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An Iran-backed Iraqi militia suspected of a drone strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers says it has suspended operations against US forces. Kataib Hezbollah, which is part of an umbrella group that claimed Sunday's attack, said this was "to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government".

THE Israeli army has fired into northern Lebanon after rockets were fired at the Jewish state. "We carried out direct fire at the source of the rocket fire from Lebanon," an Israeli army spokeswoman said. The army fired five shells, a military source said without clarifying the type of ordnance used. Two people were slightly wounded, he said, adding that police sappers and bomb disposal units were working on the scene. The rockets fell around the area of the northern town of Nahariya, where residents were called to stay inside their homes, Israeli media reported. The rockets fell a day...

Okay, I'll start: 1) Blagojevich walks scott free 2) My salary continues to remain stagnate 3) The bailout results in a massive debt to taxpayers with zero benefit to them 4) Iran aquires nuclear weapons and we (including Bush) failed to do anything about it 5) Jamie Gertz continue's to become even more attractive as she ages

Happy New Year's Eve to all at Free Republic!!! Make your predictions for 2008. Good Luck!!!

These are the "birth pangs" of a "new Middle East," said Condi Rice last summer, as Israel pounded Lebanon. Unfortunately, the new Middle East may make us all pray for the return of the old. Hamas is today engaged in savage street-fighting with Fatah for control of Gaza. If Hamas prevails, it could convert this Palestinian enclave into a terrorist base camp between Israel and Egypt. In northern Lebanon, Islamic jihadists are battling the army for control of a Palestinian refugee camp. Scores are dead. On Wednesday, a seventh parliamentarian was assassinated with his son in a Beirut car bomb...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Aug 26, 2006 (AP)— Two missiles fired by Israeli aircraft early Sunday morning hit an armored car belonging to the Reuters news agency, moderately wounding two television cameramen and three bystanders, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said. The Israeli army said it was checking the report. According to witnesses, a Reuters cameraman and a freelance cameraman working for an Arabic network were standing outside the vehicle in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza filming a nearby Israeli raid when the missiles hit the car. The white sports utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters logo and had...

The White House defended a United Nations measure meant to halt the 26-day battle between Israel and Hezbollah, despite criticism by Lebanese officials that the proposal was too favorable to Israel and wouldn't ensure an end to the fighting. Debate over the measure came as the fighting between the two sides intensified, further highlighting how difficult the diplomatic path will be. Hezbollah fired its most lethal rocket barrage so far into Israel, killing at least 15 people. See continuing coverage of developments in the Middle East conflict, including a news tracker with the latest updates on the crisis, an interactive...

More attacks on Jews feared 03 August 2006 By JANINE BENNETTS A graffiti attack on Christchurch's synagogue has increased fears among the Jewish community that fighting in the Middle East may encourage anti-semitic groups to act. On Monday night, racist taunts and swastikas were found at a central-city synagogue. New Zealand Jewish Council chairman Stephen Goodman said there had not been a surge in anti-semitism in New Zealand since fighting between Israel and Lebanon broke out on July 12 but such an environment tended to bring out fringe groups. "There is a level of concern about personal safety, about community...

HAIFA, Israel. -- Some have suggested the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization in Lebanon is the beginning of World War III. But a better analogy may be the 1936 Spanish Civil War.

The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia. Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday. The strike hit the UN...

The Cast of Characters By Jenni Vinson Trejo July 21, 2006 The two significant sects of Islam split back to the 600s, soon after Muhammed's death in 632. Muhammed's son-in-law, Ali, gained support as the inheritor of the duty to spread Islam. Thus, "Shia" is an abbreviation of "Shiat Ali," or the people of Ali. Not all Muslims believed in Ali's place as a leader. While they respected Muhammed's relative as a holy man, they recognized that he was not a Messiah. That role was solely delegated to Muhammed. Rather, the Shi'ites regarded Ali as the first in a series...

Wouldn't it be WONDERFUL to see the USS Cole off the coast of Beruit providing protection for 25000 fleeing Americans? I think that'd send a knife-like message to UBL, and those who got so much pr from attacking it. It's in the area, and just did a port call in Greece a week or so ago. I think in the War on Terror it'd be a great reminder of the USS Cole incident and as the world media reported its presence. Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, MSNBC, CBS, NYT....they'd all be compelled to report its signifigance, the attack done on it,...

The Lebanese-based terror organization Hizbullah is supported by Iran to the tune of US$100 million per year. $10 million also made its way last year from Iran to the Islamic Jihad. The data on Iranian support for Lebanese and Palestinian Authority-based terrorist organizations was revealed by Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz Saturday night, in a lecture he delivered at the annual Herzliya Conference. Mofaz noted that on Friday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks in Damascus with representatives of Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine during a visit he paid to Syrian dictator...