebanon by the Israeli military. The boy died a few hours later.....Most of the bombs were fired by the Israeli military in the last three days of the conflict after a cease-fire had been declared.....Part of the problem is Israel?s refusal to cooperate with U.N. requests to supply information that would help mine removers find unexploded bombs.....
The Geneva Convention outlaws the use of weapons in civilian areas, and an initial report by the State Department in January found that Israel had broken a military sales agreement by using U.S.-made cluster bombs in civilian areas.



Support of Christian Zionists makes some Jews uneasy While Israel's birth in 1948 seemed to fulfill biblical prophecy, Christian Zionists believe an intact Israel must also include Judea and Samaria -- the predominantly Palestinian West Bank captured by Israel in 1967. As such, they have resisted returning any land to the Palestinians as part of peace deal. And a war with Iran, some say, could usher in Armageddon......"I don't have to agree with anybody 100 percent in order to welcome their support, as long as their support is not conditioned on my agreeing with them on everything or accepting them 100 percent," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. The comments made by Foxman = hypocrisy.


But did you know he's a Muslim? The night before speaking with Haaretz, Levine says he ate dinner with Israeli friends, one of whom asked him: "Would Obama be willing to use force to defend American interests?" .......Obama, Levine says, "fully understands that the greatest threat to Israel at this time is Iran, and that Iran's ability to obtain a nuclear weapon is completely unacceptable. He's made absolutely clear that his priorities with regard to Iran are to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, to stop Iran from continuing to support terror, and to stop Iran from threatening Israel's existence." I skipped a paragraph there in the excerpt, but go back to the article and see for yourself, and then ask yourself: how exactly did the question with respect to AMERICAN interests suddenly become equal to ISRAELI interests? Two different nations with different security threats. The AMERICAN national interest should COME FIRST to any American presidential candidate. And Iran does NOT threaten the AMERICAN national interest. Whose war is this?


Smearing Obama As for branding critics of Israel as anti-Semites, is Kessler really maintaining that this never happens? It's the smear-of-first-resort of the Israel-first lobby, as professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have recently discovered. Everyone knows that to traduce this terrain is to walk through a political minefield, which is why most American politicians scrupulously avoid it ? a testament, by the way, to the trenchancy of the Mearsheimer-Walt thesis that the Israel lobby wields an inordinate and ultimately unhealthy influence over the conduct of American foreign policy.


Of war and cancer The crucial Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still the greatest cause of anti-Americanism in the region and one that Bush's neoconservative brain trust thought it could resolve in Israel's favor by smashing Iraq and putting a gun to the head of Iran and Syria, is at one of its most intractable points......Second, both justice and our national security require that we act to make fundamental changes in our Middle East policies. This means balancing our support for Israel's security with an understanding of the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians, and a real commitment to ending the 40-year-old Israeli occupation of their lands


Israel test-fires missile to intercept Gaza rockets Iron Dome is part of a multi-layered defence system aimed at protecting Israel from short-range missiles and rockets fired by militants in Gaza or Lebanon, and longer-range missiles in the arsenals of regional foes Iran and Syria.


Greeted warmly in Israel, Merkel pressed on Iran ties Israelis asked that Germany, one of Iran's biggest trading partners, do more about stopping Iran's fundamentalist regime from acquiring nuclear weapons......Olmert planned to show Merkel the latest Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear program and urge the chancellor to clamp down further on trade with Iran, irrespective of U.N. sanctions decisions -- as the United States has done.