The bill is being tabulated. Here's a peek

Letter From IsraeL The Great Fiasco - The Army Wanted Action

Ran HaCohen

Hosea 8-14 Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law. 2Israel cries to me, “My God, we—Israel—know you!” 3Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him. 4They made kings, but not through me; they set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. 5Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6For it is from Israel, an artisan made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield, foreigners would devour it.

 "Relations between the United States and Israel are crucial to stability in the Middle East, where the road to peace and prosperity continues to be fraught with many obstacles.  In this regard, Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship with Israel." Dianne Feinstein 

Following on Justin Raimondo's trenchant analysis of Israel's aggression, Karen Kwiatkowski explains how the invasion of Lebanon reveals the unfolding, premeditated NeoCon/Israel plan to "Secure the Realm" by wantonly spreading chaos in the Middle East. Now that Olmert's bitch-slapped Condi Rice into submission and got DiFi singing Israel's tune.....the Greatest Strategic Disaster in US History reveals another incredible dimension.   Question is - how much time does Israel have for its adventure?  Hizbollah took 8 years to kick the aggressor out the last time.

I removed myself from TV and the Internet for a few days, and when I got back, Israel had morphed the attacks on Gaza and the odd buzzing of Damascus into a full-scale assault into Lebanon, and escalated her military threats to Syria.

John Bolton is a happy man today. That blubbering bundle of self-righteousness, speaking from the UN, is totally on board with Israel’s attacks, and her security strategy.

Justin Raimondo, as usual, is prescient and correct. "A Clean Break: Strategy for Securing the [Israeli] Realm" is progressing as planned. Re-read the whole document, if you wish. It’s just an idea, a recommendation, written by a group of passionately pro-Israel Americans for a particular Likud candidate in 1996.

With Israel so busy securing the realm; Olmert telling Condi to stick a sock in it, and our president pigging out on wild boar in Deutschland, some of you may have missed the terrorist in WaPo

Aggression Under False Pretenses

 By Ismail Haniyeh - Prime Minister, Palestinian National Authority

Tuesday, July 11, 2006 

GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our homes and government offices are shelled, our parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with prosecution....The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago....Surely the American people grow weary of this folly,..

So you'd think.  The Israel Lobby are no fools

Relations between the United States and Israel are crucial to stability in the Middle East, where the road to peace and prosperity continues to be fraught with many obstacles.  In this regard, Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship with Israel.  Dianne Feinstein US Senator 7/11/06

His Master's Voice - Steve Clemons reports that the Israelis have told US Secretary of State Condi Rice to back off her calls for Israel to exercise restraint in its responses to Hizbullah. 


While I am dubious of Steve's prediction that there'd be a "price to pay" for bitch-slapping the US SecState (they've practiced on Colin!), there's no doubt that Condi's been brought to heel.  Today's appearance featured no talk of restraint - only Syria and Iran.

Good little girl - A damned embarassment to the USA

Relations between the United States and Israel are crucial to stability in the Middle East, Sen Dianne Feintein 07/12/06

There are 25,000 Americans now at risk and unable to be fully evacuated thanks to our "ally". The Speaker of the Iraqi parliament added his voice to the "thunderous" Friday sermons in mosques across Iraq, Sunni and Shiite alike

The Holy See just condemned Israel's aggression against Lebanon - the very resolution that Bolton vetoed and where's W?

Eatin pig in Germany....a puppet on Israel's string

Get rid of the problem and there's no problem with Hizbollah - Prime Minister of Lebanon, Cedar Revolutionary

 

 

Baer, in scarcely contained self-righteousness, urges us to "recall that they were snatched!" Save that patronizing piffle for someone who fell off the turnip truck last night will ya?To hear the Israel Lobby propagandists, like Bare, you'd think that the hostage takings were some sort of outrageous act of war.

Former IDF Special Ops guy on CNN: "Oh  this has been going on for centuries in the Middle East. It is nothing like kidnapping in the west. Rather, the taking and exchange of hostages is common. Nothing unusal about it at all."

Oh Truth Oh Sweet Balm of Gil[e]ad

According to the Jerusalem Post, the captured soldier's father, Noam Shalit, criticized the government for its response, saying that "it was 'delusional' that the state of Israel would attempt to reestablish its deterrence at the expense of his son."

Via TomDispatch

Josh Landis - OKU Syrianist analyzes Syria's goals and strategic position here.  Depressing and all too familiar - the USG's feeble grip on reality.  Expect worse yet as  the Greatest Strategic Disaster continues to reveal itself.

In the coming months, we can expect Syria to move more forcefully to the counter-attack. Syria feels confident that it has the upper hand for the first time since 2003.

Syria wants to show Washington what a failure it is. Thus, it will turn up the pressure on Washington just as Washington turned up the pressure on Syria over the last two years. Damascus is determined to demonstrate to Washington that there is a price to be paid for not dealing with Syria as a respected power in the region.

Washington thought it could roll Syria out of Lebanon, destroy Hamas, and force the Iraqi government to boycott Damascus. Asad will do what he can to demonstrate that Washington does not have the power to do this and will fail in its anti-Syrian policies. Only by cutting deals with Damascus can Washington hope to run a successful Middle East policy. This is Asad's goal.

Now that American influence and power in the region is on the decline, Asad's is on ascendant. He will make trouble for pro-US politicians in Lebanon and support Hizbullah, he will do what he can to keep Hamas alive, and he will try to broaden his relations with Iraqi politicians in an effort to get trade deals and oil flowing through the Syrian pipeline again. In Iraq, Syria has little interest in promoting violence, which it has little control over and which can come back to hurt it. But it will try to make itself useful to the Iraq government and powers on the ground in order to get trade flowing to strengthen Syria.

Via Progress Report. Two items today in the continuing chronicle -  The Greatest Strategic Disaster: The War Fought With Slogans

Operation "Forward Together" was planned months in advance, announced months in advance to coincide with the formation of that other spun concoction - the National Unity Government

PLAN TO INCREASE BAGHDAD SECURITY HAS INSTEAD FUELED TENSIONS: Among the main topics Rumsfeld said he wanted to discuss on his trip was security in Baghdad, where the three-day death toll has risen well above 100. Yesterday, "about 200 yards outside civilian entrances to the heavily guarded Green Zone government compound in Baghdad, two suicide bombers blew themselves up, followed shortly by an explosion of another bomb, killing 15 civilians and an Iraqi police officer and wounding four other people." Abdul Rahman, a local Baghdad merchant, said, "The scene was terrifying and tragic. ... After I saw this terrible incident, I closed my shop and I went home." There have been many horrifying scenes in recent days around the Iraqi capital, including an account by CNN's Nic Robertson that "a 15-year-old girl had been beheaded and a dog's head sewn on her body in its place; and of a young child who had had his hands drilled and bolted together before being killed." Coinciding with Bush's surprise visit to Iraq in mid-June, Maliki announced Operation Forward Together, a plan to specifically improve security conditions in Baghdad. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell acknowledged recently that the crackdown has been ineffective. Ambassador Khalilzad said it had not "performed to the level that was expected." And Kurdish legislator Mahmoud Othman simply stated, "The security plan did not succeed." Baghdad has instead bore witness to the increasing brazenness of the attackers. "This is a new step. A red line has been crossed," said Alaa Makky, a Sunni member of parliament. "People have been killed in the streets; now they are killed inside their homes."

The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq was released to coincide with the Iraqi Winter Election hype.  You'd think that some national security expert would have been responsible for such a "seminal" document as this.  You'd be wrong.  The NSVI was the work of a team headed by newly appointed NSC member James Feaver, a Duke political scientist whose speciality is US public support for wars. He caught Bush's eye with a questionable hypothesis - forget whether you are winning, facts on the ground mean nothing just speak about victory and success as much as possible

Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday asserts that the Bush administration's National Strategy for Victory In Iraq "is inadequate and was poorly planned, backing up some politicians' charges that a prolonged stay in the country is only fueling sectarian violence." The GAO report recommends that the National Security Council outline a comprehensive strategy for Iraq with "milestones" and "metrics" so Congress can assess the progress and the problems on the ground. "We still don't know how long we're going to be there," GAO chief David Walker said. While in Baghdad, Rumsfeld refused to entertain a possible drawdown. "We haven't gotten to that point," he said.

Today in an appearance before a CSIS gathering, Khalilzad admitted that Operation Forward Together was a failure and that "adjustments" were under study. Today in an appearance before a CSIS gathering, Khalilzad admitted the obvious.

Hillary should be howling; Schumer sneering; Biden bellowing....

 BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Private Uday Abdullah is one of 50,000 Iraqi troops and police sent on to Baghdad's streets last month to make the city safe -- but he does not see the point.

Lounging in the shade to escape the midday heat on Tuesday, the soldier said it is gunmen from rival Shi'ite and Sunni parties with clout in the government who rule the streets.

"We arrest lots of gunmen and they just walk free the next day. They're always from the Mehdi Army or the Badr Brigade or the Islamic Party. So what's the point of our job?" he said.

Many in Baghdad wonder the same thing as checkpoints set up as part of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's crackdown on violence spawn ever greater traffic jams but have failed to prevent dozens dying in sectarian shootings and bombings this week.

"We do nothing but create huge traffic jams with these checkpoints," Abdullah said.

Pointing to the traffic backed up on Senak Bridge, a major artery over the Tigris river, he said: "I am standing here. But I have no desire to be here."


Little Order on Baghdad Streets

Food, Water Running out For Gaza's Children (Juan Cole)
The humanitarian crisis in a civilian Gaza under attack from Israel is worsening, according to United Nations agencies. They had already warned over the weekend that given that half of Gazans are children, that the adult unemployment rate is 40 percent, and that malnutrition had already been widespread, the further degradation of electricity, water and food delivery systems by Ehud Olmert threatened a humanitarian catastrophe.

Even the Jerusalem Post is reporting Tuesday morning:

' International aid organizations reported on Tuesday morning that basic foodstuffs, including flour, sugar and oil, will run out within a few days. The aid organizations submitted reports on the issue to the UN headquarters in New York. In addition, the organizations will report that water supplies are scarce due to the lack of electricity and that the sewage system was no[t] functional.

Palestinian 4-year-olds have not committed any crimes, to be deprived of food, water and medical care.

Dr. Mona El-Farra explains how bad the situation is.

See Sandy Tolan and Tom Englehardt on "Deja Vu in Gaza.".

These photos give a sense of the impact of conflicts like the current one on Gaza's children.

Rabbi Michael Lerner writes poignantly of his recognition that Israel has crossed a moral boundary in its latest collective-punishment policies toward ordinary Palestinians.

Black humor alert.

The Israeli military still hasn't stopped the Qassam rockets or found its kidnapped soldier, but it has located some Palestinian farms and orchards with dastardly anti-Israel olive trees and other crops that have now been destroyed before they can strike again.


I continue to challenge progressive bloggers to link and speak out on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is man-made and entirely avoidable. It is being deliberately created by Ehud Olmert.

There is a link on the right for writing your congressional representatives. Use it.

"If Iraq gets better, everything gets better," a White House official says. "If Iraq doesn't get better, there's no hope." (Time Magazine CoverStory All Hat, No Cattle)

Scores Die as Iraqi Civil War Looms

and while less sanguine his tone than I recall for his last visit, it was still Joe "where's the plan for success" Biden.  Well, Joe, that's a load. "Success" has not been an option in Iraq for a while.  Only in  Bush sermons:

At least 80 Dead in Civil War Bloodbath
Government Forced to Depend on Local Gunmen
(COLE)

"We will complete the mission and I will make my judgments as to the troop levels necessary to achieve victory, not based upon political polls or focus groups, but based upon the measured judgment of our commanders on the ground . . . Make no mistake about it, there is a group in the opposition party who are willing to retreat before the mission is done . . . They are willing to wave the white flag of surrender and if they succeed the United States will be worse off, and the world will be worse off . . . We've got a plan to succeed, a plan for victory, a plan that will enable a new ally in the war on terror to govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself . . ."
- George W. Bush, June 28, 2006

"Al-Zaman/ AFP say that Baghdad was the site Sunday of the worst wave of of faith-based violence ever perpetrated by its sectarian militias in one day. Eyewitnesses in the Iraqi capital said that elements of the Mahdi Army, loyal to young Shiite nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, killed at least 61, among them women and children, on the basis of their religious identity. [Official Iraqi and US sources said these numbers were exaggerated, and most American wire services gave the number of dead as 42.] They set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the Jihad quarter of Baghdad for this purpose. Eyewitnesses said that gunmen wearing civilian clothing set up checkpoint barriers in the streets beginning early Sunday morning and began stopping passers-by. They investigated their identities, and killed anyone whom they found to be Sunni Arab. The eyewitnesses also said that some gunmen entered a number of homes and shot down the inhabitants. Some then set the houses on fire.

...President Jalal Talabani uttered plattitudes about the dangers of sectarian violence devolving into "killings on the basis of identity".

His aide, Muwaffaq al-Samarra'i, according to Al-Hayat, said, "Iraq has truly entered into a sectarian civil war; the matter is no longer merely one of sectarian hatred."

they hate our values ....and insult our intelligence

Sources say no serious plot for NYC, just hate chatter

One former intelligence field officer says, and two other CIA officials confirm, that the alleged plot by Muslim extremists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in New York City was nothing more than chatter by unaffiliated individuals with no financing or training in an open forum already monitored extensively by the United States Government, RAW STORY has learned.


“The so-called New York tunnel plot was a result of discussions held on an open Jihadi web site,” said Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer and contributor to American Conservative magazine, in a late Friday afternoon conversation. Although Giraldi acknowledges that the persons involved – “three of whom have already been arrested in Lebanon and elsewhere - are indeed extremists," their online chatter is considerably overblown by allegations of an actual plot.

“They are not professionally trained terrorists, however, and had no resources with which to carry out the operation they discussed," Giraldi added. "Despite press reports that they had asked Abu Musab Zarqawi for assistance, there is no information to confirm that. It is known that the members discussed the possibility of approaching Zarqawi but none of them knew him or had any access to him.”