There is so much going on in Palestine it's hard to know where to start. Shimon Peres calling Ahmadinejadthe "Perisan Hitler". Olmert thanking Bush for a stable Iraq, Avigdor Lieberman calling for the assassination all of Hamas leadership and abandoning the Road to Peace...
....and so forth.....and so on:
Is it clear????
It is clear that beyond their conciliatory rhetoric, the de facto policy of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz serves only two combined aims: one is to prevent the Palestinians from establishing a sustainable sovereign state, while at the same time providing time for an additional strengthening of the settlements.
The second aim is to inflame the hatred and the desire for revenge on both sides, to prove again and again the axiom of former prime minister Ehud Barak to the effect that "there is no partner."
http://www.haaretz.com/...
We get accused of starting civil wars:
Diplomats fear US wants to arm Fatah for 'war on Hamas'
From Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem
AMERICAN proposals to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian security forces with additional guns and fighters have alarmed other Western nations, who argue that it is tantamount to supporting one faction in a potential civil war.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Anan thinks Ahmadinejad is not Hitler reincarnated:
Annan urges Syria, Iran to aid Lebanese stability
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan pressed
Syria and
Iran on Saturday to help promote the stability of Lebanon after the resignation of six of its government ministers.
Annan spoke by telephone with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian head of state Bashar al-Assad about developments in Lebanon and the need for governments in the region and around the world "to promote the stability and the unity of Lebanon," U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Neither does Blair:
UK calls on Syria, Iran to participate in ME peace
British Prime Minister Tony Blair sent out a fresh appeal to Syria and Iran, urging them to become partners in the search for peace in the Middle East or face isolation on the world stage, AFP reported.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera's new English-language channel, Blair rejected as "completely absurd" suggestions that his readiness to work with Tehran and Damascus amounted to appeasement of two of the stated enemies of the United States.
http://www.iranmania.com/...
New Deputy Minister of Strategic Affairs wants to walk away from Road to Peace (not sure we were on it):
RAMALLAH -- Israel should ignore moderate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, wipe out the Hamas leadership and walk away from the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel's new deputy prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said yesterday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert forged an alliance with Mr. Lieberman, one of Israel's most divisive politicians, last month to shore up his shaky coalition. The appointment of Mr. Lieberman as minister of strategic affairs raised concern that Mr. Olmert's government, weakened by the summer's war in Lebanon, would freeze all peace efforts.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/...
Blair says Iraq a disaster:
Blair 'disaster' admission over Iraq a 'slip of the tongue': official
Downing Street moved swiftly to play down an apparent admission by British Prime Minister
Tony Blair that the invasion of
Iraq had been a "disaster," labelling his comments a "slip of the tongue."
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Israel dismisses New Peace Plan:
Israeli forces in the centre f the West Bank city of Hebron
The Middle East peace process has ground to a complete halt
Israel has dismissed a Middle East peace plan put forward by Spain, France and Italy.
The plan calls for a ceasefire and increased international intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
An Israeli official said parts of the plan were being discussed, but it was not being taken seriously as it was not co-ordinated with the EU or Israel.
The Spanish prime minister proposed the plan, saying the situation required urgent action by the outside world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Israel chooses not to cross human shields with world watching (snark!):
Gaza Air Strike Called Off
The IDF during the night was compelled to cancel a planned aerial strike after hundreds of PA (Palestinian Authority) residents gathered after the family received notice of the impending military assault.
The PA residents stated they are willing to give their life, acting as human shields to prevent the strike against another building in northern Gaza.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/...
Olmert hopes to finally find "Pearls of Wisdom":
Israel developing bionic arsenal
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given the green light for
Israel to set up a special office to develop a nanotechnology arsenal.
Yediot Aharonot said that Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres had been told to choose 15 top thinkers to focus on developing futuristic weaponry. The 15 would be selected from within the security establishment, the world of hi-tech and academia.
If their projects succeed, they will provide Israel with a response to the various threats from Palestinian rockets, suicide bombers, to long-range missiles and non-convential weapons, the newspaper said Friday.
Peres has recently hinted in public lectures at a small number of secret developments, Yediot added, such as "pearls of wisdom" -- tiny sensors that can be scattered on enemy territory.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
UN asks Israel...please stop flyovers:
UN urges Israel to end 'dangerous' Lebanon overflights
The United Nations issued a fresh plea to
Israel to end Lebanese airspace violations after French UN anti-aircraft batteries made preparations to respond to the overflights.
In Lebanon, a spokesman of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Milos Strugar, earlier Friday said that "the anti-aircraft unit of the (French) battalion took initial preparatory steps to respond to these actions."
"UNIFIL observed and reported 14 Israeli air violations this morning, on November 17, 2006, and 11 of these violations occurred in the area of operation of the French battalion with UNIFIL," he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Innocents continue to be targeted:
For months the Israeli army has systematically been invading the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, arresting or killing "wanted men," carrying out operations and leaving behind, aside from hundreds of "armed" or "civilian" dead, total destruction of infrastructure. If it were possible, with great difficulty, to excuse this killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip by blaming it on the firing of Qassam rockets and the smuggling via the Philadelphi Route, there is still no "security" explanation for the arrests and the killings in the West Bank, particularly after the cessation of suicide bombings.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
YET the Quassam rockets continue, even after leveling a town:
Residents of Beit Hanun also have nowhere to go. When the Israel Defense Forces inform them that they must vacate their houses in advance of an attack, they flee to the hospital to find shelter. Some 450 houses were destroyed in the most recent IDF operation, yet after it ended, the Qassam fire continued, and even intensified. When a missile was fired at the house of 4-year-old Bara Fiad of Beit Hanun, it plowed a deep pit in the courtyard, and he disappeared into it.
This reality of mutual misery and mutual intimidation is turning into a dead-end situation. Israel and the Palestinians have been caught up in a dangerous diplomatic vacuum. From a military standpoint, it seems that the IDF has not managed to find a solution to the Qassam fire, and it is doubtful one even exists. In July, when the chief of staff was asked to explain why Katyusha fire on the Galilee was continuing despite the IDF operation in Lebanon, he gave the example of the Qassam rockets fired at Sderot, to which no military solution has been found, either.
When people talk about a large-scale operation in Gaza, it is necessary to remember the facts. The IDF has already conducted large-scale operations, in which it killed hundreds of Palestinians, but the Qassams continue to fall - even when the IDF is in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
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I know I am suppose to provide an analysis...or opinion, or SOMETHING. The only thing I can come up with is that the HAARP Project Project has fried the brains of our world leaders.
Are we going to Iran? I surely hope not. I am not the only one that fears $100/barrel oil prices. Winter is now in the northern hemsphere and I hate to see prices going even higher. Maybe sane minds somewhere will prevail, even if it's for selfish reasons. The world is tired of war.