News -- July 15, 2006

A Beautiful Friendship? - "Thanks to the work of the lobby and its allies, Israel gets more direct foreign aid -- about $3 billion a year -- than any other nation. There's a file cabinet somewhere in the State Department full of memoranda of understanding on military, diplomatic and economic affairs. Israel gets treated like a NATO member when it comes to military matters and like Canada or Mexico when it comes to free trade. There's an annual calendar full of meetings of joint strategic task forces and other collaborative sessions. And there's a presidential pledge, re-avowed by Bush in the East Room, that the United States will come to Israel's aid in the event of attack. ... In its early days, Israel was almost exclusively the foster child of liberal Democrats, the affiliation of most American Jews. That began to change in the late 1970s after Menachem Begin became the country's first right-of-center prime minister. He forged a practical alliance with the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other Christian conservatives who saw Jewish rule over the Holy Land as the divinely ordained prelude to the Second Coming of Christ. ... Since 9/11, Americans have increasingly come to accept the idea that Israel and the United States share not just values but enemies. A Gallup Poll in February reported 68 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Israel with 23 percent unfavorable, and that Americans support Israelis over Palestinians by 59 percent to 15 percent. ... Some people are not happy about the close ties between the Israel lobby and the most conservative president since Ronald Reagan. They complain that AIPAC and its sister groups have moved too far to the right and grown overly cozy with former House majority leader Tom DeLay and a Republican leadership now mired in scandal epitomized by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, once a big donor to Jewish causes. These groups, it is said, have lost touch with a majority of American Jews, who still skew liberal, vote Democratic and view Christian conservatives with abiding suspicion. But the real deal-breaker for many -- including a pair of respected political scientists at two leading universities -- was the war in Iraq. ... Iran may be worrisome, says Walt, but no more so than previous threats. "My belief is we would not be contemplating preventive war if we did not have a powerful domestic interest group pushing this issue. We have lived with a number of really odious regimes having nuclear weapons, because we understood that we could deter them effectively with the weapons at our disposal." ... Echoing Feldman and Oren, Ross insists that the essay is wrong to claim Israel had pushed for war in Iraq. If anything, the Israelis feared such a war would divert attention and resources from the Middle East's real danger -- Iran. Some Israelis even warned that toppling Hussein would lead to chaos in Iraq that would make the neighboring Iranians stronger. Which is, more or less, what has happened." -- Interesting read.

"This is Going to Be A Big War" - "The Israeli justification for bombing the airport in Beirut and pushing into southern Lebanon is that two of their soldiers were captured. In classic newspeak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said of the incident, "It is an act of war by the state of Lebanon," conveniently omitting the bombings in the occupied territories, including civilians on a beach, by Israeli forces over the last weeks."

Syria says fully backs Hizbollah against Israel - "Syria will support Hizbollah and Lebanon against Israel's attacks on the country, the ruling Baath Party said on Friday, defying the Jewish state and its chief ally Washington."

Israel smashes Hezbollah strongholds - "Israeli warplanes hit central Beirut for the first time and smashed the Hezbollah leadership's main strongholds, as strikes killed at least 18 Lebanese fleeing the onslaught. Hezbollah rockets continued to pour into Israel, where officials warned citizens that Tel Aviv could be hit.

Israel Says Warship Hit by Hezbollah Drone - "An Israeli warship was hit off the Lebanese coast by an unmanned Hezbollah aircraft rigged with explosives, military officials said. The attack indicated that Hezbollah has added a new weapon to the arsenal of rockets and mortars it has used against Israeli troops."

Israel, Gaza and Lebanon: What it means to you - "The reason for caring about the lives of your fellow man should absolutely not be because of an inconvenience to you or your bank account.Which isn't to say that these factors should be ignored. It is understandable that one is concerned for one's own interests, but that's not the issue. The issue is the apathy towards one's fellow man in the face of violence and oppression; it shouldn't have to affect you before you care."

Mutually Assured Destruction in the Middle East - "In this demented world, friend and foe need each other. Hamas and Hezbollah yearn, on some level, for Israeli airstrikes against civilians just as the hard right in Israel yearns in some dark way for suicide bombers. The indiscriminate violence of one justifies the indiscriminate violence of the other. The violence stokes the fear that is the driving force behind all messianic, violent movements—American, Jewish and Muslim. And since these groups have nothing to offer other than violence, they need fear to keep those around them compliant. The atrocities committed by one—real or imagined – make possible the atrocities of the other."

It's war by any other name - "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described what is happening in Lebanon as saying. "This is an act of war." Olmert is correct. This is war. It has been war, non-stop, since 1948. What is happening in Lebanon today is yet another chapter of bloody Middle East events that will last for generations to come, because it is impossible, after so many years of conflict, for the Israelis and Arabs to forgive and forget. ... It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory." -- Israel's troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border? Hmmm. Interesting.

Attention Deficit Americans Are Being Misled to War - "A terrible thing is happening, and not enough Americans are aware to be able to do anything about it. Zionists in Israel and in the Bush administration are leading America into war with Iran, Syria, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. The consequences for America, Israel and the Middle East will be disastrous, but as long as Washington is in thrall to Zionist paranoia, nothing can be done about it. Bush made this clear on July 14 when he rejected the plea from Lebanon’s prime minister to pressure Israel to stop its attack on Lebanon."

New York Sun: War on Iran Has Begun - "The war with Iran has begun. Just last Friday, Iranian President Ahmadinejad warned that Israel's return to Gaza could lead to an "explosion" in the Islamic world that would target Israel and its supporters in the West. "They should not let things reach a point where an explosion occurs in the Islamic world," he said. "If an explosion occurs, then it won't be limited to geographical boundaries. It will also burn all those who created [Israel] over the past 60 years," he said, implicitly referring to America and other Western nations who support Israel."

Chavez: U.S. support for Israel will end in a 'Holocaust' - "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that U.S. backing of Israel is responsible for flaming tensions in the Middle East and putting the world on course toward another "Holocaust." "The fundamental blame falls again on the U.S. empire. It's the empire that armed and supported the abuses of the Israeli elite, which has invaded, abused and defied the United Nations for a long time," Chavez said in a speech during a military act in Caracas."

UK defends strike on Afghan town - "British forces in Afghanistan have defended their decision to call in US planes to drop 500lb bombs on Taleban fighters in a town in Helmand province. Witnesses say there were many civilian deaths and injuries but UK forces said there was no evidence of any."

US plans $A280m jet fuel sale to Israel - "The Pentagon notified Congress of plans to sell Israel jet fuel valued at up to $US210 million ($A280 million) "to keep peace and security in the region"."

Bush 'will be given more power to eavesdrop' in bill - "The dispute over the Bush administration's secret eavesdropping of US citizens has reignited after it emerged the White House had brokered a deal with Congress that critics say gives it even greater flexibility to monitor phone calls electronically."

Proposed Surveillance Bill Would Sweep NSA Spying Programs Under the Rug - ""This so-called compromise bill is not a concession from the White House -- it's a rubber stamp for any future spying program dreamed up by the executive," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "In essence, this bill threatens to make court oversight of electronic surveillance voluntary rather than mandatory.""

Democrats pull ad showing flag-draped caskets - "A Democratic ad showing flag-draped caskets was pulled Friday from a fundraising Web site, a day after U.S. Rep. John Spratt sent a letter urging his party to do so."

Senate votes to bar emergency gun confiscation - "The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to prohibit the confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency like last year's Hurricane Katrina, marking another victory for the gun lobby."

Foreign companies buy U.S. roads, bridges - "Roads and bridges built by U.S. taxpayers are starting to be sold off, and so far foreign-owned companies are doing the buying."




Quote of the Day
"The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category."
~ Adolf Hitler