| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:59 pm Post subject: Fw: The Problem is that Democrats are Neocons, Too. |
| Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:49:25 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Fw: The Problem is that Democrats are Neocons, Too.
Neocons like Richard Perle are even still registered as Democrats.. Perle only rafted over to the Republicans for the Reagan campaign (against Jimmy Carter) when he thought that Carter had gone a little soft on Israel with Camp David and similar..
----- Original Message -----
Subject: The Problem is that Democrats are Neocons, Too.
Goodman: In 2006, you write that George W. Bush said
to his father, "What's a neocon?"
Cockburn: That's right. One of the rare moments of
sort of communication between the two. Bush said to --
they were out at Kennebunkport, and Bush Jr. says,
"Can I ask you a question? What's a neocon?" And the
father says, "Do you want names or a description?" The
President says, "I'll take a description." He says,
"I'll give it to you in one word: Israel," which is
interesting on all sorts of levels, including the
confirmation that our president doesn't really read
the newspapers.
--------------------------------------------
Dems abandon war authority provision
By DAVID ESPO
33 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders are stripping from a
military spending bill for the war in Iraq a
requirement that President Bush gain approval from
Congress before moving against Iran.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., and other leaders
agreed to remove the requirement concerning Iran after
conservative Democrats as well as other lawmakers
worried about its possible impact on Israel, officials
said Monday.
The overall bill - which requires that the withdrawal
of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2008, if
not earlier - remained on schedule for an initial test
vote Thursday in the House Appropriations Committee.
The measure provides nearly $100 billion to pay for
two wars and includes more money than Bush had
requested for operations in Afghanistan and what
Democrats called training and equipment shortages.
Still, House Republicans said they wouldn't support it
and the White House threatened a veto.
"Republicans will continue to stand united in this
debate, and will oppose efforts by Democrats to
undermine the ability of General (David) Petraeus and
our troops to achieve victory in the Global War on
Terror," Minority Leader John Boehner (news, bio,
voting record), R-Ohio, said in a statement.
Vice President Dick Cheney criticized supporters of
the bill's withdrawal provisions, declaring in a
speech Monday that they "are telling the enemy simply
to watch the clock and wait us out."
Pelosi issued a written statement that said the vice
president's remarks prove that "the administration's
answer to continuing violence in Iraq is more troops
and more treasure from the American people."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said in a
statement that America was less safe today because of
the war. The president "must change course, and it's
time for the Senate to demand he do it," he added.
The Iran-related proposal stemmed from a desire to
make sure Bush did not launch an attack without going
to Congress for approval, but drew opposition from
numerous members of the rank and file in a series of
closed-door sessions last week.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said in an interview
that there is widespread fear in Israel about Iran,
which is believed to be seeking nuclear weapons and
has expressed unremitting hostility about the Jewish
state.
"It would take away perhaps the most important
negotiating tool that the U.S. has when it comes to
Iran," she said of the now-abandoned provision.
"I didn't think it was a very wise idea to take things
off the table if you're trying to get people to modify
their behavior and normalize it in a civilized way,"
said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.
Several officials said there was widespread opposition
to the proposal at a closed-door meeting last week of
conservative and moderate Democrats, who said they
feared tying the hands of the administration when
dealing with an unpredictable and potentially hostile
regime in Tehran.
Public opinion has swung the way of Democrats on the
issue of the war. More than six in 10 Americans think
the conflict was a mistake - the largest number yet
found in AP-Ipsos polling.
But Democrats have struggled to find a compromise that
can satisfy both liberals who oppose any funding for
the military effort and conservatives who do not want
to unduly restrict the commander in chief.
"This supplemental should be about supporting the
troops and providing what they need," Rep. Dan Boren,
D-Okla., said Monday upon returning from Iraq. Boren
said he plans to oppose any legislation setting a
clear deadline for troops to leave.
In his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, Cheney chided lawmakers who are pressing
for tougher action on Iran to oppose the president on
the Iraq war.
"It is simply not consistent for anyone to demand
aggressive action against the menace posed by the
Iranian regime while at the same time acquiescing in a
retreat from Iraq that would leave our worst enemies
dramatically emboldened and Israel's best friend, the
United States, dangerously weakened," Cheney said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:28 am Post subject: |
| General James David is mentioned on the cover of former Republican Congressman Paul Findley's 'They Dare to Speak Out' book about the power/influence of the pro-Israel lobby (AIPAC and similar) on the US political system and media:
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:23:45 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: U.S. Defense Secretary on his knees
BGJDAVID wrote:
I guess the Secretary of Defense fell to his knees begging Israel to approve the deal, promissing to preserve Israel's edge over its neighbors. I wonder if Gates was also required to kiss Olmert's behind?
JERUSALEM (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday tried to ease Israeli concerns about a planned American weapons sale to Gulf Arab allies, saying the U.S. remains committed to preserving Israel's military edge over its neighbors.
Gates also said his 24-hour trip to Israel did not include any discussions on taking military action against Iran. He reiterated his belief that diplomacy is the best course of action for halting Iran's nuclear program.
Israeli officials have objected to U.S. plans to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and other moderate Gulf states, fearing it would damage Israel's deterrent capabilities in the Middle East. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Washington has delayed the arms sale package because of the Israeli objections.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv before his departure, Gates said he had urged Israeli leaders to look at the deal in terms of the ``overall strategic environment'' and stressed that Israel's neighbors have other alternatives for purchasing arms.
``I'm confident that the Russians would be very happy to sell weapons to countries in the region,'' he said. Gates said he affirmed the U.S. will continue to help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge, but did not say whether the Saudi deal would go through.
Israel is worried about the transfer of advanced weaponry to Arab countries, even to moderate countries like Saudi Arabia.
In particular, it objects to the planned sale of advanced air systems that would vastly upgrade the striking ability of Saudi warplanes, some of which could be stationed just several hundred miles from Israeli airspace. The U.S. has been selling Israel such weapons since the 1990s.
The New York Times said the deal is meant to counter Iranian influence in the region.
Iran was high on the agenda during Gates' 24-hour visit to Israel, the third stop on a swing through the Mideast. The topic was raised during his meetings Thursday with both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The U.S. and Israel accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons - a charge Tehran denies.
The Israeli concerns have been heightened by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for Israel's destruction. Olmert has never ruled out taking military action, but he has repeatedly said he would prefer a diplomatic solution.
Livni said Iran is a threat not only to Israel, but to moderate Arab nations in the Middle East.
``The free world is tested by the countries under threat from Iran, especially its Arab and Muslim neighbors. Every hesitation is interpreted as weakness and is liable to lead to an effort to appease Iran,'' Livni said. ``Only the world's resolve can preserve the 'moderate camp.'''
Gates said both nations agreed that diplomacy - not military action - is the proper course of action for the time being. ``The Israelis are comfortable with letting the diplomatic effort go forward. They did not raise that (military option),'' he said.
On Wednesday, Gates said the international diplomatic pressure on Iran is ``working'' and should be given a chance to succeed.
His words appeared to be aimed at diffusing suggestions in Israel and the U.S. that the Pentagon is moving toward a strike against Iran.
The United States and its allies have led efforts to pass two U.N. Security Council resolutions punishing Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. That process can be used to develop nuclear weapons.
Gates' visit was the first by a Pentagon chief to Israel in eight years.
Olmert said he was ``very proud and grateful'' for the visit. ``It gives us an opportunity to speak to the most powerful man in the defense establishment in the United States of America, which is extremely important to us.''
Gates also visited Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial, before departing. At the memorial, he visited the Hall of Remembrance, rekindled the eternal flame and laid a wreath. He also stopped at the children's memorial, in which the names of the 1.5 million children killed by the Nazis are read.
Gates said he felt it was important ``to pay my respects'' to the 6 million Jews who died in the Nazi genocide.
Gates was on his third trip to the region as defense secretary.
04/19/07 08:02 EDT
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL
BGJDAVID@aol.com wrote:Can you believe this? If you had any doubt as to who runs U.S. foreign policy, this story should eliminate any of that doubt. The United States would like to sell Saudi Arabia some new weapon systems but before the deal can be made we need to send over our Secretary of Defense to get Israel's approval. George Bush and his Administration should be ashamed of themselves. They have sunk to a new low.
AHN | Gates To Visit Israel Over Saudi Arms Deal | April 15, 2007
Gates To Visit Israel Over Saudi Arms Deal
April 13, 2007 5:50 a.m. EST
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit Israel next week in an effort to gain support for the sale of advanced American-made weapons to Saudi Arabia, a nation still technically at war with the Jewish state.
During the two day stop, which will be the first visit by a U.S. defense secretary in over eight years, Gates will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The sides will reportedly discuss U.S. military aid to Israel and regional threats to both nations, though the talks are expected to center on a recently frozen U.S.-Saudi arms deal.
The New York Times reported last week that the deal was put on ice due to strong Israeli objections, which pointed out that putting the advanced weapons systems in Saudi hands would severely erode Israel's qualitative military edge in the region, something Washington had previously committed itself to safeguarding.
But the U.S. defense establishment is said to be determined to push through the sale in an effort to offset the growing regional influence of Iran, and is looking for a compromise that will satisfy America's allies in Israel.
According to Ha'aretz, Israel has expressed interest in acquiring certain restricted U.S. weapons systems, and that Washington may be willing to consider selling these items to Israel in exchange for Jerusalem's backing of the Saudi deal.
While in the region, Gates will also visit Jordan and Egypt.
Copyright © AHN Media Corp - All rights reserved.
Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN. | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:30 am Post subject: McCain confirms that coming Iran attack will be for Israel |
| John 'Israel first' McCain is the AEI 'Neoconian' candidate:
At a stop on Senator John McCain's "Straight Talk" tour, the 2008 presidential candidate decided to respond to a question with some bars of a song, but it is unlikely that Arizona's Republican senator will be reaching the final rounds of Fox's "American Idol."
Speaking at Murrells Inlet VFW Hall in South Carolina, McCain was asked when he thought that the US Military might "send an air mail message to Tehran."
"McCain began his answer by changing the words to a popular Beach Boys song," the Georgetown Times reports.
"'Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,' he sang to the tune of Barbara Ann," the paper notes.
McCain then added, "Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the President when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel."
The paper notes that McCain stopped short of answering the actual question and did not say if he supports an invasion of Iran."
Later, McCain campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin told ABC News that the senator "was just trying to add a little humor to the event."
ABC's report adds, "On a more serious note, however, McCain has long been an advocate of dealing with rogue states aggressively. Back in 2000 when then-Gov. George W. Bush was wary of nation building and talking about a foreign policy based on humility and restraint, McCain was advocating a policy of 'rogue-state rollback,' which he described in a 1999 speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a '21st century interpretation of the Reagan doctrine.'"
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/McCain_unplugged_Bomb_bomb_bomb_bomb_0419.html
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Bandar has been instrumental in convincing other members of the "axis of fear" apart from Saudi Arabia - Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and the Emirates - that the US must attack Iran sooner rather than later.
Hezbollah's number two, has been roundly denouncing Washington for pulling no punches in preventing any agreement between the Siniora government and the opposition. Qassem says the US "wants to tie Lebanon into negotiations that benefit Israel and their plan for a New Middle East".
Middle East
Apr 19, 2007
THE ROVING EYE
Hezbollah's big challenge
By Pepe Escobar
BEIRUT - "You are in heaven and those who killed you will go to hell," reads a poster in a middle-class, predominantly Sunni neighborhood in north Beirut.
Those depicted in heaven include Saddam Hussein, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri (killed in a car bombing in 2005), and Sheik Ahmed Yassin (the Hamas leader assassinated by the Israelis in 2004). There's
not much to unite Saddam, Arafat, Hariri and Yassin - who all "went to heaven" by different methods - except they were Sunni.
Compare this to posters all over bombed-out south Beirut depicting smiling Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
That's one way to see a Sunni-Shi'ite divide played out in a single Middle Eastern capital. Another way is to confront the configuration of the city itself.
Flush with Saudi Arabian funds, Hariri, a billionaire Sunni, set out to rebuild Beirut from the ashes of the Lebanese civil war.
Western Christians - and Saudi Wahhabis - may be impressed with the malls and the smart cafes. But the Shi'ite masses from south Beirut - or south Lebanon for that matter - won't be seen sipping a cappuccino at the al-Maarad, facing the excavated ruins of the Roman cardus maximus (city center); they won't be shopping for Prada in Ras Beirut; they won't even be allowed at the door of the US$300-a-night hotel Albergo in Achrafiye; and the kids won't be able to afford $10 drinks at the Strange Fruit nightclub.
The game of what many call Hariri Inc was to rebuild the former "Paris of the East" from top - downtown - down during the 1990s, and then the rest of Lebanon would also join the party. It didn't happen. Shi'ites not only didn't profit from it, they were bombed by Israel last summer, after downtown Beirut had become a de facto Saudi playground.
But then, last December, a mass Lebanese opposition campaign, direct-democracy-style, was unleashed, led by Hezbollah. Downtown is now relatively empty - occupied by people drinking tea and playing backgammon in tents for days, even weeks, in a round-the-clock anti-government sit-in to the sound of macho martial rhythms.
Lebanon may be losing as much as $70 million a day as the impasse continues. Wealthy Saudi and Emirates tycoons are laying off people in droves. The affluent, non-Shi'ite, party-going crowd moved back to the coffee shops in old Hamra Street. But downtown is not dead - at least not yet, if one counts as sustainable development projects like La Residence, a $140 million, Ivana Trump-designed luxury apartment tower, still selling at a brisk pace.
Lebanon as a model
The easiest way to avoid trouble in Lebanon is to behave like a Shi'ite in the south, like a Sunni in Jiyyih and like a Christian in Beirut. Anyone strictly secular may run the risk of talking to the deaf. Unlike Syria, sectarianism rules. It sounds like Iraq in more ways than one - a non-viable state.
Crackpots abound - like Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who qualifies Nasrallah as a Syrian agent, Assad as a "serial killer" and Hezbollah as puppets of Tehran. Or Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who proposed chartering flights full of Lebanese politicians to Saudi Arabia so they can be all swayed (by checkbook?) by King Abdullah. As'ad AbuKhalil, host of the Angry Arab website, always stresses that the Lebanese civil war never ended. What outsiders don't know is the current sectarian wave was unleashed by Hariri Inc and their wealthy Saudi associates.
But the buck doesn't stop with them. Because there will always be the Washington-House of Saud axis.
Saudi Arabia's powerful Prince Bandar, former ambassador to Washington, also known as Bandar Bush - who harbors desires of becoming the next Saudi king - is basically pro-US and anti-Syria, thus fiercely anti-Hezbollah. Bandar has been instrumental in convincing other members of the "axis of fear" apart from Saudi Arabia - Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and the Emirates - that the US must attack Iran sooner rather than later.
It's an open secret in Beirut - and across the Middle East - that the US is financing the Fouad Siniora government with Bandar money, not to mention the almost $9 billion which "mysteriously" disappeared from Iraq. A US-pushed January conference in Paris came up with pledges of no less than $8 billion to Lebanon, including more than $1 billion from the House of Saud. Rafik Hariri himself was always very close to the House of Saud, and Prince Bandar in particular.
A United Nations investigation revealed no direct evidence of Syrian implication in Hariri's assassination. Officials in Damascus are more than happy to remind anyone that Hariri was also very close to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset, former Iraqi interim prime minister and "Butcher of Fallujah", Iyad Allawi, Not to mention that he was the facilitator of a $20 billion arms deal between the Russians and the House of Saud. As for the pitiful Siniora, he could not even place a call to President George W Bush last summer to stop Israel from bombing his own country to the Stone Age.
Lebanon is a mere pawn in this Big Brother (US-Bandar Bush) game. No wonder Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's number two, has been roundly denouncing Washington for pulling no punches in preventing any agreement between the Siniora government and the opposition. Qassem says the US "wants to tie Lebanon into negotiations that benefit Israel and their plan for a New Middle East".
Qassem also stresses that the US is waging a "covert war" against Hezbollah. Hezbollah is just reading the news here: before Christmas 2006, and after long discussions with Bandar Bush, Bush signed a "non-lethal presidential finding", officially deniable, giving the green light to the CIA to take on Hezbollah - under the guise of providing financial and logistical support to the Siniora government. Although the finding was top secret, the news leaked.
This configures the US, plus the "axis of fear", plus Israel all united to, in White House/Pentagon newspeak, "stop Iranian hegemony in the Middle East". It's hard not to agree with Iran's ambassador to Damascus, Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, when he says that the US is using the old British imperial tactic of divide and rule, sowing discord among Sunnis and Shi'ites to try to isolate Iran.
Give a hand to al-Qaeda
The US game in Lebanon is hardcore. It involves $60 million support for a Hezbollah witchhunt operated by the Internal Security Force at the Interior Ministry; and generous, active support to al-Qaeda-affiliated Sunni jihadis. Once again the Bush administration is merrily playing al-Qaeda's game. Blowback will be inevitable.
Just as Iraq is in Syria, Iraq has also come to Lebanon. Hundreds of new jihadis plucked from among the more than 400,000 Palestinians who live in refugee camps in Lebanon - like Fatah al-Islam, originally from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, or Asbat al-Ansar, from the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp - crossed to Iraq and acquired battlefield experience fighting the US occupation. At least some of them are back, as well as a smattering of Salafi-jihadis from northern Lebanon who settled back in Tripoli. There's also al-Qaeda fi Bilad as-Sham ("al-Qaeda in the lands of the Levant"), which sprung up when Syrian forces left Lebanon in 2005.
These are among the new US "friends" in Lebanon. Not surprisingly, billionaire Saad Hariri, Rafik's son - who looks like a cross between a sleazy car salesman and a cheap hoodlum and happens to double as Sunni majority leader of the Lebanese Parliament - has already bailed out and obtained amnesty for a smattering of Salafi-jihadis from Dinniyeh trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
Nasrallah - who night after night is never allowed to sleep in the same place - is the number one target not only of these Salafi-jihadis but also of Jordanian intelligence, faithful to "axis of fear" stalwart and staunch US ally King Abdullah. On an Arab street level, Nasrallah remains the undisputed top politician all over the Middle East, be it among Sunnis or Shi'ites: in Damascus his posters are found even in Christian and Armenian businesses.
A landmark January interview by Nasrallah to the satellite channel al-Manar remains essential in outlining Hezbollah's take on the Lebanese game. Lebanon is viewed as part of the US-concocted "New Middle East"; its destiny is intimately related to occupied Palestine and Iraq, as much as the US fomenting sectarianism in Lebanon is also intimately related to the US fomenting a civil war in Iraq.
The White House has of course accused Hezbollah - with no proof - of supporting Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army (Nasrallah has repeatedly said Hezbollah supports the Iraqi resistance "in all its dimensions"). It's true that Muqtada supported Hezbollah when Israel attacked Lebanon last summer. In Kufa and Beirut it is also widely recognized that Muqtada respects Nasrallah as a towering, extremely popular, nationalist leader - and has tried to model the Mehdi Army, to some extent, on Hezbollah.
Yes, there are indeed Muqtada-meets-Nasrallah posters - and these will be collectors' items in CIA boot camps. But although they both may lead nationalist resistance movements - thus inevitably incurring America's wrath - there are fundamental differences. Hezbollah is a solid block, the Mehdi Army has splintered into at least three factions. Hezbollah is not sectarian, unlike at least two of the Mehdi Army's factions still engaged in attacks against Sunni civilians.
Nasrallah is very much aware of divide and rule. In his January interview, he defined the New Middle East as "a collection of statelets that are divided along religious, sectarian and racial lines, from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq to Iran to Turkey to Afghanistan to Pakistan; all the way to Saudi Arabia and Yemen and the rest of the Gulf States, reaching North Africa. A founding pillar of the 'New Middle East' is continuous conflict between these statelets."
Already in January, Nasrallah was puzzled by "some politicians in Lebanon who are intimately tied to the US, and who are known to coordinate closely with the Americans, these politicians are agitating Sunnis against Shi'ites under the pretext that Shi'ites are American collaborators. This is a bizarre, surreal contradiction." Bizarre is indeed the middle name of the Bush administration's game - as it pits its Sunni clients against Shi'ites in Lebanon while pitting its own Shi'ite collaborators against "other" Shi'ites and assorted Sunnis in Iraq. But Nasrallah may not be puzzled at all that the Bush administration had to reach for al-Qaeda to take on Hezbollah.
It all boils down to the same game: smashing any true nationalist resistance movement, whatever it takes, to the benefit of easily pliable client regimes. Thus the Nuri al-Maliki client regime in Iraq killing Sunnis (and, as much as possible, also Sadrists); the Abbas client regime in Palestine against Hamas; the Siniora client regime in Lebanon attacking Hezbollah. In appropriate newspeak the surge for a region-wide Sunni-Shi'ite war is then labeled as "support for democracy" and spun on pliant corporate media. The repressive, retrograde House of Saud couldn't be a better partner in this "peace process" - as it sees nationalists such as Nasrallah, Muqtada and Hamas leader Khalid Meshal as the plague.
No more wars
Hezbollah officials in Beirut told Asia Times Online that the party is very much aware that Bush, Bandar Bush and Israel are working to unleash fitna - doubt, anger, the implosion of Islam. They say the US wants a partition not only of Iraq, but also of Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah is doing all it can to prevent a regional Sunni-Shi'ite war - which would start by a partition of Iraq.
This is exactly what we hear from Iraqi refugees in Damascus: the US wants Sunnis and Shi'ites to kill each other instead of US occupation soldiers. And this is also what Syrian intelligence hears from these same Iraqi refugees, whether they come from Baghdad, Hilla and Najaf or from Fallujah and Ramadi.
Hezbollah does not want another civil war in Lebanon. And Hezbollah also does not want another war with Israel. But just in case, the party is preparing non-stop for another possible Israeli attack, which "could happen before the end of 2008".
Meanwhile, no one knows what will happen in downtown Beirut. Hezbollah swears the sit-in will continue. Hezbollah and other groups in the opposition want veto power over the US-backed Siniora cabinet. Christian Maronites and Sunnis may scream, but the majority of Lebanon's population agree.
Hezbollah sees the cabinet as a US puppet. The Siniora government and Hariri Inc say Hezbollah is a puppet from Syria and Iran. Dialogue seems virtually impossible. Breaking the deadlock may have to wait until November, when President Emile Lahoud finishes his term. It's been widely rumored in Beirut that Lahoud may appoint a new government. Surrealist Lebanon would then have two competing cabinets. No wonder Lebanon is suffering a massive brain drain.
And then there's the non-stop US pressure for the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal to examine the killing of Hariri. Hezbollah is not against a tribunal - but against a tribunal manipulated by the US as a political weapon.
Hezbollah has a sound proposal for breaking the Lebanese deadlock now: new elections or a referendum. The US's clients keep saying no. Nasrallah will have to wait. He may already be the most clever - and popular - statesman in the Middle East. But the true test of his caliber will not be to offer tangible proof that Hezbollah is not a puppet of Syria and Iran; it will be to offset the specter of a regional, US-encouraged, Sunni-Shi'ite war.
Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com. | | | | Cowboy | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:34 am Post subject: |
| Iran's Thug-In-Chief warns West: Become Muslim or else
Again --
-- although this time his call is addressed to "oppressive world powers" in general, not just to Bush.
This is in accord with Muhammad's instructions:
Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah....When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them....If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them.... -- Sahih Muslim 4294
"Ahmadinejad advises oppressors to heed prophets' teachings," from IRNA:
IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad advised oppressive world powers here Wednesday to heed prophets' teachings and not to pave the path of ignorance.
He said, "God sent His Prophets (PBUT) to mankind with pure logic and divine teachings, the last of whom was Islam's Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), but there are today unfortunately oppressive powers in the world that either do not grasp the essence of prophets' message, or do so, but ignore them, paving the path of ignorance, darkness, oppression, and unethical ways of life."
He added, "I wish to send a message to these oppressive powers on behalf of you, and the entire Iranian nation, asking them to get back to the path put before them by the prophets, that is the path of divine guidance, justice, friendship, and being faithful to the covenants they have vowed with their nations."
Ahmadinejad warned the oppressive powers, "Beware! If you do not get back to this path; if you do not end your oppressive methods; if you do not keep on looting the other nations and try to keep on imposing your illegitimate hegemony over other nations, you will face the destiny of the past tyrants in history, that is none but death, and downfall for yourselves, and wretched lives for your nations." Further addressing the oppressive powers, Ahmadinejad said, "Today you selfishly and arrogantly insist on halting the path of nations' progress, including Iran, resorting to telling lies to the world public opinion and even cheating your own nations."
[...]
Ahmadinejad said, "Our nation's advice for you is to get back to the path of monotheism, justice, and friendship, at least in a bid to safeguard your own nations' immediate, and long term interests." | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:29 am Post subject: |
| There goes the Jewish Cowboy taking material off the AIPAC home page again!  | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject: |
| The Power of the Israel Lobby: See the Video
by Justin Raimondo
April 18th, 2007
Don’t miss this one: A Dutch documentary (in English) on “Portrait of a Great Taboo: The Power of the Israel Lobby in the United States,” featuring John J. Mearsheimer, Tony Judt, Michael Massing, Larry Wilkerson (!), Daniel Levy, and Richard Perle pretending to be a human being for some sinister counterpoint. I particularly liked Wilkerson on the reasons for the Iraq war: no, it wasn’t oil, it wasn’t those elusive “weapons of mass destruction,” nor was it spreading “democracy” (eh, no kidding!): it was all about the neocons. And Judt has a fascinating analysis of the simultaneous rise of the Lobby and identity politics. Plus great production values, and moody, foreboding music that really sets the right tone. Very effective: check it out:
http://www.vpro.nl/programma/plaatsdesoordeels/afleveringen/33882177/media/33964115/
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/04/18/the-israel-lobby-see-the-video/ | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:36 pm Post subject: |
| ----- Original Message -----
From: Council for the National Interest Foundation
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:09 PM
Subject: New York Times Ad: Deal with Israeli Apartheid in Palestine! (Sun., April 22nd)
New York Times Ad: Speaker Pelosi: After Damascus... Tehran?The sixth of six full-page New York Times advertisements published by the Council for the National Interest Foundation in the last year will run opposite the editorial page in this Sunday's, April 22nd, "Week in Review" section of the Times.
You can also view the ad as a PDF or JPG file on our new CNI Foundation website by clicking either of the following links:
Speaker Pelosi: After Damascus... Tehran? (PDF) 824 Kb
Speaker Pelosi: After Damascus... Tehran? (JPG) 956 Kb
You can see all six of the full-page ads published in the New York Times over the last year on our new website by clicking on the following link:
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Speaker Pelosi: After Damascus... Tehran?
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI should be applauded for taking a bipartisan group of Congressmen to Damascus to talk with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Her visit, which was sharply criticized by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, was clearly in the national interest.
Taking a tip from the Iraq Study Group Report, Speaker Pelosi acted responsibly to encourage change in the U.S. foreign policy dynamic in the Middle East. For the last six years, the region has reeled under the impact of war and counterinsurgency in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and more recently Lebanon. Talking to the head of state of Syria marks a promising beginning of greater realism, less ideology in the conduct of foreign policy.
Opening up a congressional dialogue with the Iranians is the next logical step. Only by talking to all parties concerned can solutions be found to the difficult and complex issues in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Continuing on to Riyadh, Speaker Pelosi gave important and needed recognition by the American people to King Abdullah's extraordinary effort to reopen the moribund Arab-Israeli peace process, so crudely ignored by Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and President Bush. To try to end the callous suffering of the Palestinian people, the king successfully intervened earlier in the year to resolve the differences between Hamas and Fatah and to bring about a unity government. This should have allowed the resumption of foreign aid.
Bush: 'Forget it; I am NOT speaking to any Democrats!'That has not happened. During her entire Middle East tour, Speaker Pelosi never once called for a clear start of negotiations for resolving the core issue confronting Middle East peace - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the Iraq Study Group Report states, "The United States does its ally Israel no favors in avoiding direct involvement to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict." The Israelis continue to undermine prospects for peace by constructing the separation or Apartheid wall, expanding Jewish colonies in the West Bank, annexing Palestinian land around Jerusalem, and destroying Palestinian homes in the occupied territories.
Can we have any hope that the Speaker will now show as much courage on the Palestinian issue as she has shown in going to Damascus?
But First Deal With Israeli Apartheid in Palestine!
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER caused an uproar by daring to title his recent bestseller about Israeli policy in the occupied West Bank and Gaza "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." Before the book was even published, Speaker Pelosi joined other Democrats in condemning Carter's use of the word Apartheid, which he defined as the "forced separation of two peoples in the same territory with one of the groups dominating or controlling the other."
As former Israeli Minister of Education Shulamit Aloni argues, "The U.S. Jewish establishment's onslaught on former President Jimmy Carter is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all: through its army, the government of Israel practices a brutal form of Apartheid in the occupied territories. Its army has turned every Palestinian village and town into a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention camp."
On June 9th the world will mark the 40th anniversary of Israel's oppressive military occupation of Palestine - the longest occupation in modern history. Yet the U.S. government continues to fund, support and even encourage Israel's policy of colonization, Apartheid, and imprisonment of the Palestinians.
Olmert: 'Mirror, mirror on the Apartheid wall...'Israel has turned Gaza and the West Bank into open-air prisons. Only Jewish people are allowed to live in Israeli settlements in the West Bank - housing that is highly subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer, at the rate of $500 million per year. Israel's intimidating wall, built on Palestinian land, separates Palestinians and their goods from Israelis, from the outside world, and, most perversely, from 100,000 other Palestinians living on the "wrong" side of the wall.
Among a population of 2.5 million Palestinians on the West Bank, Israel has strategically placed nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers, supported by a vast network of settler-only bypass roads and military checkpoints that crisscross the territory, making a two-state solution to the conflict impossible. It is a simple grab for land and water.
The military and political domination of Palestinian Muslims and Christians by Israel's Jewish population could not continue without U.S. support, including $3 billion in annual military aid from U.S. taxpayers. Meanwhile, U.S.-imposed sanctions on the Palestinians have led to skyrocketing unemployment in the occupied territories. More than two-thirds of Palestinians now live in poverty. Such senseless sanctions on an entire people are a violation by the U.S. and Israel of the Geneva Convention's prohibition on collective punishment.
Speaker Pelosi must make the step that the Bush Administration has so far been unwilling to take and insist that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be a central component of our foreign policy. That would be an honest step towards ending our quagmire in the Middle East.
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To unsubscribe, please click here: http://democracyinaction.org/cnif/unsubscribe.jsp | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:41 pm Post subject: |
| Whatever one might happen to think about David Duke, take a look at what he mentions about that Steinlight Jewish traitor to America via the URL below as it explains HB, Cowboy, PSCUM and thousands of other Jewish 'American' traitors to America:
No War for Israel!
Posted By site admin On 23rd October 2004 @ 06:56 In General | 10 Comments
David Duke Online Radio Report 03-05-2003
No War for Israel!
by David Duke
URL to article: http://www.davidduke.com/general/no-war-for-israel_4.html | | | | Alpha | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
