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16/8/06
APPENDIX II: INDEX ON WEAPONS IN LEBANON: WAR CRIMES IN LEBANON AND PALESTINE
(update 16.08.06)
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/08/appendix-ii-index-on-weapons-in.html
15/8/06
APPENDIX TO ILLEGAL WEAPONS IN LEBANON
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/08/appendix-to-illegal-weapons-in-lebanon.html (Update: 15.08.06) Israel threatens to resume war if Hizbullah refuses to disarm
Jerusalem Post
8/16/2006
The IDF will have to resume operations in Lebanon if the expanded
United Nations force being assembled does not fulfill its obligation to
dismantle Hizbullah, an official in the Prime Minister's Office warned
on Tuesday. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Hizbullah leader
Hassan Nasrallah reportedly reached a deal allowing Hizbullah to keep
its weapons but refrain from exhibiting them in public. Israeli
officials called the arrangement a violation of UN Security Council
Resolution 1701, which passed over the weekend and was approved on
Sunday by the cabinet. "The resolution is clear that Hizbullah needs to
be removed from the border area, embargoed and dismantled," the
official said. "If the resolution is not implemented, we will have to
take action to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah... "
Analysis: Halutz hung out to dry
By Amos Harel,
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has a rich record as a
courageous pilot and leading air force officer. But once the story in
Maariv broke out Tuesday that he had sold his investment portfolio the
day the war broke out, it was hard to find anyone among the IDF
officers who would stand in his corner. Opinion in the IDF is near
unanimous: Halutz must go home the minute the last soldier leaves
Lebanon. When radio stations began dealing with the news in earnest, a
shock wave blasted through IDF headquarters all the way to various
units in the front. Officers found it difficult to believe. Could it be
that between an emergency meeting of IDF leadership, in which Halutz
promised to "take Lebanon back 20 years"... the chief of staff found
the time to call his investment adviser and order him to sell stock
worth NIS 120,000?
Lebanon's army to begin deployment Wednesday with symbolic
force
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
The Lebanese army will begin its deployment in southern Lebanon
Wednesday with a symbolic force, a political source in Beirut said.
Over the coming weeks the deployment will increase. This will be the
first time in more than two decades that the Lebanese army has
positioned itself along the border with Israel. However, foreign
journalists in Lebanon expressed pessimism at the ability of Lebanon's
army to confront any other armed force in the area. The notion that the
Lebanese army will be able to deal with Hezbollah "is simply a joke," they said. The Lebanese army's ability to wage war is indeed very
limited. Israeli military sources said that army suffered a great deal
due to the presence of Syrian forces in the country.
IDF says free to hit Syrian arms convoys
Jerusalem Post
8/16/2006
Despite the cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah, the IDF is allowed
to destroy Syrian weapons convoys that cross into Lebanon to reach
Hizbullah guerrillas, a top IDF officer said Tuesday. At the same time,
the officer said, the IDF will do its best to uphold the cease-fire
until the newly upgraded UNIFIL deploys in southern Lebanon together
with the Lebanese Army. "We see ourselves allowed to strike at convoys
moving into Lebanon," the officer said. During the 34 days of fighting,
the IAF attacked such convoys on an almost daily basis. On Tuesday, the
cease-fire that went into effect a day earlier held, except for two
incidents in which five Hizbullah gunmen were killed. The IDF said in
both cases soldiers were defending themselves...
Israel Targets Palestinians in Lebanon
Palestine Media
Center 8/14/2006
Five Palestinians Killed in Ein el-Hilweh, Gaza -- The Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) were not distracted by their 34-day war on
Lebanon to suspend their killing of Palestinian children, women, men,
but exploited the war to expand Israel’s six-year onslaught on the
Palestinian people into Lebanon. Early Monday, hours before a ceasefire
took effect in Lebanon at 8:00 am, Israeli war planes launched two air
strikes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh,
near Sidon, at dawn, killing at least one person and wounding three
others. One of the raids hit an office of the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine General-Command (PFLP-GC) just outside the
camp. One person, the guard, was killed as well as a 16-year-old youth
asleep in an adjacent house, and three civilians who live near the
office were also wounded.
U.S. & Israel Selecting Targets For Cruise Missile
First-strike Attack
By Bruce Gagnon,
Space4Peace 8/6/2006
Multiple military sources have told the Global Network that Pentagon
personnel responsible for selecting targets for cruise missile first
strike attacks have been sent to Israel. This indicates that U.S. and
Israeli military strategists are now likely meeting to plan a joint
attack on Syria and/or Iran. The Persian Gulf war and the 2003 U.S.
invasion of Iraq both began with cruise missile attacks by the U.S.
from Naval ships. U.S. military satellites were used to guide the
missiles to their targets. It would be wise to recognize that Bush has
decided to expand the current war and chaos into the entire Middle East
region. The implications for the U.S. will be enormous.
U.S. Expands Missile Defense Dialogue with Israel
Middle East Newsline
7/11/2006
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Bush administration has expanded efforts for
missile defense cooperation with Israel, a report said. A report by
several leading national security think tanks asserted that the United
States has sought to expand missile defense cooperation with Israel to
include Turkey. Entitled "Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and
the Twenty-First Century," the report said the administration has been
examining Israeli proposals to augment a planned multi-layered missile
defense system. "The United States has continued to expand its missile
defense dialogue with Israel -- a partnership that now includes, in
addition to the highly-successful jointly-developed Arrow theater
missile defense system, substantial work on next-generation missile
defense concepts such as high-energy lasers and boost-phase
interception... "
Peretz: We should create conditions for talks with Syria
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
German FM cancels Syria trip in wake of Assad speech -- Defense
Minister Amir Peretz said Tuesday that a resumption of talks with Syria
was still possible, a day after a cease-fire brought to an end the
month-long conflict with the Syrian-backed Hezbollah organization in
Lebanon. "Every war creates an opportunity for a new political process.
and I am sure that our enemies understand today they cannot defeat us
by force," Peretz said. "We must hold a dialogue with Lebanon, and we
should create the conditions for dialogue also with Syria," he added.
In Washington, the Bush administration dismissed Iranian and Syrian
claims of victory as shameful blustering. "It is terrible that the
president of Iran is trying to take advantage of this tragedy," David
Welch, a senior State Department official, said.
Israel Investigates War Failures
Palestine Chronicle
8/15/2006
The Lebanese Hizbullah resistance group has proved a foe to be reckoned
with, inflicting heavy losses on the armed-to-the-teeth Israeli army.
-- OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday,
August 14, he will order an investigation into the deficiencies of the
army's handling of the Lebanon war, with calls to restrict the defense
budget seen gaining momentum. "We will look into all errors, and won't
hide the results of probes," Olmert told the Knesset hours after a
UN-brokered truce went into effect, Haaretz reported. "We will have to
review ourselves in all the battles," he said. "We won't sweep things
under the carpet. " Olmert said Israel will learn the lessons of this
war and "do better. "
State comptroller prepares to check war
YNet News 8/15/2006
Recruitment of staff and collection of material begin at comptroller's
office ahead of wide scale investigation into government bodies, IDF,
during war in north -- Following a growing number of calls in the
political arena and from the people for a committee of investigation,
the state comptroller began preparations for an investigation into the
management of the war in the north. Staff at the comptroller's office
began collecting necessary material and to organize the manpower for
the investigation of government bodies involved in the fighting, and of
levels of IDF command. With that, it is still unclear whether the
comptroller's office will investigate the bodies, as various sources in
the political arena demand.
Opposition, Labor MKs call for inquiry commission
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
As the opposition demanded a state inquiry commission to probe events
before and during the recent conflict, Labor MKs yesterday blasted the
party's leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, for suggesting a
commission from his ministry would do so. They said it was essential to
examine all institutions and that public pressure would oblige the
cabinet to set up a national inquiry commission. The MKs said they
would consider voting in the Knesset to establish a parliamentary one.
Senior Kadima members said yesterday that the chances for a state
inquiry commission were slim, and that the opposition was not likely to
muster the majority to set up a parliamentary one. However, they said
that as far as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Peretz are concerned, a
parliamentary commission is the lesser of the two evils.
Mofaz publicly backs Halutz
YNet News 8/16/2006
Former defense minister voices support for army chief he appointed,
following publication of stock affair: 'I appreciate his many
contributions to the State of Israel and his quality as a person,
officer, and commander' -- At least three ministers voiced their
support for the IDF chief of staff, Dan Halutz, on Tuesday, following
the publication of the sale of his shares on the day two soldiers were
kidnapped on the northern border and war broke out. Transportation
Minister Shaul Mofaz, who appointed Halutz, backed him up Tuesday
evening. "I know Danny Halutz for many years, I appreciate his many
contributions to the State of Israel and his quality as a person,
officer, and commander," he said. nternal Security Minister Avi Dichter
said that what was done to Halutz Tuesday morning was "a disgrace. "
Halutz rejects calls to resign
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has no intention of resigning following the
public and political outcry against him yesterday after daily Maariv
published a story that he had sold stocks several hours after a
Hezbollah raid inside Israel on July 12. Halutz has rejected the
criticism against him, calling it "malicious. " Senior General Staff
officers said Halutz should resign immediately. According to the
report, three hours after Hezbollah attacked an IDF patrol and abducted
two soldiers , at 12 P. M. , Halutz called his investment adviser at
the Bank Leumi branch on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv and ordered him
to sell the shares in his investment portfolio, worth NIS 120,000. Over
the next two days the value of the stock in the Tel Aviv stock exchange
lost 8. 3 percent of its value.
UNIFIL chief: Let us use 'strong measures' to enforce
resolution
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
The head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) called
Tuesday for the United Nations to enable his force to take "strong
measures" in order to enforce UN resolution 1701, which brought about
the Monday cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah after more than a
month of fighting. In an interview with Haaretz, Major General Alain
Pellegrini urged the Lebanese authorities to take responsibility for
the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area close to the Lebanon-Israel
border, saying that the responsibility for such a move lies primarily
with them. When asked his soldiers would engage an armed Hezbollah
activist, Pellegrini said that it was hard for him to answer. It was
possible, he said, but it would depend on the rules of engagement.
Peres: Israel achieved its war goals, weakened Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Sunday told United States Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice that Israel had achieved its goals during the
war, and that Hebollah had lost more than half its fighting power. "They (Hezbollah) thought they will bring Israel on our knees. I don't
say it's easy but we withstood it and we feel that we went out of it
militarily in a good shape and politically in an even better one," Peres, in Atlanta to raise humanitarian funds for northern Israel, told
a news conference. "We are not going to kill everybody that was in
Hezbollah. We estimated that almost 600 were killed and the same number
were wounded. So almost half of them were (put out of action). They
will have to lick their wounds," Peres told Reuters on Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson tries to arrange Mideast prisoner exchange
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Trying to build on a cease-fire in Lebanon, U.S. civil rights leader
Jesse Jackson launched an effort Tuesday to arrange the release of
prisoners held by Hezbollah and Israel. "The cease-fire is a step in
the right direction," Jackson said after talking to the Israeli and
Syrian ambassadors here. "Release of prisoners would reinforce the
positive direction. " Jackson, an experienced go-between, has brought
Americans home from Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Yugoslavia. And, he said in
an interview, "in each instance we had a no-talk policy in that
country. " The cease-fire resolution approved unanimously last week by
the U. N. Security Council did not demand that Hezbollah release two
Israeli soldiers whose abduction touched off the 34-day conflict. Nor
did it demand Israel release Arab prisoners.
UN aims to send troops to Lebanon soon
AlJazeera 8/16/2006
The United Nations hopes to send a force of 3,500 troops to Lebanon
within two weeks to monitor the fragile truce. Hedi Annabi, an
assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, told reporters on
Tuesday: "It is our hope that there can be a deployment of up to 3,500
troops within 10 days to two weeks. "That would be ideal to help
consolidate the cessation of hostilities and start the process of
withdrawal and of deployment of the Lebanese forces as foreseen in the
resolution. " A French general and colonel are scheduled to meet with
UN peacekeeping officials on Wednesday to discuss a "concept of
operations" - how the force's mandate, set by the UN security council
last Friday, would be implemented... While several European Union
nations have expressed interest in contributing troops, they are
waiting to see what France - which is expected to provide the backbone
of the contingent - will do before making any firm commitments.
Syria: Resistance shows Arab strength
AlJazeera 8/15/2006
The Syrian president has said that resistance against Israel is
necessary because the world will not consider Arab interests "unless we
are strong". In a speech to the Arab Journalists Association
conference, held in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad praised Lebanon's
Hezbollah for fighting off Israel for nearly five weeks and said that
their actions would make Israel think twice before pursuing "terrorist
policies" in the region. "The world will not consider our interests
unless we are strong. The resistance, in all its aspects, is the
alternative to regain our rights. The world would not move unless
Israel is harmed and we become powerful. "This resistance is a medal to
pin on the chest of every Arab citizen, not only Syria," he said,
adding that the Shia fighters had "shattered the myth of an invincible
army. "
German FM Cancels Trip to Syria to Protest Assad's Speech
An Nahar 8/15/2006
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier canceled a trip to
Syria on Tuesday in protest to a speech by Syrian President Bashar
Assad, who praised Hizbullah and threatened Israel. Meanwhile,
Germany's defense minister said Berlin would announce Thursday how it
could assist a planned international force in southern Lebanon
following a U. N. cease-fire. Steinmeier had planned to fly to Damascus
from the Jordanian capital, Amman, in a round of talks aimed at
resolving the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah fighters in
Lebanon. But he called off the Syrian leg at short notice, saying
Assad's comments earlier Tuesday were a "negative contribution. " Assad
said: ".... The future generations in the Arab world will find a way to
defeat Israel. "
Hizbullah likely to retain weapons
Jerusalem Post
8/15/2006
Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but
rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new
compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister
Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The UN cease-fire
resolution specifically demands the demilitarization of the area south
of the Litani river. The resolution was approved by the Lebanese
cabinet. In a televised address on Monday night, Nasrallah declared
that now was not the time to debate the disarmament of his guerrilla
fighters, saying the issue should be done in secret sessions of the
government to avoid serving Israeli interests.
U.N. Seeks Mostly Western
Troops for Revamped Force
Inter Press Service
8/15/2006
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (IPS) - The United Nations is on a global hunt
for troops, military equipment and logistical support to revamp its
existing peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has been mandated to
monitor last week's ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. "We have no
formal offers yet," U. N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters
Tuesday. "We would like to have firm commitments of troops as soon as
possible. "Asked if Secretary-General Kofi Annan was concerned that no
country has so far offered troops following the U. N. 's ceasefire
resolution last Friday, Dujarric said: "We do expect a more formal
meeting (of troop contributing nations) on Thursday at which point,
hopefully, we will get those offers (of troops). "
Israel pushing for deployment of force
Jerusalem Post
8/15/2006
Israel is stepping up diplomatic efforts to ensure that an
international peacekeeping force is deployed in southern Lebanon as
soon as possible. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will arrive in New York
Wednesday and meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the
issue. Jerusalem would like to see the force in place within a few
days, to allow the IDF to begin pulling out from the area. Deputy
Premier Shimon Peres met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in
Washington Tuesday and discussed the new multinational force. After the
meeting Peres told reporters outside the State Department he believed
the deployment was "a matter of days," not weeks or months, as
suggested in several media reports.
Livni: Must return kidnapped troops
YNet News 8/15/2006
Livni leaving Tuesday night for meeting with Kofi Annan. On the agenda:
Implementation of UNSCR 1701 and a return of kidnapped Israeli soldiers
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Says to Ynet: 'As long as soldiers are
not returned, the operation is not complete' -- Foreign Minister, Tzipi
Livni, will leave for New York Tuesday night for a meeting with UN
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. A primary topic on the agenda will be
the return of kidnapped soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. In
an interview with Ynet, Livni emphasized that "an end of the fighting
does not mean an end of the process…The process of returning our
kidnapped soldiers will continue. As long as the soldiers are not
returned, the operation is not complete. It is the duty of the Israeli
government to bring these soldiers home and it will do so. "
IDF: Hizbullah may infiltrate Lebanese army
YNet News 8/15/2006
Northern Command chief warns Knesset members terrorists may join
Lebanese military; Major General Udi Adam says 'Hizbullah's spirit
cannot be broken' -- IDF Northern Command Chief, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam,
expressed his concern Tuesday over the prospect of Hizbullah fighters
joining the Lebanese army. Adam said such infiltration could take place
as southern Lebanon is handed over to Lebanese control. Meanwhile, six
Hizbullah members were killed Tuesday during clashes with IDF forces,
despite the ceasefire that has largely been respected by both sides.
The army said the clashes ensued after Hizbullah members constituted a
danger to IDF troops. In a briefing to members of the Knesset Defense
and Foreign Affairs Committee touring the north, Major General Adam
explained the phases in the upcoming IDF withdrawal from Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers unsure how to evacuate
Ma'an News 8/15/2006
Bethlehem -- Israeli reserve soldiers from the Alexandria brigade have
complained that they are stuck in a very bad psychological state. They
say that they are stationed on the front lines and believe that they
are surrounded by Hezbollah fighters. They added that they are not sure
how to evacuate because they do not believe what their commanders have
told them about the evacuation plan. The Israeli paper, Yedioth
Ahronoth, quoted high ranking officers in the Israeli army who
expressed their fears that Hezbollah will make use of the floods of
returning people to move fighters into the region and improve its
position. [end]
'Budget behind equipment shortage'
YNet News 8/15/2006
IDF Logistics Directorate head, Major General Avi Mizrahi responds to
criticisms of severe shortages in equipment: 'If there was more money I
would take more war rations' -- The IDF is dealing with serious
criticism from soldiers returning from the front, and especially from
reserve soldiers, of shortages in equipment, food, and water, which
made fighting in Lebanon even more difficult. Speaking to Ynet on
Tuesday evening, Logistics Directorate head, Major General Avi Mizrahi,
responded to complaints, saying that "a shortage in budget is behind
the equipment shortage. There were units which we did not get to, but
that's because of difficulties in fighting. " Despite the wide-spread
criticism, Major General Mizrahi claims that on the ground, there were
not many errors, and that the incidents reported on in the press were
rare.
IDF: Troops killed top Hezbollah man minutes before cease-fire
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a senior Hezbollah leader just
before the UN cease-fire took effect, the army said Wednesday. GOC
Northern Command Udi Adam said IDF forces killed the head of
Hezbollah's special forces, identified as Sajed Dawayer, during clashes
in Bint Jbail. There was no immediate confirmation from Lebanon. The
IDF said Dawayer was killed moments before the cease fire went into
effect at 8 A. M. Monday morning. Both sides continued attacks right up
until the last minute. A Hezbollah official in the southern Lebanese
port city of Sidon dismissed the IDF report as "baseless," saying he
had not heard of a Hezbollah military leader named Sajed Dawayer....
Earlier Tuesday, a senior Hezbollah official said that no member of
Hezbollah's top leadership was killed in Israeli attacks against
Lebanon during the war.
Hezbollah border-line fighters mastered Hebrew
Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
Hebrew-speaking Hezbollah fighters were stationed at outposts along the
border with Israel before the war broke out, according to documents
retrieved by the Israel Defense Forces while destroying the
organization's line of outposts. The documents contained transcripts in
Hebrew of soldiers' conversations on IDF communications networks and
other subjects. IDF soldiers who had been stationed along the Lebanese
border before the war told Haaretz that Hezbollah fighters used to call
out to them in Hebrew.... "The Hezbollah men on the other side
recognized us and asked us, shouting, where our company commander was.
They used the company commanders' radio code name, and we understood
from this that they hear and understand everything we say on the radio. "
Haaretz photographer beaten by IDF troops on Lebanese border
Ha'aretz 8/15/2006
Haaretz photographer Yaron Kaminsky was beaten Tuesday by three Israel
Defense Forces officers near the community of Zar'it on the northern
border with Lebanon. The photographer was taking pictures of soldiers
who were on their way into the country after fighting ceased in
Lebanon. The officers also confiscated the photographer's equipment. "I
arrived at the site at 6:30 A. M. and reserve soldiers who belonged to
the battalion I myself served in until a year ago were arriving. I
hugged and kissed the soldiers, since I know most of them well, and
began to photograph. Suddenly, a major leapt out at me and told me,
'Stop shooting!' and began to choke me. Shortly thereafter, two more
officers joined him - one was a lieutenant colonel and the other a
colonel - and they all pushed me, tried to shove me to the floor... "
Chief Justice Sheik Al Tamimi explains disasters of Israeli
aggression to World Council of Churches
Palestine News
Network 8/15/2006
His Eminence Sheikh Taysir Al Tamimi, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Judiciary, hosted a delegation from the World Council of Churches in
his Jerusalem office. Sheikh Al Tamimi briefed the delegation on the
humanitarian disasters caused by the Israeli aggression against the
Lebanese and Palestinian peoples, which he says has gruesomely
surpassed all wars of genocide and ethnic cleansing in which Israeli
forces have killed thousands of innocent members of the civilian
population, including children, women and the elderly. Israeli forces
have also demolished homes and destroyed infrastructure, all the while
flaunting divine religious laws, and international law and the most
basic points of human rights.
Global donors to tackle Lebanon reconstruction
The Guardian
8/15/2006
The huge task of rebuilding Lebanon's shattered infrastructure will be
discussed by 60 countries attending a donors' conference in Sweden at
the end of this month. Britain, the US, France, Germany, Norway, Japan
and representatives from Arab nations are among those invited to the
conference on August 31 in Stockholm, it emerged today. The
international development secretary, Hilary Benn, who is visiting
Beirut, today announced a further £6m of British money for immediate
emergency relief, taking the current UK aid contribution to £12. 5m.
The UK's contribution to longer term reconstruction has yet to be
decided. Ian Bray, a spokesman for Oxfam, said Lebanon needed different
phases of help after a month of Israeli bombardment.
War in Lebanon, a defeat for Israeli intelligentsia
Ma'an News 8/15/2006
Bethlehem -- Nasir Al-Lahham- It seems that the war in Lebanon has
defeated the Israeli intelligentsia before its politicians and military
men, which is the most dangerous type of defeat to a society. This was
the situation of the Arab intelligentsia after the 1967 defeat.
Writers, journalists, poets, caricaturists and political analysts were
all describing the defeat as they experienced it. Some of them blamed
the world, others blamed Israeli leadership and a third part blamed the
Palestinians for decreasing the Israeli army's fitness. However, all of
them neglected the fact that a defeat is a defeat whose taste no
chocolate can change. Despite the generous financial compensation that
the Israeli government gave to its citizens, they insisted on a
fact-finding committee.
VIDEO - President Ahmadinejad Interview
Information Clearing
House 8/15/2006
Video: CBS, 60 Minutes - Tehran (Iran) - Interview Date 08/08/2006 -
Wallace, Mike Correspondent, CBS, Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud President, Iran
-- This is an edited version of the interview with the President Of
Iran as broadcast on 60 Minutes - Runtime 24 min. The
full unedited interview may be viewed by clicking here
To Many, Lebanon Appears
as a Mirror Image
Inter Press Service
8/15/2006
BAGHDAD, Aug 15 (IPS) - Iraqis are beginning to see striking
similarities between Lebanese civilians and their own position three
years ago. Talk on the streets of Baghdad is taking a tone of oneness
with the Lebanese. An anger over the bombing of Lebanon that Iraqis say
they can feel as their own has led to some of the world's biggest
demonstrations against the Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Shia militant
leader Muqtada Sadr has led one of the largest demonstrations against
Israel. "We know very well that American politicians support Israel and
sent them new bombs to attack Lebanon," Abu Muhammed, who was a senior
intelligence officer during Saddam Hussein's regime told IPS. "At the
same time, they send aid to Lebanon, such as food and water. They did
the same in Afghanistan and Iraq before... "
Olmert's war – and the next one
By Patrick J. Buchanan, Information Clearing House/WorldNetDaily 8/15/2006
What comes next? That is obvious.... the drumbeat for war on Iran has already begun.
When Israel answered the Hezbollah raid that captured two soldiers with air strikes on Lebanon's airport, runways, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges, buses, apartment houses and power plants, we who questioned the wisdom and morality of what Israel was doing were denounced as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic.
Turns out we were right. In private, even Israeli army generals were raging that Israel was fighting a stupid, losing war.
Ehud Olmert, who gave Chief of Staff Dan Halutz the green light to launch the shock-and-awe air campaign, cannot survive the moral, political and strategic disaster his country has suffered.
While the Israeli Air Force was hammering Lebanon, Hezbollah rained down 3,000 rockets on Israel and fought off pinprick raids. When the Israeli army, after a month, moved in force against the real enemy, Hezbollah, Israel had already suffered irreparable damage to its reputation as a fighting nation and a moral country.
As the war began, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain all condemned Hezbollah, as did the Beirut government, for inciting the war. But with Hezbollah's defiant resistance, as Israel smashed up Lebanon, the Arab street rallied to Nasrallah. Arab regimes followed.
The losers?
Lebanon, which suffered 800 dead, thousands injured and 1 million made refugees, saw its infrastructure destroyed and nation set back 20 years. If the government falls or Lebanon becomes a failed state, it will be an even greater calamity for the Lebanese, and for Israel and the Middle East. For the mightiest political and military force in Lebanon, and likely heir apparent to power slipping away from Prime Minister Siniora, is now Hezbollah and Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel should pack up and go
By Nadim Shehadi, Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
What is the logic that will emerge from this war? If Israel can exist only by destroying the neighborhood, then it's time to declare it a failed state. The Zionist dream has turned into a nightmare and is not viable. If the future holds more of the same, then the time has come to reconsider the whole project. Every state has a duty to defend its citizens, but also it has a duty to provide them with security and the two are different. The prospects are for more destruction, fanaticism, violence and hatred. No unilateral separation can isolate Israel from this, nor can the region or the world live with the consequences. This seems to be the only choice, and Israel must do itself and others a favor and go away.
The occupation of the West Bank and Gaza shows a country deprived of all humanity. The West Bank is unliveable, the population strangled into three prison clusters. Concrete barriers, barbed wires, bypass roads, human beings emerging like rats from underground tunnels, daily humiliation from hundreds of checkpoints. Gaza has been under siege since the population dared to elect Hamas, its infrastructure has been obliterated and its population has been driven to despair in what now seems like a dress rehearsal for what was to come in Lebanon.
Lebanon woke up on July 12 to a reality that can destroy the very fabric of society. Divided between those who believe in a "riviera" with consensus politics, power sharing and a weak state, and those who, like Hezbollah, see the necessity of having a fortress to resist an evil and dangerous enemy. Israel's behavior will see the logic of the latter prevail.
Desert of trapped corpses testifies to Israel's failure
By Robert Fisk, Information Clearing House/The Independent 8/15/2006
They made a desert and called it peace. Srifa - or what was once the village of Srifa - is a place of pancaked homes, blasted walls, rubble, starving cats and trapped corpses. But it is also a place of victory for the Hizbollah, whose fighters walked amid the destruction yesterday with the air of conquering heroes. So who is to blame for this desert? The Shia militia which provoked this war - or the Israeli air force and army which has laid waste to southern Lebanon and killed so many of its people?
There was no doubt what the village mukhtar thought. As three Hizbollah men - one wounded in the arm, the other carrying two ammunition clips and a two-way radio - passed us amid the piles of broken concrete, Hussein Kamel el-Din yelled to them: "Hallo, heroes!" Then he turned to me. "You know why they are angry? Because God didn't give them the opportunity of dying."
You have to be down here with the Hizbollah amid this terrifying destruction - way south of the Litani river, in the territory from which Israel once vowed to expel them - to realise the nature of the past month of war and of its enormous political significance to the Middle East. Israel's mighty army has already retreated from the neighbouring village of Ghandoutiya after losing 40 men in just over 36 hours of fighting. It has not even managed to penetrate the smashed town of Khiam where the Hizbollah were celebrating yesterday afternoon. In Srifa, I stood with Hizbollah men looking at the empty roads to the south and could see all the way to Israel and the settlement of Mizgav Am on the other side of the frontier. This is not the way the war was supposed to have ended for Israel.
ou Are Terrorists, We Are Virtuous
By Yitzhak Laor, Palestine Chronicle 8/15/2006
In the melodramatic barrage fired off by the press, the army is assigned the dual role of hero and victim. And the enemy?
As soon as the facts of the Bint Jbeil ambush, which ended with relatively high Israeli casualties (eight soldiers died there), became public, the press and television in Israel began marginalising any opinion that was critical of the war. The media also fell back on the kitsch to which Israelis grow accustomed from childhood: the most menacing army in the region is described here as if it is David against an Arab Goliath. Yet the Jewish Goliath has sent Lebanon back 20 years, and Israelis themselves even further: we now appear to be a lynch- mob culture, glued to our televisions, incited by a premier whose ‘leadership’ is being launched and legitimised with rivers of fire and destruction on both sides of the border. Mass psychology works best when you can pinpoint an institution or a phenomenon with which large numbers of people identify. Israelis identify with the IDF, and even after the deaths of many Lebanese children in Qana, they think that stopping the war without scoring a definitive victory would amount to defeat. This logic reveals our national psychosis, and it derives from our over-identification with Israeli military thinking.
In the melodramatic barrage fired off by the press, the army is assigned the dual role of hero and victim. And the enemy? In Hebrew broadcasts the formulations are always the same: on the one hand ‘we’, ‘ours’, ‘us’; on the other, Nasrallah and Hizbullah. There aren’t, it seems, any Lebanese in this war. So who is dying under Israeli fire? Hizbullah. And if we ask about the Lebanese? The answer is always that Israel has no quarrel with Lebanon. It’s yet another illustration of our unilateralism, the thundering Israeli battle-cry for years: no matter what happens around us, we have the power and therefore we can enforce the logic. If only Israelis could see the damage that’s been done by all these years of unilateral thinking. But we cannot, because the army – which has always been the core of the state – determines the shape of our lives and the nature of our memories, and wars like this one erase everything we thought we knew, creating a new version of history with which we can only concur....
Someone to fight with
By Tom Segev, Ha'aretz 8/11/2006
On Shabbat morning Amos Oz phoned his friend, MK Haim Oron (Meretz), and informed him that the time had come to end the war. He and two other leading Israeli authors, A.B. Yehoshua and David Grossman, wanted to sign a public declaration to that effect, and they also had some of the money needed to pay for advertising it. Oron received the text, said he agreed, and asked whether it would not be a good idea to gather additional signatures. Oz replied in the negative: Everyone would start to tweak the existing wording, each one would want to make changes - there was no time. The war had to end immediately. Oron pulled strings and succeeded in publishing the ad in Haaretz's Hebrew edition by Sunday. As it turned out, however, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did not read Haaretz that day: His Katyushas continued to bombard the north.
Between one proofreading and the next, the three writers were meticulous about dotting their I's and crossing their T's. The key words appeared twice. The first time they included a demand: "We call on the Israeli government to agree to a mutual cease-fire." The second time there was no mention of the government, but a dimension of urgency was added: "We call for an immediate agreement to a mutual cease-fire." It looked like a compromise forged by some committee in charge of wording. All the rest of the text favored the war: Israel had to move to defend itself, its activity was morally justified.
....Four weeks after it began, it seems that the longer this war of attrition continues, the more it seems to be justifying itself, leading to the conclusion that it had to break out - and if not now, then at some other time. Or perhaps the opposite is the case: The longer it continues, the more it intensifies the government's failure to prevent it. We can demand that it continue until Lebanon is erased from the face of the earth, and we can demand that it end, because there was no justification for getting involved in it in the first place, and because it cannot be won.
Pride as a Dirty Word
By Sherri Muzher, Palestine Chronicle 7/31/2006
Worse than a misguided American foreign policy is the Arab League turning its back on Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq in their hour of need.
Few places, if any, stress the importance of pride and self-respect more than the Arab World. This fact makes the behavior of the Arab League all the more puzzling and embarrassing.
The Times of London asked in a recent foreign editors briefing, "Will the Middle East crisis prompt the Arab League at last to do something coherent and useful? Surely not; it is hard to imagine that day ever arriving."
Editor Bronwen Maddox surprisingly went on to express that there actually was hope since Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar took the unusual step of publicly criticizing Hezbollah. But the reality is that the 22-member bloc shouldn’t be celebrated for its sudden diversity in opinion. Rather it should be punished for its continuous disregard of the Arab lives they claim to represent.
For example, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa announced last week, "The Middle East peace process has failed.”
Really? Gosh, nobody was certain during the past six years as Israel destroyed the infrastructure of Palestine, killed thousands, uprooted more than a million olive trees, and built a Wall in the West Bank that confiscated thousands of acres. Then there’s also been the slow starvation and scenes of Palestinian children digging through garbage cans for scraps of food -- scenes that have reminded the head of the UN World Food Program, Arnold Vercken, of his years in the west African nation of Senegal.
But now that the Arab League has confirmed it, Palestinians can rest easy knowing that their realities have been “validated.”
Nasrallah didn't mean to
By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz 8/16/2006
During the past month, Hezbollah's Katyushas killed 18 Israeli Arabs among the 41 Israeli civilians who died in the war. Clearly, Hassan Nasrallah didn't mean to kill them. But as someone who knows that many Arabs live in northern Israel, and as someone who knows that the launchers for his inaccurate Katyushas cannot choose the target they will hit - the fact that it was unintended is meaningless.
More than anyone, Israelis should understand Nasrallah's claims that this was "unintended," identify with the primacy he attaches to the "unintendedness" relative to the fatal results, and identify with the disjunction he creates between the rationale that is inherent in the war machine he has built and his subjective will. "We didn't mean to" is a mantra that is frequently recited in Israel when there is a discussion of the number of civilians - among them many children - who are killed by the Israel Defense Forces. To this, the claim that "they" (Hezbollah and the Palestinians) cynically exploit civilians by locating themselves among them and firing from their midst is automatically added.
This claim is made by citizens of a state who know very well where to turn off Ibn Gvirol Street in Tel Aviv to get to the security-military complex that is located in the heart of their civilian city; this claim is repeated by the parents of armed soldiers who bring their weapons home on weekends, and is recited by soldiers whose bases are adjacent to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and who have shelled civilian Palestinian neighborhoods from positions and tanks that have been stationed inside civilian settlements.
Lebanon Gripped by Anti-American Sentiment
By Leila Fadel, Palestine Chronicle 8/15/2006
Israeli and American officials thought Israel's counterattack against Hezbollah would turn more Lebanese against the militant Shiite group.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - In trendy central Beirut, a large banner looms over the now nearly empty streets of downtown: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stares intently, with piercing fangs and blood dripping from her lips.
"The massacre of children in Qana is a gift from Rice," the banner says. It's referring to a southern Lebanese town that's now synonymous with the word massacre after the deaths of at least 28 civilians, many children, in an Israeli airstrike on July 30, and another attack in 1996, when Israeli artillery killed more than 100 civilians.
Last year, Lebanon was the beacon of the Bush administration's vision of a new Middle East. There were free elections without Syrian influence, women's rights, a free press and free speech.
Today, much of this nation feels deserted by America as Israeli warplanes dropping American-made weapons destroy apartment blocks, bridges and roads. After four weeks of bombardment, the feeling is increasingly shared by Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Israeli and American officials thought Israel's counterattack against Hezbollah would turn more Lebanese against the militant Shiite group, but members of the new independent government worry that the war will turn Lebanon into a bastion for extremism. With every civilian death, anger rises, among both the displaced poor living in parks and the well-off still eating pasta salads in cafes.
"You cannot see the Middle East only through the eyes of Israel," said Misbah Ahdab, a Sunni Muslim member of parliament who was in the political movement that forced Syria to leave Lebanon last year. "Either this is settled immediately and we hurry and work to rebuild, or it will be a mini-Iraq and all the extremists will come to Lebanon to fight Israel."
Israeli Bombs Made In USA
By Bruce Gagnon, Space4Peace 7/25/2006
The news reported last night, as I sat unable to go to bed, that Israeli bombing has now destroyed 80% of the highways and 95% of the bridges in Lebanon. Over 300 Lebanese are now dead, mostly civilians. It is being reported that 55% of the casualties inside Lebanon are children. Israel is now using cluster bombs and white phosphorous munitions on the people.
I read today in the UK Guardian that the U.S. is even supplying Israel's Air Force with the fuel for their planes. So the U.S. provides the planes, the bombs, satellite technology to guide the bombs, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) to identify targets, tanks and helicopters. I'm sure I'm leaving out many other weapons systems that the U.S. furnishes Israel. The American taxpayers need to know that this is our war on Lebanon and the people of Gaza.
The Israeli military has even been bombing the bomb shelters and according to Lebanese doctors this is how most of the children are getting killed and wounded. The big bunker buster bombs are generously provided by U.S. taxpayers, who can't afford to provide themselves with health care these days.
Israeli soldiers shoot 5 Hizbollah resistance fighters:
Israeli soldiers shot five Hizbollah resistance fighters in two separate confrontations in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the Israeli army said.
tinyurl.com/knapl
Israel begins pullback as truce holds:
Israeli forces began leaving parts of south Lebanon on Tuesday as a UN truce largely held for a second day and the Lebanese army prepared to move south.
tinyurl.com/kpg7v
Arabs predict guns won’t be silent long in Lebanon:
“The war in Lebanon may stop, but I doubt it, for never in history has Israel respected a single resolution issued by the Security Council,” wrote columnist Salah Montassir in Egypt’s government daily al-Ahram.
tinyurl.com/ekgf2
52 percent of Israelis: IDF failed :
A Globes-Smith survey published on Monday showed that the majority of Israelis (52 percent) believe the IDF was unsuccessful in its Lebanon offensive
www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3291214,00.html
Lebanon pact disappoints U.S.:
Bush administration wanted Israeli forces to destroy Hezbollah
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14562.htm
U.S. ‘freedom agenda’ big winner in Lebanon war, Bush says :
Hezbollah suffered a sound defeat in its war against Israel, which has given a significant boost to the U.S.-led “freedom agenda” in the Middle East, U.S. President George Bush declared Monday.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14563.htm
America’s one-eyed view of war: Stars, stripes, and the Star of David :
There are two sides to every conflict – unless you rely on the US media for information about the battle in Lebanon. Viewers have been fed a diet of partisan coverage which treats Israel as the good guys and their Hizbollah enemy as the incarnation of evil.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14561.htm
Syria’s Assad blasts US plans for Middle East:
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday Hezbollah’s “victory” in the recent war with Israel had destroyed US plans to reshape the Middle East.
tinyurl.com/huf6v
Iran, Syria praise Hezbollah, mock U.S.:
Ahmadinejad drew cheers when he said Hezbollah foiled what he called the plans of Washington and its allies “to create the so-called new Middle East.”
www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15279320.htm
War pimp alert: Bush calls for sealing of Syria’s borders :
United States President George W. Bush late yesterday reiterated earlier statements that he believes Iran and Syria are responsible for the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, before calling for the sealing of Syria’s borders
tinyurl.com/glb2h
Operation “Change of Location”?:
Who infiltrated whom, and on what territory did the initial capture of the IDF soldiers occur? Differing press accounts stating that the capture occurred in Lebanon- not Israel- are now widely known
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14553.htm
How Superpowers Become Impotent:
In Lebanon and Iraq, guerrilla tactics turn clean, mean fighting machines into wimps.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14548.htm
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