Posted on 11/03/2006 12:04:22 PM PST by Esther Ruth
Last update - 18:53 03/11/2006
U.S. officials demand IAF cease overflights in Lebanese airspace
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Two Bush administration officials demanded that Israel Air Force overflights of Lebanon be halted, saying that such flights undermine the standing of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The two U.S. diplomats, David Welch and Elliott Abrams, held short meetings Thursday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The meeting with Olmert was dedicated to preparations for his visit to the United States and his meeting with President George W. Bush in 10 days' time.
A government source said that the two envoys did not put forth any new diplomatic initiative on behalf of the Bush administration.
Olmert also met Thursday with visiting U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, who is in Israel as the guest of Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Negroponte's talks with Israeli intelligence officials are focusing on Iran and its nuclear program, a subject that will also preoccupy Bush and Olmert during their meeting in Washington.
The talks with Welch and Abrams, in contrast, focused on the standing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The U.S. diplomats said that Abbas is "exhibiting weakness," and the main question is whether it is possible to strengthen him - and if so, how.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Israel should tell Condi/Nicholas Burns/Kerry Rice that it
would be happy to suspend the flights when the US achieves actual enforcement of the UN resolutions that are supposed to prevent the rearming of Hezbolla.
If the US and the UN are so feckless, with regard to Hezbolla, they have no right to demand anything of Israel, regarding Lebanon.
What they need to do is give the Unifil force the mandate and the ability to disarm Hezbolla, in the absence of any actual affective, working government in Lebanon that is capable of carrying out its responsibilities agreed to in the UN resolutions.
Barring that (which we know will not happen), the Condi/Burns/Kerry State Department should shut up, because they are doing nothing but providing defacto sanctioning of the rearming of Hezbolla, while complaining simply because Israel is keeping itself informed of that rearming effort.
In the face of the broken UN agreements, Israel could, legitimately, resume its own Hezbolla disarmament efforts.
Lebanon and Hizbollah, a designated terrorist group which has killed Americans by the hundreds. Wonder why they don'g fall under.
we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism . Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
Sorry, you are totally wrong.
You have a terrorist problem because you are the USA - better and more successful than all other countries, and with a culture that is attracting most young people all over the world, including those that are supposed to follow in their Wahabi fathers' footsteps.
Remember why Osama bin Laden issued his fatwa against the US?
It had nothing to do with Israel, but very much to do with the US, especially the fact that US troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia.
Remember the video tape from the al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, when two of the 9/11 terrorist gave their reasons for why they wanted to attack the US? Do you remember what they said?
They wanted to revenge their Muslim brothers in Chechnya and Bosnia.
Do you remember which side of the conflict the US took in Bosnia? Yes, it was the side of the Muslims. Any US involvement in Chechnya? Not as far as I can remember.
Yes, sometimes the fight for the Palis or revenge against Israel are given as reasons for attacks against the US but why would those be more true than the other ones?
No, you are wrong on that count, just as you are totally wrong about the reasons for the war between Israel and Lebanon. However, I leave that to others to "debate".
I'll have to leave it to others in an hour or so Yehuda, but I've seen this nonsensical statement before. Maybe it's true, Israelis are greedy critters after all, at least the Jewish Israelis. I'll see what the statistics say, I'll use the CIA.
Lebanon
GDP (purchasing power parity): : $23.69 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.5% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $6,200 (2005 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $154.5 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.2% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $24,600 (2005 est.)
All right, Lebanon attacks across the border, and yes Hizbollah is Lebanon, kidnaps two soldiers, kills one, launches missles at Israeli population centers, and the reason for the war is that Lebanon, with a GDP 1/6 of Israels and a growth rate a staggering 1/10 of Israels is an economic threat.
Right, Intel and Motorola will be building their next research facilities in Beirut.
That's the palestinians problem too. Israel keeps them down for economic reasons, just as well since they export terror.
BTW Ellen, the Arabs get US arms too, about 8 times what Israel gets. Even the palestinians. And they kill Israelis with them. That does happen because of economic considerations.
BTW, Israel has been at war with Lebanon since 1948. There was a limited peace treaty in 1983, which Lebanon immediately violated. As they're violating their obligation under multiple UN resolutions, as well as the 1983 treaty. They're with the terrorists, not all Lebanese, but the government. Sad but true.
Ironically the greatest loss of live next to 9/11, blamed by Osama on US presence in Saudi Arabia, took place in Beirut, launched by Hizbollah, because of US presence in Lebanon. More irony, we where there to shield the PLO.
The State Dept. is so right. The Israelis should send cruise missiles instead.
Also worth noting in the article is the use of the PLO's Badr Brigade to counter Hamas. The Badr Brigade is well trained, a few thousand strong, based in Jordan. Jordan? Peaceful Jordan? One might wonder why they've been sheltering and training terrorists all these years. They're at peace with Israel aren't they?
Baloney.
I'm just stunned to think we would even CONSIDER giving ANY kind of weapons to ANY terrorist groups!
It's not their job to talk nice and use diplomacy. It's their job to advance the policies of the United States. It's their job to avoid war by making sure that our enemies know that doing things we don't like will result in an extremely negative consequence for our enemies, up to and including war and the utter destruction of said enemies.
Liberals have made everyone think that the job of the State Department is to talk nice and be "diplomatic" because if the State Department acts in this way, our interests are thwarted rather than advanced.
The State Department is there to act in our interests. There is no reason to have a State Department if they are inactive. We gain nothing.
The wreckage of the World Trade Center was still smoldering when you made your first post on Free Republic in defense of the Islamic hordes that want all of us dead.
Go crawl back under your rock you Jew-hating troll.
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