Free Republic

Some Nations Note Saddam's Quick Fall By SONYA ROSS .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The rapid collapse of Saddam Hussein's government may have served as a reality check for the remaining states in President Bush's ``axis of evil,'' Iran and North Korea. North Korea now says multilateral talks about its nuclear program - which the United States wants - are not a bad idea after all. Iran's former president, long allied with Islamic hardliners against the ``Great Satan'' America, is advocating a referendum on renewing ties with the United States. Other countries, too, are feeling the heat. Syria...

JERUSALEM - Where does legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy end and anti-Semitism begin? There's always been sharp disagreement in Israel over where to draw the line, but the debate assumed greater urgency in recent weeks. First, the Malaysian prime minister claimed Jews dominate the world, to the applause of Muslim heads of state (Well, not all - a_T). Next, a poll found 59 percent of Europeans consider Israel a threat to peace, ahead of rogue nations such as North Korea (news - web sites). And last week, Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, in condemning Israeli actions in the West Bank...

US Lawmakers Again Call for Sanctions Against SyriaDan RobisonCapitol Hill11 Apr 2003, 22:50 UTC Listen to Dan Robinson's report (RealAudio)  Robinson report - Download 387k (RealAudio)   U.S. lawmakers are sending a strong message to Syria that it should stop what is described as support for terrorism. A bipartisan group in the House of Representatives has re-introduced legislation to impose sanctions on Syria, citing recent reports of Syrian involvement in Iraq.Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives say it is time the government in Damascus receives a clear message that its support of terrorism needs to come to an...

It is possible that last second alterations were made to the Detlev Mehlis report due to pressure by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Israel Radio reported Friday afternoon. A diplomatic source reported that Annan was interested in removing the name of Bashar Assad's brother and brother-in-law, along with other important Syrian officials, from the list of suspects in the Hariri killing. Assad's brother and brother-in-law had previously been implicated in having involvement in the Hariri Assassination. Annan, according to speculations, was concerned that the harsh report could lead to instability in Syria, perhaps even to an overthrow of the Assad...

Hours before the expected arrival of CIA Director George Tenet on a mission to rebuild and restructure the Palestinian security services to prevent terror attacks, the PA High Court Monday ordered the release of militant Palestinian commander Ahmed Sa'adat, whom Israel believes ordered the October assassination of then-tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi. Sharp Israeli criticism was swift in coming, as it was Israeli agreement to a deal to jail Sa'adat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), that helped end a five-week IDF siege of Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, where Sa'adat had been holed up with five...

April 15, 2003 U.S. Threatens to Impose Penalties Against SyriansBy STEVEN R. WEISMAN ASHINGTON, April 14 — Six months ago, Syria voted with the United States to demand that Saddam Hussein disarm, helping to make the United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq unanimous. Since then, the Bush administration has watched with mounting anger as Syria has sided with Mr. Hussein in the war and even provided him with economic and military aid, according to administration officials. Today, in a vivid illustration of the erratic up-and-down relationship between Washington and Damascus, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell threatened economic and...

Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad (New book by Halevy, recent head of Mossad as well as Israeli diplomat) Includes timely discussion of U.S. trends and the depressing terrorism future! Here is a somewhat excerpted review from Amazon: Written with the dispassion of an intelligence report, Halevy's memoir turns out to be a 20-year political history that includes much secret maneuvering but little skullduggery. Born in London in 1934, Halevy joined the Mossad in 1961 and quickly moved up to become a deputy division chief. His book opens in 1988-89,...

Israel is not giving up its policy of ambiguity about nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but it is about to become the first Middle Eastern country to equip its citizenry with an antidote to the fallout from a radioactive weapon. The defense establishment has decided to include Lugol's Iodine capsules in the protective kits it distributes to the public. The pills, costing about $1 apiece, are meant to block the influence of radioactive iodine by buttressing the thyroid gland, considered a key mechanism for sustaining the body's immunity. Home Front Command exercises in recent years have taken into...

The Palestinian campaign of terrorism continues, with twenty-two persons murdered in Tel Aviv Sunday. And every day, on average, without counting minor incidents involving rocks and firebombs, the Palestinians launch over ten attacks on Israelis. Which makes this a particularly apt moment to review my assessment of a year ago, that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's tough response is the right one and that it will cause the Palestinians to give up on violence. To begin with, while the violence continues, it has diminished during 2002; the year's first quarter saw 50 percent more attacks than the fourth quarter and well...

In a telephone interview, Efraim Halevy, Mossad chief from 1998 to 2002 and author of the memoir "Man in the Shadows," offers this advice. The new director "must first work quickly to repair the image of the organization by producing results. He must re-establish credibility at the political level, and this isn't going to be easy because political leaders will be wary of intelligence judgments. He must pass a message of confidence in and respect for the troops. He has to stand up for his people, and not take a back seat while someone else takes the rap. And he...

NEW YORK- In the latest of a long series of bizarre conspiracy theories, Yasir Arafat has accused Israel of using a certain type of bullet to cause cancer among Arabs. Speaking to reporters on July 20, 2004, Arafat falsely alleged that Israel uses depleted- uranium bullets, as part of its plot to "cause cancer that is like Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Arafat told reporters to visit Palestinian Arab hospitals to confirm his claim, but cancer specialists at hospitals in Ramallah and Bethlehem said that there has been no increase in the cancer rate. Arafat also brandished a report that he said...

The ‘Second Israel’How being Kurdish is like being Jewish.  Halabja, Iraq — Twenty-two years ago, in this dusty town hard up against the mountainous border with Iran, Saddam Hussein’s military used chemical weapons to murder 5,000 Kurdish men, women, and children. The Halabja massacre was only the most infamous atrocity of Operation Anfal, a name Saddam took from a sura of the Koran that details permissible conduct against enemies of Islam. Of course, most Kurds are Muslims. But they are not Arabs. Kurds have had their own distinctive culture and language since long before armies from Arabia embarked on the first...

U.S. President George W. Bush's resolve to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward surprised many Israelis, who believed that the current administration in Washington fears stepping into the Middle East quagmire and will make do with diplomatic lip service only. But Bush has undergone a change, as discovered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at their meeting in Aqaba last Wednesday. Bush had spoken of his desire for an Israeli-Palestinian accord in the past too, but not with much enthusiasm. This time, Sharon discerned a messianic passion he hadn't seen before. The practical expressions of U.S. involvement have been the multitude...

‘If Barack Obama doesn’t become the next president of the United States,” says comedian Sarah Silverman, “I’m going to blame the Jews.” According to the New York Times, “she’s mostly kidding.” Kidding or not, that’s the premise of “The Great Schlep” — a four-minute internet video where the popular star of her own Comedy Central series, who is Jewish herself, urges young Jews to trek to hotly contested Florida to convince their elderly grandparents to vote for Obama. Given that Jews as a demographic traditionally vote overwhelmingly Democratic anyway, it’s not clear why all this effort is necessary. But with...

The current standoff in Syria presents a rare chance to rid the world of the Iranian menace to international security and well-being.

The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: It's the oil companies faultOK, if it's not the oil companies, then it's the incompetent Bush administration foreign policiesGeorge Clooney is a serious and important voice on the international stage (can you say "presidential material?") Topics: Oil, Iraq and foreign policy Turmoil overseas is pinching American pocketbooks at the gas pumps. On Sunday, I'll speak with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask how the...

Saturday 14 October 2006, 12:42 Makka Time, 9:42 GMT Efraimm Halevy was head of the Mossad, Israel's intelligence and special operations agency, from 1998 to 2002. On leaving he assumed the role of national security adviser to Ariel Sharon, Israel's former prime minister, resigning a year later. He played a significant role in negotiating Israel's peace deal with King Hussein of Jordan, the bringing of Ethiopian Jews to Israel and Israel's response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. In the second instalment of a two-part interview he discusses his views on Palestine, the Middle East road...

Official: Yassin Offered Israel a Truce Wednesday March 24, 2004 12:46 AM By MARK LAVIE Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM (AP) - Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, assassinated in an Israeli air strike, offered Israel a 30-year truce in 1997, the mediator who arranged Yassin's release from prison said Tuesday. Efraim Halevy, a former Mossad operative who was called in to resolve an Israel-Jordan crisis after a botched assassination attempt against a Hamas leader in Jordan in 1997, made the disclosure in an interview on Israel TV. Halevy was a confidant of Jordan's King Hussein, and he suggested releasing Yassin from...

UN Gives Green Light for Israel, Syria, Iran WarBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----October 21......Israel has been living in a state of war with Syria for decades. Living under the constant threat of missile attacks from both Syria and Lebanon territory hour after passing hour. This tiny, democratic Jewish state has reached out for peace time and time again. Syria responded with Katusha rocket terror attacks across the Israel Lebanon border and the planning of Islamic terrorism inside both Israel and Lebanon. Now the UN has provided clear proof that Syria has been an open aggressor in the Middle-East...

The head of Israel's intelligence agency has stated in a speech to NATO that he believes World War III began on Sept. 11 when terrorists attacked the United States. Efraim Halevy, chief of the Mossad, spoke at a meeting of the NATO Alliance Council in Brussels, Belgium, according to a translation of his speech posted on Gamla: News and Views from Israel. The preface of the speech indicates it was originally published in the Israeli daily Yidiot Aharonot on June 28. Present at the meeting were ambassadors from the 19 member nations of NATO. Halevy began his talk by highlighting...