Posted on 07/17/2006 10:49:45 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006
Exactly, they run the world with their games.
might as well be...I was thinking of visiting Branson in August..
But I'd be happier to see a real photograph of him dead just like the one of al Zarqawi in Iraq.
The segment with Jennifer Griffin...was on Brit's show..if you want to catch the rerun later tonight.
Can I ask what you guys are referring to..re: Sen. Warner?
poison yogurt...how dastardly!!
I'm not sure since I didn't hear Warners comments last night
But whatever was reported ... he wanted to clear it up for the record
By DEB RIECHMANN , 07.18.2006, 06:05 PM
President Bush said Tuesday he suspects Syria is trying to reassert influence in Lebanon more than a year after Damascus ended what had effectively been a long-term military occupation of its smaller, weaker neighbor.
"It's in our interest that Syria stay out of Lebanon and this government survive," Bush said in a reference to the young, Lebanese government.
Bush spoke at the White House after briefing members of Congress about his recent trip to Russia for an economic summit that was overshadowed by fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.
"Everybody abhors the loss of innocent life," Bush said. "On the other hand, what we recognize is that the root cause of the problem is Hezbollah. And that problem must be addressed ... by making it clear to Syria that they've got to stop their support to Hezbollah."
He said there are suspicions that instability caused by Hezbollah's attacks will cause some in Lebanon to invite Syria to return to the nation.
"Listen, Syria is trying to get back into Lebanon, it looks like to me," said Bush, who also noted the backing Hezbollah receives from Iran.
"In order to be able to deal with this crisis, the world must deal with Hezbollah, with Syria and to continue to work to isolate Iran," Bush said.
The president reiterated his stance that Israel should be free to respond to attacks, but warned against triggering the collapse of the Lebanese government run by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
"We have made it very clear that Israel should be allowed to defend herself," Bush said. "We've asked that as she does so that she be mindful of the Saniora government. It's very important that this government in Lebanon succeed and survive."
Fighting began June 25 when Hamas-linked militants in the Gaza Strip carried out a cross-border attack on a military outpost in Israel, killing two soldiers and capturing one. Hezbollah guerrillas joined the fray in July, attacking a military patrol on the border in northern Israel, killing three soldiers and capturing two. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have said the attacks were not related.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who spoke Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Tuesday that any cease-fire in Mideast fighting ought to be based on fundamental changes that could lead to a lasting impact.
"We all want a cessation of violence," Rice said. "We all want the protection of civilians. We have to make certain that anything that we do is going to be of lasting value."
Rice said there must be a conducive environment for a cease-fire. That, she said, would involve implementation of a standing U.N. Security Council resolution and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the borders, as well as the introduction of a strong peacekeeping operation.
A U.N. Security Council resolution in 2004 led to withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. But its call for disarming militant guerrillas has not been heeded.
Rice, at a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, also indicated she would not be going to the troubled region immediately. She said she was primed to take the trip when it will be "helpful and necessary."
Rice's skepticism about trying to work out an immediate, makeshift cease-fire reflects views shared by the Israeli government in seeking fundamental changes to guard against another flare-up. These include ensuring southern Lebanon does not remain a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
Gheit, for his part, did not qualify his support for a cease-fire. He said one was under discussion in diplomatic circles.
Speaking to reporters after the lawmakers' meeting with the president, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said he agreed with Bush that the United States should respond to the crisis by pressuring Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
"I think the president has an opportunity here to turn - as an old phrase goes - lemons into lemonade," Biden said, adding that some of Lebanon's Arab neighbors are publicly siding with the United States and Europe against Hezbollah.
"I think he's started down that road, and I think he has a shot," Biden said.
AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid contributed to this story.
Oh...okay, thanks. I hate that I have been missing so much..when school is back in session...Congress will probably go OUT of session...LOL
Amen Bro.
Everyone ready? If Hez tries anything here they are gonna only try it once.
Fortunately, there are currently two factors that work in favor of Gaza's Israeli neighbors. First, the Israeli communities surrounding Gaza are few and far apart, so most of the rockets end up landing in open fields or other unpopulated areas. Second, Qassam rockets are highly inaccurate, to the extent that in many cases these rockets have even ended up landing in Palestinian territory.
But if the Palestinian rocket-launchers acquire more sophisticated missiles, such as the Katyusha rockets that are being used in the north, this will pose a much more menacing threat.
The Israeli army has so far documented two instances of Katyushas launched from Gaza into Israeli territory. The first occurred on March 28, 2006, the day of Israel's general elections. This has compounded fears that the Katyushas will be the new threat from Gaza.
This FR post has part of the answer:
IAF foils rocket transports from Syria
Here are a couple of paragraphs from the article:
Although Hizbullah has suffered a harsh blow from Israeli air force strikes which took out a good percentage of their available weapons, Syria was continuing to smuggle arms into Lebanon to rearm the group, IDF Operations Branch Head Major General Gadi Eisenkot said during a press briefing Tuesday.
...
During the briefing, Maj.-Gen. Eisenkot said the IDF has hit over 1,000 targets, 180 of them Katyusha and rocket storage sites and 350 launch sites. Over 250 missile strikes were carried out with the aim of blocking traffic arteries, and 200 buildings used by Hizbullah were hit. According to Eisenkot, Israel’s offensive would continue without time limitations.
LOL. He doesn't look like the type but he's a bulldog.
You have a freepmail.
Did you see Richard Cohans colume today??? Just stunning.
Ok - this is the article by that p.o.s. Richard Cohen that Brit just lambasted. I posted the entire thing because I know you have to sign up to read it. If you are on blood pressure medicine, be careful when you read this!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701154.html
Hunker Down With History
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Page A19
The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake. It is an honest mistake, a well-intentioned mistake, a mistake for which no one is culpable, but the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now. Israel fights Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, but its most formidable enemy is history itself.
This is why the Israeli-Arab war, now transformed into the Israeli-Muslim war (Iran is not an Arab state), persists and widens. It is why the conflict mutates and festers. It is why Israel is now fighting an organization, Hezbollah, that did not exist 30 years ago and why Hezbollah is being supported by a nation, Iran, that was once a tacit ally of Israel's. The underlying, subterranean hatred of the Jewish state in the Islamic world just keeps bubbling to the surface. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and some other Arab countries may condemn Hezbollah, but I doubt the proverbial man in their street shares that view.
There is no point in condemning Hezbollah. Zealots are not amenable to reason. And there's not much point, either, in condemning Hamas. It is a fetid, anti-Semitic outfit whose organizing principle is hatred of Israel. There is, though, a point in cautioning Israel to exercise restraint -- not for the sake of its enemies but for itself. Whatever happens, Israel must not use its military might to win back what it has already chosen to lose: the buffer zone in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip itself.
Hard-line critics of Ariel Sharon, the now-comatose Israeli leader who initiated the pullout from Gaza, always said this would happen: Gaza would become a terrorist haven. They said that the moderate Palestinian Authority would not be able to control the militants and that Gaza would be used to fire rockets into Israel and to launch terrorist raids. This is precisely what has happened.
It is also true, as some critics warned, that Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon was seen by its enemies -- and claimed by Hezbollah -- as a defeat for the mighty Jewish state. Hezbollah took credit for this, as well it should. Its persistent attacks bled Israel. In the end, Israel got out and the United Nations promised it a secure border. The Lebanese army would see to that. (And the check is in the mail.)
All that the critics warned has come true. But worse than what is happening now would be a retaking of those territories. That would put Israel smack back to where it was, subjugating a restless, angry population and having the world look on as it committed the inevitable sins of an occupying power. The smart choice is to pull back to defensible -- but hardly impervious -- borders. That includes getting out of most of the West Bank -- and waiting (and hoping) that history will get distracted and move on to something else. This will take some time, and in the meantime terrorism and rocket attacks will continue.
In his forthcoming book, "The War of the World," the admirably readable British historian Niall Ferguson devotes considerable space to the horrific history of the Jews in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. Never mind the Holocaust. In 1905 there were pogroms in 660 different places in Russia, and more than 800 Jews were killed -- all this in a period of less than two weeks. This was the reality of life for many of Europe's Jews.
Little wonder so many of them emigrated to the United States, Canada, Argentina or South Africa. Little wonder others embraced the dream of Zionism and went to Palestine, first a colony of Turkey and later of Britain. They were in effect running for their lives. Most of those who remained -- 97.5 percent of Poland's Jews, for instance -- were murdered in the Holocaust.
Another gifted British historian, Tony Judt, wraps up his recent book "Postwar" with an epilogue on how the sine qua non of the modern civilized state is recognition of the Holocaust. Much of the Islamic world, notably Iran under its Holocaust-denying president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stands outside that circle, refusing to make even a little space for the Jews of Europe and, later, those from the Islamic world. They see Israel not as a mistake but as a crime. Until they change their view, the longest war of the 20th century will persist deep into the 21st. It is best for Israel to hunker down.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.