News August 06

30 August 2006:

Mixed News:

UN denounces Israel's cluster bombs in Lebanon:
With the latest information from the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre, which has undertaken
assessments of around 85% of the bombed areas in Lebanon, the UN's humanitarian chief Jan
Egeland has accused Israel of "completely immoral" use of cluster bombs. UN clearance experts
have so far found 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets at 359 separate sites against earlier
estimates which suggested a total of about 100 cluster bomb sites. He described the fresh
statistics as "shocking new information" and further said:

"Ninety per cent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when we
knew there would be a resolution, cluster bombs have affected large areas, lots of homes, lots of
farmland. They will be with us for many months, possibly years. Every day, people are maimed,
wounded and killed by these weapons. It shouldn't have happened".

Israel has previously said that all munitions it uses in conflict comply with international law.

Of course the types of munitions used by Israel may very well indeed be legal, the question here,
circumvented in typically Israeli manner, is whether Israel's use of those munitions was legal.
Obviously, there was not a high enough number of Hizbollah fighters and their associated sites
to justify virtually carpeting south Lebanon with cluster bombs, of which statistically up to a third
do not explode on impact (because they have mini-airbags which make them glide to earth from
the parent bomb) so lie where they fall, waiting for unsuspecting victims. To children, the yellow
drinks can sized bomblets must look irresistibly tempting.....
Once again, Israel is living up to its evil reputation, and the real question is: will anything be done
about it this time??

*

Grenades 'caused Beslan tragedy':
Yuri Savelyev, a weapons + explosives expert, and a mathematician and a member of the Russian
parliamentary commission investigating the siege, in which 331 people, mainly children taken
hostage by pro-Chechen militants, died, has said grenades fired by the surrounding Russian forces
could have triggered the Beslan school bloodbath in the Russian republic of North Ossetia in the
Caucasus in September 2004.
His conclusions contradict the official view that bombs planted by the hostage-takers in the school
gym went off just before the gun battle.

Mr Savelyev said that during the investigation, having examined blast evidence, he "discovered that
the consequences of those blasts could not at all be explained by the explosions of the home-made
devices installed by the rebels. Most of the hostages were talking about explosions in a totally
different part of the gym from that to which the official investigation referred. As a result, I came to
the conclusion that these home-made explosive devices installed by the rebels did not explode at
all.
The blast damage was from explosive devices delivered from outside, possibly shots fired from
grenade-launchers".
He said the explosions killed many of the hostages and dozens more died in the resulting fire.
Many relatives blame their children's deaths on the botched rescue operation.

One of Mr Savelyev's colleagues on the Russian commission rejected his conclusions, saying there
was "nothing convincing in the trajectory of these special shells, this is Mr Savelyev's private opinion

which is not confirmed in any way".

Earlier, the North Ossetian investigation concluded that grenade launchers, flamethrowers and tank
fire had been used during the storming of the school by Russian security forces.
Russia's prosecutor general admitted such equipment had been used, but only after all the children
had left the school. For weeks after the siege, Russian officials denied the use of flamethrowers.

All in all, still a very murky tragedy, will a clear and credible picture ever emerge?

*

One injured in new Turkey bomb blast:
A home-made bomb left in a rubbish bin has injured a young woman in Mersin in south-east Turkey.
It follows a series of bombings in Turkish resorts Marmaris and Antalya and in Istanbul on Sunday
and Monday, which left three people dead and dozens injured.
The separatist militant group the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAC) said to be linked to the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has said it carried out those attacks. It stated on its
website on Tuesday that it would "turn Turkey into hell" and warned foreign tourists not to travel
to the country.
Security has understandably been tightened on Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean coasts.
Kurdish separatists have repeatedly threatened to target tourism which is hugely important to the
Turkish economy, currently worth around $18 billion a year.

*

Chavez supports Syria against US:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is visiting Syria to show solidarity with it and other Arab nations
in their opposition to Israel and the US. He is on a tour of several countries that is viewed as a bid
for support for Venezuela securing Latin America's next non-permanent seat on the UN Security
Council, a move the US is hoping and trying to block.

Chavez said: "We have the same political vision and we will resist together the American imperialist
aggression. We have decided to be free. We want to co-operate to build a new world where states'
and people's self-determination are respected. Imperialism's concern is to control the world, but we
will not let them despite the pressure and aggression".

President Assad welcomed Chavez's support for Syria and the Palestinians:
"The stance of President Chavez is known and we heard it today: support for Syria in regaining its
occupied territories, and support for the Palestinian people in achieving their national rights and the
establishment of an independent state, in addition to the desire to help Lebanon in the post-war
period".

Mr Chavez was a fierce critic of Israel's offensive in Lebanon and has found common ground with
Syria, and also withdrew his ambassador to Israel shortly after its invasion of southern Lebanon.

*

Ahmadinejad challenges Bush:
Iran's president has challenged GW Bush to a live TV debate on world affairs.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the US and UK of abusing their "special privileges" and said a
debate would let both sides air their views uncensored.
Unsurprisingly, the White House called his suggestion a "diversion" from global concerns over Iran's
nuclear programme, which Ahmadinejad again insisted is peaceful.

The suggested debate is a nice idea but of course it won't happen. Just as well for Bush:
Nejad would debate him into a corner on every subject. As for the threatened and expected further
American sanctions against Iran, last time I checked the only commercial exchange left between the
2 nations were pistachio nuts, rugs and carpets, now, terminating that trade is hardly going to bring
down the Iranian economy.
What I would really like to hear in this confrontation is for all decent and law-abiding nations to stand
up and say, in a factual way, that Iran does indeed have the right to pursue nuclear technology
whereas Israel, until it becomes a member of the IAEA and signs the NPT, has NO right to any kind
of nuclear technology, and undeclared nuclear weapons are totally unacceptable and they should
be investigated and rendered harmless immediately.
Roll on Iran, get on with it!

*

How is this for freedom of expression in the America of GW Bush:
An architect of Iraqi descent has said he was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words
"We will not be silent" in Arabic and English before boarding a flight at New York. Raed Jarrar
said security officials warned him his clothing was offensive after he checked in for a JetBlue
flight to California on 12 August. Mr Jarrar said he was shocked such an action could be taken
in the US. US transport officials are making inquiries after a complaint from the US Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee.
JetBlue said it was also investigating the incident but a spokeswoman said:
"We're not clear exactly what happened."

Mr Jarrar said he had cleared security at John F Kennedy airport for a flight back to his home in
California when he was approached by two men who wanted to check his ID and boarding pass.
He was told a number of passengers had complained about his T-shirt, apparently concerned at
what the Arabic phrase meant, and asked him to remove it.
He refused, arguing that the slogan was not offensive and citing his constitutional rights to free
expression and he later told a New York radio station: "I grew up and spent all my life living under
authoritarian regimes and I know that these things happen. But I'm shocked that they happened to
me here, in the US".

After a difficult exchange with airline staff, he was persuaded to wear another T-shirt bought for
him at the airport shop.

"We Will Not Be Silent" is a slogan adopted by opponents of the war in Iraq and other conflicts in
the Middle East and is said to derive from the White Rose dissident group which opposed Nazi
rule in Germany.
It appears that the Bush administration's witch hunt against all things Islamic is working.....



29 August 2006:

From the Land of Opportunity:

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld outperforms himself:
As part of a coordinated White House strategy, in advance of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11
attacks, and to take the offensive against administration critics at a time of doubt about the future
of Iraq and growing calls to withdraw US troops, Rumsfeld was speaking to several thousand
veterans at the American Legion's national convention.

He recited what he called the lessons of history, including the failure to confront Hitler in the 1930s,
he quoted Winston Churchill as observing that trying to accommodate Hitler was "a bit like feeding
a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last" and said: "I recount this history because once again we
face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism.
Can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?
Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America, not the enemy, is the real source
of the world's troubles?"

In unusually explicit terms, Rumsfeld portrayed the Bush administration's critics as suffering from
"moral or intellectual confusion" and likened critics of the US war strategy to those who tried to
appease the Nazis.

Rumsfeld recalled a string of recent terrorist attacks, from September 11 to deadly bombings in
Bali, London and Madrid, and said it should be obvious to anyone that terrorists must be confronted,
not appeased "But some seem not to have learned history's lessons" he said.

I agree with much of what he said but I disagree totally with what he regards as terrorism and who
the terrorists are. Is it only me who sees the real threat as America trying to implement, one brutal
way or the other, that PNAC agenda which, in truth, is just a nice label for American Corporate
Totalitarianism?
Where America cannot achieve domination through Hollywood, MTV, Coca-Cola and MacDonalds,
they use combat boots, M16s, Abrams tanks and depleted uranium bombs.
In the days of the white man opening up America's West, the saying was that the only good Indian
was a dead one. Today, in a global context, the clear message from America is that the only good
Muslim, whether nation or individual, is a compliant one.
The underlying problem today is of course NOT that the Muslim world is encroaching upon the
West but exactly the opposite. It is therefore perfectly natural and healthy for the Muslim world to
resist and it is up to the West to modify and moderate its behaviour.

And of course, the 11 Sept. attacks remain largely unexplained, despite the neo-Con ogres wasting
no opportunity to exploit them to their obscene propaganda advantage.
Explain yourselves: How much did you know and when did you know it?
Why and how did WTC 1+2+7 collapse? And where was NORAD that morning? OUT WITH IT!!

Mr. Rumsfeld, yes, we ARE facing a new type of fascism: YOURS, and no, vicious extremists (like
yourself) cannot be appeased, and yes, terrorists must be confronted: that is precisely what the
Islamic world is doing!

*

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in Iraq:
After meeting with deputy PM Barham Saleh, Gonzales, an architect of America's heavily criticized
prisoner of war policy, told reporters that his visit was meant to help "promote the rule of law and
also help promote security in this great country. There are great ambitions for this country.
Those ambitions cannot be realized without security, and that will be very, very important.
And I reiterate the commitment of the United States government in helping you achieve your
dreams for this country".

Why bother travelling to Iraq to utter such drivel? What does this fascist care about the rule of law,
having carefully crafted many of the US terror laws to circumvent the Geneva Conventions etc??
He also made a mistake in saying: "........in helping you achieve your dreams for this country".
What he meant was: ".......in helping us achieve our dreams for your country".

*

Obesity keeps growing:
(you noticed the pun?) A new survey by Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group that
promotes increased funding for public health programs, shows that obesity keeps growing in
America, with 31 of the 50 states showing an increase compared with last year's report.
Mississippi continues to be the land of the fat: An estimated 29.5 percent of adults there are now
considered obese, that's an increase of just over 1%, and Colorado remains the leanest state, with
about 16.9 percent of its adults considered obese, also up slightly from last year's report, but not
enough to be considered statistically significant.

The only state to experience a decrease in the percentage of obese adults last year was Nevada.

Health officials warn that the incidence of obesity in a particular state doesn't mean it treats the
issue less seriously than others. States have different challenges to contend with when it comes
to obesity, noted Dr. Janet Collins of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying:
"Populations are not equal in terms of experiencing these health problems, low-income populations
tend to experience all the health problems we worry about at greater rates".

Indeed, the five states with the highest obesity rates - Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia,
Louisiana and Kentucky - exhibit much higher rates of poverty than the national norm.

Meanwhile, the five states with the lowest obesity have less poverty: Colorado, Hawaii,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The group's estimate of obesity rates is based on a three-year average, 2003-2005. The data
comes from an annual random sampling of adults via the telephone. The information is designed
to help the government measure behavioural risks among adults.

The report says the health costs are in the billions of dollars annually. Citing a 2004 report, the
advocacy group said $5.6 billion could be saved when it comes to treating heart disease if just
one-tenth of Americans began a regular walking program.

So, all in all, maybe we can start to breathe a bit more easily as it appears that the American
threat to take over the whole world will founder because too many of them eat too much.
I never did think I would ever find a reason to be thankful to Coca-Cola, MacDonalds and all the
rest of the crap-food providers, but I am very happy to be proven wrong.



28 August 2006:

News in brief:

Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the capture of two
Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war. All credit to Nasrallah for admitting a
miscalculation. Were I Lebanese, I would vote for him.
Can you imagine Bush-Blair-Olmert apologizing for anything? Won't happen!
It is clear that these wars (Gaza+Lebanon) were planned long ago between US+Israel, just waiting
for incidents to light the very short fuses.
There are persistent reports that the Israelis killed/abducted by Hizbollah were indeed north of the
Blue Line when the skirmish took place.
Shin Bet chiefs had warned of "a likely event" in the south of Gaza shortly before that skirmish and
abduction took place.
So, all in all, it looks suspiciously like an Israeli mini-version of the US neo-Con inspired /instructed/
engineered 11 Sept. 2001, that "new Pearl Harbor" which the neo-Cons so openly longed for.
Israel's barbaric destruction of infrastructure and indiscriminate targeting of civilians was no doubt to
set the general Lebanese population against Hizbollah, but had precisely the opposite effect!

*

"Each time I come, I see more progress" -
Said, incredibly, UK Defence Minister Des Browne in Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials.
In the last day or so, around 50 people have been killed in various places around the country,
including, small justice, 6 US soldiers.
Progress? Progress??

*

A new poll suggests that most Americans no longer believe that there is any link between Iraq and
the so-called 'War on Terror'.
There was certainly no link when the illegal war of aggression against Iraq was started.
There may well be a link now and, if so, it is entirely of GWBs own making.

Listen to this GWB, the final lines of my poem AXIS of EVIL:
"Are there foreign fighters in Iraq? Oh what a surprise!
They’re only there because of you and their numbers will rise
Jihad is not an option but a Muslim’s duty-call
And it works just like NATO: all for one and one for all
So get out while you can, bloody American killers!
Allahu Akbar! Al Hamdu Lillah!"

*
GWB on Iraq: "Things could be worse".
For once, Bush is right, things could indeed be worse: It might be possible to get elected President
of the United States of America 3 times - but it isn't. Al Hamdu Lillah!!
Just think about it: He was clearly not lawfully elected back in 2000, and would not have run again
in 2004 had he lost first time, so the world would have been spared this Evangelo-Fascist and all he
brought with him in terms of arrogance, brutality, illegality, death and destruction. How sad!

*

Germany sells 2 Submarines to Israel:
As an EU citizen, I object most strongly to this sale and am bitterly disappointed that Germany is
so obviously taking sides in the dispute with Iran, for this transaction is clearly part of that equation.
About the Dolphin submarines: these 2 are in addition to the 3 Israel already has.
The cost for these 2: $1.3 billion, of which, incredibly, Germany is paying 1 third!
Why? Still feeling guilty 60 years later?? Pure insanity! Were I German, I would be out in the
streets protesting or withholding my taxes. That is about $400m which could be SO much better
spent at home, where there is still very significant disparity between former West and East.

Germany has obtained no guarantee from Israel that nuclear-armed missiles will not be carried:
this is a complete renunciation of Germany's policy and promise of non-proliferation!!!
Do we now have to boycott Germany too?

As I understand it, there is not a scrap of evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Nuclear
technology is its inalienable right, as is so often correctly repeated from Iran, and, by any definition,
Iran is a much more responsible and law-abiding nation than that well-known trio US-UK-Israel, so
where is the problem with Iran? Leave it alone to get on with it! It is widely presumed that Israel
would act alone against Iran's nuclear facilities, should the Americans finally stop hallucinating about
achieving their "New Middle East" at any cost. On past performance, Israel really would be insane
enough to do it. So it is Israel which should be stopped and NOT Iran!

*

Israeli political scandals:
Scandals have hit Israel's most senior political figures: President, PM and justice minister!

The Israeli President Moshe Katzav is facing accusations by 5 women of sexual harassment at
their government jobs over the years and at least one of them said that Katsav received bribes
for granting presidential pardons and that he has an offshore account where he collects bribes
for his services.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, already facing public anger over his handling of the war in Lebanon,
is facing a possible probe over a massive discount on a property deal in Jerusalem, where he was
Mayor. Olmert's position is now so serious that one leading political commentator has already
described him as a dead man walking.

And Justice Minister Haim Ramon has already resigned over charges brought by a female soldier
of sexual harassment, apparently he tried "to kiss her in an aggressive manner" during a social
gathering at the defence ministry a few days into the war.

None of this should surprise anyone.
But you can bet that the millions of dollars in cash smuggled from Egypt into Gaza by Hamas
cabinet ministers in suitcases and in their underwear will have been used to pay Palestinian
wages, just like Hizbollah is already paying for damaged and destroyed houses in Lebanon -
THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE! More power to you! The future belongs to Islam!



24 August 2006:

Still catching up on the News:

The World Council of Churches condemns Israel:
Israel's assault on Lebanon was planned before Hizbollah attacked and was aimed at driving
a wedge between the different faiths in the country, a delegation from the Council says.
"We came back from Lebanon sharing the impression that this destruction was planned.
And if the action by Hizbollah was the trigger, this was a planned operation all ready to go"
Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches, said in Geneva
on the delegation's return from a visit to Beirut and Jerusalem.
The Israeli Mission to the United Nations in Geneva declined to comment because they had yet
to see a written statement from the council.
"The representatives of Lebanon's various communities with whom we met had all agreed that
the destruction was both deliberate and planned," the council's statement said.
De Clermont, a retired pastor of the Reformed Church of France, was part of a three-member
delegation made up of Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy and an official of the World Council
of Churches, who met religious leaders and senior Lebanese and Palestinian officials.
They regretted that the Israeli government did not receive them, but they did meet with one
of' Israel's two chief rabbis, Yonah Metzger.

The trio, which intended to show solidarity with the people in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian
territories, visited Beirut, Jerusalem and Ramallah in the West Bank during the five-day trip.
De Clermont, who spoke for the two other delegation members who joined him at a news
conference
in the world council's headquarters, said Israel would not want the existence of a democratic
Lebanon where Jews, Christians and Muslims were peacefully living side by side, because it does
not want to see its neighbour succeeding in what Israel is unsuccessful in achieving.
De Clermont said Hizbollah was a scapegoat: "It is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not the role
and actions of Hizbollah that is at the heart of the present crisis. All the religious leaders in Israel
and Palestine, as well as Mahmoud Abbas [the Palestinian president] told us that the time has come
to accept sitting down and negotiating with everybody. It is necessary to demilitarise the thinking of
political leaders".

That reminds me of reading about Rabbi Menachem Fruman, a patriarchal figure whose yeshiva
(Jewish religious college, equivalent to madrassa in Islam) draws hundreds of zealous students
from around the world. He had his own plans for peace and discussed them several times with
Yasser Arafat and also went to Gaza to meet Hamas' founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad
Yassin, of whom Fruman said: "I talked with Yassin in Gaza. He said to me: I and you can make
peace in five minutes".

This reinforces the feeling I have had for a long time:
That far from being other-worldly and irrelevant here on earth, as is commonly believed at least
in the West, religious leaders, with their intellect and penetrating minds, vast learning and deep
spirituality, humility and compassion, would, probably in most cases, be much better suited to
sorting out the world of men than those pathetic short-term-interest-only elected politicians.

What might have been achieved if we had delegated real executive powers to a team consisting
of, in random order:
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Rabbi Menachem Fruman, Pope John Paul II, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Dalai Lama??

*

Sorry, I am late with this one:
Saturday 19 August. Four US troops killed by "enemy" action in Afghanistan.
More body-bags please!

*

Iran is holding a series of extensive military exercises, named "The Blow of Zolfaqar"
(after the sword of Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Household of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),
and a symbol of power and courage for Shia Muslims).
What a sensible thing for Iran to do and the timing is excellent, sending relevant messages here
and there. To those that expect America to launch a full-scale invasion of Iran, I say: what with??
They have 130,000+ bogged down in Iraq, 20,000 more in Afghanistan, the boots just aren't there,
which may be the only positive aspect of the terrible mess America has caused in Iraq: it stops them
living out more of their hallucinations for the time being! They cannot even "keep a lid" on Iraq, and
Iran is 4 times bigger, lots of it mountainous which always gives the locals the advantage (heard of
Afghanistan?) and the population is 3 times bigger. At most, America will attempt to bomb Iran's
nuclear sites and, as I understand it, most experts agree that could at best be only partially
successful. Best news of all, the Bush administration is running out of time: Joy to the world!
Should they be stupid enough to invade Iran, may Nejad let them kiss the thin lips of
"The Blow of Zolfaqar”! Hands off Iran!!

*

After reading an article about Kevin Zeese, who is running for the US Senate in November as an
independent candidate for the 'Unity Campaign for Peace, Justice, Democracy and Prosperity',
I wrote the following note:
The reassuring thing about this article is that there ARE people in America actively and bravely
trying to change things, in the face of the mighty Zionist/Jewish lobby groups. Whether any
candidate with such views has any chance of getting elected remains to be seen, as it does appear
that to succeed in American politics you first have to submit to a lethal injection of Zionist-virus,
leaving you unfit for any purpose other than blindly supporting them. I do see small hopeful signs
that the Neocons-Zionists have gone too far and that a backlash is on the way, if that is indeed the
case it will be wonderful news for the world! The meetings described in this article are some of
those signs - keep up the good work and sanity and decency just might prevail!

*

On Israel's failed ceasefire-violating raid in Lebanon:
Remarkable how selective Israel always is regarding UN resolutions, they are usually directed
against Israel of course, so Israel just ignores them, stacks of them, for decades, safe in the
knowledge that nothing will happen to it, no sanctions, no loss of aid, so why change a habit of a
lifetime? But now Israel has found at least one sentence in 1701 that it agrees with so doesn't think
twice about risking the ceasefire. What I would like to know is this: was this raid just in order to
wreck that ceasefire so, hopefully, Israel could achieve at least one of its many declared aims, all
deservedly unfulfilled, in renewed fighting? Was there any actual "transport of weapons" taking
place, as claimed by Israel? Evidence please! Transport of weapons in itself does not prove new
deliveries from Syria/Iran, maybe they were just being moved to a secure hiding-place before the
"disarming of Hizbollah", which of course will NOT take place because it is impossible.
If the reports are true, with one Israeli soldier killed and two wounded, one of them seriously,
Israel got another bloody nose, richly deserved.

UN senior envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the truce provided the Lebanese government with a good
chance to extend its authority over the entire country but warned: "We are at the tilting edge still.
This can easily start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed".
The Norwegian was speaking a day after the UN condemned an Israeli raid on Hizbollah guerrillas
in eastern Lebanon as a breach of SC resolution 1701, which brought the 34-day war between the
two sides to an end. He said any further, similar raids by the Israelis would only discourage
countries from committing troops to a planned UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon.

*

Can Bush-Blair be trusted? Asked an article on AlJazeera Magazine.
This was my comment: Surely everybody has learnt the hard way that these 2 are compulsive liars
and consummate demagogues who, in terms of deception schemes, are the equal of Stalin + Hitler.
As for acts of so-called terrorism against the West, they are a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the only
course of action which will help is for the West to radically change its behaviour around the world,
from Afghanistan to Iraq to Palestine to Lebanon to Syria to Iran etc.
Best of all, nothing would rehabilitate the West more in the eyes of Muslims worldwide than finally,
decades overdue, forcing Israel to comply with international law. Until that happens, anything the
West might do to "impress" the Muslims will be seen for what it is: laughable and arrogant, deceitful
and dishonest. It is up to the West to improve and not the other way round!

As for the attacks so far:
"A small price to pay for your reckless past - And unless YOU change, it will not be the last"
(lines from AXIS of EVIL).

*

Olmert suspends West Bank plan indefinitely (Oh, what a surprise):
It is remarkable, isn't it: 58 years after its creation, Israel still has not fixed agreed borders with all
its neighbours. I wonder why? To the East, I don't think Israel really WANTS to fix any border
"forever" because of its paranoia about "Israel's slim waist" (check the map) which to any self-
respecting Zionist cannot be tolerated because of "security concerns". Now, if Israel finally,
decades
late, implemented outstanding UN resolutions, and vacated ALL land seized in 1967, probably all
those security concerns would disappear, most likely overnight. No kind or amount of unilateral
"solutions" by Israel will bring peace, nor should they! As Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya has said
many times: either a JUST peace or no peace.

*

Apparently Israel's little (mis)adventure in Lebanon has cost around 5 bill. bucks - oh what a shame
but Washington will surely solve that little problem, American taxpayers are very generous when it
comes to Israel.
Israel should also be made to pay for all the structural damage in Lebanon and Gaza, and adequate
compensation for all civilians maimed and killed!!

*

GW Bush has expressed frustration at the pace of progress (progress? what progress? regress!!)
in Iraq and is piqued that Shias have had the audacity to walk in protest against the US in Baghdad.
So good little well-meaning Georgie-boy is frustrated and would like to know "why 10,000 Shias
would take to the streets and demonstrate against the United States" and he thinks that Iraq’s
“Shia-led government needs to clearly and publicly express the same appreciation for United
States efforts and sacrifices as they do in private".
Maybe they are polite in private because they fear what 130,000 US state terrorists in Iraq might
do to them and their families? Just a guess.
If a 3-year-long running reality-check has not yet cleared up Georgie's hallucinations, then I don't
know what can be done for him, but try impeachment, it really works!

Georgie-boy, read this please:

"Instead of dancing in the streets
Greeting the heroes with flowers and sweets
It’s car-bombs, beheadings and insurgency
Instead of normality, emergency
If you think about it and truth be told
It’s the heads in Washington which should roll!"
(lines from AXIS of EVIL)

- don't you agree? NO??

*

I have said this before but it needs repeating:
With the US-India nuclear cooperation deal all but through Congress, it is totally obvious that the
"problem" with Iran has nothing to do with nuclear matters, but only with Iran.
Non-NPT India will only be required to open its 14 civilian sites to inspection, its 8 military ones will
remain off-limits, so with US fuel imports India can redirect its own fuel to making more warheads,
undetected, unchecked.
In contrast, Iran has signed the NPT and therefore has an inalienable right to nuclear technology,
and is open to inspections and, if treated in a civilized way, would probably be totally cooperative.
Also Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued a Fatwa a year ago stating that Iran will NOT
make nuclear weapons, and, as I have also said before, I am more inclined to believe him than
Bush, Blair, Olmert etc, for the simple reason that ultimately Khamenei answers to his Creator
and not to a fickle, and quite likely easily manipulated, electorate.

If the West is too unreasonable, which is indisputably the case because it demands that Iran
gives up what in law it has every right to do, Iran can simply withdraw from the NPT-IAEA, there
is a simple procedure for doing that, and then do what it wants, and Iran has already hinted that it
might do just that - then, what would the West do? Or is this precisely what the West wants?
In order to "prove once and for all" that Iran is a "suspect" nation?
Surely, some cooperation, access and knowledge is far better than none at all?
Also, signatory nations to the NPT are conveniently and hypocritically forgetting that, over time,
they were themselves meant to get rid of ALL nuclear weapons!!!
And, of course, anyone looking for WMDs in the ME should first go to Israel!
Seeing as Israel is the loudest objector to Iran mastering nuclear technology, Iran should make a
direct linkage between its own programme and that of Israel. That would be both a reasonable and
a clever move. Maybe they are saving it for later? The Iranians are masters at negotiating.
In the meantime, and as ever, American foreign policy remains untenable and laughable.

*

On the German terror plot:
In one of the 2 suitcases abandoned on trains in Germany was found, besides gas canisters and
one or more clocks, a handwritten shopping list in Arabic including some telephone numbers in
Lebanon. Why, during the Israeli-American carpet-bombing of anything structural and anything
which moved, the sudden connection with Lebanon? What do you make of that?
Are we to believe that these suspected/expected Islamic terrorists are clumsy and stupid enough
to leave hand-written notes behind, which would provide very serious evidence in case of a bomb
package malfunctioning, as a kind of visiting-card?? The real ones are much too clever for that!
This is strikingly similar to the passport belonging to one of the "Saudi hijackers" which was
miraculously found virtually undamaged at Ground Zero after the attacks on Sept.11.
I don't believe it, I simply don't, because it doesn't make any sense. If they were genuine terrorists
they would either leave no such traces at all, out of pure professionalism, or they would leave
"evidence" which would incriminate their enemies. So, according to that logic, Arabic or Islamic
terrorists would leave behind notes written in Hebrew and drop the occasional Israeli passport.
The Israelis would of course do the opposite - and I believe that is precisely what we saw
after Sept.11 and are now seeing again.
It is called a 'False-Flag' operation, the very trade-mark of Mossad. Prove me wrong!!



23 August 2006:

Iran displays Holocaust drawings:

Remember last February, when the 'Muhammad-Cartoon-Crisis' was at its height?
Back then, as a counterweight to those drawings, President Ahmadinejad announced an open
competition for cartoons depicting the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews
(I have spelt it out because normally only THAT holocaust is referred to as such, although there
are many others, some examples from recent world history:
the Cultural Revolution in Mao's China, Pol Pot's reign of terror in Cambodia, the illegal and brutal
unnecessary wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, and Israel's continuing low-level
holocaust against the Palestinians).

The purpose of the competition was to test the West's commitment to freedom of speech, one of the
most loudly trumpeted of those 'common values' that bind western countries together and which they

believe is missing in Islamic society.

Well, more than 200 holocaust drawings, selected from nearly 1200 entries from around the world,
are now on display at a museum in the Iranian capital, Tehran, organised by the Iran Cartoon
Organisation and the Hamshahri newspaper.
One of the cartoons shows the Statue of Liberty holding a book on the Holocaust in one hand and
giving a Nazi salute with the other.
Organiser Masoud Shojai said: "You see they allow the Prophet to be insulted. But when we talk
about the Holocaust, they consider it so holy that they punish people for questioning it".

Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust authority said the display in "Iran, a nation that aspires to nuclear
capabilities, and whose president has made genocidal statements against Israel, is a flashing red
light signalling danger not only to Israel, but to all enlightened nations".

And what is so enlightened about Israel, if I may ask?
And always this deceitful sinister tactic of attempting to persuade all other nations that Israel's
problems are also theirs, are shared 'common value' problems, that we must all unite with Israel in
fighting, if our civilisation is to survive. What absolute nonsense! Israel's problems are Israel's own,
most of them so obviously self-inflicted as to make debate superfluous.
But because of their insignificant numbers worldwide, the Jews have always infiltrated other nations,

the bigger and stronger the better, in a purely parasitic relationship, in effect making the bigger
stronger nation fight the battle on their behalf, having successfully manipulated it into believing
that battle to be its own! The best example so far is of course the way that America, supposedly
the world's only superpower, does whatever tiny Israel wants. Pure insanity!

*

PS to the above:
Being a white ethnic Dane myself but with very strong Islamic sympathies those weeks of the
'Cartoon-Crisis' were not easy ones...
Looking back now, and always trying to find something positive, it certainly convinced me that I
had to do something about it and it directly speeded up the creation of my own website.
I was SO angry on behalf of Muslims worldwide and SO angry that "my" country could be stupid
enough to just let it develop into such a big mess. The main blame for that must go to our 'mini-
Bush' Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen who could -and should- have defused the whole
thing in September 2005.

As for freedom of speech and (self-)censorship in little Denmark:
The arts and culture editor of the now (in)famous newspaper justified the publishing of the
Muhammad (pbuh) cartoons on the grounds that in the name of freedom of speech one must be
prepared to see what one holds most dear, even one's religion, questioned, insulted and ridiculed.
Strangely, it transpired that about a year earlier that very same man in that very same job at that
very same newspaper had declined to run a series of cartoons depicting Jesus Christ.
His reason for turning them down? "We were sure they would have caused an outrage"!!!
It is therefore absolutely clear that the publication of the cartoons of Muhammad (pbuh) was a
carefully planned premeditated provocation. Draw your own conclusions.

Another aspect:
When crowds in Muslim countries started burning Danish flags in protest there was massive anger
and widespread disbelief in Denmark, that anyone could do a thing like that to the proud and
honourable Dannebrog (official name of Danish flag), which turned to self-congratulatory
"Didn't we know it already, those Muslims really are barbarians".
I followed the news pretty closely and I cannot remember ONE comment from anyone Danish to
the effect that the flag-burnings etc were understandable reactions to the deeply insulting and
offensive cartoons. That is both very strange and very disturbing, given that Danes are generally
very well educated. The failure to see the other point of view, in many cases more likely the
unwillingness to do so, or even the conscious choice NOT to do so, is the real problem and the
real worry and it does not bode well for anyone.
But don't blame Muslims and Islam for that crisis!



22 August 2006:

Catching up on the News:

In my considered opinion:
Israel, Britain and America must pay the entire bill for the reconstruction of Lebanon.
Every lost life and all serious personal injuries must be adequately compensated.
The leaders of the 3 belligerent countries must be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

*

GW Bush still insists Israel has won the war!
Since this crisis broke out over a month ago, the war-criminal President has made clear he would
stand firmly behind Israel no matter what. We all knew that anyway.
Speaking at the State Department, after meeting with his top defense, diplomatic and national
security advisers, he reiterated that support during a post-war war of words about who came out
on top. Incredibly, this is what he said:

"Hizbollah attacked Israel. Hizbollah started the crisis, and Hizbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis.
Hizbollah, of course, has got a fantastic propaganda machine, and they're claiming victories.
But how can you claim victory when, at one time, you were a state within a state, safe within
southern Lebanon, and now you're going to be replaced by a Lebanese army and an international
force?"
Not for the first time, GWB is making a lot of rash assumptions:
-it now seems pretty clear that this war was long planned between Israel and America, just waiting
for some, quite likely arranged, incident to light the very short fuse,
-most of us are unable to see that Hizbollah "suffered a defeat",
-nobody, not even the US President, has a better propaganda machine than Israel,
-yes, to a degree, Hizbollah was a 'state-within-a-state' (but less so than the Jewish-Zionist lobby
armies in America!), but what makes you believe that will no longer be the case?
-so you really believe that Hizbollah is going to be replaced? The Lebanese armed forces are
Hizbollah's friends, Hizbollah could conceivably merge with the national army, more likely the
resistance fighters will simply hide their weapons and melt back into the countryside, villages and
towns until next time their heroic services are required. As for the International force, well, those
people will have to or will want to go back home someday, maybe much sooner than you think!
-Mr. President, I notice you did not mention disarming Hizbollah. I don't believe that could possibly
be because you have realized and accepted that it is impossible, so you simply forgot, yes?
-whatever happens, be sure of one thing: Hizbollah will not go away, they were not parachuted in
from Tehran or Damascus or from outer space, they are Lebanese citizens, they belong there in
Lebanon, it is their home - got that?

Look, even Israel's cabinet and military chiefs have accepted that Israel lost, so why can't you?
As a quick reality-check, the Lebanon-tragedy was brilliant, and yet some people don't get it!!
As bad journalists say: never let the facts get in the way of a good story...
And that other old phrase: the first casualty of war is truth!

Pssst: GWB, if you want the facts, why don't you ask Hizbollah, Syria or Iran? They know.

*

Possibly the most amazing single comment on the Lebanon-tragedy so far seen is this:
"This is only a victory [for Hizbollah] because Israel exercised restraint, but it may not always".
I mean, who would write something like that except for some hallucinated-out American?

*

Have you noticed the way Hizbollah immediately swung into action, clearing roads, taking claims
for houses and flats damaged or destroyed, paying rents for while-u-wait flats, generally assuring
everybody of their full support and proving that commitment through actions? It is very impressive.
A lebanese professor commented: “Hizbollah has two pillars of support: the resistance and the
social services. What this war has illustrated is that it is best at both”. What a lovely way to put it!!
I wonder, one year after the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina in the US, what has the State
and Federal agencies done for those victims?!!?
Nasrallah, were I Lebanese, I would vote for you!

*

And on that same topic:
Parents in the Gaza Strip are busy naming their new-born baby boys Hizbollah or Hassan or
Nasrallah, so another kind of victory there for the Lebanese resistance!
Traditionally, though, you would normally wait until the admired leader has passed away before
using their name. A striking case not long ago was when Israel, in that unforgettable act of pure
evil and illegality, assassinated Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas
(remember? the old wheelchair-bound paraplegic, blown away by a missile fired from an attack
helicopter as he was being wheeled back by friends after morning prayers, the attack killed several
more and injured many, remember now? With that act, for me Israel forfeited its right to exist.....).
Almost all the women giving birth that day called their sons Ahmad, Yassin or Sheik Ahmad, to
immortalize and honour the Hamas leader.

*

On the alleged terror-plot in the UK:
At a hastily arranged conference in London, UK Home Secretary Reid said the European Union
needs to develop its counter-terror policies in response to the "evolving threat".

The talks discussed practical measures in four areas:
-tackling liquid explosives,
-co-ordination of transport security,
-exchange of intelligence,
-the nature of European Islam.

He said: "The world is faced by a form of intolerant and violent totalitarianism which is subverting
a religion, Islam, whose very name stands for peace".
Wrong on all counts Mr. Reid:
The "intolerant and violent totalitarianism" that is such a threat to world peace today is the brutal
neo-colonialism of the West, obscenely masquerading as "liberation and democratization", which
is subverting all that is good in western culture, and, as a self-fulfilling prophecy, forces a reaction
from the threatened Islamic world. Very simple Mr. Reid!
And the arabic word Islam means submission (to your Creator: Yahweh=God=Allah).

*

GW Bush has said that Iran must stop supporting armed groups trying to derail democracies in Iraq
and Lebanon, somehow seeing the war between Israel and Hizbollah's fighters as part of a wider
"struggle against terrorism", adding Lebanon to Iraq and Afghanistan as a front in what he and his
administration call "the global war on terror". He said: "The conflict in Lebanon is part of a broader
struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region".
Were it not such a deadly serious lie in a huge web of deception, one would be sick with laughter!

*

The Pentagon has acknowledged that Syria’s role in the current conflict in Lebanon is evidence
of its rising influence and power, which raises concerns in Washington, which considers last year’s
withdrawal of the Syrian troops from Lebanon a significant achievement.

That well-known war-criminal and mass-murderer GW Bush has repeatedly claimed that Syria
is a destabilizing force in the Middle East, accusing it of harbouring members of Palestinian and
Lebanese resistance movements, which he describes as “terrorist organisations”.

Six months ago the US withdrew its ambassador to Damascus and has not yet returned him,
signalling that it’s not yet willing to involve Damascus in the Lebanese crisis unless the Syrian
government bows to its demands and changes, otherwise, in the words of a senior administration
official, it "would be an open invitation to the Syrians to resume interfering in events in Lebanon".

GW Bush has offered the opinion that Syria's rising self-confidence is "a problem for everyone".
Well, not for me, but then I am not a fanatical, radical, extremist, terrorist, born-again-Christian-
fascist neo-Con from the USofA, who is prepared to use any and all means, however illegal and
brutal, to impose his perverse uni-polar world-view on the rest of humanity in order to re-engineer
the planet to serve his own goals and those of his zionist masters. Of course 'The Project for the
New American Century' sounds much better than 'US Corporate Totalitarianism' but that is what it
is!
Yes, a lot can be improved in the ME but we don't want a "New ME" made in the USA, that is for
the people themselves to decide.
All the US ever did was to turn a small mess into a big one! It is very sad to say but if I ruled the
world I would decree that all Americans return immediately to American soil and remain there for
25 years, then to be reviewed, pending civilized behaviour!! Hands off Syria and Iran!

*

Some leading Iraqis have for the first time openly discussed the possibility, inevitability or even
the desirability of Iraq splitting up along ethnic/sectarian lines - Kurds, Shias, Sunnis.
Well, wasn't this always Plan B of the 'Coalition of the Killing'? If Iraq would not simply roll over and
say with one voice: "Hallelujah we are FREE! God bless America!", then the expectation was that
the classic 'Divide and Rule' tactic would be employed. Don't forget, "federalizing" was one aspect
of the pre-constitution forced upon Iraq by the 'last of the Viceroys', Paul Bremer of US Inc.
Logically and rationally, Iraq dividing into 3 separate (more or less) nations does make sense, after
all, Kuwait was the 19th province of Iraq until about 100 years ago. If, and it is a big if, the Shia
south of Iraq were to go its own way, it might conceivably also decide at a later date to merge with
Iran: now that would really please the Americans, what a "success" that would be for the 'New
World Order', the 'New Middle East' and the 'Project for the New American Century' (read:
US Corporate Totalitarianism)!! Whatever happens, it should be left exclusively to the Iraqis
to decide, but of course it won't be.....

*

Pres. Ahmadinejad of Iran has started his own weblog, so I immediately looked it up and sent
him the following message of goodwill:
"Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatu! Mr. President, I am writing from Denmark and
would like to assure you that not everybody in the West is hostile to the IRoI, I fully support your
country, yourself and Iran's legitimate quest for the same technologies that we have in the West,
these are inalienable rights, "nuclear apartheid" is of course unacceptable. Mr. President, I write
about these matters myself on my website http://www.myspeak.info and respectfully invite you to
visit, should you have the time, in particular to read a long poem called 'The AXIS of EVIL', I know
you will like it! Thank you for your time and, Mr. President, let me take this opportunity to apologise
on behalf of my ill-mannered countrymen about those dreadful drawings of Prophet Mohammad
(pbuh). Wa Salaam, OEH Johansen, Copenhagen, DENMARK".

He asked his readers to vote on the following question:
Do you think that America+Israel are trying to start WWIII?
I voted no. I don't, but I do fear that they are prepared to run enormous risks in order to achieve
their evil aims. Inshallah, Hizbollah's steadfastness in Lebanon will have set that project back,
by how much we don't know but stupidity and arrogance go hand in hand, so they will try again.

*

On hearing that relations between Turkey and Syria might be improving, I wrote the following note:
I love Turkey, Istanbul is my favourite city, and its warm friendly people make you feel good to be
alive, but I am deeply worried where it is heading. Turkey is trying to be all things to all people and
is probably in the end not doing anything properly!
How can you have extensive commercial relations with Israel and also be friendly with the Arabs/
Muslims?
How can you be a member of NATO and disagree with America on most issues?
How can you seek EU membership when most Europeans are not in favour?
How can you be a secular state, which outlaws many Islamic customs, in a 99 percent Muslim
nation?
How can you claim to be a unified nation and pretend that the Kurdish problem either is not there
or will go away?
And so it goes on - there are enormous frictions and frightening tensions on so many different
levels in Turkey...but I hope it somehow manages to find a way through it all...
If you go to Istanbul, whatever your faith, DONT miss the great mosques!



14 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (20):

So, the cease-fire seems to be more or less holding and of course both sides are proclaiming
victory. In parliament, Mr Olmert, taking full personal responsibility for the war, said, in between
being heckled, that Hizbollah's "state within a state and terror organisation" in south Lebanon
had been destroyed in the conflict. Wishful thinking! Hallucinations!!
Question: if that were the case, how could HB, on the very last day of fighting, kill 24 and wound
73 of Israel's soldiers AND send more than 250 rockets into north Israel?
Lebanon may be in ruins but HB is alive and well! Having made its point, I would like HB to stop
firing any more rockets into Israel but of course every Israeli soldier in Lebanon is a legitimate
military target and nobody should complain if HB go after them one by one, despite Reso.1701.
Net result is that Israel's unstoppable army has been fought to a standstill by HB and has been
made to look both incompetent and vulnerable. What a MASSIVE own goal Mr.Olmert!!

Olmert also said that the group's leaders would "not be left alone, we will continue pursuing
them anywhere, all the time and we do not intend to apologise or ask anyone's permission".
In other words, extra-judicial killings. That is totally illegal and amounts to state-terrorism but of
course, that is Israel's chosen way of life. What is tragic is that no civilized nation or well-known
individual speaks out LOUD every time Israel's elected leaders utter such obscenities.

And the 2 captured soldiers which, we are asked to believe, led to this month of unbridled carnage?
They are still on open-ended leave somewhere in Lebanon, presumably being well looked after by
their hosts! Olmert promised that his government would "work tirelessly and with all the means at
our disposal" to secure the release of those 2 soldiers. Apparently, negotiations have already
started between Israel and Lebanon, through german intermediaries.
The only appropriate comment here is: those negotiations could -and should- have started 34
days, approx 1500 deaths, God only knows how many wounded, about 1.4 million displaced
persons and $3.5-4bn structural damage ago.
As far as Israel is concerned, all for nothing, in truth, LESS than nothing.

Interestingly, former Likud Defence Minister Moshe Arens said:
"The long-term implications of an Israeli agreement to a UN-brokered ceasefire at this time are
obvious: Israel's enemies, and they are many, will conclude that Israel does not have the stamina
for an extended encounter with terrorism... The war, which according to our leaders was supposed
to restore Israel's deterrent posture, has within one month succeeded in destroying it".

The blame-game has already started internally in Israel and nobody can predict where it might end.
What is the betting that there will be fresh elections in Israel soon?!?

There are also reports that there is serious friction between Tel Aviv and Washington as apparently
Israel feels that it was the Bush administration which wanted this war and it has been suggested
that Bush & Co were putting massive pressure on Olmert & Co to, almost at any cost, draw Syria
into the fighting, too. Obviously, there is a lot more to come out of this.....

HB leader Hassan Nasrallah, unsurprisingly, said his side had achieved a "strategic historic victory"
against Israel and it is very difficult to disagree with that judgment, from the above quote it is clear
that Moshe Arens is here in rare agreement with him. See also entry for 12 Aug. below.

But how did they do it?

According to informed assessments in Lebanon and Israel, Hizbollah's irregular fighters stood off
Israel's modern army for a month in the hills of south Lebanon, thanks to extraordinary zeal and
secrecy, rigorous training, tight controls over the population, and a steady flow of iranian money
to acquire effective weaponry.

A lebanese specialist, who has studied intelligence on Hizbollah for more than two decades and
who strongly opposes the movement (so is most unlikely to exaggerate) simply said:
"They are the best guerrilla force in the world".

One major worry must now be that Israel, having been denied all its declared goals in south
Lebanon, will turn on Gaza even more savagely, if that is possible. It seems very strange for the
UN not to discuss the 2 tragic situations in parallel, as they are so obviously 2 expressions of the
same long-standing problem of Palestine, and this fact was acknowledged in Reso-1701.
If we see any signs that Israel is making the palestinians in Gaza (or the West Bank) suffer for
its own failures and loss of pride in Lebanon, then the world MUST move in immediately.....

*

As my regular readers will know, I often comment on the readers' forum of articles on AlJazeera-
Magazine (as opposed to AJ-TV) and today I came across this moving comment from Maya in
Lebanon on the tragedy in her country and I include it here hoping it may open peoples' eyes:

Hizbollah kidnapped and murdered israeli soldiers, I cannot deny it. But let us review few facts:
1-People, mostly Children are constantly killed by the mines left by Israeli army, till now Israel
refuseS to give lebanon the mine maps. 2- Hundreds of Lebanese people are still emprisonned
in Israel 3- Israel always cross the borders, kidnapping people, steeling our waters... 4- Israel
never respected previous UN resolutions!! The only reason for which Hizbollah agreed to the
UN resolution is to save the life of thousands innocent children ... to save the life of thousands
innocent women... We are all educated people, how can you be so judgmental?? Before giving
your opinion why don't you try and hear the two sides of the story!!! NOT A LEBANESE OR ANY
NORMAL HUMAN BEING WHATEVER HIS NATIONALITY IS WOULD LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE
KILLED, NOBODY LIKES WAR!! BUT EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING WOULD LOVE TO LIVE
WITH HIS DIGNITY...
Excellent Comment (Click to Rate) maya from Lebanon

Interestingly, I had already drafted the comment below when I read Maya's comment:

Have you read the text of 1701 yet? Will it work? Vague on many points and tilted in Israel's favour,
which I object to because Israel, had it had a sensible leadership, could simply have negotiated its
way round what in real terms was a minor border skirmish. It has been said over and over again
that this was all started by Hizbollah - well, how far back do we go in these matters, 1 day, 1 week,
1 month, 1 year, 1 decade? Lebanon's PM has said many times that Israel has violated Lebanon's
sovereignty on an almost daily basis, its airspace, territorial waters, minor land incursions, abducting
and killing lebanese citizens - well, assuming that is true, who can blame Hizbollah for doing what
the state and government is either unwilling or incapable of doing?
Were I lebanese, I would vote for HB!
Para. 18 of 1701 refers to 242 and 338 about Palestine and stresses, yet again, the need for a just
solution - fine words and no action!
To MAYA from LEBANON: God bless you!
More: myspeak.info



13 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (19):

In Washington DC, around 5,000 people gathered across from the White House on Saturday,
even though GW Bush was out of town, to condemn US and israeli policies in the Middle East.

The mostly muslim crowd was treated to chants and speeches condemning israeli involvement
in Lebanon and the palestinian territories, US support for Israel and US involvement in Iraq.
"Occupation is a crime," the crowd chanted, equating the situations in the three areas.
But they also called for peace and justice for all.

"We all stand united against the violence and the killing in the Holy Land. There is no difference
between muslim life, christian life or jewish life" said Esam Omesh, president of the Muslim
American Society, a co-sponsor of the demonstration, along with the American-Arab Anti
Discrimination Committee, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and the National
Council of Arab Americans.

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark drew cheers from the crowd when he called for President
Bush's impeachment.
"We've made more enemies during the presidency of George Bush than in the rest of our history
combined" Clark said.

Protestors said they did not have much hope that the Bush administration would change its policies
because of the demonstration, but hoped it would raise americans' awareness and create
compassion for lebanese citizens, that they wanted to show support for the lebanese and educate
americans about the situation.
One man said he voted for Bush, but would probably vote democratic in the next election, because
he is disappointed and wants to "stop the fighting on all sides".

The family friendly crowd was filled with muslims, but also contained many non-muslims, including
a handful of orthodox jews. One said he wanted to "show the support for the lebanese and
palestinian people and to make clear that it's not a jewish fight between arabs and jews".

In San Francisco, about 2,000 people marched in support of Lebanon and Palestine and against
Israel's military action.
"The occupiers are being seen as the victims, and I'm really ashamed of what is going on in the
Middle East" said Alicia Jrapko, a member of the ANSWER Coalition, which organized the rally.
"End the occupation now!" one demonstrator's sign read, a call for Israel to leave historically
palestinian lands.

Several hundred counter-demonstrators gathered to show their support of Israel, waving american
and israeli flags. "Hezbollah out of Lebanon!" a protester's sign said.
Excuse me, you need education: the people of Hizbollah were not parachuted in from Damascus,
Tehran nor from outer space, they are citizens of Lebanon, they have every right to be there, they
are not going to go anywhere, nor should anyone ask or demand that they do!
Sounds like gullible americans fall for the zionist propaganda lies!

Now both these demonstrations were fairly small but the important thing is that they took place
at all. In terms of mere numbers, there are more muslims than jews in America, about 3% to 2%,
and it is vital that they show the administration, whether locally at city and state level or in
Washington at the federal level, that they are there, they are american citizens, they are american
tax-payers, they have opinions, they want to be heard, they want influence, etc etc. America
desperately needs a muslim counter-balance to the enormously powerful, grotesquely so given
their tiny numbers, jewish and zionist lobbies. I wish you all the best!!

*

Bush links Hizbollah and 'Terror-plot'!
GWB warned yesterday of the terrorists' ever-changing tactics.
GWB says Hizbollah and the alleged UK air plot suspects share a "totalitarian ideology" they are
seeking to spread. Linking their actions with insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said they all
wanted to "establish safe havens from which to attack free nations" and that the UK terror plot
was a "reminder that terrorists are still plotting attacks to kill our people. The terrorists attempt
to bring down airplanes full of innocent men, women, and children. They kill civilians and American
servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they deliberately hide behind civilians in Lebanon.
They are seeking to spread their totalitarian ideology".

GWB said that the alleged terror plot, which UK intelligence services claim involved a plan to
destroy US-bound passenger planes using liquid explosives smuggled in drinks bottles, was
"further evidence that the terrorists we face are sophisticated, and constantly changing their
tactics".

US officials say that if the plan had not been foiled, the subsequent attacks would have been the
worst since those on Washington and New York on 11 September 2001.
Those attacks, in which the Bush administration was indisputably at the very least partially complicit,

were of course the longed-for excuse for the illegal and brutal invasions and occupations of Taliban
Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein Iraq, the first stages in that so-called 'War on Terror' which to
anyone with eyes and ears is quite obviously America's self-chosen, self-inflicted 'War OF Terror'
against anyone, nation or individual, found to be non-compliant with the evil neo-Con agenda,
that nightmare vision of their uni-polar world - read: US corporate totalitarianism!!
Bush said it himself at the outset of this perverse re-engineering project: "You are either with us
or against us on this one". Well Mr Bush, I am not WITH you!!

He said that as well as intelligence efforts to foil terror plots against US civilians, the ongoing
military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq are part of that same battle, as is Israel's conflict with
Lebanon.
When did you last hear such obscene nonsense? Except for all those fanatically patriotic
americans, does anyone believe this hallucinatory drivel? The real radicals, extremists and
fanatics are those neo-Cons themselves, most of them committed zionists, or, if not, their zionist
masters.
The degree to which the US government is influenced by, virtually dictated to, by the zionist lobby
is absolutely frightening, one brave "dissident" congressman has declared Capitol Hill "Territory
Occupied by Israel" and he was not joking.

*

President Bush condemned on Friday a suicide bomber's attempt to blow up one of Shia Islam's
holiest shrines, in which the suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 120
near the Imam Ali shrine in the southern iraqi holy city of Najaf.

"On behalf of the American people, I join Iraqi leaders of all communities who have condemned this
barbarous action in the strongest possible terms. To the iraqi people, I pledge the commitment of
the United States to helping your new government bring peace and security to all areas of your
country".

He said the United States is attempting to keep Iraq from sliding into a civil war, whereas by now
many independent observers believe that, behind the scenes, America is doing all it can in order to
achieve precisely that objective, fanning the flames by infiltrating existing shadowy death-squads or
even creating them, quite possibly ably assisted by Mossad. Certainly the US has a long and well-
documented history of this kind of covert warfare, in particular from Central America.

Newsweek reported this week that if Iraq does collapse into a full-scale civil war, Bush would
withdraw US troops to get them out of the cross-fire and would need no prompting from the US
Congress to do so.
US involvement in Iraq is expected to be a key issue in November's congressional elections.

"The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all humanity. Yesterday, they
targeted innocent civilians in Najaf near a holy muslim shrine - and a symbol of peace throughout
the world" Bush said.
He hailed the police officers who gave their lives stopping the bomber outside of the shrine.
"We also mourn the loss of every innocent life in this atrocity and other atrocities perpetrated in Iraq
in recent months" Bush said.

How obscene can you get? This comes from a war criminal, mass-murderer, state-terrorist, who is
diectly responsible for the maiming and death of tens of thousands of men women and children in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and most recently Lebanon, only a few days ago dragging his feet in
the UN whilst rushing hi-tech bombs and jet fuel out to Israel, so giving Israel another week at least
to continue murdering civilians and destroy infrastructure. Why can he simply not be arrested, put
in handcuffs and be flown straight to the Hague?? Yes, I am serious!



12 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (18):

And the winner is.......HIZBOLLAH!!! Whichever way this ghastly death and destruction ends,
it is clear that HB will not be destroyed, which was the declared aim of Israel, so simply put HB
has already won! HB will stay, remain a strong force in Lebanon, especially the south, will either
not be disarmed at all or at least not "properly" (how would you do it, and monitor that re-arming
did not take place? It is simply impossible!), it will probably get even more votes and MPs at the
next election, HB and Nasrallah are now heroes throughout the arab and muslim world - excuse
me, what has Israel achieved? Is bombing beautiful Lebanon "back 20 years", as Olmert promised,
and killing almost exclusively civilians, either deliberately or due to incompetence, to be considered
achievements? It may well be to the sick people in charge of Israel+America. The biggest question
of all for Israel must be: Will we be any safer? Of course not. Instead of sensibly negotiating the
release of its 2 soldiers, around 130 Israelis are now dead! What a wonderful achievement!
What a wise and great leader Ehud Olmert is!

The fact is that Israel now finds itself in a worse situation than before:
-the indiscriminate air-strikes on infrastructure and unarmed civilians, and on the UN, have made
Israel even more disliked around the world, and rightly so,
-Hizbollah is still there and will not go away,
-the whole world has watched Hizbollah fight the "invincible" israeli army to a standstill in south
Lebanon, without one single tank, APC or the like, yet managing to inflict heavy casualties and
that achievement will not have gone unnoticed. To most observers, Israel now looks both
incompetent and vulnerable, and the worst thing is Israel could so easily have avoided all that!

*

So, we now have a UN SC resolution, unanimously endorsed, intended to solve the situation in
Lebanon. Have you read the full text yet? Will it work?
It seems rather vague on a number of points and tilted, say 65-35, in Israel's favour, which I
personally object to in the strongest terms because Israel, had it had a sensible and reasonable
leadership, could simply have negotiated its way round what in real terms was a minor border
skirmish. It has been said over and over again that this was all started by Hizbollah - well, how
far back do we go in these matters, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 1 decade?
Lebanon's PM Fouad Siniora has stated several times that Israel has violated Lebanon's
sovereignty on an almost daily basis, its airspace, territorial waters, minor land incursions,
abducting and killing lebanese citizens - well, assuming that is true, who can blame Hizbollah
for doing what the state and government is either unwilling or incapable of doing?
Were I lebanese, I would vote for them!

The most interesting aspect of this resolution, No. 1701, are the last 2 paragraphs, copied below:

"18. Stresses the importance of, and the need to achieve, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace
in the Middle East, based on all its relevant resolutions including its resolutions 242 (1967) of 22
November 1967 and 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973;

19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter".

How many times have we heard these fine words before? Resolutions 242 and 338 are of course
the famous ones relating to Palestine and then, as now, the Security Council vowed to "remain
actively seized of the matter". Nothing has happened for the simple reason that the world has not
got the will to force Israel to comply with international law.
As palestinian PM Ismail Haniya has said several times: either a JUST peace or no peace.

*

About the alleged plot to blow up several aircraft between the UK and the US:
Absurd publicity stunt or real plot? I think we all have to wait for more details and "facts".
Nothing would surprise me however. If you believe in the laws of physics then you MUST accept
that the Bush administration was at the very least complicit in Sept.11 because WTCs 1-2-7 were
indisputably brought down by expertly planned and exquisitely executed controlled demolitions,
sorry all you fanatically patriotic americans, there is no other explanation, and once you accept that,
the whole thing unravels. Likewise London's July 7: Former israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, in
town for a conference, was warned minutes before the blasts to remain in his hotel room at Kings
Cross station, how do you explain that? I have said it before: both Hitler and Stalin would be proud
to have pulled off evil mass deception schemes like these, in order to achieve equally evil goals.
It all stinks to high heaven!!

Hours after the news broke, GWB said: "It is a stark reminder that this nation is at war with
islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation".
Excuse me, how much if any freedom is left in the US, assuming it once was a "free nation"?
Not a lot, by all accounts, instead a steady erosion of basic civil liberties and, anyway, so long
as America remains a willing hostage to Israel, don't talk to me about freedom!!

Bush and other administration officials have used variations of the term "islamo-fascism" on
several occasions in the past to describe militant groups including al-Qaeda, its allies in Iraq and
Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Excuse me: Islamic fascists? Not at all: christian and jewish fascists!! May you burn in Hell!

*

And the newly-formed UN Human Rights Council has voted 27-11 in favour of sending a team to
Lebanon to investigate systematic human rights violations by Israel, in the resolution using terms
like war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres.

Israel and the US, although not members of the HRC (they both "chose" not to seek membership,
remember? I think the truth is, they both knew they would fail to get elected!), urged a vote against,
calling the resolution unbalanced which, in truth, it is because it only deals with violations by Israel.
Clearly there are also violations by Hizbollah but, to any impartial observer, they pale in comparison.

EU countries, Japan and Canada, voted against, calling it "one-sided and divisive".

The 46 members of the HRC voted as follows:
In favour (27): Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador,
India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Russian
Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Zambia.

Against (11): Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Poland,
Romania, United Kingdom, Ukraine.

Abstentions (8): Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Nigeria, Philippines, Republic of Korea,
Switzerland.

An interesting split - draw your own conclusions.

This was the first real test of this new council which should be taken seriously, not least because it,
in stark contrast to the Security Council, actually works on democratic principles, simple majority
voting and no right of veto.
Tragically, the Security Council, the highest law enforcement body in our world, is, because of
that right of veto, terminally dysfunctional and little more than an expensive and ostentatious
embarrassment. By the last count, I think, America had vetoed 60 SC resolutions in order to protect
Israel's illegal and barbaric behaviour. By any definition, that is obscenely undemocratic.

The single biggest improvement that could be made to the UN, and it could be so swiftly and easily
done, would be to abolish that right of veto but of course it will not happen: America, as ever
obeying its zionist masters, would promptly veto such a logical and decent move to democracy!

*
In addition to having taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iraq, and who knows how
many from occupied Palestine, Syria is now making a lot of friends in Lebanon by giving a warm
welcome to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, private people opening their homes,
squeezing in as many as they can and sharing their often scarce resources with them.
I know that I would do the same - as a human being, how could you say no??



11 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (17):

Last week's emergency one-day summit called by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and
held in Malaysia was attended by representatives of 18 member states, among them the presidents
of Iran and Indonesia and the prime ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Malaysian PM Abdullah Badawi, the current OIC chairman, said in his opening speech:
"Until now, unfortunately, the international community is in paralysis. The Security Council could
not even muster the moral courage to condemn Israel for the attack on Qana or the killing of UN
observers at Khiam". He also urged Muslim nations to offer troops for a multinational stabilisation
force for Lebanon.

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said some interesting things:
"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the zionist regime, at this stage an immediate
cease-fire must be implemented. The Middle East would be better off without the existence of the
zionist regime which is an illegitimate regime, there is no legal basis for its existence.
Today the americans are after the greater Middle East and the zionist regime is used to reach this
objective. The sole existence of this regime is for invasion and attack. I urge muslim states to
isolate the United States and Britain, for they support Israel's military offensive and should be
expelled from the UN Security Council. Peace and security in Lebanon and its borders has to be
preserved by the lebanese government and people. Deployment of foreign forces is not acceptable
in any shape unless it is just, based on UN rules and preserves the unity and territorial integrity of
Lebanon".

Several leaders talked of popular Muslim outrage.
Pakistan's PM Shaukat Aziz said: "The failure to halt the violence is adding to popular anger which
could have incalculable consequences for long-term peace in the Middle East".
He also called for all prisoners in the conflict - lebanese, palestinian and israeli - to be returned.

The OICs SG Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said: "The Islamic world is outraged over international double
standards on the israeli offensive in Lebanon. I am afraid that the anger of the muslim masses is
being transformed into permanent hatred against the aggressors and their implicit and explicit
protectors".

Malaysia is also seeking support for an international commission to investigate Israel's war crimes.

*

Eyewitness: Qana bombing.
Human Rights Watch has spoken to two witnesses of the israeli air strike on the lebanese village
of Qana, during which more than 40 people are believed to have died. One of those interviewed
was in the building during the strike. The following is from a HRW report:

According to Muhammad Mahmud Shalhub, a 61-year-old farmer who was in the basement during
the attack, 63 members of the extended Shalhub and Hashim families sought shelter in three
ground-floor rooms of a solid three-story building when the first bombs hit the village.

Israeli planes began attacking the area in the early evening of Saturday 29 July, he said, striking
more than 50 times.

He explained how, at about 0100 local time on 30 July, an israeli munition hit the ground floor of the
home. "It felt like someone lifted the house. The ground floor of the house is 2.5m high. When the
first strike hit, it hit below us and the whole house lifted, the rocket hit under the house. I was sitting
by the door - it got very dusty and smoky - and we were all in shock. I was not injured and found
myself thrown outside. There was a lot of screaming inside. When I tried to go back in, I couldn't
see because of the smoke. I started pushing people out - whomever I could find. Five minutes later,

another air strike came and hit the other side of the building, behind us. After the second strike,
we could barely breathe and we couldn't see anything. There were three rooms in the house where
people were hiding [on the ground floor]. After the first strike, a lot of earth was pushed up into the
rooms. We only managed to find some people in the first room."
Mr Shalhub vigorously denied that any Hezbollah fighters were present in or around the home when
the attack took place.
"All four roads to Qana village had been cut by Israeli bombs" he said, which would have made it
difficult, if not impossible, for Hizbollah to move rocket launchers into the village.
"If they [the IDF] really saw the rocket launcher, where did it go?" Mr Shalhub asked. "We showed
Israel our dead. Why don't the israelis show us the rocket launchers?".

*

King Abdullah of Jordan has publicly criticised the United States and Israel over the fighting in
Lebanon and said moderate voices are now at risk of being drowned out.
He told Jordanian newspapers he was enraged by the war, and that continued fighting only
weakened the voice of Middle East moderates such as himself.
He argued Israel's attempt to destroy the militant Hizbollah group would not solve problems in the
region and stressed the only way to achieve peace was to end Israel's occupation of arab lands.

The king's condemnation of peace partner Israel and his ally America was firm:
He told Jordan's arabic mass circulation Al-Rai and independent Al-Ghad dailies that the US and
Israel should acknowledge that war would not bring anything but more problems, violence and
extremism to the Middle East and Israel's actions are fuelling the resistance.
King Abdullah said that even if Israel destroyed Hizbollah, other groups would emerge in the arab
world to take its place, unless Israel ended its occupation of palestinian lands and made peace with
other arab neighbours. He called this the core issue that needed to be resolved.

He also said there would be no solution in Lebanon without an agreement with the lebanese
government. He repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire, saying Israel's aggression exceeded
all limits and blamed Israel's harsh military campaign in Lebanon for undermining the voice of
moderation in the arab world, saying the arab people now saw Hizbollah as the hero because it
was fighting Israel's aggression.
He argued that the US and Israel had to realise that as long as there was aggression, there would
be resistance and popular support for this resistance.
He said moderation had to accomplish something for people to believe in - otherwise, they would
have no other choice but to reject it and embrace other means to defend their rights.

Although the king initially voiced criticism over Hizbollah's abduction of two israeli soldiers last
month, he refused to comment as to whether he still blamed the iranian-backed group for dragging
Lebanon into the conflict.
King Abdullah added Jordan would not participate in a proposed stabilisation force to be deployed
in southern Lebanon as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah militants.



10 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (16):

The "invincible" israeli army has had a couple of very bad days:
yesterday it lost 15 soldiers in fierce fighting in southern Lebanon and on 6 August it lost 14, of
those 2 in combat and, would you believe it, 12 killed with one single rocket in the border region.
That same day 3 civilians were killed and dozens wounded by Hizbollah rockets fired into Haifa.
How much longer before Israel regrets this whole adventure which is as unnecessary as it is tragic?

*

Israel has detained about 30 MPs and a third of the palestinian cabinet in the past six weeks.
Palestinian officials have called on the international community to intervene to secure their release.

Now, palestinian officials say a number of government workers have been taken to hospital in
Ramallah after one of them opened a suspicious package addressed to palestinian PM Ismail
Haniya. Palestinian deputy PM Nasser al-Shaer has accused Israel of trying to assassinate him
and Mr Haniya. Reports said the package contained an unknown substance, which caused the
workers to suffer breathing difficulties and headaches. The package was delivered to the
palestinian cabinet building in Ramallah. Officials said it was not immediately clear who had sent it,
or what the substance it contained was.

Where is the "civilized world" demanding the immediate unconditional release of all the Hamas MPs
and Cabinet Members detained totally illegally by Israel? This is the modern version of the witch-
hunts of the Middle Ages: just call someone a terrorist and you can do what you want, including
getting away with murder and mass murder. As for the botched attempt of assassinating that fine
man Ismail Haniya with a poison parcel - well, does anything surprise you? Is there any cowardly
dirty trick to which Israel will not stoop? Is it too late to wrap that parcel up again and write on it:
Adressee Moved On, Address Unknown - RETURN TO SENDER!
It will be highly interesting to find out what that "substance" is, should it become public knowledge.
Ismail Haniya: take care of yourself - we are many who admire you greatly and salute you,
in particular for successfully persuading your people that democracy and politics might be
worthwhile options after all. Long live Hamas! Free Palestine!!



2 August 2006:

Israel's latest War-Crimes (15):

Ehud Olmert, that worthy successor to the well-known war criminal Ariel Sharon, has said there will
be no let-up in Israel's offensive in Lebanon until the proposed UN-mandated force is in place.
He also said that "the infrastructure of Hizbollah has been entirely destroyed" with more than 700
command positions "wiped out". In that case, it would appear that the fighters of the Party of God
do
not need any infrastructure nor command positions to carry on fighting, as during the last 24 hours
Hizbollah has fired around 230 rockets into Israel, the highest number in a single day so far.
Remember all that early talk about "complete victory" etc? Wishful thinking!
Although Olmert is still saying that Israel is "winning" the battle against Hizbollah, the language has
changed very significantly over the last week or so, he is now talking about a political solution
"that in the end will bring a ceasefire under entirely different conditions than before" and that Israel
would not be able to eliminate all of Hizbollah's missiles.

*

The European Union has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Lebanon to be followed
by a ceasefire, a small but significant change to its previous position of an immediate cease-fire.
This was due to pressure from Britain, predictably so, but surprisingly also from Germany.
The cessation of hostilities should, the ministers said, be followed by a sustainable ceasefire,
that in turn would pave the way for a political accord followed by the deployment of the proposed
multi-national force. Will this ever happen? And if not, will Israel stay and reoccupy the south?

*

To his credit, Pope Benedict XVI speaking today to 50,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, has made
another impassioned appeal for the bloodshed to stop, saying: "Our eyes are filled with the chilling
images of torn bodies of so many people, especially children - I am thinking in particular of Qana.
I want to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, wherever it is coming from.
With my heart full of pain, I renew once again a pressing appeal for the immediate cessation of all
hostilities and all violence and I urge the international community and those who are more directly
involved in this tragedy to lay down conditions soonest for a definitive political solution to the crisis,
one that can provide coming generations with a more serene, safer future".
Well said Benedict, you are turning into a worthy successor to JP2!

*

Two belgian military planes carrying aid were not allowed to land in Beirut after Israel said it could
not guarantee their safety, Belgium's defence ministry said.

*

In Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the complicity of the US in Israel's
crimes in Lebanon, saying: "Muslims everywhere must know that the only way to fight the savage
wolf of Zionism and the great Satan's aggression is devoted resistance. The american regime must
expect a hard slap and a destructive punch by the islamic nations for its support of zionist criminals"
and he pledged Iran's continued support for Hizbollah and for the lebanese and palestinian people
and described Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah as "a brave arab leader".

Separately, senior iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati called on muslim countries to send
weapons to Hizbollah to fight Israel.

*

A journalist reporting from south Lebanon says he was approached by one of the many refugees
on the roads and the man shouted angrily: "Tell the UN to come and see the hungry women and
children, the bodies under the rubble being eaten by dogs. There's no conscience left in this world".

That unknown man is of course right. That all these atrocities are not being done in my name is
little consolation and we must all ask ourselves whether there is not something we can do to reduce
the suffering or prevent it recurring. What are YOU doing?

*

And don't forget Gaza - the UN and aid agencies are saying that the humanitarian situation there
is now as desperate as that in Lebanon. Also, although 2 or 3 have now been released, several
other Hamas cabinet members and many members of parliament, all democratically elected of
course, remain in detention, illegally - do you hear any loud protests from the "civilized" world??
And those released speak of very poor treatment by Israel - oh what a surprise!

*

A survey just done shows that, far from weakening support for Hizbollah, the israeli atrocities have
succeeded in what nothing else before has achieved: around 80% in all the different communities
in Lebanon, Shia, Sunni, Druze, even Christian, now support Hizbollah, at least temporarily.
Well done Bush-Blair-Olmert!! And popular support in Syria is growing fast, again across religious
barriers. Well done B-B-O!!