Posted on 08/07/2006 3:43:15 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”
As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.
The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.
The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.
What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.
Lopez: So…did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.
The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.
More at link...
China puts Canadian activist on trial after extradition from Uzbekistan(Updated 05:28 p.m.)
2006/8/10
BEIJING (AP)
A Canadian Muslim activist who was extradited from Uzbekistan to his native China in March has gone on trial on terrorism charges, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Huseyincal Celil's family was told last week that if convicted, he could face execution as early as Thursday, the Washington, D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project reported on Tuesday.
Jennie Chen, a Canadian Embassy spokeswoman, said Thursday, however, that her government had received assurances from China that it will not seek the death penalty for Celil.
Celil "is a Chinese citizen suspected of being involved in East Turkestan terrorist activities," said a man on duty at the Foreign Ministry's press affairs office who refused to give his name. "This case is being tried and no verdict has yet been reached."
Celil was wanted in China for his involvement in a campaign for the rights of the country's minority Muslim Uighurs. He was arrested in China and tortured, but escaped from prison in 2000 and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before reaching Canada, where he was given citizenship.
China's government says the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, based in the western region of Xinjiang, is waging a violent separatist campaign. Beijing also says the group has links to al-Qaida and has received arms and training from the terror network.
Diplomats and foreign experts are skeptical and say bombings and other violence linked to the group by China actually stem from personal disputes.
Celil was detained in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, in March, while visiting his wife's relatives. He was traveling on a Canadian passport when he was detained, Chen said.
The Canadian government had earlier called on Uzbekistan not to extradite Celil.
Copyright © 2005 The China Post.
All rights reserved.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/p_latestdetail.asp?id=40262
Health Minister: 7 Iraqi Guards Arrested
Google Alert - RDX
Cops seize luggage of suspected LeT terrorists
Hindustan Times - India
... of luggage of the two suspected Lashka-e-Taiba terrorists,
including
a Pakistani, who were arrested in Delhi last week with two kg of RDX
and
detonators ...
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Google Alert - support jihad
Mideast Expert Martin Kramer on Tehran's Role in Middle East ...
FOX News - USA
... Ali Khamenei ordered Muslims across the world this week to support
Hezbollah in its ongoing battle against Israel. He praised the group's
jihad against the ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208167,00.html
Pakistan: heart of darkness
Daily Telegraph - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
... detailed planning, suggests "homegrown" groups may now be receiving
significant support, if not ... are militants from the West who want to
join the global jihad. ...
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Hezbollah Fires 250 Rockets Into Israel
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1. Skeletons found near Athens Helios plane crash site Open this result in new window
Reuters via Yahoo! News - Aug 11 2:43 AM
Greek investigators said on Friday they found three skeletons at the site of last year's Cypriot passenger plane crash east of Athens and that they could be the remains of three people missing from the flight.
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BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. A small plane crashed and burst into flame near Branch County Memorial Airport -- killing one person on board and seriously injuring the...
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BRANCH COUNTY -- A plane crashed in Southwest Michigan Saturday morning, killing one man and seriously injuring another.
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The plane crash survivor who was earlier reported in critical condition is now in better shape, with his condition downgraded to serious, while the six others are now considered stable, according to the Department of Public Health yesterday.
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The Pueblo Chieftain - Aug 11 5:20 AM
SALIDA - The occupants of a single-engine plane that crashed Monday near North Fork Reservoir have been identified. The pilot was identified as Geoffrey G. Peck, 51, of San Jose, Calif. He died of head injuries as a result of the crash, according to Chaffee County Coroner Randy Amettis. The passenger in the plane was identified as Brandon Costa, 19, of San Benito, Calif. He suffered a
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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is investigating Wednesday night's plane crash near the Mt Baw Baw ski resort in Victoria.
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Aug 10 3:17 PM
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is investigating Wednesday night's plane crash near the Mt Baw Baw ski resort in Victoria. Three men and a Melbourne pilot were on their way from Merimbula to Melbourne in a hired Cessna, when they were forced to land in bad weather.
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The families of victims of a 1985 plane crash climbed Mt. Osutaka in Gunma Prefecture, where 520 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet lost their lives, to mark the 21st anniversary of the disaster Saturday.
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The home-built aircraft in which Wal-Mart heir John Walton was killed had a loose flight control component and was heavily modified, according to a government report.
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Pacific Daily News - Aug 11 10:08 AM
A 29-year-old man, a Japanese national, was in critical condition last night after he and six others aboard a Piper Cherokee aircraft were injured when the small plane crashed a minute after take-off from Saipan International Airport early yesterday morning.
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KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - A man wanted in the United States by the FBI is in custody in Kelowna. Luke Sommers was wanted in connection with an armed robbery that took place in Tacoma, Wash., last week.
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The daughter of a deceased Utah polygamist is the newest fugitive on the FBI's "most wanted" list.
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Dallas Morning News - Aug 13 12:42 AM
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was involved in searches of the home of a Richardson man facing charges related to creating false defensive driving certificates and has since seized evidence related to the investigation from the Dallas police.
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KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - A man wanted in the United States by the FBI is in custody in Kelowna.
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On Sept. 12, 2001, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller gathered the troops.
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Iranian president lambasts US on new blog
Reuters
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Iran's president has launched a Web log, using his first entry to
recount his poor upbringing and ask visitors to the site if they think the
United States and Israel want to start a new world war.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose speeches are riddled with anti-U.S.
rhetoric, also described how he was angered by American meddling in Iran even
when he was at elementary school.
Ahmadinejad swept to a surprise victory in last year's presidential
race by promising the country's poor a fairer share of Iran's oil wealth
and emphasizing his own humble origins that led many to vote for him as
an "outsider" to Iran's ruling elite.
"During the era that ... living in a city was perfection, I was born in
a poor family in a remote village," he wrote in a blog dated Friday,
after opening with Islamic greetings.
His origins as the son of "a hard-bitten toiler blacksmith" may have
been humble, but he says he excelled at school where he said he came
132nd out of 400,000 in exams to enter university.
As well as promising a better life to the poor, Ahmadinejad has sought
to bolster support by refusing to bow to what he says is Western
pressure to stop Iran's civilian nuclear program. The West says Iran is
building an atomic bomb.
His defiance in the stand-off with the West has often played well in
the Muslim world, where many are angered by U.S. foreign policy in the
Middle East.
Analyst Saeed Laylaz said the site -- available in Persian, Arabic,
English and French at www.ahmadinejad.ir -- may be seeking to win support
from abroad.
"Do you think that the U.S. and Israeli intention and goal by attacking
Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?" the president
asks visitors to the site, offering them the choice to vote 'yes' or
'no'.
Ahmadinejad describes how in the first grade at school -- for those
aged about seven -- he read newspapers with the help of adults about how
the then shah of Iran gave Americans living in Iran immunity from
prosecution under Iranian laws.
"I realized that Mohammad Reza (Shah) attempted to add another page to
the vicious case history which was the humiliation and indignity of the
Iranian people versus Americans," he said.
He describes listening ardently to the speeches of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, the shah's vociferous critic and later leader of the 1979
Islamic revolution that overthrew the monarchy.
He also discusses Iran's bloody 1980-1988 war with Iraq, in which
Ahmadinejad fought as a Revolutionary Guard.
But he admitted his opening blog, which runs to more than 2,300 words
in the English version, was too long. "From now onwards, I will try to
make it simpler and shorter," he wrote.
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Sunday 13 August 2006 Aljazeera
Palestinians see Nasrallah as new hero
By Rachel Shabi in Ramallah
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FBC40D12-E086-48E8-BC1D-AB7C671C869F.htm
It's impossible to speak with Waleeed Ayyoub without constant
interruptions. The 33-year-old artist in Ramallah is busy dealing with
requests for the fastest selling portrait in the West Bank - that of
Hasan Nasrallah.
"Nasrallah is a hero, I want to hang his picture in my salon," says
Mohammad Taha, 27, who has come from Jerusalem to buy one of these
ubiquitous posters from Ayyoub.
Portrait posters of the Hezbollah leader are hanging everywhere in
Ramallah, covering the walls and shop fronts and plastered across
T-shirts and demonstration banners.
Before the Israel-Lebanon war broke out, Ayyoub was selling from his
stock of hero portraits, such as Che Guevara, Yasser Arafat, Fidel
Castro, Egypt's late leader Abdel Gamal Nasser and Jesus.
On the day of one of many Ramallah demonstrations against the Lebanon
war last week, Ayyoub says he sold around 1,000 posters of the
Hezbollah
leader.
Hit song
Meanwhile, Ramallah's hit song of the summer, blaring out of shops and
streets stalls on a loop, is "The eagle of Lebanon," in praise of
Nasrallah.
One music store reports receiving scores of requests for the CD each
day
and there are numerous stalls selling the disc along Ramallah's main
streets.
All over the city, secularists, Christians and Muslims alike refer to
the Hezbollah leader as Palestine's newest and truest hero.
"I am secular in principle," says Zakariya Muhammad, a Ramallah-based
writer. "But Nasrallah's war is a resistance war against Israel and
against the US attempts to reshape the Middle East in their interests."
Sufian Adawi, a money-changer in the city centre, was one of the first
to put a photo of Nasrallah in his shop window when the war broke out.
"He is the symbol of victory, a leader of the Arab resistance," he
says.
"This is the first time that the Arabs are fighting properly and are
strong against Israel."
'Superhero'
Many voices in Ramallah echo this sentiment, agreeing that Hezbollah's
26-day resistance to the Israeli army elevates Nasrallah to the league
of superhero.
"He is different to other heroes because he stands up to Israel, he
isn't scared and he doesn't stay quiet - he takes action," says Nadia
al-Khatib, 16.
The West Bank city currently holds daily demonstrations against the war
and has unofficially renamed one of its main streets Bint Jbeil, in
solidarity with the Lebanese village that has seen fierce clashes
between the Israeli army and Hezbollah fighters.
Some Israeli newspapers have argued that support for Hezbollah could
manifest in a greater motivation for attacks on Israel from the West
Bank.
One Israeli newspaper last week reported the Israeli police in a high
state of alert and the West Bank in full closure because of warnings
related to "suicide bombings, high trajectory weapons attack, and
kidnapping attacks."
Increased attacks
A spokesman for the Israel army says: "Over the last couple of weeks we
have seen an increase in terror activity emanating from the West Bank
and we think that this is linked not just to support for Hezbollah but
also to Hezbollah encouraging this type of activity."
The spokesman adds: "We believe that Hezbollah are interested in a
third
front being opened [in the West Bank] and are supporting - we even
think
financially - terror activities."
According to the Israeli army, six suicide bombers were intercepted in
the last two weeks, three of them on Israeli territory.
But Fatah leaders in Ramallah think it unlikely that political
alliances
would be formed on the back of popular support for Hezbollah.
"The Palestinian people would support any side or any party that stands
in the face of the Israeli occupation," says Mohammad al-Hourani, Fatah
member of the Palestinian parliament.
He adds: "People may side with Hezbollah because of solidarity and
sympathy. But that doesn't mean that people want to be a part of
Hezbollah."
Wide appeal
Back at Manara square in Ramallah, Waleed Ayyoub is still selling the
Nasrallah images to "all people of all ages - even little children."
He is especially proud of a sale made to an Arab-Israeli woman from
Haifa, fleeing the Katyusha attacks on her city.
The artist intends to donate profits from poster sales to charities
helping Gaza and Lebanon.
Explaining why Nasrallah has such appeal in the West Bank, he says:
"We are always looking for someone to help us, to save us, to free us.
In Palestine, we can't find a hero like Nasrallah."
[unknown url]
Israel approves truce, continues barrage
Associated Press
Sunday, August 13, 2006
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer
After a stormy debate Sunday, Israel's Cabinet approved a Mideast
cease-fire, agreeing to silence the army's guns in less than 24 hours. The
Israeli military embarked on a last-minute push to devastate Hezbollah
guerrillas, rocketing south Beirut with at least 20 missiles.
The 24-0 vote, with one abstention, came a day after the Lebanese
government approved the agreement and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave
his grudging consent. The truce was to take effect Monday morning.
But questions as to the truce's durability quickly arose Sunday, when
the Lebanese Cabinet canceled a critical meeting that was supposed to
discuss the deployment of 15,000 troops to southern Lebanon, a key part
of the cease-fire deal. Published reports said the Cabinet had been
sharply divided over demands that Hezbollah surrender its weapons.
A heated debate erupted during Israel's Cabinet session, with minister
Ofir Pines-Paz criticizing the government's decision to order an
expanded ground offensive in the days before the cease-fire is to take
effect.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the cease-fire agreement would ensure
that "Hezbollah won't continue to exist as a state within a state."
"The Lebanese government is our address for every problem or violation
of the agreement," Army Radio quoted him as saying.
The Israeli Cabinet session came as some 30,000 Israeli troops fought
heavy battles with Hezbollah a day after 24 soldiers were killed in the
highest Israeli toll of the monthlong war.
As the vote took place, Israeli shells slammed into the hard-hit
Dahiyeh suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold just south of Beirut. Lebanese
television reports said the strike destroyed a complex of eight residential
buildings where at least six families lived. TV footage panned across
massive damage that appeared to stretch for several hundred yards in all
directions.
An Associated Press photographer who reached the scene saw the body of
one child being removed from the wreckage. He said Israeli jets were
still in the air overhead.
The explosions reverberated across the Lebanese capital, and there were
reports of other strikes south of the city on the Christian town of
Damour and a nearby village, dl-Naameh. Those reports could not be
independently verified.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli warplanes fired missiles into gasoline stations
in the southern port city of Tyre, killing at least 12 people in those
and other attacks.
The cease-fire was to go into effect at 8 a.m Monday. After a halt in
fighting, some 15,000 Lebanese troops and an equal number of U.N. forces
were to be deployed in south Lebanon and create a Hezbollah-free zone,
from the Israel-Lebanon border to Lebanon's Litani River, 18 miles
away.
Israel said it hopes Lebanese troops will start deploying quickly,
within a week or two.
"When the Lebanese and multinational force enters, Israel will withdraw
and not before," Israeli Cabinet minister Yaacov Edri said after the
Cabinet vote.
Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz abstained in the vote, said a
senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Lebanese government approved the deal Saturday, and Nasrallah
signaled grudging acceptance, but also warned that "the war has not ended."
On Sunday, Hezbollah fired more than 150 rockets at northern Israel,
killing an Israeli man.
In the Cabinet meeting, Olmert praised the cease-fire agreement
approved by the U.N. Security Council, saying it will prevent a return to the
status quo in which Hezbollah ran a state-within-a-state in south
Lebanon, participants said.
The deal was seen at best as a draw with Hezbollah, and some felt
Israel - unable to subdue a guerrillas force - had lost.
Neither the Lebanese army nor U.N. forces can be counted on to
challenge Hezbollah and prevent the Iran-supplied guerrillas from rearming,
military experts and commentators said.
The deal buys a period of calm, at best, and sets the region up for the
next war with Tehran's proxy army, critics said. The truce will be "a
time-out until the next confrontation, and maybe not even this,"
commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily.
The Cabinet session was overshadowed by rising Israeli casualties.
Twenty-four soldiers were killed Saturday and at least 73 wounded.
Hezbollah appeared to be fighting as fiercely as ever. The guerrillas
shot down an Israeli helicopter, a first in the war, and killed five
crew members. Other troops were killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles.
The army said it killed more than 50 Hezbollah fighters.
The violence has claimed more than 900 lives: at least 763 in Lebanon -
mostly civilians_ and 147 Israelis, including 109 soldiers. On
Saturday, 19 Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli air raids, one of which
blasted a highway near the last open border crossing to Syria.
Lebanon's Cabinet said Israel's military push presented a "flagrant
challenge" to the international community after the U.N. resolution was
issued.
President Bush had an 8-minute phone call Saturday with Lebanese Prime
Minister Fuad Saniora to discuss the truce. The White House said it is
determined to vanquish the hold of Hezbollah - and that of its Syrian
and Iranian benefactors - on the south.
"These steps are designed to stop Hezbollah from acting as a state
within a state, and put an end to Iran and Syria's efforts to hold the
Lebanese people hostage to their own extremist agenda," Bush said.
____
AP writers Lauren Frayer and Sam Ghattas contributed to this report
from Beirut.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Google Alert - radioactive material
Carr says nuclear terror attack threat is real
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
... could wrap radiological waste from a hospital around conventional
explosive
compounds to make a "dirty bomb", which would widely scatter
radioactive
material.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/carr-says-nuclear-terror-attack-threat-is-real/2006/08/13/1155407670361.html
**Two television interviews with FM Livni - August 12, 2006
Ynetnews
Aug. 13, 2006
No victory
Had he known the results ahead of time, Nasrallah would still have
chosen this war. The Israeli government would have hemmed and hawed
by Nahum Barnea
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290336,00.html
Israel moves towards the ceasefire beaten, in conflict, and worried.
Both sides are indicating it promises to be a "Lebanese cease fire":
Temporary quiet until the next round.
Maybe not even that. The UN may consider the war over, but up north it
continues unabated. It is exacting, and will continue to exact, a heavy
toll.
The war is not over, but the ceasefire resolution allows the infighting
to begin in Israel. This time, it appears this battle will be all-out
war: The government against the IDF brass, Ehud Olmert against Amir
Peretz, generals against generals, Knesset members against government
ministers, the current government against the previous one.
Every one feels they have been poorly treated, everyone feels they've
been betrayed, everyone is waiting for the moment Nasrallah gives them
the opportunity to get it all out.
Political victory? on paper
The Security Council decision is a significant political achievement
for
the United States and Israel. It is infinitely better than the draft
Olmert rejected at 3:00 Friday morning. Olmert and Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni believe the resolution is even better than the
American-French proposal put on the table a week earlier.
On paper, it's a good agreement. In theory, it promises both the
disarming of Hizbullah and its removal from the north, in addition to
the release of the two kidnapped soldiers, a strong, multi-national
force to deploy in Lebanon , authorized to enforce its will, and it
suggests international authority over entry to Lebanon.
One would have to be an eternal optimist to believe the agreement will
be enforced as written.
Show of force
The IDF demanded 60 additional hours of full activity in Lebanon before
the ceasefire agreement came into effect. It got 60 additional hours.
The goal was to capture strategic points in south Lebanon, up to the
Litani River, as well as to cleanse the area of Hizbullah holdouts.
Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said that aside from the Security Concil
resolution, the IDF's massive show of force would leave a lasting
impression on Lebanon. He convinced Olmert, as well as President Bush
and Kofi Annan.
Unfortunately, massive shows of force also mean losses. When weighing
up
the costs and benefits of this war, it is highly questionably whether
this last-minute exercise will pay off. Soldiers are supposed to remain
in the area two-to-three weeks, until the multi-national force arrives
to bolster UNIFIL.
Hizbullah will try to attack them, as they did before Israel withdrew
from the area in May, 2000. It is painful to Israel playing right into
Hizbullah's hands.
Significant losses
The question about what happened to Israel during this war must be
thoroughly discussed. It was a war in which Israel was hit and Lebanon
was hit and Hizbullah was hit.
It is natural for Israelis to focus on our losses. These are not
insignificant: Civilian life has been silenced; hundreds of thousands
of
Israelis have become refugees.
Perhaps worst of all: The revelation that the IDF is incapable of
living
up to the aura surrounding it. It is not only incapable of beating a
small guerilla organization like Hizbullah; it is incapable of
providing
food and water to its soldiers.
Crisis of faith
The sharp crisis of faith that has developed between the IDF and the
political echelon is reminiscent of the Yom Kippur War.
When the Arabs are in trouble, they start to lie. This is true, even
for
a seasoned politician like Nasrallah. When Israelis are in trouble,
they
speak the truth. This is one of the secrets of our advantage over the
other side.
The truth must be told: We did not win this war. This can be proven by
the following hypothetical question I heard yesterday from one former
Israeli leader: If Nasrallah would have been asked a month ago if he
would have started this war knowing it would end with his organization
in the state it currently is, he would likely have answered "yes."
And what if Israeli government ministers had been asked a month ago if
they would have approved this operation, knowing the war would have led
to the current state of affairs? They would have hemmed and hawed and
looked to move on to the next question.
(08.13.06, 11:51)
Ynetnews
Aug. 13, 2006
Hizbullah: Countdown has begun to end of Zionist entity
Senior Hizbullah official: If a mere organization succeeded in
defeating
Israel, why would Arab nations not succeed in doing so?
by Roee Nahmias
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290303,00.html
Preliminary implications: As the war reaches an end, more and more
worrisome voices are heard from Arab nations, asking loudly and boldly
if the 'triumph' against Israel in Lebanon will advance 'the day in
which Israel will disappear'.
Ahmed Barakat, a member of Hizbullah's central council, said in an
interview to Qatari newspaper al-Watan that "Today Arab and Muslim
society is reasonably certain that the defeat of Israel is possible and
that countdown to the disappearance of the Zionist entity in the region
has begun."
According to Barakat, "This is the reason that Shimon Peres said it was
a life or death battle and this is why the triumph of the resistance is
the beginning of the death of the Israeli enemy. For, if a mere
organization succeeded in defeating Israel , why would Arab nations not
succeed in doing so if they allied? Many Arabs and Muslims viewed
Israel
in a fictional way and the resistance has succeeded in changing this."
When asked how the resistance (aka Nasrallah) succeeded in achieving
this victory, he answered: "Our fighters emerged from the Islamic
traditions they read about. Moshe Dayan said 'I know that Arabs don't
read' but they read very well."
"As Nasrallah likes to say: Regarding the Israeli issue, forgive me,
but
I don't think anyone knows about it more than us...and therefore, in
terms of a deep understanding of Israeli culture, society, economy,
psychology, military and media, the resistance has vast experience.
This
is in addition to the Islamic tradition that our fighters rely on, and
which they strive towards: a general ambition - a triumph for the Ummah
(Islamic nation), and a personal ambition - to be shahids," he
elaborated.
Barakat further stated that none of the Hizbullah leadership was hurt
and that the organization retains plenty of rockets and other
'surprises' for use the day after victory. He declared that the
inventory would allow the organization to operate from afar and doesn't
require proximity to the Israeli border.
First Published: 08.13.06, 08:22
Latest Update: 08.13.06, 10:24
How the White House Tracked the Terror Plot
Truce deal disappoints hostages' families
Ynetnews - Israel
... Uzi Dayan and Attorneys Yaakov Neeman and Mordechai Algarabaly, who
organized a delegation to Paris some weeks ago to seek aid towards the
hostages' release. ...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290678,00.html
Terror inquiry expands globally
Boston Globe - United States
... Al Qaeda cell that masterminded the 9/11 attacks and Al Qaeda
leader
Osama bin Laden. ... in an effort to track Web - based e-mails or
instant
messages about the ...
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/08/13/terror_inquiry_expands_globally
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/08/13/terror_inquiry_expands_globally
Nerve-Gas Guru Tests Japan Legal System
Forbes - USA
... the daughter of Japan's most hated man - something like Osama bin
Laden
to Americans. ... their reasons: They feared Asahara might try to pass
messages to followers ...
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/08/13/ap2946050.html
More than 30,000 rally in DC to Defend Lebanon and Palestine!<<<
Now I understand why we think that the Feds are not doing anything.
Of course they are, just look at the time it will take to track this 30,000 and the day before and the day before's group.
What abunch of fools. [the protestors]
"The Eagle of Lebanon," referring to the Hizbullah chief<<<
But OBL is the "Eagle".
We will start seeing this word in terror posts, it will be picked up.
I got the message "Israel did not give us everything that we consider ours, so we have the right to attack them, at will".
Just saw on Fox that the IDF is monitoring unusual activity on Syrian border in the Golan Heights...tanks there, they are removing land mines at the border...not up on their website yet <<,
I read something this morning, that said that Syria would more than likely move to the border, for show more than attack and to 'be there'.
Your 30,000 must have a few of the traitors in Las Vegas.
Jim Dallas has had a string of callers, who support the enemy.
One reason that I like kDWN, is that the calls are not screened, you are put on hold by the answering machine and the host has no control on who or the subject, until he is on the phone.
A muslim, with a lovely voice, and a brain called and talked to Jim about the koran, but when Jim started asking the real questions, the muslim could not answer them.
The last question was, do you support the killing of the Jewish babies with suicide bombs, does your koran support this.
The muslim's answer was something like " that is the way it is".
There has been several traitors, the old women, are the worst.
Or the man, like the one on now and he says that he thinks all religions are stupid and all the damage to America is all of our religions.
People are sick.
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