Israel bars access from W. Bank, Gaza By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 2 minutes ago



JERUSALEM - Israel declared a heightened security alert on Wednesday and barred Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from entering the country, fearing Hezbollah guerrillas may try to carry out a major attack during holiday celebrations this week.

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The Purim holiday coincides with the end of a 40-day mourning period for Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bombing in Syria last month. Israel has denied involvement, but the Lebanese guerrilla group has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.

The alert came amid new signs that Israel is moving closer to a cease-fire with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Israeli defense officials said Amos Gilad, a senior Defense Ministry official, traveled to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian mediators. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks.

The Israeli army said the closure would remain in effect through Sunday night, preventing thousands of Palestinian workers and merchants from entering Israel. Most come from the West Bank, but small numbers of merchants from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are allowed into Israel. Palestinians needing treatment at Israeli hospitals will be able to enter, and cargo crossings will keep operating, a military spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

While Israel typically imposes closures during major holidays, when schools are closed and public areas are crowded with travelers, security officials are even more fearful following the Mughniyeh killing. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police have canceled vacations for officers and brought in extra forces to guard festivities, which started at schools on Wednesday.

The Islamic mourning period for Mughniyeh is set to end this weekend. Hezbollah is believed to have close ties with Palestinian militants in the West Bank, who in the past have carried out attacks during Purim, a holiday when young children dress up in costumes.

Violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel has slowed in recent weeks as Egypt pressed Hamas to stop its rocket fire and Israel to halt military strikes. The truce efforts intensified after a fierce round of fighting that began in late February and killed more than 120 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, as well as three Israelis.

Israel has been battling Hamas since the Islamic militant group violently seized control of Gaza last June. In addition to its military activity, Israel has imposed a tough economic blockade on the area.

As part of the truce talks, Hamas wants Israel to reopen Gaza's border crossings. Hamas also wants to have some sort of presence at the crossings, and Israeli defense officials have not ruled that out, as long as Israel is allowed to monitor the passages in some way as well.

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha confirmed Wednesday the talks were under way with Egyptian mediators.

"As we have always said, the ball is in Israel's court," Taha said. "We cannot forget that.... Every single minute they are committing new aggressions against the Palestinians."

In a sign of the tensions surrounding Purim, a fringe Orthodox Jewish group warned Arabs of east Jerusalem not to enter the predominantly Jewish western side of the disputed holy city during the holiday, saying they might be attacked by "extremists."

In the ad published on the front page of the Al Hayat Arab daily, Rabbi Israel Hirsch of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta group said he wanted to protect Arabs.

"We are worried that our Palestinian brothers might be harmed," Hirsch wrote in the ad.

Jewish-Arab friction has escalated in Jerusalem since a Palestinian gunman killed eight young students at a Jewish religious school earlier this month.

On Tuesday, a rabbi was stabbed and moderately wounded at a gate to Jerusalem's Old City in an attack police said they believe was carried out by an Arab.

The stabbing came just says after Jewish extremists tried to attack the east Jerusalem home of the militant who carried out the attack on the school.

The Palestinian militant was killed during the shooting by an off-duty soldier.

.............................................benny

Bush: Retreat From Iraq Would Embolden Iran, Fund Terrorists
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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WASHINGTON — Five years after launching the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush is making some of his most expansive claims of success in the fighting there. Bush said last year's troop buildup has turned Iraq around and produced "the first large-scale Arab uprising against Usama bin Laden."

"The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists' defeat," he said in excerpts the White House released Tuesday night. "We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast — the terrorists and extremists step in, fill the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage."

Bush added: "The successes we are seeing in Iraq are undeniable, yet some in Washington still call for retreat."

Democrats took a different view.

"On this grim milestone, it is worth remembering how we got into this situation, and thinking about how best we can get out," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. "The tasks that remain in Iraq — to bring an end to sectarian conflict, to devise a way to share political power and to create a functioning government that is capable of providing for the needs of the Iraqi people — are tasks that only the Iraqis can complete."

Massive anti-war demonstrations were planned in downtown Washington to mark the beginning of the war, which has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 U.S. troops. Across the river at the Pentagon, Bush was to give a speech to warn that backsliding in recent progress fueled by the increase of 30,000 troops he ordered more than a year ago cannot be allowed.

The president's address sought to shift the nation's focus from economic ills to the security gains in Iraq, part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and an upcoming report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Vice President Dick Cheney just completed a two-day visit to view Iraq developments in person. Expected GOP presidential nominee John McCain also went to Iraq this week.

Cheney, asked during an ABC interview about strong opposition in the United States to the continuing war, said he wasn't worried about that.

"I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls," he said in a segment of the interview broadcast Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

Cheney added: "Think about what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had paid attention to polls, if they had had polls during the Civil War. He never would have succceeded if he hadn't had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there."

Before top Pentagon officials and hundreds of others, Bush planned to trace the war's "high cost in lives and treasure" and thank those who have fought in, planned and assisted the U.S. military effort. In the excerpts, he defended the war as necessary at first, now, and for an undefined future until Iraq is stable enough to stand on its own.

"The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around — it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror," the president said.

"For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where Al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive Al Qaeda out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Usama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated."

Bush appeared to be referring to recent cooperation by local Iraqis with the U.S. military against the group known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, a mostly homegrown, Sunni-based insurgency. Experts question how closely — or even whether — the group is connected to the international Al Qaeda network. As for bin Laden, he is rarely heard from and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Iraq no longer dominates the public debate and tops voters' concerns. With the economy taking a tumble, things improving by some measures in Iraq and much attention riveted on the 2008 presidential race, Iraq has faded from the front burner.

Bush has successfully defied efforts by the Democratic-led Congress to force troop withdrawals or set deadlines for pullouts. The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is expected to drop to 140,000 by summer in drawdowns meant to erase all but about 8,000 troops from last year's increase.

It is widely believed that Bush will in April endorse a recommendation from Petraeus for no additional troop reductions, beyond those already scheduled, until at least September. This so-called pause in drawdowns would be designed to assess the impact of this round of withdrawals before allowing more that could jeopardize the gains.

The surge was meant to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq so that the country's leaders would have space to advance legislation considered key to reconciliation between rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. The idea is that such political progress would weaken or even end the still-potent insurgency.

But the gains on the battlefield have not been matched by political progress, and violence may be increasing again. The Iraqis do not yet have a law for sharing the nation's oil wealth. Also unfinished is a plan for new provincial elections.

As of Monday, at least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq. More than 29,000 U.S. service members have been injured in the war, which has cost the U.S. roughly $500 billion.

.................................................benny

US Military Option on Iran Is Back on the Table

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

March 19, 2008, 2:23 PM (GMT+02:00)


Cheney with US troops at Balad air base, Iraq
“Iran has got to be very high on that list,” said a senior aide ahead of the talks US Vice President Dick Cheney will hold during his 10-day tour of the Middle East and Turkey, which began Monday, March 17 in Iraq.

Singling out Oman, the aide noted that the US and Oman are co-guardians of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. “The Omanis, like a lot of other people,” he said “are concerned by the escalating tensions between the rest of the world community and Iran and by some of Iran’s activities, particularly in the nuclear field, but outside its borders as well.”

According to DEBKAfile, the official was referring to Tehran’s meddling in Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Our military, Washington and Gulf sources report that US Vice President Dick Cheney is again talking about possible US military action to shut down Iran’s covert nuclear program.

Cheney stopped over in Oman Wednesday, Wed. March 19, after two days in Iraq. He will travel next to Saudi Arabia, is due in Jerusalem next Saturday and will also visit Ramallah and Turkey.

Our sources report exclusively that his talks are focusing on two aspects of the Iranian nuclear threat:

1. The Bush administration’s decision to distance itself from the National Intelligence Estimate released last December. Its conclusion that Iran’s nuclear arms program was shelved in 2003, which rendered America’s military option superfluous, is now deemed a mistake.

2. The administration now buys British, German, French and Israeli intelligence estimates that Iran is indeed pressing forward with programs for building nuclear weapons, warheads and ballistic missiles for their delivery.

The vice president will listen closely to his hosts’ ideas about joint efforts for containing Iran’s aggressive expansionist thrusts across the Persian Gulf and Middle East and halting its progress towards nuclear armaments.

The vice president’s choice of capitals for his tour is a pointer to the fact that the military option, off since December, may be on again. American will need the cooperation of all four - Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey - to mount a military attack on Iran.

Oman hosts the big American air bases which are the core of the defense shield for the Strait of Hormuz and for the US Navy, Marine and Air Force units deployed in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi Arabia is the senior Gulf and Arabian trendsetter and the key to pan-Arab endorsement for a US offensive against Tehran. Riyadh has opposed military action until now.

Israel is the only regional nation willing to actively participate in an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites; its military has been putting together plans for going it alone.

Last week, our sources report, Jerusalem was notified by the White House that the Iranian issue had been added to Cheney’s regional agenda at the last minute; his hosts were requested to prepare themselves for exhaustive and lengthy discussions on Iran with the vice president and his aides.

Israel’s defense cabinet was accordingly convened last Wednesday – officially to scrutinize the armed forces’ forward planning and applications of the Lebanon war inquiry panel’s recommendations. But, our military sources report, the ministers were convened to decide which of Israel’s military plans of action were to be presented to Cheney.

Turkey is a pivotal element in any war plan because American warplanes and missiles heading for Iran will have to transit its airspace and take off from air bases on its soil. The US and Turkey have improved their military relations since they worked together against PKK havens in northern Iraq last February.

The vice president’s Iraq visit marked the fifth anniversary of the US invasion.

While there, he made it clear that the US was in no hurry to pull out of the country before its mission was completed and would not allow the country to become a staging ground for terrorist attacks on Americans.

In his talks with Iraq leaders, he hammered out military and political plans to bridge the 10 months remaining until a new president takes office in Washington. After talking to prime minister Nouri al Maliki, the US leader flew north to meet with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani in the Kurdish capital of Irbil.

In particular, he sought progress on Iraq’s oil law which is held up by disagreements between Kurds and Arab Sunni leaders.

..................................................benny

VP: Iran May Have Resumed Weapon Program

Mar 19 11:57 AM US/Eastern
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer 6 Comments




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Raw: Cheney With Northern Iraqi Leaders


MUSCAT, Oman (AP) - Retaining his tough stance against Iran, Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that Tehran may have restarted the nuclear weaponization program that a U.S. intelligence report said was halted in 2003.
Speaking in Oman, a U.S.-allied Arab monarchy and neighbor of Iran's, Cheney told ABC News, "The important thing to keep in mind is the objective that we share with many of our friends in the region, and that is that a nuclear-armed Iran would be very destabilizing for the entire area."

In December an intelligence report known as the National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran's nuclear weapons development program was stopped in the fall of 2003 because of international pressure. The report, however, cautioned that Tehran continues to enrich uranium and still could develop a bomb between 2010 and 2015 if it decided to do so.

Critics of the Bush administration said the report should dampen any campaign for a U.S. confrontation with Iran.

But Cheney that that while the NIE said Iran had a program to develop a nuclear warhead, it remains unclear if it has resumed that activity.

"What it (the NIE) says is that they have definitely had in the past a program to develop a nuclear warhead; that it would appear that they stopped that weaponization process in 2003. We don't know whether or not they've restarted," he said.

"What we do know is that they had then, and have now, a process by which they're trying to enrich uranium, which is the key obstacle they've got to overcome in order to have a nuclear weapon," he added. "They've been working at it for years."

The vice president's visit to Oman, part of a 10-day trip to the Mideast, fueled speculation that the United States was ratcheting up military pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. As a quiet U.S. military ally, Oman allows the United States to use four air bases—including one just 50 miles from Iran—for refueling, logistics and storage of pre-positioned military supplies.

Cheney denied that he'd stepped up his opposition to Iran's nuclear policy.

"I've been pretty consistent over time about Iran," he said. "I don't think I've ratcheted up the rhetoric. I felt strongly for a long time, and a lot of us have, that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons."

Cheney officials said the vice president wanted to visit the sultanate to show U.S. appreciation for its cooperation in fighting terrorism, but that Iran would be a top topic of discussion.

Before dining with Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Cheney borrowed his 60-foot royal yacht and went fishing.

A Cheney spokeswoman said the vice president, his wife Lynne, and daughter, Liz, a former State Department official who is traveling with her father as a private citizen, headed out under sunny skies into the Gulf of Oman on "Kingfish I." Cheney has had a personal relationship with the sultan going back to the time when the vice president was defense secretary, but the sultan did not go along on the fishing trip.

..................................................benny

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
FACT OR FICTION? WORLD LEADERS RAISE NEW CONCERNS OVER COMING NUCLEAR ATTACKS



* NEW: Vice President In Oman Warns Iran May Have Resumed Weapon Program
-----------------------
Key Interviews Today:
* 4pm eastern -- Janet Parshall's America (full hour)
* 7:30pm eastern -- Michael Reagan Show (30 minutes)
------------------------
Dead Heat launched yesterday and became the #1 thriller on Amazon. But while it's fiction, the threat of rogue states and/or terrorist groups trying to launch nuclear attacks against the U.S. and our allies is all too real. Indeed, in the last twenty-four hours, the leaders of Germany and Great Britain have expressed new concerns over possible coming nuclear attacks. Neither suggested having intelligence indicating such attacks were close at hand, but their warnings turned heads on several continents. They also echoed concerns raised by American national security leaders over the past year, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and former CIA Director George Tenet.


On a tour through the Middle East this week, Sen. John McCain also warned of the growing nuclear threat from Iran and further warned that Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups could be planning to strike not only the Israel but the U.S. and Europe as well.


For starters, consider this morning's headline out of London: Britain faces a rising threat of nuclear attack, says Gordon Brown.


"Gordon Brown faces accusations of scaremongering today with claims that Britain faces a rising threat of nuclear attack," reports the Mirror. "The Prime Minister will tell the Commons that an increasing number of rogue states are getting nuclear weapons. And he will warn there are more and more terrorist groups trying to get 'dirty bombs,' which can spread radioactive material over vast areas....He will also say the chance of a pandemic flu, which could kill millions, is high and problems of droughts and floods from global warming will rise. He will add that protecting electronic systems from the threat of computer warfare will be a priority. Mr Brown is also expected to announce plans to set up a US-style National Security Council."


Then consider this headline: Merkel: Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Ambitions "a Major Threat" To The World.


"Speaking in the Israel Parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nuclear ambitions pose 'a major threat' not only to Israel, but to the world as well," according to news reports out of Jerusalem. "Merkel, who became the first German Chancellor to address Israel's parliament, the Knesset on Tuesday....'It is not the world that has to prove that Iran is building a bomb, rather, Iran has to prove to the world that it does not want the nuclear bomb,' Merkel told Israeli leaders. The German Chancellor also denounced Ahmedinejad's challenge to Israel's right to exist as a sovereign nation. She also made it clear that Germany would support further sanctions on Iran if it fails to provide clear evidence supporting Ahmadinejad's assertion that his country's nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes only. Merkel, leader of a nation that was responsible for killing 6 million Jews during World War II, said in a tone of confession that 'the Holocaust fills us with shame....'I bow my head before the survivors and I bow my head before you in tribute to the fact that you were able to survive," Merkel said. She vowed to battle 'any flare-ups of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia in Germany or in Europe.'"


Then came this headline: John McCain: Israel's enemies threaten us all.


"I think Iran is a threat to the region," said Sen. McCain, noting that Iran is "obviously pursuing nuclear weapons....At the end of the day, we can still not afford to have Iran with nuclear weapons...We know they have ambitions that are not just aimed at the State of Israel." He added that these ambitions included "destabilisation of the entire region upon which the United States' national security interests rest."


What's more, McCain warned that, "If Hamas [and] Hizbollah succeeds here [in Israel], they are going to succeed everywhere, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. Israel isn't the only enemy."


Meanwhile, there is this headline out of Geneva: North Korea, U.S. Fail to Reach Accord on Nuclear Declaration.


"Nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea remain deadlocked after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill failed to persuade the communist nation to disclose its atomic program," reported Bloomberg News. "'We did not reach an agreement that will allow us to move forward,'' Hill told reporters in Geneva late yesterday after about eight hours of talks with his North Korean counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. 'There is no question that we need to move faster.' Hill said he and Kim hadn't scheduled further talks and must report back to their governments. International negotiations, also involving South Korea, Russia, China and Japan, have been stalled since Kim Jong Il's regime missed a Dec. 31 deadline to provide a complete and accurate declaration of its atomic programs and materials."


Such international concerns over possible nuclear attacks echo warnings issued by several U.S. security officials over the past year or so, including these headlines:


* “Cheney: Nuclear attack 'a very real threat'” (April 16, 2007)


* “Chertoff: We're Preparing for Nuclear Attack” (September 10, 2007).


* "Tenet: Al-Qaida's Nuclear Threat Real" (April 30, 2007)



The point is not that such apocalyptic attacks against the U.S., Europe, Israel or elsewhere are imminent or necessarily destined to come to pass. The point is that a growing number of world leaders believe such threats are real and significant. We should not take their warnings lightly. Dead Heat is a fictional scenario, looking at how such horrors could unfold. Let's pray they never do. Hopefully, our nation's political, military, intelligence and law enforcement leaders will have the necessary wisdom, courage, and sense of urgency to counter and neutralize these threats, and many others like them, in time.


----------------------------


* To purchase Dead Heat from Amazon at 40% off, please click here.
* First book review
* VIDEO: Dead Heat interview on "The 700 Club" Tuesday
* What is The Joshua Fund?
* You are invited to the Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem on April 10th
----------------------------
KEY HEADLINES TO TRACK:
* FIVE YEAR ANNIVERARY OF THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ: Saddam's Dangerous Friends: What a Pentagon review of 600,000 Iraqi documents tells us.
* Al-Qaeda Commander in Northern Iraq: We Are in Dire Straits
* Bush: We can't jeopardize gains in Iraq
* FLASHBACK: Weblog Exclusive -- Iraqi President Talabani's Spokesman Warns A Precipitous U.S. Troop Withdrawal Could Be A Disaster For Iraq And The Region
* Russia's foreign minister embarks on Mideast tour
* PM Olmert to McCain: Calm in Gaza Strip unlikely to last
* AP: Who's in charge? Putin, of course.
* NY Observer: Israelis Transfixed and Confused by Obama
* AP: Iran clarifies that they are not backing any U.S. candidate after Ahmadinejad says he would not have any problem with Sen. Obama becoming president
* Islamic Republic News Agency: Ahmadinejad says he did not support Obama
* FLASHBACK: Obama maintains a meeting with Ahmadinejad if elected
* FLASHBACK: Obama: I am not a Muslim
* Washington Post: Obama Rebuffs Challenges on His Israel Stance
* NY Post: MCCAIN WOOS JEWS WITH VISIT TO ISRAEL

posted by Joel C. Rosenberg @ 7:38 AM
.................................................benny

JPost.com » Middle East » Article


Mar 19, 2008 21:34 | Updated Mar 19, 2008 22:16
Analysis: Hizbullah seeks spectacular attack to avenge Mughniyeh
By ELY KARMON
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This Saturday will mark 40 days since Imad Mughniyeh's assassination on February 12 by a car bomb in Damascus. Hizbullah's TV and Web sites have derided Israel's worries ahead of a possible major terrorist attack which "keep Israeli political, military, and security officials up nights."


Slain Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh.
Photo: AP
Israel has enhanced security at its embassies and put its military on heightened alert.

In light of their past behavior, Hizbullah and Iranian threats must be taken very seriously.

They have three main options: an attack on northern Israel from South Lebanon, a major terrorist attack inside Israel or a major act of terror against Israeli or Jewish targets abroad.

Hizbullah has rearmed itself with a huge amount of long-range missiles and still has a large clandestine infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Yet the presence of the UNIFIL forces on the ground, the sharp criticism of the organization in the United Nations' latest report on Resolution 1701 and the unsolved Lebanese internal situation could endanger the group's long-range political goals and standing.

Moreover, Iran is probably not interested in a new conflagration at a time when its nuclear project has a good chance of surviving the latest international sanctions.

In case of an attack against Israeli or Jewish targets abroad, based on the example of the two attacks in Buenos Aires, it would be clear to everybody that this is a Hizbullah or Iran/Hizbullah operation and the political price could be very high.

The easiest way for retaliation would be a "mega-attack" inside Israel or the assassination of a high-level personality by a Palestinian proxy.

Not only would it be more difficult to accuse Hizbullah of such an attack, but this could have a very negative impact on the negotiating process with the Palestinian Authority and would possibly provoke a major IDF operation in Gaza if it appeared that the attack was prepared there. The last attack against the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva could be an example, if it is not already the beginning of the retaliation.

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in Beirut at a ceremony in February to mark "Resistance Week," said that Hizbullah is today in "the stage of martyr Imad Mughniyeh's blood."

This phase "focuses on developing the resistance on the operational level and opening new horizons. The escalation of operations has transformed the resistance's strategy from a traditional guerrilla war into a new unprecedented fighting school; somewhere between guerrilla war and traditional armies' operations."

Will Hizbullah act with Iran to retaliate for Mughniyeh's assassination?

Heading a high-level Iranian delegation, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki attended Mughniyeh's funeral in Beirut "to commemorate the great hero" and expressed condolences "on behalf of the Iranian government and people."

Mughniyeh is being projected as an Iranian hero. According to Abu Wafa, a former leader in the Revolutionary Guards, on his first trip to Iran in the early 1980s Mughniyeh proved his military capabilities and excelled in his training.

After three months of basic training, he traveled to the Iranian front and took part in several daring operations behind Iraqi lines. Islamist bloggers in Iran have also praised Mughniyeh and published some very rare photos of him.

Blogger Mersad described him as "a super Mujaheed of the Islamic world…one of Ayatollah Khomeini's children."

Iranian leaders made harsh statements against Israel, stronger even than Hizbullah's. Iranian Ambassador to Syria Ahmad Moussavi warned that the death of Mughniyeh "will lead to an earthquake in the Zionist regime." The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Muhammad Ali Jafari, predicted that Israel would be destroyed by Hizbullah in the "near future."

Although Iranian officials have refrained from openly accusing Arab states of being involved in Mughniyeh's assassination, they have publicly expressed belief that the region is on the brink of conflict.

Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, a co-founder of Hizbullah and current secretary general of the International Committee for Supporting the Palestinian People, claimed Mughniyeh's assassination was a "prelude" to "very dangerous and major events in the next few months" and that the US, Israel, and Arab states seek "to direct Lebanese issues toward a civil war."

Syria is itching to respond. Sadr-al-Din al-Bayanuni, controller general of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, noted that all the world's channels covered the incident in real time except Syrian television.

Former Syrian vice president Abd al-Halim Khaddam, relating to Syrian television's failure to report Mughniyeh's assassination, said Syrian leaders were very embarrassed because Mughniyeh appeared in their country and they were telling the entire international community that they did not have information about him.

Beirut's Al-Akhbar evaluates that the Syrian leadership is heading toward retaliation against all the Israeli aggressions that have taken place against it (the retaliatory air raid against the PFLP Ayn al-Sahib training camp in October 2003; the flights over the Syrian presidential palace in Latakia in June 2006 aimed at pressuring the Syrian leadership; and the September 2007 air raid against what Israel designated as a 'nuclear facility' in Dayr al-Zawr) and at a timing of its choosing, "even if this response leads to the outbreak of a Syrian-Israeli war."

Interestingly, the Beirut pro-Syrian Al-Diyar evaluated that there are two conflicting options: either a Iranian-Syrian political and security escalation allowing Hizbullah to execute a qualitative operation regardless of the nature of the subsequent Israel response, or taking advantage of the assassination for a more major political breakthrough leading to "a major deal that might expedite solutions in more than one direction."



..............................................benny

Mar 13, 2008 13:56 | Updated Mar 19, 2008 10:32
Guest Column: The Iran threat - urgent and immediate
By ABRAHAM FOXMAN
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I have been feeling for some time, even before the National Intelligence Estimate, that we are in one of those historic moments: A threat is emerging to the very existence of the State of Israel, not to say the entire world, and the world is acting as if, yes there is something to worry about, but nothing urgent; it's a long way off, so why get excited.

The threat of course comes from the Islamic regime of Iran, a regime whose leader has publicly and repeatedly brazenly talked of "wiping Israel off the map," and which is getting closer to developing a nuclear bomb.

What was a disturbing phenomenon - the lack of urgency about this threat - before the intelligence community report has turned into a disaster in the current situation. Yes, leaders and publics continue to pay lip service to the Iranian threat. Another mild Security Council resolution on Iran was passed recently. And meetings take place dealing with the problem.

There is some heartening news. Mike McConnell, head of National Intelligence, testified recently that Iran could have enough enriched uranium for a weapon by the end of 2009. French Defense Minister Herve Morin told reporters in late January that evidence suggested Iran is continuing to develop a weapon. And the chief British delegate to the IAEA, Simon Smith, said last week that Iran may have continued work on nuclear weapons past 2003.

BUT I'M afraid none of this is serious enough. After all, if the NIE says Iran stopped building a nuclear weapon in 2003, then there is no need for stirring the pot. Let's go about business as usual, in this case gradual and symbolic steps vis-a-vis Iran because after all, Iran is a troubling country, supporting terrorism, abetting US enemies in Iraq, a major violator of human rights. So there is the new Security Council resolution. And leaders will indicate that it's good that some action was taken holding together the major powers.

In the real world, however, this toothless resolution doesn't even begin to have an impact on the Iranian nuclear program. Even according to the NIE, Iran continues to enrich uranium (and we don't even know if the level of enrichment is beyond what's publicly presented, which is bad enough) and is expanding its delivery system for such a weapon.

MEANWHILE, ISRAEL alone very much has a sense of urgency about the Iranian threat. Its intelligence sees a continuing and immediate nuclear threat. Maybe it's because Israel is a tiny country not that far from Iran and about which Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani (often referred to as a moderate) said that one nuclear bomb detonated in the heart of Israel would mean its destruction, while Iran is a big country that could survive 10 nuclear explosions.

And maybe it's because of Jewish history: When leaders with military capability make threats against the Jewish people, the Jews better pay attention.

For Israel, though it tries to be restrained about it because America is its great friend, the NIE report is a disaster. It undercut momentum for action and distorted and undermined the perception that Iran is getting perilously close to reaching nuclear capability. Israeli experts talk in terms of one or two years and while they do so, the world fiddles.

The world should stop fiddling for its own sake. It is not propaganda to say that a nuclear Iran would be the greatest threat to world peace and survival. The closer Iran gets to a bomb, the more the Middle Eastern states that see Iran as a threat will develop their own nuclear programs. This raises the chances dramatically of nuclear Armageddon.

Unfortunately, procrastination is the order of the day. Then what? If Israel perceives Teheran within reach of reaching its nuclear goal, will Israel have any choice but to protect itself and take preemptive action? And where will the world be then. Will it live up to the ethic of "Never Again" and express understanding for the Jewish people's right to act against the clearest existential threat since the Holocaust? And will the world express regret that it didn't take Iran seriously enough and didn't work for serious non-military pressures on Iran to avoid the military option?
Or will the world blame Israel for actions when, in fact, Israel would have done the dirty work for the world, not in intent because Israel would have just been protecting itself, but in consequence because the world would then be a far safer place with a delayed nuclear Iran than one already realized.

Better for everyone that Israel not be asked to stand alone. But if it is, it will do what it has to do. In 1981, Menachem Begin ordered the Israel Air Force to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear facility. Begin did it to secure Israel from a dangerous threat. But he also was sending a signal to the world that the greatest future danger to humanity's existence will come when terrorists and extremist regimes get a hold of nuclear weapons. Then it will probably be too late.

It is time to shake off our lethargy. And, if we don't, at least the world must understand that this is not 1939, that a Jewish people exposed to existential threats this time around are not helpless and trapped but have real options of their own.

The writer is national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League.
...................................................benny

Mar 18, 2008 23:34 | Updated Mar 19, 2008 13:46
Cotler: 'Try Ahmadinejad for genocide calls'
By DAN IZENBERG
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Former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler on Monday called on the world community to act against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before he carries out his threats of genocide against Israel.


Former Candian justice minister Irwin Cotler.

Cotler spoke at the opening session of a conference at the Interdisciplinary College, Herzliya, on "Human Rights and Security." The speakers included Professors Amnon Rubinstein, Alan Dershowitz and Aharon Barak.

Ahmadinejad's actions proved he was guilty of incitement to genocide, Cotler said, and should be stopped before he had the chance to carry out his plans.

"There is more evidence on a factual basis with respect to the state-sanctioned incitement to genocide in Ahmadinejad's Iran than we had with regard to [a Rwandan convicted of incitement to genocide in Canada,]" said Cotler. "So that gives you a sense therefore, of how the principles and precedents on both matters of fact and conclusion of law feed into Iran, where what you have today is the toxic convergence of the advocacy of the most horrific of crimes, namely genocide, embedded in the most virulent of ideologies, namely anti-Semitism, dramatized by the parading in the streets of Teheran of a Shihab-3 missile draped in the emblem with the words, 'Wipe Israel off the map, as the imam says,' proving that this is state sanctioned incitement to genocide."

Cotler presented several case studies of rulings by an international court that convicted Rwandans, including a former prime minister, of incitement to genocide in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi tribesmen.

In convicting them, the court invoked the United Nations Genocide Convention, which established the criteria for proving state-sanctioned incitement to genocide, including intentionality, public calls for genocide and direct incitement by use of euphemisms and dehumanizing language.

Cotler's call for preventive action through diplomatic measures (the remedies that he mentioned referred to action in the United Nations by parties to the Genocide Convention) followed a speech by Dershowitz.

Dershowitz said that the world was facing a new threat in the form of suicidal terrorism and that a new jurisprudence had to be developed to cope with this threat.

Until now, he said, international law, like criminal law, had dealt with threats through deterrence, including reactive punishment, that is, punishment of crimes after they are committed.

However, the reactive model was based on assumptions such as that the party that was being deterred was rational and capable of cost-benefit analysis, that he did not want to die, that he was capable of conforming to rules, and that the other party, that is the potential victim, was capable of surviving the first blow.

According to Dershowitz, "All these assumptions have been challenged by suicide terrorism."

He pointed to the "culture of suicide" of the new terrorism, using as an example a statement made by former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Dershowitz quoted Rafsanjani as contemplating a nuclear war between Israel and Iran that the Iranians would win, even though many millions would be killed, because there were more Muslims than Jews.

"The availability of weapons of mass destruction to suicide terrorists denies us the ability to absorb the first blow and requires us to think more preventively than reactively," Dershowitz said.

Even today, he said, nations responded preventively. However, there was no appropriate jurisprudence and therefore no guidelines, restrictions or moral constraints on these type of attacks.

"It's important how we think about reshaping jurisprudence," Dershowitz continued. "We have a well established jurisprudence in the area of deterrents. We believe it is better for 10 guilty to go free than for one innocent to be wrongly confined. We have no comparable jurisprudence in the area of prevention or pre-emption. For example, is it really better for 10 potential terrorists to go free than for one wrongfully suspected terrorist to be detained? Well I guess it depends for how long he is being detained, where he is being detained, what the level of proof is against him is."
................................................benny

What a bunch of woosies are you, world leaders.
You can not even see right from wrong.

1. Ah Mad Man in Jihad should already have been convicted, on accounts of both genocide propaganda and on the account of violating the UN decision of granting the state of Israel existence.

2. European leaders should be elected the Woosie Of The Year Award, the so called WOTY.

3. American presidential elections are futile, so the All American Circus should stop distracting us from the real problems.

4. All of the above is futile, since God will be here before anyone pushes that button. Today I got a second confirmation of that vision.

So what are you afraid of? Meanwhile when you all are festive with Easter, Purim, I will spend my time in prayer to God that Jesus may finally be released from the pain of the Cross, that God (of course) saves the Day. Only THEN do we have reason for celebration. Israel, fear not, if you go, I go too. But instead we will raise that shield of the Word of God, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank You God! Wonderful double confirmation.

Iran's Military Moves Up

By Amir Taheri
New York Post | 3/20/2008

THE European Union dismissed last Friday's Iranian parliamentary election as a farce, while the United States described it as a travesty. Yet, whatever it might have seemed in Western eyes, the vote provided a crucial insight into the balance of power in the Tehran establishment.
Islamic Republic elections resemble American party primaries. Voters choose among preselected candidates vetted and approved by the authorities. The system is based on the principle that, because all candidates are loyal to the "Supreme Guide" and sworn to obeying him, it makes no difference which ones win. In practice, however, the choices offered by the regime - and those made by the electorate - can and at times do make a difference.

Often, the choices offered by the regime indicate its current needs and anxieties. In the regime's early years, in 1980 and 1984, the choices offered reflected its need to consolidate itself around a hard core of mullahs. In the elections that followed the 1988 end of the Iran-Iraq war, the regime tried to attract the middle classes by fielding some academics and businessmen as candidates along with the inevitable mullahs. The trend continued in the 1990s, with the regime seeking to maintain a popular base by fielding candidates with some personal local following.

Last Friday's election reflected two trends.

The first is the regime's increasing feeling of insecurity. Despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's defiant posture, the Khomeinist establishment still fears military action by America, Israel or both. The Islamic Republic sees itself surrounded by US military power present in 12 of Iran's 15 Mideast neighbors. That feeling of insecurity is intensified by unrest in the provinces, where elements of the Kurdish, Baluchi, Arab and Turkmen ethnic minorities are showing signs of revolt against the central government.

The elections show that the regime regards security as its most urgent need, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dominating the electoral process and filling the incoming Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Majlis) with its retired or active officers. The vote tally shows that the IRGC could end up with some 70 percent of the seats in the Majlis.

The IRGC fielded candidates in three factions. The largest of these looks to Ahmadinejad as its standard-bearer. Having entered the race under the label of "fundamentalists," the pro-Ahmadinejad faction is likely to end up with 100 out of the 290 seats. The second faction, led by Tehran Mayor Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf, an IRGC general, may end up with 30 seats. A third faction, sponsored by former IRGC Commander Gen. Mohsen Rezai and backed by former negotiator on the nuclear issue Ali Larijani, is slated to win 20.

At least half of the 40 men elected as independents are also former or active members of the IRGC or security services linked to it and therefore likely to side with their fellow military men on crucial issues.

Some 30 seats are likely to go to elements close to former President Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. These describe themselves as "reformists" and promise to form the core of opposition to Ahmadinejad.

In the next Majlis, the number of members with IRGC backgrounds will be twice as large as that of mullahs.

Using elections as a means of purging the regime, the IRGC has dislodged many elements linked with the 1979 revolution. Most of the prominent mullahs who led the revolution are gone, along with men who made a name by seizing US diplomats as hostages. Even members of the Khomeini clan, including the late ayatollah's close blood relations, were denied Majlis seats.

In other words, the Islamic Republic has gone the way of many other Third World regimes by shedding most of its early populist illusions and is increasingly relying on the military and security services. Like other revolutions, the Khomeinist revolution has sold its soul to the military in the hope of ensuring its own security.

The second trend highlighted by the elections is that the European Union policy of encouraging a behavior change in the Islamic Republic, a policy recently also evoked by the Bush administration, has had the opposite effect. Rather than indicating a desire to change behavior on key issues - including Tehran's drive for nukes - the Islamic Republic has produced the most radical Majlis in its history.

Last year the Bush administration, backed by the US Congress, put the IRGC on the list of international terrorist organizations. Later, the United Nations Security Council named several IRGC commanders as personae non grata throughout the world. Banks and businesses belonging to IRGC have had their assets frozen in some 40 countries, including most EU members and the United States.

Yet, the message from Tehran is clear: If you wish to deal with the Islamic Republic, you have to deal with the IRGC. Although no Iranian Bonaparte has emerged yet, the military cap clearly is replacing the turban at the summit of Tehran politics.


......................................................benny

Israel, U.S. commanders test 'extreme' scenarios in joint drill

By Amir Oren



The Israel Defense Forces and the United States European Command (EUCOM) completed a military headquarters training exercise in Tel Aviv last night. The exercise was part of Juniper Falcon, an ongoing series of training exercises conducted by the U.S. Air Force in Europe and Israel.

The four-day exercise was held at the Aviv camp, situated near the Palmach History Museum in Ramat Aviv. Officers from the IDF General Command and from the Israel Air Force and Israel Navy participated in the exercise. The head of the Israeli team was Brigadier-General Yossi Heiman, head of the Division for Strategic Planning and Foreign Relations in the Planning directorate. The U.S. team was headed by Marine Brigadier General Mark Brilakis, deputy director for Operations Directorate EUCOM Plans and Operations Center. Advertisement


Last night also marked the end of an IDF Southern Command exercise, Coiled Spring, which was based on a scenario of escalation in the sectors in the command, in particular the Gaza sector. This exercise, like Juniper Falcon, involved mainly command headquarters and not operational forces.

Juniper Falcon is part of the strategic cooperation agreement signed between Israel and the United States in 1984. Israel is the only state in the Middle East that is still within the purview of the U.S. European Command, after responsibility for Syria and Lebanon were transferred to the Central Command, USCENTCOM, alongside Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

At the completion of the exercise, both the Israeli and the U.S. sides announced that extreme scenarios were tested that challenged the participating armies to assist each other. The scenarios were set in the present and based on events of the past several years or events that are expected to occur in the near future. The creators of the exercise did not use the names of actual Arab states or existing terror organizations.

The Israeli team included representatives from the planning, operations, intelligence and logistics branches, as well as officers from the navy and the air force.

U.S. Army General Bantz J. Craddock, Commander of EUCOM, emphasized last week, in testimony before the U.S. Congress, the importance of the joint exercises between his command and the IDF.
...............................................benny

Very reassuring!
Dear God, may we all realize that YOU alone are our Shield?
For without You, no one can stand, and with You no one can fall.

Peres to Lavrov: We don't believe Syria


President Peres tells Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov that Israel distrusts Syrian peace overtures; Earlier, Lavrov meets with Assad, says Moscow peace conference aims to restart Israel-Syria talks

Roni Sofer Latest Update: 03.20.08, 21:39 / Israel News




Israeli skepticism ahead of Moscow peace conference: Syrian peace overtures have been met with distrust on the part of Israeli officials, President Shimon Peres told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their meeting Thursday evening.




According to Peres, arms transfers from Syria to the Hizbullah organization in Lebanon continue unabated. Lavrov responded by claiming that Russia is unaware of any weapons being transferred from Syria to Hizbullah.




However, Peres noted during the meeting that Russia has a significant role in regional peace talks.




"Russia can serve as a major player in the process," the president said. Meanwhile, Lavrov stressed that Israel and Russia share joint interests, such as the war on terror.




Turning his attention to the Iranian nuclear threat, Peres said that Israel had no doubt that Iran is in advanced stages of developing nuclear weapons. The president reiterated the importance of presenting a broad global front against the Iranian threat.



Later Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also met with Lavrov and told him there was no point in holding another international conference aimed at advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.




After Lavrov presented the idea of holding a conference in Moscow that would constitute the continuation of the Annapolis Conference, Olmert said the utility of such meeting needs to be examined first. At this time, there is no reason for another conference, he said.




'Golan's future on table'


The international peace conference to be convened in Russia this year will attempt to restart peace talks between Israel and Damascus on the future of the Golan Heights, Lavrov said earlier Thursday during his visit to Damascus.




No invitations have been sent at this time, but Russia is looking into how to combine various ideas, Lavrov said during his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. He also made it clear that the Russia conference will constitute the direct continuation of the Annapolis conference, and noted that all Annapolis participants agreed to attend the Moscow meeting as well.




Lavrov with Syrian President Bashar Assad (Photo: AFP)



Lavrov called for a "global solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict and said talks should be restarted with Israel on the Syrian and Lebanese peace tracks.



His visit comes as relations are strengthened between Russia and Syria after Moscow started delivery of air defense weapons to Damascus amid speculation some of them could be secretly forwarded to Israel's arch-foe Iran.



Lebanon deadlock
During his visit, Lavrov also discussed the political deadlock in Lebanon. The crisis in Lebanon – where Syria was the dominant political and military force for decades – is set to dominate the Arab summit in Damascus on March 29-30, although it is not clear how many Arab states will attend.



Lavrov said Arab countries should "not miss an opportunity to come together to discuss all the issues and find solutions to the problems" adding he hoped the summit would "further Arab unity."



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He added it was necessary to "find a compromise as soon as possible for Lebanon. Inter-Lebanese dialogue is the key. That is in the interests of the Lebanese people, Syria and Russia."



Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the summit in Damascus had displeased the United States because it would reinforce solidarity among Arab countries.



AFP contributed to the report


..................................................benny ...P.S...The statement of..."Turning his attention to the Iranian nuclear threat, Peres said that Israel had no doubt that Iran is in advanced stages of developing nuclear weapons. The president reiterated the importance of presenting a broad global front against the Iranian threat."...reveals that Isaiah 17;1 is very near.

Russia
NATO fighters scramble again to intercept Russian Bear bombers
15:30 | 19/ 03/ 2008



MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti) - NATO fighters scrambled to accompany Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers on a regular patrol over the Atlantic on Wednesday, a Russian Air Force spokesman said.

Two Bear bombers conducted a 16-hour patrol mission Wednesday over the Atlantic Ocean and performed aerial refueling while flying over neutral waters near Norway en route to their home bases.

"During the flight, the Russian bombers were accompanied by NATO's F-16 and Tornado fighters," Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky said.

Interceptions of Russian combat aircraft by NATO fighters are becoming a common occurrence again, after Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian bombers have since carried out over 70 strategic patrol flights and have often been escorted by NATO planes.

Drobyshevsky reiterated on Wednesday that regular patrols of Russian strategic bombers do not pose a threat to other countries, and Russia always issues prior warnings of their patrols.

....................................................benny

Russian FM warns military action on Iran 'disastrous' 53 minutes ago



TEL AVIV (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday warned that any military means to solve Iran's controversial nuclear programme would have a "disastrous" effect.

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"Any forceful attempts to resolve this issue by non-peaceful means would undermine all that has been done to bring clarity into the Iranian nuclear programme," Lavrov said in a press conference with his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni.

He warned against attempts to undermine the International Atomic Energy Agency inspection of Tehran's programme.

"As long as the inspectors report that they have not found that there is some deviation of this programme into the military field I think it would be disastrous for us to undermine this very efficient and important process."

Israel and its chief ally the United States have refused to rule out military action against Iran in order to halt its nuclear programme, which they believe is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb, a claim denied by Tehran.

Israel considers Iran its top enemy following repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map.

Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel and Washington suspect Tehran of trying to develop atomic arms under the guise of its nuclear programme, a charge Iran denies.


..................................................benny

Military action in Iran would be disaster-Annan 20 Mar 2008 20:17:00 GMT
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - Military action against Iran over its nuclear ambitions would be "a disaster" and the only way to solve the impasse is through dialogue, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Thursday.

Over the past year, U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have ratcheted up the rhetoric against Iran, which is defying international demands to halt uranium enrichment. They say Washington wants a diplomatic solution to the Iran standoff but refuse to rule out military options.

Uranium enrichment can be used for generating electricity or bomb-making. Tehran says its nuclear purposes are peaceful but Washington and other countries fear this is not the case.

"We cannot, I'm sure, take on another military action in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it," Annan said at a briefing with U.N. correspondents in New York.

"It will be a real disaster," he said.

"I really don't see any other solution than the continued negotiations and dialogue that is going on."

But Annan said there were serious concerns about a nuclear arms race in the wider Middle East if Iran goes nuclear, and Iran's efforts to enrich uranium were worrying. If Tehran acquired the technical expertise to do so for peaceful purposes, it would be a small step to use it for weapons, he said.

Annan said the burden was on Iran to reassure the world, not just the United States, that its aims were purely peaceful.

"I've said to the Iranians directly that if indeed you have nothing to hide and you're not making a bomb and you're intentions are pacific, open your doors, let the inspectors come, let them go anywhere," Annan said.

Earlier this month the U.N. Security Council ratcheted up sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment and other sensitive activities.

Iran denounced the current and previous resolutions as violations of international law.

(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Eric Beech)
.......................................................benny

U.S. banks warned on Iran's 'deceptive practices'
Updated 4h 52m ago | Comments16 | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print |




Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration issued a fresh warning Thursday to U.S. banks that Iran is using "an array of deceptive practices" to hide its alleged involvement in nuclear proliferation and terrorist activities.
The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network alleged that Iran is resorting to such alleged practices to evade detection and skirt financial sanctions.

"The government of Iran disguises its involvement in proliferation and terrorism activities through an array of deceptive practices specifically designed to evade detection," FinCen said in its warning to banks.

For instance, the agency said that the Iran's central bank, also known as Bank Markazi, and Iranian commercial banks have requested that their names be removed from global financial transactions to make it difficult to "determine the true parties in the transaction."

It marked the government's latest effort to ramp up pressure on Iran, which the United States accuses of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: United States | Bush | Iranian | Treasury Department | Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
The United States' warning to U.S. banks comes after an international financial watchdog — the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force — pressed its 34 member countries to urge banks to monitor their dealings in Iran.

In Thursday's warning, the U.S. government told U.S. banks that the Treasury Department is "particularly concerned that the central bank of Iran may be facilitating transactions for sanctioned Iranian banks."

Under U.S. financial sanctions, virtually all trade and investment activities with the government of Iran — including government-owned banks — are prohibited. Moreover, other sanctions have been imposed on Iranian entities that the United States believes are linked to terrorist activities and the spreading of weapons of mass destruction.

The U.N. Security Council recently passed a third round of sanctions on Iran ordering financial assets to be frozen of additional Iranian officials and companies with links to the country's nuclear and missile program. For the first time, it also banned trade with Iran in some goods that have both civilian and military use.

Iran insists its enrichment program is intended to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity and has vowed to push ahead with it.


...........................................................benny

Bracing for a New Hizballah-Israel War

By ROBERT BAER/BEIRUT
2 hours, 10 minutes ago
LINK


On a recent afternoon I was walking down Hamra, Beirut's old main shopping area, when a car pulled up alongside of me and the driver asked how I liked Lebanon. The place is still thriving, the snow-capped peaks, not a cloud in the sky, the shops full of the latest stylish clothes. It was fantastic, of course.


"Enjoy it while you can," he answered. "It won't be here next month."


What will replace it, nearly everyone in Beirut speculated to me, is the resumption of the Hizballah-Israel war that ravaged Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Some Lebanese even have a precise date for it: April 6 - the day Israel's biggest emergency drill ever starts, when they believe the Israeli Defense Forces juggernaut will roll across the border to finish the job they should have during the 34-day conflict. Although, mind you, there's not a thread of evidence that the Israelis are really going to invade.


Everyone I met in Beirut confirmed that Hizballah is locked and loaded for the next war. They didn't need any additional proof, but when the USS Cole showed up off the coast of Lebanon it was all the more proof that the United States and Israel were coming to get them.


I experienced the siege mentality firsthand when I passed by Hizballah's "media office" in Beirut's southern suburbs to see if I could photograph the grave of its most recent "martyr," Imad Mughniyah - the Hizballah military commander assassinated in Damascus on February 12. It shouldn't have been a big deal: Mughniyah's pictures line the road from the airport into town. But the lady who ran the office looked at us as if we personally had detonated the car bomb that killed him.


Just as we were about to be shown to the door, I made one last plea, something about Mughniyah being Hizballah's field general, and surely there shouldn't be a problem. "There are thousands more like him," she said, turning her laser eyes on me as if to say, don't even think that one death made a difference to Hizballah's Islamic Resistance.


Ironically, for anyone who doesn't spend his day following Lebanese politics, an Israeli invasion is exactly what Hizballah wants. A war with Israel would keep Hizballah from losing its resistance mantle, and prevent it from getting caught up in what one of Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah's political interlocutors told me would be Hizballah's worst nightmare - a civil war. A civil war would draw Hizballah into a fight with the Christians and the Sunnis; it would be just another faction with its own parochial interests, the end of Hizballah's special place in Lebanese society.


Hizballah has said publicly that it holds Israel responsible for Mughniyah's assassination. But the same Nasrallah lieutenant stressed, "Do not count on Hizballah taking revenge against Israel anytime soon." "They will take their time, years if necessary. They will, yes. But Hizballah is not an impetuous organization. It will not give its enemies a chance to divert it from the war against Israel."


Whether Hizballah takes its revenge for Mughniyah or not, the average Lebanese is preparing for the worst. The price of a Kalashnikov in the thriving black market has nearly tripled in recent weeks to $1,200.
......................................................benny

Bin Laden calls for holy war 'to free Palestine'

20/03/2008 - 10:03:28 PM
http://www.eecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhojeyauaugb


Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden slammed Palestinian negotiations with Israel and urged holy war for the liberation of Palestine in a new audio tape broadcast today.

The audio – the second by bin Laden in as many days – was the first time bin Laden spoke of the Palestinian question at length since the deteriorating situation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip where Israel imposed a siege in response to heavy rocket fire by Gaza militants.

In the broadcast by the Qatar-based television network Al Jazeera, bin Laden said: “Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron.”

Bin Laden also called on Palestinians who are unable to fight in the “land of Al-Quds” – a Muslim reference to Jerusalem – to join the al Qaida fight and the holy war, or jihad, in Iraq.

“The nearest field of jihad today to support our people in Palestine is the Iraqi field,” said the voice reported to be bin Laden’s.

“We tell our brothers in Palestine who could not join the jihad in the land of Al-Quds, to get rid of illusions of political parties and groups which are mired in trickery of the blasphemous democracy and to take their positions among the ranks of the mujahideen in Iraq.”

Such a Palestinian fight in Iraq should be “supported by all Muslims, especially from neighbouring countries,” bin Laden added.

Al Jazeera TV did not say how it obtained the recording, which was broadcast with an old photograph showing bin Laden in a white headscarf and traditional Arab dress.

As with bin Laden’s earlier audiotape, posted yesterday on a militant website that has carried al Qaida statements in the past, there was no indication when exactly it was made. The two messages were bin Laden’s first this year.

In today’s tape on Al Jazeera, bin Laden said the sufferings of the Palestinians in Gaza began when treacherous Arab leaders began supporting the US-hosted Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November, and the “Zionist entity.”

“By their support, they are considered partners to this horrible crime,” bin Laden said of Arab leaders who have backed the Mideast peace talks.

Israel has been battling Hamas in Gaza since the Islamic militant group took control of the strip in June from followers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli air raids are common in Gaza and militants fire rockets into Israeli towns near the strip.

“Palestine will not return to us with the negotiations by the submissive rulers, their conferences nor by demonstrations and elections,” bin Laden said. “Palestine will come back to us if we awaken from our ignorance and adhere to our religion and sacrifice our lives and means to it.”

Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a US group that monitors militant messages, said it wasn’t easy to draw significance from bin Laden’s audio on Al Jazeera since only excerpts were broadcast and the TV did not say how long the full recording was.

Although al Qaida has previously released two messages in as many days – most recently by bin Laden’s top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri in December – these latest audiotapes appeared to be the closest by bin Laden, Mr Venzke said.

“Al Qaida has been making a concerted effort to be responsive to developments in news cycle and to respond to current events with their perspective on it,” Mr Venzke said. “The situation in Gaza and the reprinting of cartoons was something bin Laden felt was important to address.”

Mr Venzke expected a broader release of the statement on Al Jazeera to surface within 72 hours.

In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said that Israel does not comment on bin Laden’s statements.

In yesterday’s five-minute recording, bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a “new Crusade” against Islam and warned of a “severe” reaction for Europeans’ publication of cartoons seen by Muslims as insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

That message raised concerns al Qaida was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be unable to organise such an attack himself and instead was trying to fan anger over the cartoons to inspire violence by supporters.

A US counterterrorism official said today that “CIA analysis assesses with a high degree of confidence it is Osama bin Laden’s voice on the tape” and that there was “no reason to doubt bin Laden is alive.”

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that although the whole of yesterday’s message had not been received yet, it was clear “the contents… are filled with hate and encouraging people to murder innocents in the name of a perverted and depraved cause.”

On February 13, Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons, which shows Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban, to illustrate their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had uncovered a plot to kill the artist.

Vatican spokesman, Reverend Federico Lombardi, said today that bin Laden’s accusation the Pope had played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam was “baseless.”

Rev Lombardi said the Pope has repeatedly criticised the cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.

.....................................................benny

Last update - 03:00 21/03/2008


Israel, Germany plan int'l summit to stop Iran nuke program

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Israel, Germany, Iran, Syria

Germany and Israel will try to initiate an international conference aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear program, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed during their working meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

Haaretz has meanwhile learned that Iran has provided Syria with more than $1 billion for arms purchases, reflecting Syria's drive to build up its military power in the last year, as well as the strengthening of ties between the two countries.

Olmert and Merkel discussed steps to continue the international pressure on Iran that has developed following the third round of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Both leaders voiced ideas on increasing the pressure on Iran and enlisting the international community to support the effort.
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A senior source said that Olmert had suggested holding an international conference on Iran. The two leaders decided to advance the initiative and will try to enlist other states to back it, including the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, as well as other European states and Arab countries that are threatened by Iran's nuclear program.

Israel hopes that states from the moderate Sunni bloc in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and others would take part in the conference.

Olmert said a widely supported international gathering would initiate diplomatic pressure on Iran. A government source said such a conference could discuss practical suggestions for dealing with the nuclear issue, while sending a message to Tehran.

The $1 billion that Iran has recently provided Syria has been used to buy surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

Israel has learned that Syria is buying more missiles than tanks, on the assumption that attacking the Israeli home front would deter Israel on the one hand, and help to determine the war on the other.

A government official said this week that Iran was making huge efforts to upgrade the Syrian army. He said the close relations between Iran and Syria could make it difficult for Syria to sever its strategic alliance with Iran.

The London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported in July 2007, during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus, that he promised his counterpart Bashar Assad that Iran would finance Russian and North Korean weapon deals for $1 billion. In exchange, Syria reportedly undertook not to proceed with the peace process with Israel.

Intelligence officials presented different opinions on the Syrian-Iranian alliance at the annual intelligence evaluation presented to the cabinet some two weeks ago.

Mossad head Meir Dagan said Syria would be unlikely to break its ties with Iran, even if talks with Israel resumed and it repaired relations with Washington.

Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin disagreed, and said it was possible Syria could sever these ties in exchange for a reversal of American policy and an Israeli agreement to talk about the Golan Heights.

Israel is concerned over Iran's continuing weapon deliveries to Hezbollah via Syria. Recently, it has become known that Iran sent Hezbollah a number of deliveries, including a large amount of explosives.


....................................................benny

JPost.com » Israel » Article


Mar 20, 2008 23:38 | Updated Mar 21, 2008 0:35
Defense Officials: Forget lasers, we're sticking with Iron Dome
By YAAKOV KATZ

The Defense Ministry stands behind its decision to develop the Iron Dome missile defense system and appears to not plan to purchase the Skyguard laser system under development by Northrop Grumman in the United States, senior defense officials said Thursday.

On Thursday night, Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Pinchas Buhris returned to Israel from a five-day trip to the US, during which he was in Washington, D.C. for talks at the Pentagon and paid a visit to White Sands, New Mexico to see the Nautilus laser system deployed there and be briefed on its upgraded version, Skyguard.

Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that, while a final decision had yet to be made, the defense delegation to the US was not impressed by the Skyguard and walked away convinced that it had made the correct decision when choosing Rafael's Iron Dome last year as Israel's anti-Kassam defense system.

In White Sands, Buhris watched a test of the system which included the firing of 36 rockets, eight of which were intercepted. Defense officials said that this was further proof that the system was not feasible.

Buhris was accompanied on his visit to White Sands by Dr. Yaakov Nagel, deputy chief scientist in MAFAT- the Defense Ministry's Research and Development Authority - and the chairman of the 30-man committee that chose the Iron Dome.

During his trip, Buhris also met with Pentagon officials to discuss the possibility that Israel will receive the F-22 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, which until now has been banned for sale outside the US.

Buhris was also expected to sign a bilateral agreement with the Pentagon that would allow the Israel Air Force to receive the complete designs of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also known as the F-35, the stealth fighter jet that Israel is scheduled to begin receiving in 2013.

The agreement was supposed to regulate the way the information is transferred to Israel as well as the IAF's obligations when it comes to safeguarding the information, which is deemed critical for the IDF when choosing which JSF configuration it will choose to procure.


.................................................benny

Israel Produces Unmanned Drones Over Beaches

by Hillel Fendel


(IsraelNN.com) A new fleet of Heron-1 UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles), made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are soon to be deployed by the Israel Air Force for coastal air patrol. The new Herons will replace most manned air patrols, easing the burden of flight and ground crews, Globes reports.

Earlier, Defense News reported that with Israel becoming increasingly more of a target for missile-launching terrorists from Gaza, Lebanon and possibly soon even Judea and Samaria, the Jewish State is considering purchasing fighter planes that do not require long runways (see below).

The Heron UAV
The Heron-1 is the first marine patrol UAV developed and built in Israel. It will replace the 30-year old Westwind Seascan patrol planes - the military version of the Westwind executive jet - currently used for the coastal patrol mission.

Defense News adds that the Heron-1 will be equipped with reconnaissance and surveillance radars made by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems Ltd. Flying at an altitude of 32,000 feet, the Heron-1 can stay aloft for more than 50 hours.

Defense News quotes Israeli defense industry sources as saying that the combination of sophisticated radar with the Heron's extended endurance will enable the IAF to monitor Israel's coastline and territorial waters more extensively and efficiently than currently.

IAI unveiled this latest variant of the Heron UAV last June. The Heron is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV designed as a multi-payload, multi-role platform to meet Israel Air Force requirements.

Wanted: Short-Runway Fighter Jets
The missile threats on significant portions of Israel's borders may require Israel to change its purchase plans for new jet fighters. Israel currently plans to purchase 25 units of the U.S. Air Force's F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, of the CTOL (Conventional Takeoff and Landing) version. However, it is now considering changing the order to F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) planes.

The reason: Because runways might become vulnerable to missile threats from several directions, and the IAF may therefore be compelled to operate in the type of improvised, austere environments envisioned for the STOVL variant of the JSF.

The F-35A is stronger than the F-35B. It carries 18,500 pounds of internal fuel (compared with 14,000 for the F-35B), has a projected mission radius of 610 nautical miles (500 for the F-35B), and can deliver 18,000 pounds (15,000) of weaponry. However, the F-35B can take off with a heavy load on short runways only 170 meters long, and can land practically anywhere.

Retired Maj.-Gen. Herzl Bodinger, a former IAF commander, told Defense News that a combination of both types of aircraft is probably the best idea. "Everyone understands that decisions of today have to serve us well over the next 20 to 30 years or more. So the flexibility inherent in a smart mix of capabilities is certainly worthy of serious consideration," he said.

.....................................................benny

Bin Laden urges jihad for Palestinians By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF and KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writers
Thu Mar 20, 7:52 PM ET



CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden lashed out Thursday at Palestinian peace negotiations with Israel and called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian lands.

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A day after a bin Laden audio on a militant Web site threatened Europeans, Al-Jazeera TV broadcast audio excerpts attributed to the al-Qaida leader that urge Palestinians to ignore political parties "mired in trickery of the blasphemous democracy" and to rely on armed might.

"Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron," he said.

It was the first time bin Laden spoke of the Palestinian question at length since the deteriorating situation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military has been fighting with militants who fire rockets into southern Israel.

Bin Laden added that Palestinians who are unable to fight in the "land of Al-Quds" — a Muslim reference to Jerusalem — should join the al-Qaida fight in Iraq.

"The nearest field of jihad today to support our people in Palestine is the Iraqi field," he said.

He also called on the people of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to "help in support of their mujahedeen brothers in Iraq, which is the greatest opportunity and the biggest task."

Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the recording, which was broadcast with an old photograph of bin Laden in a white headscarf and traditional Arab dress.

There was no indication how recently the recording was made, or if it was an unreleased part of the audio posted late Wednesday on an extremist Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past. The two messages were bin Laden's first this year.

In the first recording, bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Muslims and warned of a "severe" reaction for Europeans' publication of cartoons seen by Muslims as insulting Islam's prophet.

In the audio on Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said the sufferings of Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip began when Arab leaders supported the U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., and the "Zionist entity," the militant name for Israel

The mention of the Annapolis summit in November was the only time reference given in the audio.

"By their support, they are considered partners to this horrible crime," bin Laden said of Arab leaders who are backing the Mideast peace talks.

He appeared to be seeking to merge the Palestinian cause into the wider al-Qaida struggle. There have been concerns al-Qaida would try to increase its influence in Palestinian territories, with supporters of the terror network calling for such action on Web sites.

Israel has been battling Hamas in Gaza since the Islamic militant group took control of the strip last June from followers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli air raids are common in Gaza and militants fire rockets into Israeli towns near the strip.

"Palestine will not return to us with the negotiations by the submissive rulers, their conferences, nor by demonstrations and elections," bin Laden said. "Palestine will come back to us if we awaken from our ignorance and adhere to our religion and sacrifice our lives and means to it."

Although al-Qaida has previously released two messages in as many days — most recently by bin Laden's top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri in December — the latest two appeared to be the closest by bin Laden, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages.

"Al-Qaida has been making a concerted effort to be responsive to developments in news cycle and to respond to current events with their perspective on it," Venzke said. "The situation in Gaza and the reprinting of cartoons was something bin Laden felt was important to address."

A militant Web site that frequently carries al-Qaida postings, said later Thursday that it expected bin Laden's new audio on "The Way to Salvage Palestine" soon.

In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel told The Associated Press that Israel does not comment on bin Laden's statements.

Saeb Erekat, a negotiator for Abbas' Palestinian administration, said it was up to all parties in the talks to show that bin Laden's path isn't the way.

"We and the international community must prove him wrong, because we have been pursuing peace through negotiations, and I believe the parties involved must make every effort to make the year 2008 a year of peace," Erekat said.

The audio released Wednesday raised concerns al-Qaida was plotting attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden, believed to be hiding along the Afghan-Pakistan area, might be unable to organize attacks himself and was trying to fan anger over the cartoons to inspire violence by supporters.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the contents of bin Laden's message "are filled with hate and encouraging people to murder innocents in the name of a perverted and depraved cause."

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Thursday that bin Laden's accusation about the pope was baseless. He said Benedict repeatedly criticized the Muhammad cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.

___

Associated Press Writer Ian Deitch contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

..................................................benny

'Death to Ahmadinejad,' Iranian crowds cry

Mar 19 12:08 PM US/Eastern
170 Comments







Iran Boosts President's Power

Iranian reformists request Tehran vote recount


TEHRAN, March 19 (UPI) -- Many Iranian youths rallied in streets across the country, shouting "Death to Ahmadinejad," in celebrations marking the end of the Persian calendar year.

The last Wednesday of the Persian calendar is celebrated as the Fire Festival in Iran, with bonfires and firecrackers marking the occasion.

In the western city of Ahvaz, angry mobs declared "Freedom is our legitimate right" while demonstrators in the western city of Sanandaj shouted "Death to (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad," Ynetnews reported Wednesday.

The police in Tehran were out in force and, though they were met with a barrage of firecrackers, the situation didn't escalate beyond what is typical for the Fire Festival, local reports cited in the news report said.

Ahmed Raza-Radan, the police chief in Tehran, warned demonstrators against violating the rule of law in a news conference.

"The police force has resolved to detain any party-goers who break the law. The secret police will have full control, and will not hesitate to photograph citizens for evidence," he said.

.....................................................benny

Israeli Air Force destroys militant command post in Gaza
15:26 | 20/ 03/ 2008



GAZA, March 20 (RIA Novosti) - Israel's Air Force has destroyed a militant command post in Gaza, leaving at least one person dead, a military source said on Thursday.

The building belonged to the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades, a militant wing of hard-line Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.

A few hours earlier Israeli troops shot dead a 60-year-old Palestinian farmer on the border with Gaza, local radio said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted on Wednesday that Israel could halt rocket attacks by militants based in Gaza without a major ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

...................................................benny

Democrats jump on McCain's Iran-Qaeda gaffe by Alain Jean-Robert
Wed Mar 19, 11:06 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain touts his foreign policy expertise at every turn, but he has given Democrats ammunition against his experience by wrongly saying Iran trains Al-Qaeda members.

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McCain, 71, insisted during an official visit in Amman Tuesday that members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq were slipping into neighboring Iran and receiving training there before returning to the war-torn country to wreak havoc.

But while President George W. Bush's administration has accused Shiite-majority Iran of training and arming Shiite extremists, it has never made the link with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is a Sunni group.

McCain made the gaffe right in the middle of an official visit in the Middle East that was supposed to highlight his knowledge in foreign affairs.

"It's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq. That's well known," the Vietnam war veteran said.

Pressed by reporters about his allegations, McCain said: "We continue to be concerned about the Iranians taking Al-Qaeda into Iran and training them and sending them back."

It was only after fellow Senator Joe Lieberman, who was traveling with him, whispered into his ear that McCain corrected himself.

"I am sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al-Qaeda, not Al-Qaeda, I am sorry," McCain said.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers issued a statement saying that the candidate "misspoke and immediately corrected himself," but Democrats still pounced on McCain's slip-up.

"Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and Al-Qaeda," Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama said Wednesday, using the mistake to criticize McCain's vote authorizing the five-year-old war in Iraq.

"Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al-Qaeda ties," the senator of Illinois said. "Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades."

"Above all, the war in Iraq has emboldened Al-Qaeda, whose recruitment has jumped and whose leadership enjoys a safe-haven in Pakistan -- a thousand miles from Iraq."

Recent polls have suggested a majority of Americans view McCain as the candidate best suited to tackle an international crisis.

Democratic party spokeswoman Karen Finney seized on the opportunity to point out McCain's mixup had revealed his foreign policy incompetence and showed he "ignore(d) the facts on the ground."

"After eight years of the Bush administration's incompetence in Iraq, McCain's comments don't give the American people a reason to believe that he can be trusted to offer a clear way forward," Finney said in a statement.

McCain, a fervent supporter of the war in Iraq, began a Middle East tour on Sunday encompassing Iraq, Jordan and Israel. The veteran Arizona senator is expected later this week in London and Paris.

McCain's campaign insisted that the slip does not represent the breadth of his foreign policy knowledge and accused Democrats of waging "political attacks" aimed at capitalizing on a minor mistake.

Asked about the confusion on NBC News, McCain said: "I corrected it, my comment, immediately. To think that I would have some lack of knowledge about Sunni and Shiite after my eighth visit and my deep involvement in this issue is a bit ludicrous."

He added: "I just simply misspoke when I said Al-Qaeda, but they (Iranians) are training extremists and they are sending the most lethal kinds of devices in (to Iraq) that are killing Americans. That's what we should care about."

Anti-war Democrats shuddered over McCain's antics last year in April.

Asked by a hawkish supporter when the United States would "send an airmail message to Iran," McCain responded: "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?"

Then, to the tune of the song "Barbara Ann," he sang: "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."

.....................................................benny ..p.s...did'nt the beach boys sing that song?

Israel to Disengage from Gaza Within Two Years

by Hillel Fendel


(IsraelNN.com) According to a new Israeli-Egyptian agreement, Egypt will take over from Israel in supplying electricity to Gaza, beginning in 2010. This, in fulfillment of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's plan to totally disengage from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli defense officials have confirmed the existence of the agreement, which was welcomed by Hamas.

UN data as of late last year indicated that 62.5% of Gaza's electricity, and all of Gaza's fuel, including diesel, gasoline and natural gas, comes from Israel. Another 28.6% of Gaza's electricity comes from Gaza's power plant, which depends on Israeli fuel. The remainder of the electricity comes from Egypt. Israel has often threatened to turn off electricity to Gaza in response to ongoing Kassam rocket attacks, but the threat was never effectively utilized.

The new agreement stipulates that Egypt will build an electric grid that will transfer electricity from El Arish, located along the Sinai coast, to Gaza. The $32 million cost will be borne by the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia. The new plant will supply 150 megawatts - some nine times what Egypt currently supplies - and will replace the 124 megawatts that Israel currently provides.

Though Israel is said to have disengaged from Gaza in 2005, the two entities are actually tied to each other in many ways. Back in May 2005, 18 university students, both religious and non-religious, began a hunger strike against the planned Disengagement/expulsion from Gaza. Their position paper explained that in addition to being a "blow to democracy" [in that the party that supported such a withdrawal lost the elections by a landslide] and a "retreat under terrorism that will harm Israel's security," the withdawal was also "a sham from a legal standpoint. From an international-legal standpoint, Israel will continue to be responsible for Gaza, and we will continue to supply them with electricity, water and work. We're not disengaging from Gaza and the Shomron, but rather transferring Jews."

Humanitarian Aid to Rocket-Firing Gaza Continues
Even with this, however, the Disengagement will still not be complete if Israel maintains the amounts of humanitarian aid that it currently allows to pass from Israel to Gaza. An average of 100 truckloads of food and supplies cross the border into Gaza each day - significantly less than in previous years, but significantly more than might have been expected between two entities at war.

Two Terrorists Killed Making Rockets
In other Gaza news: Two Kassam-rocket manufacturers were killed in an explosion at their workplace - a Kassam manufacturing plant in Gaza. The explosion occurred Thursday morning. Terrorist sources say the two were killed in an Israel Air Force attack; the IDF reports there was no such attack.

Terrorists fired a Kassam rocket at Israel early Thursday afternoon; it exploded in the western Negev without causing damage.
..................................................benny

Mar 21, 2008 12:30 | Updated Mar 21, 2008 13:27
Cheney, Abdullah set to discuss Iran
By AP & JPOST.COM STAFF
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia
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US Vice President Dick Cheney was set to meet Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Friday for talks expected to focus on the Iranian threat, among other pressing issues.

Cheney's advisors said that a long list of discussion topics included Iran, Syria, Lebanon, protecting infrastructure against terror attacks and the vice president's visit this week to Iraq and Afghanistan.

High oil prices socking US consumers will also be a key topic of Friday's talks but it's unclear whether Cheney will ask the Saudis to increase production.

Cheney's advisors said he review with the king steps that the consuming and producing nations can do, both in the short and long term, to stabilize the market.

"They will review a broad agenda of diplomatic and security issues as well as where we are now in the global energy market," Cheney's national security adviser, John Hannah, told reporters on board the vice president's plane as he flew from Oman to Saudi Arabia. "They will have ample discussions about the problems that exist in the market and how they might be solved," he added.

Cheney was greeted at the airport by the king and the two shared tea inside before heading off for the talks.

Meanwhile, President Bush said Thursday that Iran was seeking to become a nuclear power with a weapon to "destroy people," including others in the Middle East.

"They've declared they want to have a nuclear weapon to destroy people - some in the Middle East. And that's unacceptable to the United States, and it's unacceptable to the world," Bush told told US-funded Radio Farda, which broadcasts to Iran in Farsi.

Bush's statement came in spite of the New Intelligence Estimate which apparently downgraded the Iranian threat, stating that Iran had stopped its weapons program in 2003.

Bush stressed that the US supported Iran's quest for nuclear energy and expressed hope that Washington and Teheran can "reconcile their differences" if Iran cooperates with the international community.

In a second interview with the Voice of America's Persian News Network, Bush expressed America's respect and admiration for the Iranian people. "Please don't be discouraged by the slogans that say America doesn't like you, because we do, and we respect you."
.....................................................benny

Last update - 08:13 21/03/2008


Israel, Germany plan int'l summit to stop Iran nuke program

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Israel, Germany, Iran, Syria

Germany and Israel will try to initiate an international conference aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear program, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed during their working meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

Haaretz has meanwhile learned that Iran has provided Syria with more than $1 billion for arms purchases, reflecting Syria's drive to build up its military power in the last year, as well as the strengthening of ties between the two countries.

Olmert and Merkel discussed steps to continue the international pressure on Iran that has developed following the third round of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Both leaders voiced ideas on increasing the pressure on Iran and enlisting the international community to support the effort.
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A senior source said that Olmert had suggested holding an international conference on Iran. The two leaders decided to advance the initiative and will try to enlist other states to back it, including the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, as well as other European states and Arab countries that are threatened by Iran's nuclear program.

Israel hopes that states from the moderate Sunni bloc in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and others would take part in the conference.

Olmert said a widely supported international gathering would initiate diplomatic pressure on Iran. A government source said such a conference could discuss practical suggestions for dealing with the nuclear issue, while sending a message to Tehran.

The $1 billion that Iran has recently provided Syria has been used to buy surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

Israel has learned that Syria is buying more missiles than tanks, on the assumption that attacking the Israeli home front would deter Israel on the one hand, and help to determine the war on the other.

A government official said this week that Iran was making huge efforts to upgrade the Syrian army. He said the close relations between Iran and Syria could make it difficult for Syria to sever its strategic alliance with Iran.

The London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported in July 2007, during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus, that he promised his counterpart Bashar Assad that Iran would finance Russian and North Korean weapon deals for $1 billion. In exchange, Syria reportedly undertook not to proceed with the peace process with Israel.

Intelligence officials presented different opinions on the Syrian-Iranian alliance at the annual intelligence evaluation presented to the cabinet some two weeks ago.

Mossad head Meir Dagan said Syria would be unlikely to break its ties with Iran, even if talks with Israel resumed and it repaired relations with Washington.

Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin disagreed, and said it was possible Syria could sever these ties in exchange for a reversal of American policy and an Israeli agreement to talk about the Golan Heights.

Israel is concerned over Iran's continuing weapon deliveries to Hezbollah via Syria. Recently, it has become known that Iran sent Hezbollah a number of deliveries, including a large amount of explosives.

......................................................benny

Syria is ready to face any Israeli attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20...a_is_ready.php
Tuesday, 18 March, 2008 @ 7:35 PM

Beirut- Lebanese sources have revealed that the Syrian army is reinforcing its military presence along the Lebanese-Syrian borders point from the western Bekaa valley area to Deir Al Ashaer.

The sources linked the military reinforcement to increased speculation inside and outside Lebanon about the possibility that Lebanon will be lured into a war with Israel, which could be triggered by Hezbollah in retaliation for the assassination of its commander Imad Mughniyeh.

The sources said Damascus action is aimed at preventing Israel from attacking the Syrian territory .

According to war analysts, any action by Israel will be in response to Hezbollah's attack on it or any place in the world. Israeli response the analysts say will have specific objectives in quality and quantity ... stressing that such operations will target all Hezbollah bases in the Western Bekaa, which have been strengthened after the war of July 2006.

The analysts said that the western Bekaa contains the main operations of the party, which were established with Iranian funds and include educational and medical institutions and service facilities , all of which will be the targeted by Israeli .

According to Lebanese sources, Hezbollah chief sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is reviewing carefully all the security an military organs of the party after the assassination of Mughniyeh , in preparation for the next battle with Israel . All of this is preparation is being done in coordination with Iran communication with Iran.

Lebanese experts believe that the options of war and peace are equal. Tipped one over another depends on the type of retaliation by Hezbollah for the assassination of Mughniyeh . The experts noted that the citizens of the south of Lebanon are now living in a state of panic and many have renewed their passports to flee if a new war breaks out.

According to Israeli intelligence sources Hezbollah has completed its military preparations in order to execute its retaliatory action against Israel and the countdown for such an operation has already started .

This is why the Israeli sources have pointed out is the reason why Tel Aviv has issued a warning to Damascus in which it holds the Syrian leadership responsible if Hezbollah launched any attacks on its territory or its interests around the world. The sources stresses this warning is a direct threat that Syria will be attacked if Israel is attacked from the Lebanese territory.

A British government source responded to a question about the possibility of an Israeli attack on Syria if Hezbollah attacked Israel, saying: "There is always a big danger of such a development if Israeli northern borders are attacked noting that this will be a catastrophe," . The source added " Hezbollah retaliation for the assassination of Mugniyeh could lead to a much wider regional conflict.

Syria's role in Assassinating Mughniyeh

Mughniyeh's widow, an Iranian national, who was in Damascus at the time her husband was assassinated accused the Syrian regime of involvement in the murder.

"The Syrian traitors assisted in my husband's murder," said Mughniyeh's widow.

She added "This is why the Syrian regime has refused the help of Iran and Hezbollah in the investigation of the murder."

Syria's Foreign Minister stated after the assassination that "only Syria will investigate the murder and it will be a very simple and straight forward investigation and we will find the perpetrators within days."

The General Secretariat of the Damascus Declaration also accused Monday the Syrian regime of involvement in the assassination of Mughniyeh

A statement issued by the Damascus Declaration headed by former MP Maamun al-Homsi stated: "It is our duty to expose the crimes of the Syrian regime and specifically the killing of Imad Mughniyeh and the deception that accompanied this crime."

The statement added the "Syrian intelligence removed the car in which Mughniyeh was assassinated and cleaned completely the scene of the murder to remove all the evidence."

According to intelligence reports Assef Shawkat, Syria's top intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian president Bashar al Assad is behind the assassination. Shawkat is married to Basha's sister Bushra. Bushra has left Syria and is now living in Paris.

The intelligence reports claim that Hezbollah has not retaliated earlier for Mughniyeh 's assassination , because it is currently investigating Syria 's role in the murder .

Hezbollah according to these reports has been questioning many Syrians in Lebanon who knew the whereabouts of Mughnieh before he left for Damascus where he was assassinated on February 12.
.....................................................benny

Report: Iran buying missiles for Syria


By Published: 03/21/2008


Iran reportedly purchased $1 billion in arms for Syria, including missile systems.

The report in the Ha'aretz newspaper Friday was unsourced but arises out of this week's meeting in Israel between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Germany closely monitors Font size:
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the Iranian arms trade.
Iran is underwriting Syria's arms purchases in the hopes of dissuading Syria from launching peace talks with Israel, Ha'aretz said.

Iran was a focus of the Merkel-Olmert talks, and the leaders discussed calling an international conference to promote the isolation of the Islamic Republic until it ends its suspected nuclear weapons program.